Nintendo E3 Conference

Behold, a constantly updated newsposting! The Nintendo E3 Conference has started and we'll try to report on all major things in almost real-time.

The conference has just started. Nintendo shows the audience a movie in which we're shown all the positive reactions on Nintendo DS and Wii in the media lately.

Reggie Fils-Aime turns up and tells the people he's happy. Why? Because everyone is happy, everyone's a gamer. Videogame industry figures show the market is growing: nearly +50% growth compared to last year in the US and UK, and more than 100% in Japan. 69% of all sales comes from Nintendo: Reggie is happy.

The 'law' of the 80-20 division of gamers when regarding gender is changing: for Nintendo it's 67-33. Lucky us.

Reggie goes on about the Touch Generation titles (Nintendogs, etc). People tend to claim it's just a fad, but Reggie points out what we already knew: the Wii has been sold out for 33 weeks straight... Globally.

A new piece of hardware is introduced: the Wii-zapper! The zapper can hold a Nunchuk and Wii-Remote and allows for easier First Person Shooter gaming. The Zapper will be sold for $19.95.

The conference continues with a roll of upcoming titles for Wii: Soul Calibur Legends, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Dragon Quest Swords and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Super Smash Bros Brawl will launch in the United States on December 3rd, 2007 (Europe 2008 anyone?).

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is brought on screen. The audience is given a demo of the game: how do we control Link, make notes, grab object, etc. All using the touchscreen.

Next up: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii. Jackie, female, shows us how gestures using the Wii-remote and nunchuk are used to flip switches. Also, the hyper-mode is introduced: Samus can control superior weapons, but can't stay in hyper-mode for too long or... she'll become corrupted.

On to online services. 5.5 million players who used the free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service through their Nintendo DS. 5.6 million downloads from the Wii shopping channel. But that's not it. Nintendo will introduce Wiiware early next year, allowing developers to offer new titles through the shopping channel.

Reggie also announces a brand new channel for Wii: 'Check Mii Out'. Using this channel, gamers can put their Mii's up for voting. Who has the most popular Mii? Who created the funniest Mii?

But there's more coming for Wii online: FIFA 2008, Madden 2008 and... Mario Kart Wii (Q1 2008). For the latter title, Nintendo will release a steering wheel (pictured below), which will come packed with Mario Kart Wii.

Reggie leaves the stage and Mr. Iwata appears. He tells the crowd what the gaming scene was like when he started gaming 30 years ago. There simply weren't many gamers. He thought people should get introduced into gaming. Over time, new ideas emerged, allowing more people to access games. Nintendogs and Brain Training on the Nintendo DS or Wii Sports on Wii are just a few examples. Iwata states that the DS Cookbook enjoyed him so much, he's now cooking dinner for his family. How convenient.

Back to nowadays' gaming: Super Mario Galaxy for Wii. Explore the galaxy in the United States from November 12, 2007 (again: 2008 for Europe?). Other games briefly pass the revue: Picross DS, MySims, Brain Training 2, High School Musical, Rayman Raving Rabbits 2, My Word Coach and My Life Coach.

Miyamoto is introduced on stage and a movie starts rolling. The audience is introduced to Wii Fit, a working-out game for Wii. Wii Fit makes use of a weight-scale device (the 'Wii Balance Board') on which gamers will stand, push and balance while exercising. A few stills from the movie can be found below.

The Wii Balance Board not only records your weight, but also notices any movement you make (moving arms, etc), simply because your balance changes. Miyamoto explains that this could possibly be used as a new interface for playing games.

Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aime go head-to-head on Wii Fit. Try to hit balls shot at them in a little soccer game. Reggie wins (after taking a few shoes in the virtual Mii-head as well).

Well, that's it. Stay tuned as we expect that Nintendo will release their E3 press kit in the very near future. And of course, we'll get the content of it to you a.s.a.p.

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Comments

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  Have to say I was disappointed with the conference. I thought there would have been more announcements. I was expecting something bigger than Wii Fit.

  ganepark32, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  I'm fairly excited really... but there's more new titles, just keep an eye on the news (Mario Party DS, Nintendo Magic, etc)

  Dennis, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Still waiting on release date on Smash Bros X.

  LeSomeGuy, 30-11--0001 at 00:00