Playground squirt-gun fights are the focus of this upcoming WiiWare game.

There are a dizzying number of subgenres that exist underneath the umbrella of first-person shooters: tactical, sci-fi, World War II with regular Nazis, World War II with magical Nazis, and so on. The list could go on for days, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many games that portray the gritty, no-holds-barred combat of playground water-gun fights. For Wii owners, that will soon change with the release of Water Warfare on WiiWare. This first-person shooter from Hudson trades in AK-47s and blood for super soakers and characters with bulbous anime eyes in a family-friendly action experience.

The visuals in Water Warfare are pretty basic.

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We skydive, fly an airship, and ride a Chocobo in this surprising addition to the Crystal Chronicles series.

We weren’t sure what to expect when we went hands-on with The Crystal Bearers at Square Enix’s booth. After all, it’s been years since the game was first announced, with nary a whisper heard from it since, which makes its presence on the show floor a welcome surprise. And yet, even after going hands-on with it, we’re still not sure quite sure what to make of it. But we do know this: It left us hungry for more.

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We get another look at the upcoming Wii-exclusive sequel to Dead Space.

Touting its third-party collaborations, Nintendo used this morning’s E3 conference to talk more about three of its upcoming Wii titles: Sega’s The Conduit, Capcom’s Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and EA’s Dead Space Extraction. Unfortunately, Nintendo said nothing new about the latter, save for airing a very short trailer.

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Nintendo shows a quick glimpse of The Conduit in trailer form during its E3 2009 press conference.

The Conduit may be reaching shelves in a matter of just a few short weeks, but that didn’t keep Nintendo from touting its upcoming arrival during its press conference at E3 2009. Nintendo saved its more mature games for last in a schedule otherwise packed with family-friendly fare, which made us more excited than ever to see what this alien shooter has in store for us later this month. Unfortunately, all Nintendo showed off was an incredibly brief trailer. It didn’t tell us anything new, but it sure looked pretty–and pretty dramatic.

“It’s time to go to work!” These were the words that began the trailer, which was full of first-person alien shooting, lasers, and creepy aliens that looked not unlike those of the Metroid Prime series. Firefights took place across a variety of environments, most notably the interior of a spacecraft. Another voice-over proclaimed: “The city is doomed–you’ve got to hurry,” and the trailer ended with these words splashed on the screen: “The truth. Must. Survive.”

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Nintendo made some of the best classic games, but give these a try and see why they can still work.

Gunstar Heroes
First released in 1993, this quirky game is well-loved for its exciting running and shooting action and its non-stop intense gameplay. You’ll also like the game’s manga-style look and the guns that could be mixed and matched to create your very own custom-designed shooter. Choose from a flamethrower, a homing shot, a machine gun and a laser. But no matter how big your gun gets, your enemies either multiply or get bigger themselves, so you never run out of challenges.

If you enjoyed the arcade games of the past like Street Fighter II and Contra, you’ll like this game even better. The levels, thankfully enough, are brief so you’re not stuck with long-winding stages of mindless gunplay. Two players can also play simultaneously.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion
If you’ve played Trauma Center before, you’ve probably met Dr. Derek Stiles, who just completed his residency. The story progresses through text dialogue and still images, but it’s interesting enough with the incorporation of some serious material, like euthanasia to suicidal patients. As Dr. Derek Stiles, you are gifted with the Healing Touch.

In the world you will inhabit, forces that point to bioterrorism are threatening the world with an epidemic. You will be performing surgery on patients, although it’s not as gory as you might think. You get to use a multiple array of surgical tools through the analog stick of the Wii’s nunchuk attachment. And it’s not just about surgery. You do have to mind your patient’s health – if their heart stops, you have to do something. This game isn’t easy so you’ll be challenged throughout.

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