The theme behind Nintendo’s conference was just plain old fun. It started with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata making jokes about kicking but while playing against Reggie Fils-Aime (chief marketing officer of Nintendo) in Super Smash Bros. last night. Iwata explains that as Nintendo president he needs to ask many questions. The question he has for Reggie is “Who’s your daddy?” That pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the conference.
Nintendo made it clear that they are both a gaming publisher and a hardware producer. As such this gives them a unique perspective on the industry. There was a combined focus in the conference on games for this generation of consoles, as well as plans for the Nintendo Revolution. There was also a small announcement about the GameBoy Micro – another makeover for the GBA, but no new technology.
However a lot of information was not given. Other than being wireless and unique no other details about the revolution controller were revealed. No specific games for the revolution were shown and neither were the console’s exact specifications given. There was also no indication of a release date, although with the lack substance in the conference we would expect the Revolution to launch AFTER both Xbox 360 and PS3 around mid 2006.
Footage of the Legend of Zelda was shown, along with live demos of Electroplankton and Nintendogs for the DS.
Key announcements:
- Revolution will take 12cm optical discs, along with the GC discs, CDs and standard DVDs all through same drive. However a small internal attachment will be needed to play movies and DVDs.
- The console will have 512MB onboard flash but this can be extended with SD cards.
- Revolution will be capable of playing every Nintendo game ever created as it act as an emulator for all past systems!
- Also confirmed that all Nintendo content from NES, SNES and N64 will be available for download on the console.
- All controllers will be wireless and very unique. However no details of these were revealed.
- Revolution a device appealing to non-gamers. “Right for everyone”.
- Free, wireless Nintendo DS service will be up and running for Animal Crossing DS and Mario Kart DS by the end of the year[/list]
Nintendo Conference Articles:
Revolution Details Revealed
Game Boy Micro Revealed
Revolution Images
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Trailer
Sony:
Sony’s conference was very traditional in style. Everyone from Sony executives to game developers paraded out onto the main stage in front of a 2300 square feet HD TV.
The main focus of the conference was on the raw power that the PS3 will have. Much talk was made about bringing the level of CGI realism we’re used to in movies to real-time console rendering. This will be made possible through the combined super-computer power of the Cell CPU processor by IBM and the RSX GPU developed by NVidia. A wonderful graph putting the PS3 in the realm of the world’s fastest computer was shown.
Various tech demo were shown to demonstrate the cell processors power. These included an updated of the original “duck demo” for PS2, where they demonstrated some very impressive real-time water rendering. They plugged in an eye-toy and used it to move glasses around, pouring water into each other and throwing it across the screen.
Key announcements:
- PS3 will be completely backwards compatible with both PS2 and PS1
- PS3 will launch in Q1 2006.
- The console will support up to 1080p
- Electronic Arts announced commitment to PS3 showing off Fight Night Round 3
- PS3 will support USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and online networking
- PSP can be used for wireless file transfers and as a controller
- Up to 7 Bluetooth controllers can be used out of the box
- Killzone 3 announced for PS3
Sony Conference Articles:
Playstation 3 Specs confirmed
Playstation 3 Games confirmed
System and Controller pics
Killzone 3 announced for Playstation 3
Microsoft:
Unlike Sony, Microsoft choose to present their console more like a rock conference, than a hardware demonstration. The audience was seated around a central stage. A bright green circle rotated on the ceiling, with spotlights sweeping over the stage and surroundings.
Apparently I was wrong in previous comment that faceplates were silly because people would not be carrying their Xbox 360 around with them. The Microsoft press conference started with a girl carrying a silver bag walking onto a slanted circular stage with green lights flashing underneath. After a short spiel about how the 360 would be her next console, she opened the bag she was carrying, pulled out a 360, plugged it into a power cord and turned it on.
After this Microsoft’s J Allard, Peter Moore and various industry partners came onto the stage. Microsoft’s focus was very much on bringing the Xbox 360 to a wider audience than the original Xbox. They went through various demographics to show how each would benefit from the 360.
The footage from the following games was shown: Project Gotham Racing 3, Ghost Recon 3, NBA 2K6, Perfect Dark 0, Kameo, Call of Duty 2, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Gears of War, Speed Most Wanted, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, FIFA 2006, Madden NFL 2006 and Final Fantasy XI.
One of the more interesting events was talk of a spectator mode for Project Gotham Racing 3 over Xbox Live. Moore presented the concept of thousands of gamers paying $10 to be able to compete in a race tournament to win a million dollars. The final race could be watched in real time over Live, just like a television broadcast.
Key announcements:
- Xbox 360 backward compatible with top-selling Xbox games.
- 25-40 Xbox 360 titles this year.
- Every game will offer a minimum of 720p resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.1 surround sound.
- Electronic Arts announces largest commitment in its history to a console's launch.
- More than 160 Xbox 360 games in development.
- Xbox Live community fast approaching 2 million members.
- Robbie Bach announced Microsoft's newest partner: Square Enix.
- Final Fantasy XI is coming to Xbox 360.
Microsoft Conference Articles:
Xbox 360 limited backward compatibility
Final Fantasy XI confirmed for Xbox
Thanks to Gamespot, you can use the following links to view streaming videos of all conferences;
Nintendo Press Conference (1 Hour)
Sony Press Conference (1 Hour, 50 Mins)
Microsoft Press Conference (1 Hour, 21 Mins)
Stay tuned for more.
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