Nintendo’s E3 show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium began with much anticipation of big announcements for the year ahead, not least of which Super Mario Galaxy and a little something called Mario Kart for Wii. In the event they didn’t disappoint…

Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime opened with the usual presentation of fun (for investment bankers) facts n’ figures, saying that this was not to be a presentation so much as a “celebration”. After the blockbuster year Nintendo has just had he probably deserved a moment or two to buff his fingernails in public. Fortunately he didn’t waste too much time thereafter getting to the good stuff.

First of all the Wii Zapper was formally announced. This lightgun holds the Wii Remote where the barrel should be and the Nunchuk at the back, all housed in a cool machinegun-shaped unit that’s not the same as the pistol prototype we’ve all seen. It’ll be crucial to the enjoyment of games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Medal of Honour and Ghost Squad, we’re informed. Most impressive, though, was the price – just $19.99. Then again it is just an empty plastic shell which the technical bits simply plug into. We still want one, though.

Next up we’re treated to a showreel of games such as Smackdown 2008, Soul Calibur Legends and Mario and Sonic at the Olympics before Smash Bros. Brawl is announced for December 3rd in the US. All available appendages crossed that it’ll hit this side of Xmas in Europe too as it’s looking minty! After this there’s a short demo of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Metroid Prime 3, both of which are in fine shape as you’d expect, but we’ve seen plenty of these games already. Apart from Smash Bros. it's a case of so far so-so, though.

This theme continues with the announcement that WiiWare – the initiative that opens up Wii development to smaller teams – will go live early next year and that a new channel called Check Mii Out will launch soon. As far as we can tell this works like ‘Facebook’ or ‘Am I hot or Not’, with Wii owners posting their Mii creations, voting for others and even downloading the ones they like. Sounds like fun but it’s hardly earth-shattering.

And then a major bombshell – Mario Kart for Wii is confirmed at last! Details are non-existent but we can tell you it’s online, it looks like a lightly buffed version of Double Dash without the two-players in one Kart thing, it’ll be available in the first quarter of next year and a steering wheel accessory will be available at the same time. The game’s announcement is great news but it’s a tragedy that we’re going to have to wait at least six month to play the game!

Next Satoru Iwata comes on to talk about Nintendo’s successes in broadening the market with games such as Wii Sports, Nintendogs, Brain Training etc and how the next challenge for the company is to destroy the psychological barrier that separates veteran gamers from novice players. “Games are for everyone” he says, and promises that Mr. Miyamoto will come on stage soon to announce a product that will demonstrate this intention. Meantwhile we’re told that Brain Age 2 is out August 20th in the US and told a little bit about forthcoming DS titles such as Flash Focus which develops visual acuity, My Word Coach wich hellp yu speek an rite beter englund and My Life Coach which aims to improve your very existence. Gulp.

After that relative drudgery another bombshell explodes – Super Mario Galaxy is dated for November 12th in the US – there’ll be riots if Nintendo Europe doesn’t follow suit! It’s the “first worthy successor to Super Mario 64” says Reggie Fils Aime and is accessible to all, which dovetails nicely with what Mr Iwata was saying about games being for everyone. Does this also mean that it’s going to be a bit too easy, we wonder? Hope not.

Finally Shigeru Miyamoto wanders on stage to introduce the game that Nintendo thinks is really going to open up the mainstream market, with health as a theme that unites gamers of all persuasions – Wii Fit.

At this game’s core is the ‘Wii Balance Board’, a device rather like a wireless dancemat, although this innocent-looking white rectangle also measures weight and minute changes in balance. This unique interface is used as the basis for 40 or so activities that are split into four broads categories of yoga, muscle conditioning, aerobic fitness and balance.

The games demonstrating these activities included hula-hoop where shifting the weight from side to side keeps a collection of hoops rotating about a Mii avatar; a game where the object is to head footballs by leaning left or right; basic step aerobics which looked like Dance Dance Revolution for pensioners until the action speeded up and simple yoga-esque one-legged muscle stretches. All activities contribute to a personal profile and Wii Fitness Age, which is monitored by measuring Body Mass Index via the Balance Board. Weight is not tracked, though, which should spare a few blushes.

And that was it, excepting a bit of last minute braggadocio from Mr. Fils-Aime. It was a curate’s egg of a presentation, really – good in parts, rather flat in others. Nintendo was certainly keen to talk about ‘leadership’ and how they, single-handedly, have opened up gaming to new, non-traditional audiences. Wii Fit seems to sum up their corporate intentions very well too. That said we’re still wishing that they’d have unveiled a few more proper games. More pics and info to follow.