Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007
16:55 : Well, here I am again for the Nintendo conference. Not being a Nintendo fan as such, this isn't really filling me with excitement. But who knows! Perhaps some gems lay ahead. At the very least I may catch a glimpse of the Reginator.
17:01 : Show opens with video montage regarding the success of the WII and DS. Just so we're all absolutely clear. Nintendo rule.
17:05 : There's a man on the stage. His name is Reggie. And apparently - he's happy. Unlike Peter Moore, Reggie dives right into the sales stats. Up 114% in growth this year. That's probably due to those crazy Japanese buying multiple DS's for each day of the week.
17:09 : Video is lagging badly. Picture me frantically running up the stairs, laptop in hands whilst I continue to take notes and boot my desktop PC at the same time.
17:11 : Picture dismay on my face as I find that the stream on my desktop is hitching too. Arrgh!
17:12 : Nintendo is apparently luring women into the gaming sector. Hard to argue with that one unless you count The Sims on the PC.
17:13 : Reggie continues with the Powerpoint lesson, highlighting that they are grabbing a wide span of age ranges from 6 to 60.
17:15 : Reggie addresses the 'Fad' factor. Points to the sales figures since launch. Claims that WII is set to become the top seller of this generation. Now he tackles the lack of games. 140 titles coming to DS before Xmas. 100 for WII.
17:18 : My connection craps out and I lose a minute or so! Eeek!
17:19 : The WII zapper is unvield. It looks like the control and nunchuck lodged into a plastic gun handle (if that makes any sense at all). To be used in conjuction with Resident Evil and something called Ghost Squad. This looks a bit like Time Crisis. Price is $19.99. Given it's a bit of plastic though, I should bloody think so.
17:22 : Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword coming to the DS.
17:23 : Dragon Quest for WII - Reggie says it's 'DEEP'.
17:24 : Mario and Sonic Olympic games. This looks pretty cool. Although it is another batch of mini-games when it's all said and done.
17:25 : Super Smash Bros Brawl. The Smash community is 'stoked'. December 3rd release slated.
17:25 : Noticeable pauses where Reggie stops for applause, only to recieve silence. Guess the public n00bs would usually jeer with idiots at this point.
17:26 : More filler video from 'real' people raving about how wonderful the WII is. I groan as they've dug out a GRRL gamer who identifies with Meteroid Prime. Urrgh. This is nearly as bad as last year's Sony conference where they had real people talking about the PS3. 'And I was like.. DUDE! I'm totally hardcore and I LOVE the PS3!! ROCK OOOOON!'.
17:27 : Zelda Phantom Hour Glass demo on the DS. I'm sure this is fascinating for Zelda fans. But isn't really awe inspiring for a stage demo.
17:30 : Enter Jackie, the token hot chick who happens to play games. She's demoing Meteroid 3. To summarise.. meh.
17:33 : Reggie is back. He's talking about online connectivity. Cue another montage of snippets showing us how it's great to play online.
17:34 : What Reggie is failing to point out at this juncture is how utterly un-friendly the player codes are.
17:35 : Now something about the WII Shop channel. Stuff coming next year.
17:36 : A new Check MII out channel. Sounds like a Hot or Not for your virtual character. One begs the question.. why?
17:37 : Reggie points to Mario Strikers, GHIII, Madden and FIFA as examples of how Nintendo are getting 'serious' about online play.
17:39 : Mario Cart for WII coming in 1st Quarter of next year. At this point Reggie gets out the WII-Wheel. Again, it's a wheel shaped bit of plastic with a hole for the WII controller. No price mentioned.
17:41 : More filler. This time to show us how the OAP's love the WII and DS. Then cut to kids and moms. WII all might start vomiting soon (see what I did there?).
17:43 : Japanese guy is on stage (didn't catch the name, was too busy puking). It appears he's trying to demonstrate the virtues of a DS cook book and forgetting about his job to chop onions. Have I switched over to QVC?
17:46 : I think the point he's trying to make is regarding feature creep. New players getting to grips with ever more complexe controls etc. Apparently Nintendo are aiming to bring down the barriers between new players and 'core' gamers. Games are for everyone (cue a nice long - Awwwwwwww).
17:49 : Goes on to explain that their aim is to release games which are immediately playable by everyone. And in my own very humble opinion, this in part why many are finding it difficult to keep gamers tuned to the WII as they don't contain enough depth past the first couple of hours.
17:50 : More filler. This time highlighting the social gaming aspect. Gathering around the TV, parents and children playing together. God.. pass me the the bucket again.
17:53 : Super Mario Galaxy - November 12th in the US. Europe.. probably 2010 (oo.. I'm so bitter).
17:55 : Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 on the way. Yay. More mini-games.
17:57 : Flash Focus revealed for the DS. Apparently visual brain training. Something to do with watching a baseball pitcher. I'm slightly lost.
17:58 : My Life Coach coming soon. Great. It'll probably tell me to buy more Nintendo goods.
17:59 : More video filler. Yet more news snippits about how great the WII and DS are. Think they're over-egging the point slightly.
18:00 : Wii-Fit. Woman shown standing on what appears to be a set of scales. She's balancing on it in different poses, on screen it's showing her what to do. Ok, this is getting seriously into the info-mercial territory. Next a girl hula-hooping. Now a young boy doing headers. Now a gus dancing on and off the thing. Woman doing yoga. Surely the Wii has no idea if you're doing the poses right. Hmm.. I'm decidedly sceptical.
18:03 : Miyamoto is on stage. Wii-Fit demo coming up. He's really excited about it. Fat kids rejoyce.
18:04 : Sharon demonstrates the 'one legged stretch' to us. In the background you can see how the device she's standing on is detecting how she's balanced. The aim is to get the red dot within the middle of the square.
18:06 : John demonstrates step aerobics. Stepping on and off the pad thing. Urr.. ok.
18:07 : Finally we have a third woman doing a twist on the pad, again the aim is to adjust your balance.
18:08 : 40 activities in the game. The device is called the Wii Balance Board. How excited can I get about a slab of white plastic? It can measure your weight and how you are balanced. Can be used as a control input. It's wireless.
18:09 : Reggie steps up to take part in the body check. Stands on the balance board. Reggie maintains he's got heavy clothing, Miyamoto chooses light. On screen it's measuring his weight after a pause. First it analyses his balance. Now it's showing his BMI. This can be tracked over time. Reggie's BMI is high. Oh the shame.
18:13 : Miyamoto and Reggie participate in some soccer heading mini-game using the balance boards. Reggie takes the honours. No doubt he'll be recieving a pay cut with effect of immediately.
18:16 : Reggie goes into the wrap up speech. States that it's Nintendo's time to lead and that their goal is to make games the pre-eminant choice of leisure entertainment.
18:18 : And that's it folks!
17:01 : Show opens with video montage regarding the success of the WII and DS. Just so we're all absolutely clear. Nintendo rule.
17:05 : There's a man on the stage. His name is Reggie. And apparently - he's happy. Unlike Peter Moore, Reggie dives right into the sales stats. Up 114% in growth this year. That's probably due to those crazy Japanese buying multiple DS's for each day of the week.
17:09 : Video is lagging badly. Picture me frantically running up the stairs, laptop in hands whilst I continue to take notes and boot my desktop PC at the same time.
17:11 : Picture dismay on my face as I find that the stream on my desktop is hitching too. Arrgh!
17:12 : Nintendo is apparently luring women into the gaming sector. Hard to argue with that one unless you count The Sims on the PC.
17:13 : Reggie continues with the Powerpoint lesson, highlighting that they are grabbing a wide span of age ranges from 6 to 60.
17:15 : Reggie addresses the 'Fad' factor. Points to the sales figures since launch. Claims that WII is set to become the top seller of this generation. Now he tackles the lack of games. 140 titles coming to DS before Xmas. 100 for WII.
17:18 : My connection craps out and I lose a minute or so! Eeek!
17:19 : The WII zapper is unvield. It looks like the control and nunchuck lodged into a plastic gun handle (if that makes any sense at all). To be used in conjuction with Resident Evil and something called Ghost Squad. This looks a bit like Time Crisis. Price is $19.99. Given it's a bit of plastic though, I should bloody think so.
17:22 : Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword coming to the DS.
17:23 : Dragon Quest for WII - Reggie says it's 'DEEP'.
17:24 : Mario and Sonic Olympic games. This looks pretty cool. Although it is another batch of mini-games when it's all said and done.
17:25 : Super Smash Bros Brawl. The Smash community is 'stoked'. December 3rd release slated.
17:25 : Noticeable pauses where Reggie stops for applause, only to recieve silence. Guess the public n00bs would usually jeer with idiots at this point.
17:26 : More filler video from 'real' people raving about how wonderful the WII is. I groan as they've dug out a GRRL gamer who identifies with Meteroid Prime. Urrgh. This is nearly as bad as last year's Sony conference where they had real people talking about the PS3. 'And I was like.. DUDE! I'm totally hardcore and I LOVE the PS3!! ROCK OOOOON!'.
17:27 : Zelda Phantom Hour Glass demo on the DS. I'm sure this is fascinating for Zelda fans. But isn't really awe inspiring for a stage demo.
17:30 : Enter Jackie, the token hot chick who happens to play games. She's demoing Meteroid 3. To summarise.. meh.
17:33 : Reggie is back. He's talking about online connectivity. Cue another montage of snippets showing us how it's great to play online.
17:34 : What Reggie is failing to point out at this juncture is how utterly un-friendly the player codes are.
17:35 : Now something about the WII Shop channel. Stuff coming next year.
17:36 : A new Check MII out channel. Sounds like a Hot or Not for your virtual character. One begs the question.. why?
17:37 : Reggie points to Mario Strikers, GHIII, Madden and FIFA as examples of how Nintendo are getting 'serious' about online play.
17:39 : Mario Cart for WII coming in 1st Quarter of next year. At this point Reggie gets out the WII-Wheel. Again, it's a wheel shaped bit of plastic with a hole for the WII controller. No price mentioned.
17:41 : More filler. This time to show us how the OAP's love the WII and DS. Then cut to kids and moms. WII all might start vomiting soon (see what I did there?).
17:43 : Japanese guy is on stage (didn't catch the name, was too busy puking). It appears he's trying to demonstrate the virtues of a DS cook book and forgetting about his job to chop onions. Have I switched over to QVC?
17:46 : I think the point he's trying to make is regarding feature creep. New players getting to grips with ever more complexe controls etc. Apparently Nintendo are aiming to bring down the barriers between new players and 'core' gamers. Games are for everyone (cue a nice long - Awwwwwwww).
17:49 : Goes on to explain that their aim is to release games which are immediately playable by everyone. And in my own very humble opinion, this in part why many are finding it difficult to keep gamers tuned to the WII as they don't contain enough depth past the first couple of hours.
17:50 : More filler. This time highlighting the social gaming aspect. Gathering around the TV, parents and children playing together. God.. pass me the the bucket again.
17:53 : Super Mario Galaxy - November 12th in the US. Europe.. probably 2010 (oo.. I'm so bitter).
17:55 : Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 on the way. Yay. More mini-games.
17:57 : Flash Focus revealed for the DS. Apparently visual brain training. Something to do with watching a baseball pitcher. I'm slightly lost.
17:58 : My Life Coach coming soon. Great. It'll probably tell me to buy more Nintendo goods.
17:59 : More video filler. Yet more news snippits about how great the WII and DS are. Think they're over-egging the point slightly.
18:00 : Wii-Fit. Woman shown standing on what appears to be a set of scales. She's balancing on it in different poses, on screen it's showing her what to do. Ok, this is getting seriously into the info-mercial territory. Next a girl hula-hooping. Now a young boy doing headers. Now a gus dancing on and off the thing. Woman doing yoga. Surely the Wii has no idea if you're doing the poses right. Hmm.. I'm decidedly sceptical.
18:03 : Miyamoto is on stage. Wii-Fit demo coming up. He's really excited about it. Fat kids rejoyce.
18:04 : Sharon demonstrates the 'one legged stretch' to us. In the background you can see how the device she's standing on is detecting how she's balanced. The aim is to get the red dot within the middle of the square.
18:06 : John demonstrates step aerobics. Stepping on and off the pad thing. Urr.. ok.
18:07 : Finally we have a third woman doing a twist on the pad, again the aim is to adjust your balance.
18:08 : 40 activities in the game. The device is called the Wii Balance Board. How excited can I get about a slab of white plastic? It can measure your weight and how you are balanced. Can be used as a control input. It's wireless.
18:09 : Reggie steps up to take part in the body check. Stands on the balance board. Reggie maintains he's got heavy clothing, Miyamoto chooses light. On screen it's measuring his weight after a pause. First it analyses his balance. Now it's showing his BMI. This can be tracked over time. Reggie's BMI is high. Oh the shame.
18:13 : Miyamoto and Reggie participate in some soccer heading mini-game using the balance boards. Reggie takes the honours. No doubt he'll be recieving a pay cut with effect of immediately.
18:16 : Reggie goes into the wrap up speech. States that it's Nintendo's time to lead and that their goal is to make games the pre-eminant choice of leisure entertainment.
18:18 : And that's it folks!
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Posted Jul 11, 2007 11:19 am PT
Yeah - there were more than a few times where my mind went wandering whilst Reggie banged on and on about the Wii's successes.
Posted Jul 11, 2007 1:47 pm PT
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