Even though I couldn't attend E3 this year I was still able to enjoy everything Nintendo had to offer from the comfort of my home. What people didn't want from Nintendo is a repeat of last year and despite what some bloggers, complainers, and the general media say Nintendo delivered a solid show with some surprising announcements and a lot of focus on games.

I liked the fact that the conference was fair and balanced. Last year it was too focused on Nintendo's expanded audience products and it left a sour taste in many a gamer's mouth. This year, while the casual games were shown, they didn't dedicate their whole show to them. Wii Fit Plus wasn't given a good chunk of the conference nor was there a silly four-player New Super Mario Bros. Wii battle on stage. It was all about the games, not the show.

Speaking of games, a lot of games were shown despite a few strange omissions. The announcement of Metroid: Other M took me by surprise. I honestly never expected Nintendo to work so closely with Team Ninja and Tecmo, especially after their first effort together (Fatal Frame IV), had disastrous results. I am not worried about the quality or even the alleged T & A that will emerge. Team Ninja makes very fun and solid games that push the hardware of the console they are developing for. Plus, after the Itagaki disaster (Editor's Note: Itagaki, the lead of Tecmo's Team Ninja, recently left Tecmo and was also sued for sexual harassment) they really could use some big games.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 has me very, very happy. Yes, it looks like the first game, but when the first game was one of the best reviewed titles of this generation, and was quite easily the most magical experience I have ever lived playing videogames, why should we worry?

I really liked how Nintendo focused a lot on third party games. Yeah, they might not be everyones cup of tea, but Nintendo has come a long way since a few years back, when their biggest third party collaboration at E3 was Pac-Man Vs. It says to me that even if the sales numbers are against them Nintendo truly believes that there's a market for third party games on Nintendo consoles, and that these titles deserve to get noticed by everyone.

Iwata's speech put me to sleep to be honest. It is neat that Nintendo has a new philosophy and are planning on keeping it alive, but all the talk was boring. And what did this lead to? The Vitality Sensor. Without any demo or software to show it off I have no idea what to expect. Color me confused and unexcited.

My other gripe is that Nintendo failed to mention A LOT of first party games for the Wii and DS, which include Professor Layton and the Demonic Box, Span Smasher and Line Attack Heroes. Most importantly, these were new first party IPs that were unveiled last year at their fall conference, and it was good to know that Nintendo is considering an American release for them. It would have made the first party presence far more robust and lessened the "Nintendo is running out of ideas" claims.