03:18
That's all folks. Join us again in just over an hour for the Sony conference.
03:16
Reggie is wrapping it up; "We're not close to being satisfied." Lots of people working on these products. Reggie feels this is Nintendo's moment to lead. "Our primary target is much wider". When video games will be the pre-eminent form of entertainment, then they will be satisfied. I guess Nintendo have decided they are back into the console wars after all.
03:12
Reggie and Shiggy are playing a soccer ball game. They lean left and right to dodge and block the balls. Reggie wins.
03:12
The "Wii Balance Board" is the name for the mat. It can measure your weight and where your balance is. Completely wireless. They're going to do a "body check" on Reggie with the mat. Choosing clothes weight... now measuring... going through some brain training like dialogues. It records your BMI over time - so you can track your whole family's health. The development team have been using it for motivation to stay slim. It doesn't show weight, just BMI. Reggie has a BMI of 27 - another fun fact for your Nintendo themed trivia nights.
03:05
And the moment you've all been waiting for... Shiggy is up! Talking about how Wii Fit is the game he's wanted to introduce ever since the Wii came out. This was one of their first ideas. The Wii will be placed in the living room, so it would be relevant to everyone in the home. The one subject they felt the needed to have was health. They're now bringing trainers up to show off the game. Something seems wrong with the first one - the it's not tracking balance at all. Second trainer is showing of stepping in time with the diagram. Third one is twisting... again something seems wrong with calibration. Oops.
03:03
New game will "lap the field". Introducing Wii Fit. It's a mat that you stand on. Hmmm... seems like you have to hold positions and it judges your ability. Pretty cool actually. Lots of middle aged women in the demo. Game is cool - not the women. Not that the women aren't cool... ahhh caffeine. It really does look pretty interesting though. It seems to have two sensor that judge the pressure from each foot. Lots and lots of activities shown. Much more than Wii Sports.
03:01
Montage again - how Wii is good for you - keeps you active mentally and physically.
02:59
"We're just getting started." Lots of ways to combine casual and hardcore gamers; Picross (DS), MySims (Wii & DS). Rayman Raving Rabids will return in the suitably titled Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. No details. My Word Coach and My Life Coach will be new "training" games in the vein of Brain Training.
02:54
Reggie says Brain Age 2 is very popular in Japan. Available in the US August 20th. Super Mario Galaxy will be "over the top". "The first worthy successor to Super Mario 64." It's going to set a new standard - highly complex but also very accessible. Super Mario Galaxy to be released November 12th 2007 (in the US).
02:51
Montage of a family talking about using the Wii in their family. Showing clips of Super Mario Galaxy. Ahhhh... maybe that's it then. The family is also talking about all the DS games they play.
02:50
By expanding the market, Nintendo hopes to break down the wall of separation. This means that their games should have uses across all skill levels. New title from Miyamoto to be revealed later in the conference! Ohhh... big reveal?
02:45
Iwata is being introduced. Thanking us for spending time with them today. He's talking about his childhood playing videogames. Some vague segue into casual gaming. He uses DS games to teach himself how to cook. Talking about how casual games may make their hardcore audience feel left out. "I ask those veterans to remember their very first day as gamers." They would have felt left out. Nintendo will broaden the market to make gamers more socially acceptable.
02:42
Another montage focusing on older gamers. OMG it's my grandmother. Just joking - she's dead. Ahhh... not so funny. I blame the caffine.
02:41
Guitar Hero III coming to Wii with an exclusive wireless Les Paul guitar controller. Mario Kart Wii will be online in Q1 2008 with online multiplayer battle mode. There will be a Wii Wheel that will debut with Mario Kart for Wii... didn't we see one of those at launch? Wasn't it crap? Is that why Reggie seems to be sweating heavily?
02:38
More number touting. 230 million gameplay sessions on Nintendo DS. And it's all free. 5.6 million game downloads on Wii Shop Channel.
Developments in Wii interface officially announced. WiiWare coming to Wii next year - unique downloadable content. Reggie then goes on to announce a new Wii Channel called "Check Mii Out" where you can post Miis you've created and share them with the world. "Sure but will Nintendo ever get serious about online gaming?" Reggie's words, not mine. Apparently Pokemon Battle Revolution and Super Mario Strikers online is their answer... huh? FIFA 08 and Madden 08 will both be online on Wii, along with Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters Joker Online for the DS.
02:35
Reggie is back. Talking about a conversation he had with someone in the audience today - they didn't believe in Nintendo audience expansion. What about online? Nintendo says maybe we just didn't notice how they were making advancements. This will be good.
02:30
They're showing off The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS. Nice touch screen controls. Drawing tightropes on screen is a new mechanic. "Phantom Hourglass has fast become my favourite Zelda game ever," says Bill. Now the girl is up to show off Metroid - how the FPS controls work with the Wiimote pointing where you want to look.
02:26
Back to montage. Now some fan site writers are talking generically about the console. Mike and Jackie. They're now coming up on stage. Bill Trenton from Treehouse Group is also up there.
02:25
Onto Super Smash Bros Brawl. Smash community is stoked. SSBB will launch on... December 3rd in US. Pause for claps... oh.
02:24
Lots of third party content skimmed over. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword reinstated as coming to the DS, along with Square Enix's Dragon Quest: Swords to Wii early next year. Mario & Sonic Olympics also PR'd up.
02:22
Inside Nintendo a Wii Zapper project is well along in development. A Wii Zapper will be packaged with a game coming out this year with software (Wii Play style) for $19.99US ($23.20 AU).
02:19
Introducing THE WII ZAPPER... *crickets* It looks like an arcade gun on steroids. Capcom's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles will be one of the first games supporting the Zapper. More third parties also onboard with support - EA with a 32 player[!] Medal of Honour game, Sega with Ghost Squad.
02:16
Cut to another clip montage of DS clips - looks like most straight off YouTube. Will we see the PS3 vs Wii clip - yoooou know the one. No.
02:16
Traditionally games have been marketed to the core audience and then spread as far as possible. Nintendo however uses Nintendogs and casual games to grow the edges of the market. Reggie warns that we shouldn't consider this growth a fad. 44 million DSes have been sold worldwide. "Wii is poised to become the number 1 worldwide in this generation very soon. Nintendo is not a fad. Nintendo is going to become the future." 140 title for DS and 100 games for Wii coming over the upcoming (US) holidays.
02:12
Reggie is now talking about how the demographic for the market is shifting older. With the male/female split for Nintendo, it's gone from 1:4 to 1:2 for male/female in the last 1.5 years. It almost sounds like you could pull out your DS at a party... maybe at a Reggie party.
02:08
"69% of industry growth comes directly from Nintendo products." Here come the stats. Nintendo is likely to (justifiably) spend the first half of the conference telling us how well they've done.
02:06
"E3 2007 may be seen as a coming out party for the entire industry." Reggie is talking about videogames become mainstream, but I think he may have chosen the wrong words there.
Growth is up in US and UK, but is up 114% in Japan. Reggie tells us this an expanded market. He's seen it in his own home with lending his DS to friends and family.
02:05
"My name is Reggie... and I am happy." Laugher. He's so funny. Reggie wearing a blue shirt and brown suit. He's dressed by Gucci.
02:03
Intro sequence starting up the conference. Lots of clips from mainstream media lauding the Wii and DS. Some clips of the Wii Remote being used for devices other than the Wii. Meh - I've had better... intros.
02:02
Oops, look like I was wrong. It's starting.
01:51
A great big caffeine fueled good morning to everyone who's joining us for these live updates. Looks like we've got another 10 minutes or so before the conference is scheduled to start. Nintendo conferences have a bit of a history of not running on time, so you've got plenty of time to grab another coffee. Speaking of which... be right back.
it's shocking
Loading...
