My first appointment today, at the grueling hour of 9 am, was with Atari, to see some new Wii and DS titles. They’re working right now on a mix of casual-aim titles and more hardcore titles, and the results are pretty satisfying at first glance.

The first game I saw was What’s Cooking? with Jamie Oliver. This game has basically two parts: there’s a cooking game portion, and there’s a recipe book portion. The game includes over 100 recipes, and for any of them you can look at the recipes step-by-step for use in the kitchen, or you can head into the cooking game and make the dish on the DS. You’ll use the stylus to shake flour into a bowl, cracks eggs, and other things; I’m told that not a single step will be skipped out on in the cooking process, save for some time-reducing on the stove and whatnot. The game mechanics control well, no major stylus errors or anything like that, and the recipe book looks quite expansive. In the main cooking game, you’ll be starting off slow with things like eggs and pancakes, and you’ll work your way up to more elaborate dishes.

The next title shown to me was Backyard Football 09 for the Wii (they also had a DS build, but it was pre-alpha and crashed a lot); the rep was proud of the fact that they were able to license the NFL and other major leagues for the Backyard series. The game as I played it is very much pick-up-and-play, geared toward youngsters. There is some motion control, like hiking, passing, and juking, but they really took out more of the elaborate motions that got annoying, and the controls are generally simplified. I was able to make myself a touchdown despite not really knowing football strategy, so it seems like kids will like it. There are also some other elements in play, like how certain characters play better when they’re playing their rivals, or how Tom Brady may play better for the Patriots.

The last game I saw that I’m allowed to discuss was the fast-paced ninja platformer, N+. I was playing the PSP version since the DS version wasn’t around, but I was told they’d be very similar in controls and options. Anyone who played the original N will be glad to hear the games feel nearly identical when you’re playing; you control a ninja who jumps around collecting gold and dodging enemies; it’s fast-paced and timing-intensive, so it’s for the more hardcore gamers. There’s also a level editor that I messed around with for a bit; the controls take a minute to get used to, but once you figure out how to make levels, it’s very easy to do. I quickly put together a simple level comprised of an exit door and twenty or so missile launchers. The game also will have local multiplayer and level sharing, and I believe it will use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but I can’t say that for sure.

I was also shown two other titles behind closed doors that I’m not allowed to discuss yet, but the press embargo should lift on both in a couple of weeks. Look forward to more impressions then.