E3, Day Two: Nintendo & Sony attempt to remind everyone they are present at E3 also.

To be blunt: Nintendo underwhelmed and baffled, and Sony just flat-out fell flat on its face when compared to its main competitor, Microsoft. Neither company's keynote today had anywhere near the impact that Microsoft did yesterday, and Sony had nowhere near the Ace that they needed to one-up Microsoft.

Here's a quick recap of the highlights from what each company revealed during their presentations today:

Nintendo
-Super Mario Bros. Wii: Basically seems to be a re-imagining of the first Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, but more focused on multiplayer and competitive play. Up to four players can traverse through the familiar levels and fight for coins and various power-ups found throughout the levels. Played with the Wiimote turned on its side like a classic Nintendo controller.

-Wii Fit Plus announced: From what I could gather, basically a sequel to Wii Fit, with more games than the original. It will come in a bundle with the Balance Board or on its own as a game, and will be available in the fall.

-Wii Motion Plus: It wasn't really so much revealed as demonstrated at the keynote. Basically all you need to know is that it will come with Wii Sports Resort (the sequel to the monumental best-seller Wii Sports) and Red Steel 2, and several upcoming sports games will be compatible with it along with Red Steel 2 (Ubisoft), which will only be playable if you have MotionPlus.

-DS/DSi: Several titles were announced for Nintendo's hugely-successful portable platform, including Golden Sun DS, COP: The Recruit (another Ubisoft title), and Warioware:DIY (a platformer with LittleBigPlanet-esque level-creation toolset). Also, the DSi will soon be getting the ability to upload images straight to Facebook. Another platform integrating itself with the mega-social network. Interesting.

-Wii Vitality Sensor: This was probably the most head-scratching part of the show. They spent at least five minutes building this thing up, and it turns to just be a bio-rhythm clip you attach on your finger, and that plugs into the bottom of the Wiimote. Looks almost pointless, especially when they offered no details on when it would be released, or what games would use it.

-Two major titles announced: Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M were shown for the first time. Other M was especially a shock considering that the entire Metroid Prime trilogy is getting boxed together and shipped for the price of one game this fall. Both look really good (again, especially Other M); I'll try to get links up to both of the videos later on.

Sony
-Updates to PSN: Over fifty new PSX titles are coming to the download service, the most notable being Final Fantasy VII.

-PSP Go officially unveiled: It appears a little larger than the iPhone, has no UMD drive, and will integrate with the PSN to download games. Comes in 16GB and will run 249.99 USD at retail. Its full front face is the screen, which slides up to reveal a d-pad, joystick, and facebuttons beneath. Also announced were two new PSP titles, Gran Turismo PSP, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (although rumors of both for the PSP had surfaced before E3).

-Playstation Motion Controller unveiled: From descriptions I've read, it is comprised of two handheld devices, each approximately the size of a small microphone, with what look like colored balls atop each one. Basically the way that it works is that the Playstation EyeToy tracks the colored ball movement, and that produces, from all accounts I've seen, a very accurate 1:1 movement translation. Available sometime Spring 2010.

-Final Fantasy news: Big surprise here. Final Fantasy XIV was announced, exclusively for the PS3 and PC. It appears to be a MMORPG. An extended trailer dubbed in English of Final Fantasy XIII was also shown.

-Major titles exhibited: Team ICO's latest, now officially entitled "The Last Guardian," was shown, as well as Gran Turismo 5 (which one account described as the most realistic game they had ever seen), and God of War III. "Last Guardian" and "Gran Turismo 5" have no definitive releases date, and God of War III will hit shelves March 2010.
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FYI, I'll write a couple of posts in the next day or so discussing my thoughts on the various happenings from the first two days of E3.