Nintendo Press Conference Impressions

After Tuesday evening’s rather blah Microsoft conference, everyone had themselves looking forward to the next morning and afternoon, when it would be Nintendo and Sony’s turn up to the plate. While Nintendo did not have to try too hard to outmatch Microsoft, it still had to be wary of whatever it was that Sony would be bringing to the table, mostly because Sony itself would probably need a big show to turn it around. Without revealing too much on Sony’s presentation, Nintendo’s was about in between the two in terms of excitement. In terms of quality, each were pretty good, however in terms of buzz generated, Sony certainly was ahead of the other two.

That’s not to say that Nintendo did not have any big announcements and new showings. In fact, they were plenty of new games and gadgets to show off to please everyone at the press conference, hosted by none other than Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo America. This in fact was the main theme of the early morning conference, as illustrated by the three or four clip show/montages that the audience had to endure. The Wii and the DS are both accessible to the old, the unhealthy and the female sex. This was the general message for each clip, which is great, but not really something anyone cares about to be honest.

The big announcements of the night were again part of Nintendo’s theme as they really want to push the easy access angle. The first big announcement was for the Wii Zapper, which holds the Wii Remote and Nun chuck into the shape of a gun to provide a whole new experience for first-person shooters. The Zapper will be reasonably priced at $20 US and will be used to play a number of games, including Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Other third-party companies will announce their Zapper games in the days to come.

Another new Wii controller accessory announced on Wednesday was the Wii steering wheel. Along with this announcement came the long awaited mention of Mario Kart for the Wii. The game will not be ready this year, but is already looking good and will be packaged along with the new controller.

In terms of third-party games, Reggie quickly mentioned a few like Soulcalibur and a new Smackdown vs. RAW game for the Wii, and new Ninja Gaiden and Dragon Quest games for the DS. Guitar Hero III will also land on the Wii with console specific gameplay of course. Also, a small clip was shown for the new Olympics game featuring the usual suspects in the Mario series, as well as some Sonic characters. Curiously enough, Sonic is shown neck and neck with Mario in a footrace. Guess he cut back on the juice.

Then there was a shout out to Super Smash Brothers which Reggie called the best ever. He continues on, confirming the release date for December 3rd. No new character announcement sadly. Also mentioned was Super Mario Galaxy which Reggie said, in so many words, was the first Super Mario game that will live up to Super Mario 64. Good, now the next step is to destroy all copies of Super Mario Sunshine…

In terms of in-game demonstrations, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS was shown, was well as the new Metroid Prime game on the Wii. Each presentation detailed the neat features that are in the game, utilizing the unique controlling systems of the DS and Wii. Check out the trailers and previews to find out more.

Nintendo’s worldwide president, Satoru Iwata came out and talked about Brain Age 2 and how video games are now played by more casual gamers who enjoy games, but have a hard time with the more hardcore stuff. He continues on about Nintendo’s vision referring to the Zapper and its easy learning curve, thereby not alienating beginner players from the more experience. Good stuff.

Furthering the message, Reggie returns to talk about other games much like Brain Age that are being developed such as My Word Coach which improve vocabulary and My Life Coach, I guess, improves your life.

The final and longest part of the show was the Wii Fit demonstration. You can read about it in the news section and in an up-coming preview but it basically introduces a new Wii accessory that looks like an aerobic step, and essentially it is. However, the top is a sensor and responds to weight and shifts of weight that happen on top of it. Shigeru Miyamoto came out and along with Reggie and a few fitness trainers demonstrated the various exercises and minigames that are in Wii Fit. This included a dance step game, a soccer game where you play a goalie and must head balls away, some yoga exercises, push up exercises and a feature that check you center of mass and your Body Mass Index. Reggie demonstrated that last one and let’s just say he needs to hit the gym a bit. But hey, he’s about kicking ass right? Can’t really hate on the guy.

At the end of a show, another montage played, reminding us all again that Nintendo just loves to sum things up with various youtube clips. The theme is once again engrained into our brains that Nintendo is for everyone. Not a bad message and not a bad press conference. With many new toys shown and a couple new games announced, it was better than the Microsoft one, albeit a little dry. No matter, Nintendo’s future looks promising with games that everyone and their mother can play, helping all of us have some fun while making sure we are healthy in the process. What’s not to love about that?

Article By: Alan