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Offline Captain_Commando

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GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog and Video Stream
« on: March 02, 2011, 11:56:42 AM »

Join in live for Iwata's GDC 25th anniversary keynote address.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/25542

Live video here.

9:01:00: The keynote will begin shortly. Really.

9:01:29: It begins.

9:02:25: Happy birthday to Gordon Walton.

9:02:47: Skyward Sword trailer accidentally appears. Whoops.

9:03:11: History of Iwata's GDC experiences.

9:03:28: Here comes Iwata.

9:04:24: His job all year is to "speak to people"

9:04:40: He finds GDC special since he can speak to his developer colleagues.

9:05:05: All developers can learn from each other, Nintendo is not an exception.

9:05:24: It is very confusing, much bigger gambles, and it is getting scary.

9:05:56: When they focus on what they are passionate about, it keeps working.

9:06:06: Remember 3 words: "Content is king."

9:06:20: Without quality content, there is nothing, no industry.

9:07:01: 25 years. He's been a developer the whole time.

9:07:24: He and his friends formed HAL when still in college.

9:08:01: He was preoccupied with programming, and thought he was better than anyone at Nintendo.

9:08:36: He thought he was technically better than Miyamoto and thought this would be proven in the market.

9:09:11: He found out that engineering isn't as important as imagination. Content really is king. He was ashamed.

9:09:38: 25 years ago, it wasn't a profession, everybody did what needed to be done.

9:10:23: Game design, artist, sound design, ordering food, cleanup, paying the rent. Now he's sounding "like your grandfather"

9:10:36: "We were video game cavemen."

9:11:26: Graphics and memory aren't limitations now, but cost and development team sizes have increased dramatically.

9:12:01: They have to worry about more than just paying the rent. Luckily more people play games today.

9:12:53: Nintendo has been carrying out large scale surveys, starting in May 2005 in Japan, now worldwide to figure out demographics.

9:14:31: Range 6-74... in Nov 2007 gamers were younger, under 140 million, now 160 million.

9:15:28: In Europe, 100 million active gamers in Oct 2010. US has more growth opportunity.

9:16:29: Social networks... computers and mobile... and video games.

9:16:53: 1962, Space War was the first head to head game, existed in lab.

9:17:13: Even networked games that were only text-based, people still had fun.

9:18:10: Atari 2600 and TV Game 6/15 in Japan followed by NES and eventually N64 brought gamers together.

9:18:27: And of course, Wii.

9:18:43: With Tetris on Game Boy, social only meant competing... but then came Pokemon.

9:19:11: Nintendo is not trying to take too much credit for social gaming.

9:19:35: Call of Duty is an online phenomena, and Microsoft should be recognized for its considerable investment in Xbox Live.

9:20:33: Must-Have. Something every passionate gamer feels they must have.

9:20:59: Sometimes this is hardware, such as Game Boy.

9:21:18: Creating this only with technology is not easy -- games themselves can be must have.

9:21:52: There are few universal games, Sonic, Zelda, Tetris, GTA, Just Dance, Guitar Hero, and Angry Birds.

9:22:08: Third source: the player and the social appeal.

9:22:35: Remarkable that over 12 million people still subscribe to World of Warcraft.

9:23:17: From the dev side. What will it cost, what about employment and keeping the business alive.

9:23:22: #1. Mario

9:24:05: He remains popular because he changes, evolves.

9:24:10: #2. Pokemon.

9:24:36: Appeal comes from collecting, training, and competing.

9:24:58: Popularity can be explained by its social nature.

9:25:08: #3. Tetris

9:25:23: First video game to attract a female audience in a meaningful way.

9:25:41: Only available for 5 months in 1989 in North America, 45% were female.

9:25:56: #4. The Sims from Will Wright

9:26:24: 125 million sold and people thought it wouldn't sell.

9:26:53: Must haves offer: constant improvement, social connections, expanded audiences, challenge to existing notions.

9:27:23: Universal appeal, he hopes we can attend the DKC Returns panel.

9:28:27: At HAL, Kirby, with 26000 purchase orders. They showed it to Nintendo, they offered suggestions and offered to publish it.

9:28:48: They cancelled the orders with the opportunity to reach a wider audience.

9:29:11: Original name, Tinkle Popo, not the best name in English.

9:29:32: A floating pink blob was also changed to white for the American release.

9:29:40: They thought he wouldn't notice. He did.

9:29:59: But 5 million were sold instead of 26000.

9:31:01: Just as stressful and frustrating at Nintendo... Always feel like there's not enough manpower and resources, and they haven't discovered a way to make it easy yet, if it exists.

9:31:06: Nintendo 3DS.

9:31:40: Hits the must-haves and they believe it will have universal appeal.

9:32:04: AR Games, Mii Maker, Face Raiders, designed to compel social interaction.

9:33:29: Nintendo employees leave with their 3DSes to see what will appear. Iwata would normally advise against this, but he does it too.

9:33:41: Improving connectivity.

9:33:47: Reggie appears!

9:35:00: You won't find the 3D experience and technical things elsewhere, but make no mistake, the focus is on games.

9:35:14: Games they make, and games players make with each other.

9:35:26: Consider two words: Content and location.

9:36:02: Streaming from Netflix, starting this summer

9:36:57: 3D programming is on the way.

9:37:06: First, movie trailers, Green Lantern.

9:37:38: Offering studios a distribution vehicle to promote their releases to a modivated userbase.

9:37:57: Short form video service, wireless Nintendo channel only on Nintendo 3DS.

9:38:06: Comedy, music videos, curated by Nintendo

9:38:24: They do the selection, not users

9:38:56: Want to accelerate 3D adoption.

9:39:09: Can record video in 3D on 3DS.

9:39:30: Stay tuned for an update.

9:39:43: Second concept: Location

9:40:23: Nintendogs and Dragon Quest IX features turned into StreetPass... Konno's talk is later today.

9:40:51: Street Fighter IV 3D uses it.

9:45:26: In one test, 50% of owners tested it, and sales where demos were available, they sold up to 6x more.

NOTE: Wi-Fi connection became spotty at this point.

Over 10000 Wi-Fi hotspots from AT&T.

SpotPass doesn't require games to be inserted.

eShop: DSiWare, Virtual Console - will include Game Gear and TurboGrafx, 3D Classics

Devin's notes during the internet outage follow.

ability to play games with others “whether across the room or across the country”

all other elements of 3Ds connectivity will also be available 

3 new aspects of Nintendo 3DS will maximize your distribution opportunity 

1. thousands of new points of wi-fi contact

2. user will be automatically connected and spot-pass content will download in the background even when the system in sleep mode

3. the push content doesn’t require the corr game be inserted in the hardware 

when you create spot-pass content, your dist reach will be broad and automatic, like no Nintendo handheld before

reach of the eshop - means to access game software in different ways 

DSiWare is included

We’ll provide access to selected GB and GBC titles with Nitnendo 3DS Vritual Console

Game Gear and TG16 [no applause!]

some of your favorite titles - 3D classics - will also available, remastered in full 3D

new games - game promotion - trailers, screenshots, background info, links to websites [no demos???] 

unique and nostalgic game experiences

not every feature will be available out of the box

worldwide system update for late may will deliver most of these updates - DSiWare, DSiWare software transfers

web browser and e-shop also coming in May 

Unparalleled ability to promote your work

[he wants to get people to buy by advertising the 3DS ability to advertise their games and thus increase theri sales]

“win-win for everyone”

9:46:47: Iwata is back.

NEW GAMES

introduce new elements when we do a new Mario game

this process will continue 

Since 1996, when Mario appeared in 3D in Super Mario 64, it’s always been ahrd for players to judge how to jump and hit a jump floating in a 3d space

Miyamoto looked at 3DS in dev and said ‘we can finally solve this’ [this is the day we can]

game developres can invent any world we imagine

9:49:17: Super Mario for 3DS, by the Galaxy team.

this leads to a new super mario  

Super Mario - tail! - tanooki!? - will be revealed at E3 this year 

Zelda - Ocraina of time 3D

25th anniversary of Zelda - plan so all Zelda fans can celebrate together 

Skyward Sword

nice - the sword slices things straight through - this is the new mechanic

balancing, knocking people off

zialafos

electric rolling thing

bombs to blow up armor

dragon lock - opens the door - lots of use of cutting

4-armed stalfos! 

press guy: “O MY GOODNESS!!” 

some thoughts about the future - to be clear, our immediate future

rather than offer you only a rosy picture of the industry, I want to discuss 3 specific concerns 

1. craftsmanship

over the past 25 years, we developers have gained a lot but also lost something

one major loss is craftsmanship

as projects become bigger and more complicated, often the option of working over and over again to polish a game to make it the highest quality it can be is disappearing

this is not the criticism of the kind of people developing games but the circumstances in which they operate

no matter how much time is involved, the nubmerof people, the needed flexibility will not be available when an unexpected development arrives

small details can get lost even in huge projects 

career at HAL and early days at Nintendo watching Mr. Miyamoto work

no-one was selfish - everyone was generous

we could all comprehend what everyone else was doing

better artists, better producers

but this era of specialization makes it much more difficult for single individual to sense entire nature of a game

developers know specific roles much better, but are much ahred to understand everyone else's

#2 - talent development 

what will the next master game crators come from? 

#3 - when I first spoke at GDC in 2005, very few in the audience were involved making games for mobile downloads or social networks

today, maybe the majority of you are

the industry has expanded

but, it also gives me concern because I fear this business is dividing in a way that threatens the continued employment for many of us who create games for our living

development times too long, stress is too high

but there has always been a way ot make a living

will that still be the case moving forward?

a few games become megahits, but it is not easy

with so much competition, being noticed is extremely difficult

huge investments promise nothing

corresponding number of games to download is in the 10s of thousands

game development is drowning

every one of these downloadable games is far less expensive to create

but what revenue will they generate?

screen digest -

92% of games downloaded was free

most software that is sold is sold at extrmely low prices

two ways of looking at our business

these approaches focus on a single question

is maintaining high-value games a top priority or not?

at Nintendo - hardware is something consumers reluctantly purchase only to enjoy the games they like to play

hardware design is the surest way of providing meaningful surprises

game designer first, manufacturer second

premium [value] of software

although the hardware is diff from PS3 and 360, they share the same idea

high-value of high-quality vg software

value of software - 

platforms have no motivation to maintain high quality of game software

content is created by someone else

goal is to gather as much software as possible b/c quantity makes the money flow 

investment that is offered

games that don't maintain high value

what we produce was valuable, and we should protect that value

getting noticed

1. central appeal must be evident almost immediately

if the player is engaged more than 10 min to understand what you have to offer, it may be too late

the first sequence is more important

2. must be quick and easy for people to simply describe the unique nature of your game to others

social recommendations are far more presuasive than others

but idea must be simly understood

if both conditions are met, you can reachc the tipping point for your game to be noticed and sell itself

simple solution

INNOVATION 

there are many definitions - how we define innovation at Nintendo

1. we always ask yourselves the same question: is there something considered impossible that we might make possible?

our belief is that is that accepting possible limits to our thinking sets up barriers to true innovation

at one time, it was thought people could only view one screen at a time - many people scan tv, computer, tablet at same time

2 screens are popular for 150m DS games 

what is possible is hiding behind false conclusions 

“we always have a game concept that we’re very excited about, and then we validate it as a real business opportunity. the opposite apprach - identifying a hot business trend and then trying to decide how to capitalize on it...is a scary proposition!” - time gate CEO 

trust your passion

believe in your dream

"Until next time..."
-Captain Commando

Offline King of Twitch

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2011, 12:11:35 PM »
9:11:35 Iwata has laughed two times so far
"I deem his stream to be supreme and highly esteem his Fortnite team!" - The Doritos Pope and his Mountain Dew Crew.

Offline King of Twitch

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2011, 12:51:47 PM »
Super Mario will have a tail!

But wait til E3 for the reason.

Skyward Sword trailer: still looks meh.
"I deem his stream to be supreme and highly esteem his Fortnite team!" - The Doritos Pope and his Mountain Dew Crew.

Offline happyastoria

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2011, 01:28:01 PM »
Super Mario will have a tail!

But wait til E3 for the reason.

Skyward Sword trailer: still looks meh.

The only word to describe the new Zelda is "meh".

Offline Caterkiller

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2011, 01:43:19 PM »
I don't think it was completely "meh" but to have any "meh" in there at all is a bad sign. At the same time when I saw Galaxy 2 for the first few times I was sooo underwhelmed. It looked exactly like the first, and I had so little interest in it. But boy when it came out I could not believe how great it was compared to the first one, and I loved the first one. I'm hoping I can get that kind of unexpected knockout with this one.

It looks like it plays and feels exactly like all 3D Zeldas before it. and thats what gives it that meh feeling. Still though I had a blast with Red Steel 2 and did enjoy my little time with Skyward Sword, so I am guessing it will feel amazing. If only we could get some really outrageous invironments to trick us into being more excited.
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Offline Caliban

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2011, 02:01:05 PM »
I was expecting a release date for Skyward Sword. E3 it is then.

Offline Ian Sane

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2011, 02:37:30 PM »
I liked the Skyward Sword footage.  I really like the way the graphics look where it's a halfway between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.  It just looks RIGHT.

But the whole time I was watching the footage I was thinking to myself "please don't control like crap".  I am so afraid this is going to be an unplayable wagglefest.  And it sucks to have that in the back of my mind the whole time because when I watch footage of it I get that usual excited "IT'S ZELDA!!!" feeling.  I want this to be good so bad.

Offline Caliban

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2011, 02:40:50 PM »
I'm hoping that the press will soon get some direct feed footage because that trailer looked a bit washed out.

Offline Nick DiMola

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2011, 03:37:02 PM »
But the whole time I was watching the footage I was thinking to myself "please don't control like crap".  I am so afraid this is going to be an unplayable wagglefest.

For what it's worth, I thought it controlled pretty damn well at E3. I'm sure it's not going to be perfect all of the time, but I didn't really experience any problems playing it on the show floor.

I thought this trailer for Skyward Sword looked pretty great, especially with all of the new characters and environments. It looks and seems like something fresh, which is definitely nice. Hopefully, as Caliban said, we see a release date at E3.
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Offline the asylum

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Re: GDC 2011 Satoru Iwata Keynote Liveblog
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2011, 05:30:23 PM »
No news of F-Zero or Custom Robo

I am disappoint