Microsoft and Sony were in an odd position this E3, doing their best to hype up a batch of current-gen games while pretending that new hardware wasn't on the horizon. Nintendo wasn't in a similar bind, and the company gave a series of impressive demonstrations on the Wii's successor, Wii U.

Pikmin Are Back!
Nintendo started off its press conference with a video of Shigeru Miyamoto leaving his dressing room and heading toward the stage, followed by a small army of Pikmin. I was a huge GameCube fan back in the day, so I was understandably stoked to see an announcement for Pikmin 3. The canned footage showed off a new Pikmin type, stone, who can break glass obstacles. There's also a multiplayer component, which supports up to four players. Since it's a Wii U game, the GamePad's screen has to be used for something. In this case, it's a minimap. If you're not used to that kind of functionality yet, you should get acclimated to it as soon as possible. My hunch is you'll be seeing a lot of minimaps on that screen. The game looked like more of the same, only better looking. Considering how much time I spent with the series, I'm not complaining.

It Takes Two
Nintendo also revealed that the Wii U will support two GamePads. We still don't even know a lot of the Wii U basics at this point, such as the price or even its release date. Will players be able to buy GamePads separately, or will people have to lug theirs around with them when they visit friends? Regardless, it's pretty cool to learn that the system will support two of the controllers, even if Nintendo didn't bother giving any concrete gameplay examples.

More Mario
Nintendo revealed a new Super Mario Bros. game, called (drum roll, please) New Super Mario Bros. U. They may not get any points for originality when it comes to naming their games, but Nintendo definitely knows how to create classic-style platformers. Four players can man the sticks, as with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but the new Wii U game also supports a fifth player. Their role is to add platforms and other helpful objects via the GamePad's screen.

The game also has support for the newly announced Miiverse, which is what you see when you fire up your Wii U. It's a lot like the Wii's Mii Plaza, only with online support. You can chat or sketch out simple drawings, which appear in cartoon bubbles over your Mii's head. In the case of New Super Mario Bros. U, you can see your friends on the game's overworld. I've never been crazy about Miis, but at least they seem to have some actual functionality.

Warner Takes Control
Warner Bros. Interactive had a nice selection of games to show off, including a special edition of Batman: Arkham City, dubbed the Armored Edition. It adds a new B.A.T. power, which accumulates as you knock the stuffing out of the city's goons. The GamePad's screen displays a variety of information, including a weapon-selection screen. The pad's accelerometer can be used to steer batarangs, too. I'm a little wary of the fact that it's not being developed by Rocksteady (WB studios in Montreal and Burbank are handling that task), but the game looked quite good. Of course, that's the whole point of on-stage presentations.

On a lighter note, Warner also showed off a new Scribblenauts and the newly redubbed Lego City Undercover (formerly known as Lego City Stories. Perhaps Rockstar took offense?). Scribblenauts Unlimited adds two-player action to the mix, and the GamePad can be used as an interface for the new object-creation system. This looks much deeper than the addition of adjectives, allowing players to create their own bizarre (and helpful) objects. In a video, we saw some kind of wheeled dog with a mohawk. Useful? Perhaps. An abomination? Almost certainly. I've been enjoying Scribblenauts Remix on my iPad, so the HD upgrade didn't blow me away too much. Still, I always enjoy being able to create my own monstrosities, so I look forward to the Wii U version. Lego City Undercover looks like an open-world game with a cutesy Lego spin. You play a cop and scour the streets of Lego City for bad guys. I'm a sucker for Lego, and the fact that I can probably play it in front of my kids is an added bonus. I won't let them get their dirty little hands on the GamePad, though.

An Off-Key Note
I'll say it outright: I'm definitely not the audience for Sing, Nintendo's new karaoke/dance game. Reggie Fils-Aime says it gives people a chance to experience a music game without being relegated to the sidelines. How? Well, the lyrics appear on the GamePad's screen, and everyone in the room is encouraged to dance along. It's a novel idea if you haven't heard of Karaoke Revolution, Rock Band, Lips, or the later Guitar Hero games, to name a few. The people in the trailer seemed to be losing their minds over it, but they were also getting paid to do so. Nope.