E3 2007 - Nintendo Conference Analysis

[The Fifth]

i really want a wii FPS to be online, with the whole she-bang. eg. guns, groups, voice chat, yelling and screaming when you die (well not so much that) people calling you a noob. yea that sort of stuff makes me laugh

That is funny that you enjoy the one part of online gaming that turns many people off.



Just listen to the 'thewiire' Podcast #65 they will name their sources.

[Ads]

[bigwilliiy]

wat, i can take it. i just say GET A GIRLFRIEND. they shutup.

[ericlewis91]

like why are they so scared of online games..thats so 2004..with xbox

[Revan]

I have a question about online gaming on Wii. Can you play with anybody online, or do you have to have their friend code?

[Monsteroids]

I have a question about online gaming on Wii. Can you play with anybody online, or do you have to have their friend code?

Well to play with the full benefits of online gaming you have to have the person's friend code otherwise there is usually a mode where you play against a random person anonymously(did I spell that right?) with pre-selected modes and limeted ways of play I believe.

[firedragon]

Really nice article. I was at the E3 and Nintendo's strategy was very clear. The next day I read about WiiFit on the local newspapaer, but no one else had a spotlight in that newspaper. I didn't get a chance to look at the back of the Balance board, but I think I came across it at Onnintendo.com? i'm not sure, or it might have been Ign.com not sure, I'll check and get back to everyone.

[Rolex]

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Let me backtrack a little. First of all, the conference was not particularly worse than usual. It could have been better in terms of content spread and pacing, but if anything it suffered from the usual over-expectations. Not to mention the lack of an excitable audience which killed most of the buzz, and the fact Sony showed off the stupendously exceptional looking Killzone 2 on PlayStation3 earlier in the day, which understandably raised the excitement bar quite high.

Corey - great article, more and more people seem to be reading all of it, mind control certainly works eventually - and I certainly watched the whole of the keynote presentation and dear me - was it Reggie or the crowd which seemed to be lack lustre? I have never watched a presentation with such little reaction from both presenters and audience... **Although have you witnessed the Activision / Jamie Kennedy debacle yet - ooof someone's getting tarred, feathered and sacked!! Employ the woman in the crowd, that's what I say!**

Nintendo; like all companies; seem to roll out the fact & figures as mentioned with frightening [when you consider it concerns fun-filled games] business-like glee [Mr Iawata](of course) but when compared against, say Sony, then you really get the impression that even Nintendo are being more-super-mega-ruthless in this campaign for casual gamers than the other big 2 - I'm not saying they are forgetting us core gamers, who actually buy more than one game - but man, it's sort of a commercial blood drive every-time Nintendo open their mouth - only Myamoto seems to be interested in games, and I think he's on the turn..mwuhahahaha It doesn't seem so much a "...and now you see what you've been missing out on the past decade..." but a Bob Geldof "..give us your ******* money, NOW!.." dealy with them, or is that just me?!?!

And shows one thing: nearly a whole year later, and many hardcore gamers STILL don't get it.

It's like watching Bart Simpson trying to take an electrified cupcake by repeatedly touching it and expecting a different result each time. The internet reactionary hyperbole crowd is repeating, near verbatim, what it said last year when Wii was shown, substituting the disdain of Wii Sports and Wii Play, for Wii Fit.

For once Corey I'm not quite on the same thought train here with you - do you consider that hardcore gamers do now actually understand Wii but are just not satisfied completely with the output for them thus far?

With the absolute effort given to Wii-casual, Nintendo have achieved roughly half of what they set out to do with Wii - create the expanded audience but didn't they also promise that core gamers would be catered for as well - it's taken 8 months from launch and the games such as "SSB, SMG, MKart, RE:UC, MP:3" have been sooo long in coming that core gamers have a right to feel peeved at WiiFit getting the lions share of "look at us + we love you causal gamers = spend more money" shenanigans

After all - if per-chance that any of the core titles revealed are below par then god help Reggie on the streets of **insert country here**

What Nintendo actually achieved with the keynote for me was to demonstrate that the "killer titles" [as above] definately have a back seat role in the business now and yes I am taking into account what IcedEarth81 has posted previously:

Smart move by Nintendo. You can tell they have this all planned out. Suck in the casual and non-gamers while feeding your hardcore crowd bits of Metroid, Mario Galaxy, Brawl, and then springing the rumored Mario Kart with online on them. In the process they get huge acclaim from the mainstream press, which has been criticial of the video game market for some time now. WiiFit will indeed sell a ton of copies and Wii consoles. And, who's to say that these casual gamers and non-gamers won't branch out and get some of the more hardcore games? Who's to say that some of them weren't NES owners once upon a time that strayed from video games and might be drawn in by a new Mario adventure or a new Metroid adventure? The point is once all these people own a Wii then you can start selling them the wide variety of software the Wii is sure to have by that point. Whether you agree with the direction the company is taking or not you have to agree that it is extremely smart in terms of business.

and must say that purely from a business point of view Nintendo have got to push but it doesn't always make it palatable to hear it in such cold detail, so often....Nintendo make us feel special again, please don't end up like MS or Sony

[Rolex]

Ok I'm not biased or anything

I'm not saying the Wii sucks but Metroid Prime 3, Galaxies, and Brawl along with like every other game Nintendo is coming out with is more of the same.

Revan - I'm not Nintendo / Sony / MS biased by any stretch but I have to agree with you on the "more of the same" vein that is coming out at the moment - there has, up to this point, been a lot of ports and franchise titles out but I, for one, wouldn't strictly consider Mario Galaxy any of the above - this title looks superb and whilst you could tenuously link it to Mario64 for example - only in the fact that it's Nintendo, Mario and a 3D platformer - hold on(!) that doesn't sound that different but look at the title - it really does look superb and one which I am looking forward to playing and it's purely down to the Wii controls and the effort which has seemingly been put into it and going on all the hands-on praise it has received!!

You could also compare Gears of War on XB360 to other similar titles but differentiate it from them as fresh and new....but the likes of [going on previews] SSB and MP:3 for example do have that beefed up franchise feel from the previews - although I am loathed to say any more until I have played them of course. I don't want to upset the diehards who are wetting themselves for these titles - as long as you enjoy them then it's been worth it no matter what the "label"!

[Revan]

Good point Rolex but some games in their franchises cough*Mario Party*cough do need to change their formula. But what I was saying is it is mostly Mario, Link, Samus, repeat. It wouldn't hurt for a new IP which is why it is to bad Project Hammer got cancelled. I'm not saying these games based on Nintendo's mascots suck either, but we could use a change in the formula or a new IP every once in a while.

[som1]

wow this article has changed my mind on the hardcore games, i was too one of those people who thought nintendo was had abandoned the hardcore gamer by trying to appeal more to the casual person, but in real life their making games more interesting for hardcore gamers and bringing those casual players along with them.
just comes to show that having a little faith with nintendo will go a long way