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Nintendo surprises with a new Super Smash Bros.

Nintendo surprises with a new Super Smash Bros.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
We almost didn't attend Wednesday's Nintendo developer meeting, held after the E3 show floor closed for the night. If we had, we would have missed a great evening with some Nintendo all-stars and an important new game announcement.

Surprising everyone in the small audience, Nintendo announced a new Wii title, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The sequel to the popular multiplayer fighting game was not mentioned during Nintendo's press conference or pre-E3 events, nor is it anywhere in Nintendo's sprawling E3 booth. The Super Smash Bros. series features an all-star cast of Nintendo characters, and the trailer shown at the event introduced some new additions, including Metroid's Samus (minus her usual armor) and Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake (an especially surprising addition, as he's a Konami character).

After the trailer, legendary Nintendo figures Shigeru Miyamoto and Masahiro Sakurai came out for lengthy Q&A session, talking about the game and their thoughts on the Nintendo Wii. Miyamoto said that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would probably not a Wii launch title but should appear within six months of the system's release. More information on Super Smash Bros. Brawl should be available later in the week.