Vooks E3 2009 Awards – Whats come out on top?

We go over the best, worst, most surprising, innovative, disappointing and more from the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009.

E3 2009 was a return to form for the event- not only was the show back to its old self, but the future of the DS and Wii looks bright with a strong offering from both Nintendo and multiple third party publishers. So what stood out from the crowd, what was different, what was missing and what games deserve our game of show awards? Let’s take a look.

Wii Game of Show: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Runner-up: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Mario Galaxy was one of the Wii’s best standout titles, so a sequel which takes the space and gravity concept again and mixes it up with 95% new stuff has us very excited. Miyamoto has said that the game’s story will take a back seat to allow for pure game play, so we simply can’t wait.

DS Game of the Show: Scribblenauts and Golden Sun DS

A tie here amongst the Vooks crew, but each game was chosen for different reasons. Scribblenauts is coming soon and now we’ve seen it in action and know it’ll be awesome, whereas Golden Sun DS has us excited because the beloved franchise hasn’t been seen for years and the game looks great from what we’ve seen thus far.

Downloadable game: Mario vs. Donkey Kong Minis March Again (DSiWare)
Runners-up: FFIV- The After Years (WiiWare) and FlipNote Studio(DSiWare)

The Nintendo DSi needed some love at E3. Since the handheld launched, the reason for owning one- DSiWare- hasn’t been overly great until now. ‘Mario vs Donkey Kong Minis March Again’ made exclusively for DSiWare is exactly what the service needs, and we just want more of it. Hop to it Nintendo.

Biggest Suprise: Metroid Other M
Runner-up: Golden Sun DS

With most games still in development, you occasionally hear an inkling about it before they are announced, things leak out, NDA’s are broken and the game is up before the developer can enjoy a proper unveiling. Therefore ‘Metroid Other M’ came as a complete shock. It was a surprising announcement not only because it was kept so well under wraps, but doubly so because of the teaming up of Ninja Team and Nintendo is not only new but completely out of left field for such an established franchise as Metroid.

Disappointment: DSi Virtual Console or lack thereof

We really have no one to blame but ourselves for this- the idea of a Virtual Console service for the Nintendo DSi was one of most wanted and expected things at this year’s E3. However, while the service may still come it wasn’t to be shown yet. Come on Nintendo, it makes too much sense.

Also high on our votes was the lack of Zelda. We all expected it but we can understand why it wasn’t shown – the concept art is enough for now – but Miyamoto, you’ve got a big promise to keep next year.

Iwata you will say  ‘Wow’ Award: Vitality Sensor

When Iwata took the stage no one imagined he would show anything remotely like the Wii Vitality Sensor. Showing off the sensor but without any software to back it up ensured we were all skeptical about the announcement once Iwata unveiled the new peripheral, but in hindsight we are open to the possibilities the new device may present.

Innovation Award: Scribblenauts
Runner up: New Super Mario Bros Wii

Scribblenauts is 5th Cells incredibly impressive project for DS which allows players to summon practically anything they can think of. Put simply, Scribblenauts is quite possibly one of the most ambitious undertakings in games development history. The exhaustive library of innumerable summonable items and characters almost tempts to player to challenge the game to produce the most obscure of requests, but as impressions from the E3 show floor have shown, the game delivers and then some.

Best Trailer: Metroid Other M
Runner up: No More Heroes 2, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles- The Crystal Bearers

Not only did the trailer for Metroid Other M look spectacular, it also appeared at a point in the conference where we thought that there was nothing left to show. That single unveiling transformed countless viewers emotions from “Oh dear” to “Hell yeah”. For viewers unsatisfied with two new Mario Wii games, Metroid Other M may have saved the Nintendo conference, and the game itself doesn’t look too bad either.

The No Show Award: Pikmin 3

If Metroid Other M and Galaxy 2 weren’t announced we’d probably have left the conference a more than a little disappointed- just like the absence of any solid new Zelda information. What is really confusing, however, is that nothing was shown of Pikmin 3 at all, not even a piece of concept art and that makes us sad. Pikmin 3’s absence is all the more perplexing given how open Cammie Dunaway and Miyamoto have been about the games existence since as early as last year.

On our Radar: Scribblenauts

We all knew months before E3 that 5th Cell were attempting to craft such a game, but once the hoards of gaming journalists were able to try the game out first-hand, there has been nothing short of unanimous praise once it was realized they had actually pulled it off. We wish we could have played the game ourselves, but with so many great impressions from those present at E3, this is one little game that has shot straight to the top of our list of most-anticipated game for any platform.

Agree, Disagree? What were some of your favourites? Let us know in the comments!