Topic: Press Conference Thoughts

[TheYoungerPlumber]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16377

 

You can read my summary of Nintendo's E3 press event here. What you will not find in that article is anything that gets me excited.    

In the past Nintendo stated they would please “core gamers” at E3. Well, unless they announce something really big tomorrow during a Q&A session, like they did with Smash Bros. they certainly have not pleased me. What will I be playing on my DS or Wii in four months? Seriously, What is Retro doing? NST? Monolith? What about Square Enix or your other Japanese third parties? Seriously, I know there are some big titles in the works at least for DS. I'm hoping there's a crap-load of games I'm interested in that Nintendo simply chose not to mention in favor of the pushing casual market appeal. I guess I'll find out as I explore the “showroom floor.”    

Yes, the microphone announcement is fantastic, if a bit late, and I hope other first and third party games will leverage that peripheral. I'm fine with a community microphone—that's more comfortable, and certainly more practical with multiple per Wii playing online. (Xbox360 owners probably know how odd it can be to have two people and only one headset microphone.) It's nice to see Vicarious Visions prominently featured and a GTA for DS.    

Wii Sports 2 looks promising, but will not be released anytime soon. The MotionPlus looks interesting, although I'm unclear on all of its benefits. I'm wary of it becoming “the new Wii Remote,” as it could segment the market, and I don't like the idea of buying another peripheral just to have a working controller. Packaging the peripheral with Wii Sports 2 is a very good idea: Nintendo cannot easily convey to the casual gamer what the Wii MotionPlus does, but they'll buy Wii Sports 2 on brand name alone. If Nintendo is serious about making that the standard, other early first and third party titles should also have a pack-in MotionPlus.    

However, the improvements are still subtle, and developers will (at least initially) have a tough decision as to whether and how they will to support the peripheral. I could see dual-tier support like we saw in the N64 with the expansion pak, but that could be confusing for both developers and the players. The balance board's use in other games is promising, though, so my concerns may be unwarranted.    

I'm sure you'll get more of my and other staffers' thoughts throughout the week.

[D_Average]

In the words of Michael Scott, "We're screwed people, we're totally screwed!"

The E3 from Nintendo, reminded me of last E3 from Nintendo.  Remember when Reggie declared, "I heard you all think we aren't taking online seriously, well, maybe, you're just not looking hard enough".  At that time, they had two games w/ online, Strikers and Pokemon.

This year, he told gamers to expect "big things" at E3 for the core gamer.  Well, that day has come and I can now rejoice with a game where I can prune my tulips, and a game with air guitar.  Afterwards, during the G4 interview, Morgan Webb asked him what he would say to the hardcore gamers disappointed with this years showing.  He replied, "We've got Animal Crossing and GTA DS, what more can a Core gamer ask for!?".

Either this company is seriously out of touch with reality, or they really want to sell another 11 million Wii Play clones.  My gut tells me its the latter. 

Time to invest in another console.

[ShyGuy]

How good is this mike going to be? It's sitting on top the TV so I assume it's going to filter out the game noise and any ambient sounds and zero in on your voice?

can't wait for racial and homophobic slurs to be thrown around Animal Crossing like Halo 3

[GoldenPhoenix]

Nintendo is doing what they did at last E3, selling the Wii to the mainstream media. Believe it or not Wii has been a gigantic success and they are obviously in touch with a huge majority of the userbase. E3 appears to be centered more around getting media attention then it is about their core games. That is fine, though I do expect them to do another event focused more around the tradtional games.

[vudu]

How good is this mike going to be? It's sitting on top the TV so I assume it's going to filter out the game noise and any ambient sounds and zero in on your voice?

That's a very good point.  I just don't see this game working for FPS at all.  Heavy gun-fire from the TV would drown out everything else.

[Aero Leviathan]

I agree with much of the author's sentiment, particularly about the MotionPlus.

Just a few editorial notes:
1. 'like they did with Smash Bros' link goes nowhere
2. par 4, I think you meant 'wary', not 'weary'

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Yeah, sorry about the broken links guys.

[RABicle]

How good is this mike going to be? It's sitting on top the TV so I assume it's going to filter out the game noise and any ambient sounds and zero in on your voice?

It'll be fine. The Mic on my laptop is located under the left speaker and it's fine. Ambient noise is easily filtered.

[King of Twitch]

"We're gonna unveil the whole second half during E3,” Reggie said. “I mean come on, there's more than enough to get people excited."

The Opposite Rule stands.

[Djunknown]

He replied, "We've got Animal Crossing and GTA DS, what more can a Core gamer ask for!?".

My guess is that Iwata/NCL has Reggie on a short leash, and thus can't kick ass like he'd like to. I didn't see the interview, did he say that with a straight face?

[D_Average]

He replied, "We've got Animal Crossing and GTA DS, what more can a Core gamer ask for!?".

My guess is that Iwata/NCL has Reggie on a short leash, and thus can't kick ass like he'd like to. I didn't see the interview, did he say that with a straight face?

Not just a straight face, but in a 3rd grade teacher "I"m really annoyed" kind of way.