Nintendo’s E3 press conference: Wii U, 3DS and 23 new games

ZombiU is the exclusive zombie-killing simulator for Wii U shown briefly at the Ubisoft and Nintendo press conferences. It is also one of the show’s best surprises and one of the most promising games announced for the upcoming console.

Polygon had a chance to go hands-on with the first-person shooter at the Nintendo booth, and found it took full advantage of the Wii U GamePad without falling into the trap of novel, but cumbersome controls.

Nintendo will release a pedometer like device to work with their upcoming title, WiiFit U. According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, players will attach the device to their body and it will record steps taken, track calories burned and monitor altitude. It will also record the player’s exercising habits when they are not playing WiiFit U.

The pedometer will communicate with the Wii U via infrared, merging its data with that from the game. No official name or release date were announced.

At Nintendo’s E3 press conference this morning, the company confirmed New Super Mario Bros. U for the company’s upcoming Wii U console.

The game is similar to Super Mario Bros. Wii but features several additional mechanics. One player participates with the tablet controller while up to four other players use Wii motes. The player using the tablet can tap on the tablet’s screen to create platforms for the other players to jump on. Once a platformer has been jumped on it begins to shrink away. The game can also be transferred between the television to the tablet controller.

During today’s E3 keynote, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils Aime announced four new partners that will be providing content to Wii U owners — Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and YouTube. The keynote was largely focused on games, but further details on these new partnerships are coming. “In the future, we’ll show you how the Wii U will integrate and elevate entertainment in your living room,” Fils Aime explained.