We've got the first details of all the info revealed by Satoru Iwata during his GDC keynote address. Includes: Zelda footage, first details on Revolution, DS WiFi.
UPDATE: Details on the Presentation
Iwata began his presentation by explaining how, deep down, he is a videogame developer just like everyone else. After a brief background of his history, including how he programmed games on his Hewlett Packard calculator, and his involvement with HAL from its very beginnings, he began talking about games.
He discussed the importance of team work and bouncing ideas off one another. Not everyone can be a Miyamoto, but excellent games can come from a fusion of ideas and a careful eye for what is fun and new. Because graphics weren't as important, he explained that they worked hard to make the game's graphics invoke players' imaginations to fill in the gaps.
Iwata talked about what has and has not changed in the industry. Games are and always will be entertainment, and invoking emotional responses is vital to making a good game. Player reactions are the true measure of success. Developers must always consider challenge versus reward: different demographics have different tolerances for difficulty, and games must be made for the full spectrum. He also noted the importance of ideas: both developing old ideas and creating new ones. He also iterated the importance of software and how it drives hardware sales, and admitted the value of the Intellectual Property of original game franchises.
But Iwata's main point was what has changed in the industry. In terms of presence, everything is bigger now. Games are becoming increasingly complex, big companies are consuming smaller companies, and deadlines are harder make. But he also said that the industry is getting smaller in some ways. He criticized the development community for thinking in terms of genres, and falling into the habit of making too many games that resemble each other. He gave Tiger Woods PGA versus Mario Golf as an example of healthy variety within a genre.
He explained that while realism is one way to further a game's immersiveness, it is not the only way. He posed a rhetorical question: what ELSE can the industry do to improve games? He explained that one way is to expand what we think of as a "game player." Not everyone plays games—why? Why can't there be games for them? He posed another question: have you (game developers) challenged yourself to make a game you wouldn't play?
After discussing recent Nintendo products and defending Nintendo as still caring about its current userbase (citing Resident Evil 4, the success of Nintendo DS, and the upcoming Zelda game for the GameCube), he explained what is important to Nintendo in a game: innovation, intuitiveness, an inviting experience, and a logical interface.
Then he got to the new stuff.
First Iwata promoted Nintendo DS's wireless features, and how WiFi is the future for Nintendo. After a demonstration of Mario Kart DS with 8 players, he explained that making a seamless wireless experience is a vital theme in Nintendo's upcoming strategy. Iwata continually used the word "WiFi," not internet play. However, the details he discussed suggested Nintendo DS will be going online. He explained that Nintendo is working on an infrastructure, and it is almost ready. "WiFi enabled games will be available this year." He explained that developer kits will be available soon — in fact, he said that by the end of the day, people will not be asking where the development kits are.
To demonstrate one use of WiFi, he briefly discussed Animal Crossing — one of the "non-game" games that will broaden the gaming user base. Although no actual wireless content was displayed, Iwata stated that players will be able to bring their village around the world with the Nintendo DS.
Nintendo then showed two other products that challenge the definition of what we think of as a game. First was Nintendogs: Bill Trinen showed the audience his cute dog Chipper, and explained how the player can train his or her dog custom commands and play with their puppy. Then Bill showed off the abstract music creation game, Electro-plankton, which includes features such as voice sampling with the microphone. Most amusing was a mode in which the player solos with various samples over background music: Bill played various Mario noises over the Super Mario Bros. Star-man Theme.
Finally, Iwata briefly discussed the most basic features of Revolution — most likely to quell absurd internet rumors. Most importantly, the Revolution will be backwards compatible with all GameCube games. This also confirms that the Revolution will have at least a GameCube controller as input. Secondly, WiFi will be built into the system, much as it is with the Nintendo DS. He promised a friendly and familiar development environment, even though he remarked that the games themselves will played in a revolutionary new way. He also expressed interest in what third parties can do with the new system, and fully hopes other developers will embrace the system's new features.
Iwata also revealed that Nintendo is working with the same partners from the GameCube to create custom chips. Going with the theme of the Revolution as a leader in entertainment, ATI's graphics chip is named Hollywood, and IBM's processor is dubbed Broadway.
PGC will have more details about Nintendo DS "WiFi" and the DS games on the showroom floor soon, and will, of course, report more on the Revoultion when more solid details about the Revolution are available.
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We'll have much more thorough information shortly, but here are some quick notes from Mr. Iwata's keynote speech:
- New Zelda footage was shown. Some new features seen include ghosts and Hyrule castle.
- Revolution will be backwards-compatible with GameCube and include wireless ethernet capability in the console. IBM's CPU is called "Broadway"; ATI's GPU is called "Hollywood".
- DS online comments were vague. WiFi should be easy to use (no addresses to type in). Example: taking your Animal Crossing village around the world. Most of all, DS WiFi will be free to the end user.
. They likely mean that they'll sponsor hotspots or work with hotspot providers to make them compatible with the DS. Right now the DS has no means to enter any kind of credentials. There are a lot of airports with "WiFi coverage" for travelers... I don't know of many that will give it to you for free. In order to work in that kind of environment, the DS, or it's software, would have to compensate (provide a way to interface, enter CC info, etc). Either that or have open hotspots.
