E3 is the yearly event that reaffirms why I’m working in the industry I am. So many passionate people all coming together to get excited over the unveiling of new games and hardware as well as the die hard fans of a single company berating anything anyone else releases. Whether it’s the excitement over something new or the rabid fanboy rage that stirs inside many, it all comes down to passion. But it was when Nintendo unveiled Retro Studios new take on the Donkey Kong Country series when I felt an excitement for a game (and company) that I hadn’t felt for a while now.

There were two things I was certain of recently.

1. The Wii was dead for hardcore gamers
2. 2D sidescrollers NEED to make a comeback.

I didn’t think that a single announcement would prove one of my opinions by disproving the other. I’m glad I haven’t sold my Wii as I will pick this game up on launch day, and it’s the passion that emerges from Kensuke Tanabe –both from his point of view and that implied of the Retro Studios team — during a discussion with Satoru Iwata (link to conversation at bottom of this page) that makes me want to follow the progress of the game be around these people.