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Nintendo E3 Press Conference Summary

by Steven Rodriguez - July 15, 2008, 12:39 pm EDT
Total comments: 70

Find out what went down at Nintendo's E3 press conference with our summary.

Nintendo once again held its E3 press conference at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, the site of its 2006 press event. Nintendo highlighted its continued success with Nintendo DS and Wii, and showcased a handful of first and third party games. The overall emphasis was on casual gamers, with very little for traditional video game enthusiasts.

Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo executive vice president of sales & marketing, kicked the show off talking about how much her kids love the fact that she works for Nintendo. This transitioned into a discussion of other ways she has tried to be cool, such as attempting to go snowboarding, breaking her wrist in the process. This led to a demonstration of Ubisoft's Shaun White Snowboarding, with Shaun White himself demoing the special Wii Balance Board controls. It was unclear from the on-stage demo how tricks were executed, but you can look forward to NWR's impressions after we've had a chance to try it out.

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Satoru Iwata took the stage to discuss the status of Nintendo's product line, highlighting its continued growth and success. Slides highlighted that according to Nintendo data, Wii hardware is selling faster than that of the PlayStation 2, and Wii software shows a similar trend. He also discussed the continued success of the Nintendo DS and its “evergreen” titles, such as New Super Mario Bros. and the Brain Age games, and that DS units is selling better than ever—especially to females. Iwata insists that Wii and DS owners must continue to be engaged, or else they will lose interest. He then promised that the Zelda and Mario teams are working on new Wii titles, though he made no direct mention if those teams were actually making new Zelda and Mario games.

Nintendo went on to feature Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii with a video showing gameplay footage and series director Katsuya Eguchi explaining the features of the new title. Most notably, Animal Crossing will support a new microphone peripheral called the WiiSpeak, a community microphone that will pick up the voices of anyone sitting around the TV. Players can visit each others' towns (after trading Friend Codes) and hang out, trade items, engage in activities, and more. The footage showed a fishing contest with friends talking online. In addition, players can send messages from the game to the Wii Message Board, to an e-mail addresses, or even directly to mobile phones. This entry in the series also introduces a city, where players can participate in auctions, interact with animals, and perform other Animal Crossing mainstay activities.

NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime took over to further discuss business trends, boasting about successful marketing campaigns and joking about how Wii and DS units are competing for weekly sales figures. Reggie showed some quick reels of featured third party titles Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party, and Call of Duty: World at War, titles that would be "coming soon" to the Wii.

Next, Nintendo touched on the success of Guitar Hero: World Tour, then announced a second DS Guitar Hero entry, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades. Karthik Bala from Vicarious Visions announced some details via recorded footage. Most interestingly, players can share songs between the two Guitar Hero entries during multiplayer. That is, if someone with On Tour plays with someone who owns On Tour Decades, the tracks from both games will be available. This was followed by footage of Spore for the DS, titled Spore Creatures. The DS entry is distinct from the version for other platforms, focusing on creature generation and interaction.

The only Nintendo-published DS title announced was Pokemon Ranger: Shadow of Almin, with very few details given. However, Nintendo revealed that Grand Theft Auto will come to DS with a unique entry called Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. The new GTA game for the DS would be created specifically for the platform with a new engine and special features. Nintendo also hinted at future travel companion DS functions they are experimenting with, such as checking for flight status at the airport and their current Safeco Field baseball stats service in Seattle. Cooking Navi, retitled to Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?, is also scheduled for a North American release.

Near the end of the presentation, Nintendo touched on its newly announced Wii Remote peripheral, the Wii MotionPlus. The flagship title that will use this device is Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to Wii Sports. Nintendo said it would be available in "spring 2009." Without a 2008 release date, Wii Sports Resort seems early in development, but Nintendo demonstrated a few summer vacation activities that will be included, such as a frisbee toss with dog game reminiscent of Nintendogs, a jet-ski game, and sword dueling. The MotionPlus allows the system to detect subtle wrist twists and movements, and Nintendo referred to the Wii Remote + MotionPlus as “the new remote” on multiple occasions. The Wii Sports sequel will come with one MotionPlus, with additional units sold separately.

Finally, Shigeru Miyamoto showcased Wii Music. Designed so that anyone can play—and Nintendo means anyone—the game will feature gesture controls with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, as well as the Wii Fit board as part of a drum kit in a separate game mode. The game is relatively free-form and appears to be similar to like EA's Boogie in that most of the activities are automatically done for your, but that's hard to determine without getting any hands-on play time. The game will include a variety of songs, including Nintendo songs (the Mario theme was demonstrated live). The game offers other modes of play, such as the conducting, and a drum trainer.

Overall, Nintendo announced a few key peripherals and established that it has no intent of giving up the casual market. However, with few new Nintendo DS or Wii game announcements from Nintendo itself, and almost no traditional games presence, the conference left video game enthusiasts fairly disappointed. Nintendo World Report will have more thoughts on the press conference and the games demonstrated shortly, so keep an eye out for game impressions, blogs, and podcast entries!

Talkback

MorariJuly 15, 2008

Animal Crossing is going to bring voice chat to Wii games? I didn't see that one coming.

I was kind of assuming that a Wii Sports sequel would come out, thus enabling the Wii Motion Plus to be as widespread as possible as a pack-in. Will it be a true Wii Sports 2 or another glorified Wii Play though?

walkingdead2July 15, 2008

so far all 3 were really disappointing.  but i have to say that the crap that smelled the least came from Microsoft.

Nick DiMolaNick DiMola, Staff AlumnusJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: walkingdead2

so far all 3 were really disappointing.  but i have to say that the crap that smelled the least came from Microsoft.

I don't know, they were all equally terrible. The FF13 announcement may give them the edge though.

walkingdead2July 15, 2008

Quote from: Mr.

Quote from: walkingdead2

so far all 3 were really disappointing.  but i have to say that the crap that smelled the least came from Microsoft.

I don't know, they were all equally terrible. The FF13 announcement may give them the edge though.

that was kind of my point.  the only surprises Nintendo and sony had was that there conferences sucked.  hell sony talked about the ps2 for a good chunk of time.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool shit is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

bubicusJuly 15, 2008

I really enjoyed the Wii Music demo, because it's the kind of fun social game I can pull a lot of friends in for. Since it doesn't have any guide, we can just mess around with the music. Although some people are saying that the game plays itself, that's not true at all. You can tell from the video how different positions of the controls and different timings of button presses clearly affect how the music is played.

Other than Wii Music, and the MotionPlus possibilities... I'm not too excited about anything shown in any of the conferences this year. That Resistance 2 demo for PS3 was good graphically, but laughable gameplay-wise. I'm not interested in playing any game in which I can survive getting thrown through multiple skyscrapers, but I can't survive gunshots.

walkingdead2July 15, 2008

Quote from: KashogiStogi

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool **** is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

im really hoping that this is sarcasm.  i just wanted more than animal crossing.

bubicusJuly 15, 2008

Oh, yeah, I also liked the news that Wii Music videos can be recorded. I assume they can be shared somehow, as well. If not directly through Wii Music, then through video capture on a computer. That would really help sales if direct-to-video-site capabilities were included. People would make tons of videos.

GoldenPhoenixJuly 15, 2008

What is with the Wii Music hate? We still know very little of it and it looks like a fun and, yes, unique game. A perfect successor to Wii Fit and Wii Sports.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: walkingdead2

Quote from: KashogiStogi

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool **** is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

im really hoping that this is sarcasm.  i just wanted more than animal crossing.

Quote from: walkingdead2

Quote from: KashogiStogi

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool **** is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

im really hoping that this is sarcasm.  i just wanted more than animal crossing.

Just cuz Nintendo doesn't show a "mature" game, you act like they don't exist.


MadWorld?

RedSteel?

CoD?

WarioLand?

Conduit?

Starwars TFU?

GTA?

What more do you want?!

Do you even have time to play half of those games?

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

Quote:

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now.

What third parties make hardcore games for the Wii?

I admire how NWR was able to state the conference was a disappointment in a professional manner.

Frankly I don't see why Nintendo uses E3 to be so casual focused.  Soccer moms don't pay attention to E3.  Only hardcore gamers do.  Might as well play to the audience.

Quote:

What is with the Wii Music hate?

I think a lot of us were interested in it and now we're finding out it's for people who think easy in Guitar Hero is too hard.  It doesn't even sound like a game.  It sounds like it's practically a video.

AVJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: KashogiStogi

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool **** is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

I would have hope for hardcore franchises if they showed a glimmer of hope of them.
I don't care if its just trailers I want to see they are not totally abandoning the Hardcore.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

Ian, your an idiot.

You do realize that Miyamoto trumped Guitar Hero A HUNDRED FOLD.

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

GoldenPhoenixJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: Ian

Quote:

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now.

What third parties make hardcore games for the Wii?

I admire how NWR was able to state the conference was a disappointment in a professional manner.

Frankly I don't see why Nintendo uses E3 to be so casual focused.  Soccer moms don't pay attention to E3.  Only hardcore gamers do.  Might as well play to the audience.

Yeah kind of like how Wii Fit was ignored after being revealed at E3? Do you even know what you are talking about half the time Ian? The mainstream media has picked up E3 ever since Wii was revealed.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: Mr.

Quote from: KashogiStogi

WTF?! Are you serious?

Wii Music made me laugh and giggle like a little school girl. And Wii Resort is yet again Nintendo proving that cool **** is on the way.

Are you sad that there weren't any hardcore games from them (even though they hinted to the fact that Nintendo's Mario and Zelda teams are making gorgeous games as we speak)?

Let the third parties make the hardcore games for now. Next year, we'll be swimming in "hardcore" franchises.

I would have hope for hardcore franchises if they showed a glimmer of hope of them.
I don't care if its just trailers I want to see they are not totally abandoning the Hardcore.

As Reggie said early, Nintendo's CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED STUDIOS for the "hardcore" are well on there way to making new games.

And just cuz they don't have anything to show doesn't mean they are "abandoning the hardcore." That's the dumbest shit ever.

It's like forgetting to give your wife a 29th year anniversary present, then being accused that you don't love her AFTER 29 years of fucking marriage.

GoldenPhoenixJuly 15, 2008

Guys while the show was lame for us remember E3 has been a launching point for the casual side of Wii. E3 for the last couple of years has been gobbled up by the mainstream media when it comes to Wii so of course they are going continue mining that. Wii Fit was a huge hit for the media after E3 and of course Wii itself was a huge hit the first E3 with the media. So why change?

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

Quote:

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

I can play an actual instrument and I sure as hell have no interest in something that requires no timing, no rhythm and no skill.  This isn't for real musicians, it's for people so inept at music that they can't even play existing music games.

Maybe I'm still missing a huge part of it but it sounds like you just do stuff and music plays with no rhyme or reason to it.  Why would a real musician like that?  Why would anyone but the youngest child like that?

I'm really interested in hands on reports from the floor because the press conference made it sound like there is nothing to it at all.  Maybe Nintendo just REALLY sucked at demonstrating it.

walkingdead2July 15, 2008

Quote from: KashogiStogi

Ian, your an idiot.

You do realize that Miyamoto trumped Guitar Hero A HUNDRED FOLD.

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

i play several instruments... so does the drummer in my band.  we love guitar hero/rock band.  wii music does nothing for me.  maybe after i see some footage and get a sence of what the game is really about.  i can only go off of the ign notes really cause im at work now. 

this conference said nothing of/failed to deliver
1 storage for the wii
2 Nintendo's franchises other than animal crossing and pokemon
3 wii ware (im pretty sure they said nothing of itl... or very little)
4 didn't wow us with any surprises
5  didnt give us a glimpse of the future.  they could have at least let us know about something sweet even if it wouldnt be coming out untill next year.


at least Microsoft had ff 13.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

I don't know how you guys can fathom calling yourselves gamers and not drool over WiiSports 2 (when WiiSports is still played by some of you) and at the obvious genius of WiiMusic.

Did you see what Miyamoto did right there? I've been wrapping my brains around how WiiMusic would work; most importantly, how the Wiimote would become so many different instruments. Then Miyamoto was the deaf man that watched a concert. Body language plays a huge part in speech, and it's even more true in music.

Fucking GENIUS!

Not only that, but I would concede that WiiMotionPlus was a DEFINITE hardcore focused announcement, even if they demoed WiiSports 2.

Quote from: Ian

Quote:

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

I can play an actual instrument and I sure as hell have no interest in something that requires no timing, no rhythm and no skill.  This isn't for real musicians, it's for people so inept at music that they can't even play existing music games.

Maybe I'm still missing a huge part of it but it sounds like you just do stuff and music plays with no rhyme or reason to it.  Why would a real musician like that?  Why would anyone but the youngest child like that?

I'm really interested in hands on reports from the floor because the press conference made it sound like there is nothing to it at all.  Maybe Nintendo just REALLY sucked at demonstrating it.

Wow, Ian. I hope you don't do this in real life. You know........judge something before you even know what it is. FOR SHAME.

The way it works is that you press buttons on the wiimote for the timing of the rhythm (I'm not sure if you have multiple octaves or what not). Then to change key, you simple imitate what a real musician would do. For instance, leaning back while playing the saxophone will make it play louder and at a higher pitch.

That's pretty god damn cool considering it can be used for 50 plus instruments.

Quote from: walkingdead2

Quote from: KashogiStogi

Ian, your an idiot.

You do realize that Miyamoto trumped Guitar Hero A HUNDRED FOLD.

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

i play several instruments... so does the drummer in my band.  we love guitar hero/rock band.  wii music does nothing for me.  maybe after i see some footage and get a sence of what the game is really about.  i can only go off of the ign notes really cause im at work now. 

this conference said nothing of/failed to deliver
1 storage for the wii
2 Nintendo's franchises other than animal crossing and pokemon
3 wii ware (im pretty sure they said nothing of itl... or very little)
4 didn't wow us with any surprises
5  didnt give us a glimpse of the future.  they could have at least let us know about something sweet even if it wouldnt be coming out untill next year.


at least Microsoft had ff 13.

You play an instrument and like Guitar Hero? Your the very first and I surround myself with musicians, being a musician myself.

I admit, Guitar Hero as a Rhythm based game is pretty money just like Ouedinan. But as a Music simulator..........please.......

At least with WiiMusic you can JAM, which is quintessential to any musician.

UltimatePartyBearJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: Ian

Quote:

Wii Music is going to be the game that people who ACTUALLY play an instrument will love.

I can play an actual instrument and I sure as hell have no interest in something that requires no timing, no rhythm and no skill.  This isn't for real musicians, it's for people so inept at music that they can't even play existing music games.

Have you seen the video?  With no timing, no rhythm, and no skill, you're going to be playing Wii Noise, not Wii Music.  It's simply unstructured so you can play whatever you want.

Nick DiMolaNick DiMola, Staff AlumnusJuly 15, 2008

I was disappointed by the conference because they didn't show anything unexpected. We knew AC and WiiMusic were coming, and WiiSports 2 was a thought in everyone's mind as well since they did the PR of the MotionPlus yesterday.

The only announcement that really piqued my interest was the Voice Chat in AC, which we are all hoping for. That isn't enough to make the show for me.

walkingdead2July 15, 2008

Quote from: KashogiStogi

I don't know how you guys can fathom calling yourselves gamers and not drool over WiiSports 2 (when WiiSports is still played by some of you) and at the obvious genius of WiiMusic.

Did you see what Miyamoto did right there? I've been wrapping my brains around how WiiMusic would work; most importantly, how the Wiimote would become so many different instruments. Then Miyamoto was the deaf man that watched a concert. Body language plays a huge part in speech, and it's even more true in music.

****ing GENIUS!

Not only that, but I would concede that WiiMotionPlus was a DEFINITE hardcore focused announcement, even if they demoed WiiSports 2.

i was on the fence about your sarcasm before... but now i can see how thick your laying it on.  good show old man you had me believing that you loved this e3... sorry i didnt pick up on it sooner

ShyGuyJuly 15, 2008

The motion plus is looking like a MS style reaction move rather than critical to upcoming games. kinda like the 360 HD-DVD player.

Call of Duty looks HAWT

No RedSteel 2 :(

More Animal Crossing info plz

Waiting for the NWR podcast with baited breath!

UrkelJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: ShyGuy

The motion plus is looking like a MS style reaction move rather than critical to upcoming games. kinda like the 360 HD-DVD player.

1:1 swordfighting makes this critical. All games in development should be delayed to incorporate this.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: walkingdead2

Quote from: KashogiStogi

I don't know how you guys can fathom calling yourselves gamers and not drool over WiiSports 2 (when WiiSports is still played by some of you) and at the obvious genius of WiiMusic.

Did you see what Miyamoto did right there? I've been wrapping my brains around how WiiMusic would work; most importantly, how the Wiimote would become so many different instruments. Then Miyamoto was the deaf man that watched a concert. Body language plays a huge part in speech, and it's even more true in music.

****ing GENIUS!

Not only that, but I would concede that WiiMotionPlus was a DEFINITE hardcore focused announcement, even if they demoed WiiSports 2.

i was on the fence about your sarcasm before... but now i can see how thick your laying it on.  good show old man you had me believing that you loved this e3... sorry i didnt pick up on it sooner

I guess sarcasm works both ways.........

And just so you know, I truly did like this E3 showing. WiiMusic and WiiResort made my day.

Luigi DudeJuly 15, 2008

Like I just said in the other topic, Nintendo's new strategy for traditional games is to announce them 2-3 months before they're released.  This is what they did back in May for Japan with Wario Land Shake, Fatal Frame, Rhythm Tengoku, and Band Bros 2 all announced for a July release.

So just because Nintendo didn't announce much, doesn't mean more traditional games aren't coming.  Because of Nintendo's new policy we just won't find out about them until September and October.

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

Quote:

You play an instrument and like Guitar Hero? Your the very first and I surround myself with musicians, being a musician myself.

It did take a few years for me to give it a solid try.  I was initially biased because you had all these jerks acting like because they were good at Guitar Hero they were some sort of real musician.  I remember being at a music store where they were having a Rock Band contest and the host was going on about this is a good introduction to playing a real instrument and I was just rolling my eyes.  Ignore all that and the game is actually fun to play.

Though I find I needed to try it at a higher difficulty to enjoy it.  On the easiest setting it eliminates notes.  The guitar track plays four notes in a riff but the game requires you to hit only every second one which would throw me off.  If I instinctively hit all four beats it was be considered a goof up.  Try the hardest songs on easy or start with medium and then you'll get into it.

StogiJuly 15, 2008

Oh, I've played it, and there's a reason why it's fun, but (you can agree with me on this) it's not the music. It's the addictive, rhythm based, memorization gameplay; music just makes it more accessible and appealing.
You can't write your own music. You can't Freeform.

There's a rigid structure to the game, but that's not what music is about. I think Miyamoto captured it perfectly. Music is a form of expression, end of story.

Bartman3010July 15, 2008

Well...the conference was unpredictable, thats the only credit I can give it. Otherwise, I think Microsoft really trumped the opposition here. Microsoft has all the big names, Nintendo has itself, Sony has home. Its coming, they assure us. Oh damn. its coming. I'm starting to care less about the Wii and, well, video games in general.

MorariJuly 15, 2008

Microsoft didn't really seem to pull out anything too awe-inspiring aside from Final Fantasy, and that's only if you're a fan of JRPGs. I'll be much more interested in Fable 2 once a PC port is announced.

EnnerJuly 15, 2008

I was hoping for some big violent exclusive to have some fair light, but I guess there was no time for that. No matter, the press conference is only one chunk of E3.

Still, there are a lack of surprises so far (besides FF13). WiiSpeak was from left field and WiiSports Resort is nice, but... I guess I was hoping for more. I guess I shouldn't since it is a press conference and not a press show.

TanookisuitJuly 15, 2008

I think it just became incredibly clear that E3 just isn't important to Nintendo (or anyone else) anymore.  At least not like it used to be.  Nintendo used it to maybe get some coverage on the Today Show.  Fine.  They've got other games, but my mom wouldn't care about them, so Nintendo didn't show them.  I'm not worried.

It did feel like I was watching my parents play games on stage, though.

GoldenPhoenixJuly 15, 2008

Well it looks like E3 is for the taking from Sony if they try. Should be interesting.

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

Quote:

that's not what music is about. I think Miyamoto captured it perfectly. Music is a form of expression, end of story.

Well that's actually my attitude towards music as well.  In fact I typically associate myself as a songwriter and playing an instrument is more the skill I need to write songs and play them back.

But Wii Music has not made a good first impression on me.  I'm going to need to see some positive hands-on impressions from the floor.

GoldenPhoenixJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: Ian

Quote:

that's not what music is about. I think Miyamoto captured it perfectly. Music is a form of expression, end of story.

Well that's actually my attitude towards music as well.  In fact I typically associate myself as a songwriter and playing an instrument is more the skill I need to write songs and play them back.

But Wii Music has not made a good first impression on me.  I'm going to need to see some positive hands-on impressions from the floor.

Something not making a good first impression on Ian? Amazing!

CalibanJuly 15, 2008

Well I'm not happy.

Animal Crossing: Bleh. I'm not impressed. Seriously, that's all they could do was port the DS version for the Wii... we get to go to the city now "like holy crap wow, not really". Wii Speak sold seperately for $29.99 will be my purchase, but there's nothing else anounced that takes advantage of it, so it's a delayed purchase.

Wii Sports Resort: It's ok. Nothing special, but there's still a long time to go until spring 2009.

Wii Music: I'm interested in this title, and maybe it's because I don't have to "play" music by synchronizing my fingers to colours flushing down the screen. I'm not good with rythem based music games.

Shaun snowWhite Snowboarding: Errr, where's my 1080 snowboarding game? I couldn't care less aboot this Shaun and his snowboarding.

GTA Chinatown Wars: Not even one glimpse of video footage, not even one in-game photo. *sigh* GTA4 covers it for me.

Oh wait, so where are the hardcore games? They're being worked on. Oh thanks for telling us the obvious, but no names, nor a hint.

And to top it off, if I didn't forget anything else covered in this boring moms only conference, why didn't they talk a little about the new Wario game or the DS kirby remake? What about the DS mic and putting it to use for the Wii?

End of Major Whine

I don't think I could be less interested in this lineup. I like Guitar Hero, not "anybody can play Wii Music!" I don't play Wii Sports enough to care about Wii Sports Resort. I hate GTA. I played Kirby: Super Star ten years ago. Ooh, they're adding cutscenes now. Yipee. Animal Crossing? I don't care. Where's Mario, Zelda, and Metroid? Way to screw the people who made you successful in the first place, Nintendo.

The only title that sort of piques my interest is Call of Duty: World at War, but only because I love CoD4 and I was sad that it didn't get a Wii port.

To be fair, the Sony and Microsoft presentations were equally boring this year. The most exciting thing that was announced? A sequel to Patapon.

mantidorJuly 15, 2008

It's actually good they didn't show any other games IF these games are coming a year from now. Personally makes the wait less painful. But if this is true then the late half of this year is going to suck.

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

This conference has truly revealed how Animal Crossing is a very polarizing game.  I liked it at first but then on Halloween I realized I was playing the game instead of, you know, celebrating the holiday in real life and quit.  I realized the game had become a chore in my life.

But on the Cube and on the DS AC was a supporting game so if you didn't like it you just ignored it.  Now we have an E3 press conference where it is the main core game and Nintendo seems to be pushing it as a core gamer title.  In other words it looks like for the rest of the year Animal Crossing is it for core gamers.  So now the venom is starting to spew as anyone who doesn't like Animal Crossing realizes they have absolutely nothing to look forward to right now.  Every Christmas Nintendo usually has that one game that they're kind of banking on everyone to get and it's usually something pretty big.  Third party support has been weak for over ten years and that big game is usually what keeps the Nintendo fans sane.  This year it's a franchise people either absolutely love or absolutely hate.  A game that anyone who doesn't like will not give a chance to at all.  Ooops.

If Nintendo has something else due in 2008 isn't now probably the time to reveal it?  Sure there could be surprises but is it realistic to expect a big AAA holiday title to still be up their sleeve.  It's July and any game like that would likely be released in November.  So within the next four months this huge game is going to be revealed and released?  Has that ever happened?

Last year I was disappointed that Nintendo didn't really show anything new except Wii Fit.  But we still had Mario and Metroid on the way for later in the year.  We knew about those already so it made E3 dull but they were big games set to be released later in the year.  What the hell does Nintendo has due for the rest of 2008?

What really bothers me is how Reggie said, "We'll have some stuff that appeals to hardcore gamers."  What?  Call of Duty and GTA DS?  That's it?  Oh, but your Mario and Zelda teams are "working on stuff".  Well that's great Reggie, thanks for the news flash.

***BREAKING NEWS ALERT*** Nintendo's game-making teams are currently making games.  More at...well...whenever.

Animal Crossing sounds good to me in theory, like I should think it's cool, but I could really care less.  That's because aside from the WiiSpeak stuff, it doesn't seem like they're doing anything different with it.  You can send people messages on their Wii Message Board and also email people.  So what?  You can do that right now.  The auction stuff seemed neat, but it isn't anything that hasn't been done before (Pokemon Diamond and Pearl).

Wii Sports Resort is the kind of game I'd buy if I had kids or lived in a college dorm, neither of which apply to me.  I may buy it if WiiMotion Plus is used by a game I care about, but otherwise I'm not interested.

WiiMusic looks kind of cool, especially if it can teach you how to play the drums.  But it falls into the same category as Wii Fit for me...I think it's a great idea, and I'm glad people enjoy it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to walk out and buy it.  It's a "wait for the review" game, not a "pre-order it right now" game.

Did they even announce anything else?  That Shaun White game was ass...Call of Duty looked great...a Pokemon Rangers game?  Come on...

What depressed me about this press conference is that I walked away from it and literally had NOTHING to add to my "Must Buy" list.  Actually, scratch that - I don't want anything they showed, period.

That said, I firmly believe that they will hold a press event in September at which they will announce their holiday line-up.  That's the only thing that can keep me interested in the Wii at this point.

I guess I'll be playing through my Wii backlog this summer, and Bangai-O Spirits on DS.

D_AverageJuly 15, 2008

Basically we're screwed and there's nothing we can do.

Guess I'll just look forward to....uh.....um.......finally buying Mario Sunshine

Ian SaneJuly 15, 2008

GTA DS is one of those games that in a vacuum seems like a big deal.  But what Nintendo fans would really want to see would be GTA for the Wii.  GTA was on the GBA.  Nintendo getting portable versions of big third party console series is nothing new.  GTA on the Wii would be significant deal.  Nintendo never had any of the GTA games on a console.  Getting an enhanced port of GTA IV and confirmation that the next GTA will be released on the Wii at the same time as the other consoles?  Now we're talking.  I think Reggie misses that.  He just sees "GTA" on a list and thinks "hardcore gamers will like that so I'll say we'll have stuff that appeals to them".

SkiDragonJuly 15, 2008

The most interesting thing I noticed is that there seemed to be five remotes working on the same system at once during the Wii Music demo.

DjunknownJuly 15, 2008

Quote:

Getting an enhanced port of GTA IV and confirmation that the next GTA will be released on the Wii at the same time as the other consoles?  Now we're talking.

My guess is that after the Manhunt II 'contreversy', NOA/NOE doesn't want to touch a console GTA with 10 ft/10 meter pole?

Good things:

Moar AC. Yay for Captain Obvious, but its Animal Crossing more or less the way it should be (more about that in a minute).

Improved Online: From Brawl's online play (Nearly Skeletal) to Mario Kart (Better) to Animal Crossing (Best), Nintendo is definitely making improvements to the online structure.

Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit, now Wii Music. Can lightning strike a 4th time? This could be a an alternative to GH and RB for those not wanting to make that initial splurge on gear. At most, a $90 USD balance board if you don't have it already.

Wii Sports Resort showcasing how to do sword swinging action should give Lucas Arts no excuse for that kickass Lightsaber game we're all craving. Also, Red Steel 2.

Shaun White. Say what you will, but its not everyday an Olympic gold medalist is in the public eye after the Olympics are over. Though if I were him, I'd wear that gold medal everywhere. At work. In the bar/clubs. In bed. Not the shower though...

Bad Things

Animal Crossing looks like it never left 2002. Seriously. W. T. F. The original AC was a bumped up N64 game, so there was an excuse. There's no excuse here. What about Cel shading a la Wind Waker? T

Core games. *Dustball blows* Hell, just show Wario Land Shake if they have nothing to show to the public. No F-Zero. No Star Fox. No Pikmin. No Disaster Day of Crisis(Are the kids still talking about that?). No Retro Studio title. In short, a whole lot of no.

I'm just going off of NWR's summary, but no real mention of WiiWare. This is more of a personal expectation, but Nintendo/3rd party showcasing some kickass WiiWare title coming soon? Was that too much to ask?

WiiMotion Plus coming out later than sooner. What are the chances of 3rd parties giving it retro-active support? Star Wars:TFU is a prime example.

Some interesting comments I read on Destructoid

Quote:

MaxVest at 07/15/2008 15:29 

I was hoping that your car could get stolen in the Animal Crossing City just like mine did in real life. And it needs moar homeless animals.

Quote:

dprime at 07/15/2008 18:51 

You people say no innovation? I believe that in the DS version, you came to town in a TAXI. It is now a BUS. What are you people BLIND?

If we're judging on press conferences alone, I think Capcom gets the big thumbs down. Aside from being a Lost Planet: The Movie love-fest (at least a love-fest among the people on stage.), when live bloggers are contemplating streaming porn in a to spice up the monotony, there is a problem.

GTA on the DS would have been cool in 2005.  Now it's on every platform out there, so nobody cares.

What amazes me is that they didn't even show any "hardcore" titles in montage trailers.  I figured they'd at least throw us a bone...instead, there was no bone.

I actually think the total lack of core gamer games, with literally none of them shown, is something of a positive, as opposed to showing a couple things that weren't that big of a deal. The fact that we got nothing at all makes me believe we'll see a Nintendo show come out of nowhere within a couple months like we got last year that focuses almost solely on gamer games.

matt ozJuly 15, 2008

Quote from: Silks

What amazes me is that they didn't even show any "hardcore" titles in montage trailers.  I figured they'd at least throw us a bone...instead, there was no bone.

There was very brief gameplay footage of Call of Duty: World at War, mixed in with Rayman and The Clone Wars.  Personally, none of those titles interest me, being that I have the tolerance for one FPS per generation, I won't make the mistake of buying another Rabbids game, and I have no interest in Star Wars.

I was watching G4's live feed, and their interview with Reggie afterward was so funny.  You could tell Kevin and Morgan were holding back when Reggie said that Animal Crossing and GTA DS were the games to satisfy the "core" gamers.  As much as I loved Animal Crossing, I have absolutely no desire to play the same game again with the same graphics.  Visiting other peoples' towns doesn't seem like a big enough leap for the series.  As for GTA, would it have been too much to show a video?  A screen shot?  Concept art?  Tentative release date?

Wii Music...  I completely agree with Ian and the rest of the naysayers out there.  Seriously, if Guitar Hero is TOO HARD for you, then put your helmet back on and go rock back and forth in the corner.  My sister happened to come into the room while Miyamoto was miming playing a virtual saxophone with a Wii remote, and she said, "He's not even blowing!"  I just laughed because that would've been so perfect.  Why not complete the picture of miming playing virtual woodwind/brass instruments by blowing into them?

Oh, and Cammie Dunaway needs to never speak in public again.  I really miss Perrin :(

Michael8983July 16, 2008

Back in the days when Nintendo was facing an uphill battle we'd of probably seen footage of a new Zelda title, along with many other reveals. But with the Wii essentially raping the competition, Nintendo obviously feels no need to reveal much of anything.

Animal Crossing is pretty much what it needs to be. It doesn't need a complete overhaul. The new features we've seen so far warrant an upgrade over whatever version you currently have. I suspect the game will also interact with the DS version which could be further justification for the nearly identical graphics.

Wii Music, like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, will have to be experienced first-hand to truly appreciate.

Wii Sports Resort is sure to be awesome and it will nice to finally have true 1:1 support.


Zelda, Pikmin, Punchout, Kid Icarus, Starfox, FZero and all the other franchises we wanted to see are likely being developed as we speak along with original titles we'd never expect. From Nintendo as well as third-parties who have no doubt finally accepted that the Wii isn't just a fad but infact the leading console this generation. We're just going to have to wait a little while to see anything major, unfortunately.

D_AverageJuly 16, 2008

Again, looks like we're screwed and there's nothing we can do.

D_AverageJuly 16, 2008

This article on Destructoid sums it all up for me:

Did you feel numb watching Shigeru Miyamoto's saxophone pantomime during Nintendo's E3 conference? Did hearing that woman scream about puppies and broken wrists while laughing at her own jokes leave you out in the cold? If so, you're wrong because meat-flavored NoA boss Reggie Fils Aimes thinks that so-called "core" gamers had plenty to satisfy them during yesterday's show.

"How could you feel left out? The Animal Crossing that we've been hearing about that people wanted," explained the steak-and-chips boss, when it was suggested that Nintendo didn't have enough on show to thrill the traditional Nintendo fan. "Fully connected to the Internet, go to other people's towns. Plus as I said, Grand Theft Auto on the DS. How do you feel left out with those types of announcements?

"Make no mistake, Mr. Iwata said quite clearly: Mario teams, Zelda teams are working, they're bringing product out for Wii this generation. We're going to continue to bring all our best franchises to both of our key platforms and continue driving that experience both core as well as brand new consumers."

So there. You're bloody wrong if you weren't satisfied with Nintendo's conference. In fact, you only think you weren't satisfied, when actually you loved it. How could you not, when that utter staple of hardcore gaming culture, Animal Crossing, was announced? Don't argue with Hamburger Reggie.

http://www.destructoid.com/e3-08-reggie-can-t-understand-the-disappointment-95594.phtml

Ian SaneJuly 16, 2008

Quote:

What amazes me is that they didn't even show any "hardcore" titles in montage trailers.  I figured they'd at least throw us a bone...instead, there was no bone.

Oh they gave us the bone alright. ;)

Reggie trying to sell Animal Crossing and GTA and a vague promise of some sort of Mario or Zelda in the future as satisfying to core gamers makes him and all of Nintendo look like complete tools.  I remember back when the Cube first came out and there was a huge drought and yet Nintendo had the gall to issue a press release bragging about how there were so many games.  That just pissed off everyone who read it and drew attention to the problem.  It gave the impression that they were oblivious to the problem.  They should have said nothing.  This is similar.  Reggie's comments make Nintendo look completely out to lunch.  But then how do you answer the question?  Nintendo pretty much set themselves up for backlash with that press conference.

D_AverageJuly 16, 2008

Quote from: Ian

Quote:

What amazes me is that they didn't even show any "hardcore" titles in montage trailers.  I figured they'd at least throw us a bone...instead, there was no bone.

Or they have us the bone alright. ;)

Reggie trying to sell Animal Crossing and GTA and a vague promise of some sort of Mario or Zelda in the future as satisfying to core gamers makes him and all of Nintendo look like complete tools.  I remember back when the Cube first came out and there was a huge drought and yet Nintendo had the gall to issue a press release bragging about how there were so many games.  That just pissed off everyone who read it and drew attention to the problem.  It gave the impression that they were oblivious to the problem.  They should have said nothing.  This is similar.  Reggie's comments make Nintendo look completely out to lunch.  But then how do you answer the question?  Nintendo pretty much set themselves up for backlash with that press conference.

They should have just said, "Look, we just make a lot more money w/ Wii Play than we do with Metroid, so BACK OFF!!"  Instead, Reggie tried to convince us Animal Crossing was all we ever wanted, and came off like a real D bag.

DAaaMan64July 16, 2008

Reggie month over early?

NinGurl69 *hugglesJuly 16, 2008

E3 was a success.  The hardcore are crying all over the world.

CalibanJuly 16, 2008

Quote from: MADONNA

E3 was a success.  The hardcore are crying all over the world.

The Nintendo core fanbase? For sure.
The PC/360 fanbase is happy, or at least I am.

NinGurl69 *hugglesJuly 16, 2008

Quote from: Silks

They didn't even throw hardcore gamers a bone.  Say it after me: THERE WAS NO BONE.

NO BONE.

Quote from: Halbred

No f*cking bone. I'm pissed. We got shit yesterday.

ahahahahahhahahahahaha

shammackJuly 16, 2008

NINTENDOGEDDON

D_AverageJuly 17, 2008

Good news all,

I just shared my negative E3 feedback w/ Nintendo and just received a response!  Expecting big things after this message:


Hello,

On behalf of all of us at Nintendo, I appreciate your taking the time to share your comments with us regarding this year’s E3 event. Rest assured that your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate department for further review.

Sincerely,

Mina Harris
Nintendo of America Inc.

StogiJuly 17, 2008

Is there a trashcan on the interweb?

King of TwitchJuly 17, 2008

"mina" is awfully close to "midna" sounds like a made up name

vuduJuly 17, 2008

> isn't a name at all.

CalibanJuly 17, 2008

Quote from: D_Average

Good news all,

I just shared my negative E3 feedback w/ Nintendo and just received a response!  Expecting big things after this message:


Hello,

On behalf of all of us at Nintendo, I appreciate your taking the time to share your comments with us regarding this year’s E3 event. Rest assured that your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate department for further review.

Sincerely,

Mina Harris
Nintendo of America Inc.

You were served by a bot.

D_AverageJuly 17, 2008

Quote from: Caliban

Quote from: D_Average

Good news all,

I just shared my negative E3 feedback w/ Nintendo and just received a response!  Expecting big things after this message:


Hello,

On behalf of all of us at Nintendo, I appreciate your taking the time to share your comments with us regarding this year’s E3 event. Rest assured that your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate department for further review.

Sincerely,

Mina Harris
Nintendo of America Inc.

You were served by a bot.

Most likely.

D_AverageJuly 17, 2008

Check out this tidbit from IGN"S Nintendo team about Reggie, pretty funny:

http://blogs.ign.com/daemon-IGN/2008/07/17/96399/

NinGurl69 *hugglesJuly 18, 2008

*wave of hand*

yeah yeah

ShyGuyJuly 18, 2008

Reggie is chocolate coated awesome

D_AverageJuly 18, 2008

Check it out, Chris Kohler got booted off Mirrors Edge so Reggie could play!

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/07/spotted-e3-regg.htm

Quote from: MADONNA

*wave of hand*

yeah yeah

This is actually what Nintendo did to hardcore gamers.

NinGurl69 *hugglesJuly 18, 2008

*wave of hand*

yeah yeah

D_AverageJuly 18, 2008

Quote from: Silks

Quote from: MADONNA

*wave of hand*

yeah yeah

This is actually what Nintendo did to hardcore gamers.

Pretty much

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