Update - Details (and speculation) on Castlevania Judgement

The folks at IGN reminded me of one, crucial detail on Castlevania Judgement upon a second read-through of their piece on Castlevania Judgement:

The newest DS Castlevania title, Order of Ecclesia will be able to wirelessly connect with this new game to unlock bonus content, likely for both versions.

Considering this news on the Castlevania title for Wii is entirely new, a previous article in Nintendo Power did well to hint at the new Wii game.  It also led to the speculation that the DS and Wii games will connect in a Metroid Prime/Fusion style, unlocking bonus features between the two.

Let’s think further on Konami’s strange turn.

Considering the uproar of gamers on Konami abandoning their platforming ways even once in the series, it’s tough to imagine any addition to the game that will make up for the genre change here.

But other successful Nintendo games have used handheld/home console connectivity quite well.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the Gamecube allowed up to four players to navigate dungeons together by sharing information unique to their Gameboy Advance screen.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures let friends play a classic, cooperative Zelda adventure in a new, fun way (which I hope leaks into a new DS/Wii version).

The Pokemon series has already seen two games that lets the DS and Wii wirelessly connect.  With Pokemon Battle Revolution your Pokemon will fight on the large screen with better graphics and effects for attacks and spells.  Plus My Pokemon Ranch on Wii Ware lets you bring your Pokemon to a farm for… some reason.

Okay, so the Pokemon series could use a bit of help.  Regardless, there are many other cases where handhelds have connected well with home consoles, and the Castlevania series could lead the way in showing how to do it well with the Wii and DS.

I’m hoping that, in the least, Castlevania Judgement will offer an unlockable, classic 2d platformer.  Perhaps this will be our chance to really use our handhelds as controllers for the Wii?  Will Konami try to make a multiplayer platformer in this way?  Give us your guesses as to what some of these features for these anticipated titles will be!

Why Nintendo will win the E3 War

While some may oppose, I would say that last year’s E3 press conference was an epic failure on Nintendo’s part. Although they had some exciting news such as the revelation of Mario Kart Wii and the announcement of 32 player online for Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, the majority of the conference was spent talking about the Wii’s success and how great Wii fit was. Forget about last year.  Lets talk about how awesome this year’s press conference will be. I would go as far to say that Nintendo will steal the show this year.

This last week has shown some surprises already for the Wii. And while we’ve had our fair share of guesses, at E3 we can expect more surprising announcements. Pikmin 3? Perhaps. A storage solution? Most definitely. A Zelda trailer? Highly probable.

It may sound, stumbling, but let me explain. This article from PureNintendo, which shows when all the 3D Zelda games were announced and released, crossed my path. A good read, but here’s a summary:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Announced- December 1995
Released- November 1998

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Announced- June 1999
Released- October 2000

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Announced- August 2001
Released- March 2003

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Announced- May 2004
Released- November 2006

Now according to the article, every 3D Zelda game was announced one year after its predecessor. Plus, this is the longest time we have waited for Nintendo to announce a Zelda game on a console in over 13 years!

We are overdue. Nintendo will announce a Zelda game at E3 and it will be the most exciting announcement of all three of the console company E3 shows.

If that is not enough for Nintendo to win (which, it is) we can hope for an announcement or an indication of voice chat for the Wii. The DS has it, why not the Wii?

That’s been the question of all online Wii gamers, and Reggie has also been hinting at it for a while. He has noted that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if voice chat made its way onto the Wii. Can we consider that straight confirmation for an announcement?

One last reason why Nintendo will win is the innovation. Nintendo has done some amazing stuff, but nothing to truly show off what the Wii Remote can do (not like Johnny Lee has). Nintendo wants to prove that the Wii Remote is the best controller available, and they are definitely coming up with a game that will show it off. Maybe we’ll see a brand new IP? Or we’ll see them take another existing IP and make a great game perfect for the Remote.  And seeing their repitoire of past titles, that would be just fine with me.

Nintendo will do all they can to “win” E3 this year. And while it isn’t a competition per se, we know that it is close, and we can expect some major announcements.

What do you guys think? Will Nintendo win E3 this year? You have less than two weeks; give us your input in our forums on what will make this year a great year for Nintendo at E3.