E3 Day 2: Nintendo and Sony

So how did Nintendo top Microsoft's Monday cavalcade of stars? They announced two new Super Mario games and a new Metroid game Tuesday. More on those in a minute.

First, a question: Do you own a PSP? Do you know anybody who does? I don't, and I can't remember ever seeing someone use one in public. Maybe they're omnipresent in the hallways of America's schools. I don't know.

I do know that I can't stand Jack Tretton, the CEO of SCEA who hosted Sony's presentation today at E3 in Los Angeles. I haven't been able to stand him since a particularly arrogant interview he gave to Electronic Gaming Monthly (the dearly departed magazine which is being resurrected) back in the early days of the next-gen console wars -- when it was already apparent that his team was going to lose. Why does Sony keep trotting this guy out there?

But enough of all that. What about the games? Here are the highlights from the presentations by Nintendo and Sony:

Nintendo
When Nintendo is on, they are on. Last year, they were decidedly off, making "core gamers" plead for mercy with demos of "WiiMusic" and "Animal Crossing: City Folk." They certainly stepped up their game this year.

The announcement of "Super Mario Galaxy 2" must be my personal highlight of E3. The first game is probably the most creative and beautiful platformer ever made, a game that redefined a genre. Hopefully the new one will perfect it. (And it's got YOSHI!)

"New Super Mario Bros." is coming from the DS to the Wii, now with a simultaneous 4-player mode. I'm not sure how that's going to work -- it looks too much like "Smash Bros." for my comfort. But a new 2D Mario game is always welcome.

Finally, a new "Metroid" that isn't an FPS! It looks like Samus is going to kick butt, "God of War"-style.

Hmmm ... spiky-haired protagonists in steampunk garb waging turn-based battles with oversized weapons? What franchise could this possibly be ripping off?

From the weirdly innovative department, here's a new "Zelda" game with trains and a seemingly robotic companion for Link. Too bad my eyes can't handle looking down at that DS for more than 20 minutes.

We saw some of "WiiSports Resort" and the new MotionPlus controller last year, but this 3-point shooting contest looks awfully fun. This will probably be the biggest-selling Wii game of the next two years ...

... unless, of course, "Wii Fit Plus" sells like mad.

Sony
First, a disclaimer: I do not like anything about the PS3 aside from the fact that it plays Blu-Rays. It is extremely hard for me to get excited about a console that has no compelling exclusives and an online interface that, on the surface, appears to be far inferior to Xbox Live. Feel free to tell me why I'm an idiot in the comments.

All that being said ... Sony did make waves today. Probably the most exciting announcement was just that: An announcement, no trailer. Rockstar North is bringing "Agent," a '70s espionage game, exclusively to PS3.

But if it's compelling exclusives you're looking for, you need look no further than this:

"The Last Guardian" is from the creator of "Shadow of the Colossus," and apparently the "colossus" is your buddy this time. Can you believe the animation you're seeing here? (And can you remember what movie the music is from? It's killing me.) This is a reason to buy a PS3.

And here's another one:

Congratulations, Sony. Now I want your stupid console. "GOWIII" doesn't look groundbreaking, but it doesn't need to, does it? It just needs to kick ass. And it looks like it does.

Does anyone else find it comical that we're still waiting for "FFXIII," but a teaser for "FFXIV" already exists?

"MGS" on the PSP? OMG!

An FPS with 256 players? Great, just what I need: 255 snot-nosed punks calling me "gay" after I kill them with a rocket launcher.

This is about as embarrassing as it gets. Why do we need motion control? Can't I just sit on the couch and be lazy when I play my video games? Adam Sessler and Kevin Pereira were geeking out over it on G4, but I just can't get excited about this kind of control system.

What are you excited about, fellow gamers?