E3 game critics: Wii won

Short of having Satoru Iwata hurl bricks into the crowd at the Nintendo press conference, it seems that there was very little the Japanese giant could have done to disappoint the myriad E3 attendees, especially the overly critical ones. The Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists from 37 different media outlets, have deemed Nintendo's Wii Best of Show, praising its unique controller and "different" approach to gaming.

Nintendo also grabbed the Best Hardware and Best Sports Game gongs, the latter one being awarded for the very energetic Wii Sports collection. Other big winners were Will Wright's Spore, Microsoft's Gears of War, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. The shockingly innovative PS3 controller was mysteriously overlooked.

With the Wii receiving this sort of vindication, both as a concept and as a console, we hope that critics and gamers alike don't forget that, like any other system, the games are what will make or break it. The Wii was a success at E3 due to games like Super Mario Galaxy. Games like Final Furlong, on the other hand, remind us that the hardware alone, weird controller and all, can't guarantee an enjoyable experience.

[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]