E3 2008: Nintendo Underwhelms

Again, I will be sharing my response to the conference, via diary style. Enjoy!
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E3 2008- Nintendo- Watching G4

11:54- Yawn, just woke up and put on G4. Man, I never watch this channel that much, except for Ninja Warrior marathons. Oh look, more Fallout 3 demos. Apparently, they are showing pretty much exactly what they showed yesterday. Pretty explosions. I yawn again.

11:58- Time to check the blogs before Nintendo comes up. Wow, nothing really to report, nothing big. FFXIII Versus apparently not coming to Xbox360; my guess is that will change.

12:01- G4 guys says that the Xbox Live new look was a big deal. I think he got money from Microsoft to say that. FFXIII is the big deal; that’s it. Everything else was either a copy from Nintendo’s interface (Avatars), or previously announced games.

12:02- Nintendo is a super villain, according to G4? Ya, Mario is really menacing.




12:04- Speculation on a new Punch-Out game? That would be sick using the new 3D motion sensor peripheral- Wii Motion Plus.

12:05- Ah, G4 mentions Wii music. Admittedly, I forgot about that; but it looked awesome.

12:06- Nintendo is up. I’ve heard nothing big from them the past couple days. This means either two things. One, they have nothing big. Or two, they have something huge to drop…well that is kinda obvious isn’t it? I’m so insightful, I know.

12:07- Wow, there are a bunch of empty seats.

12:09- Some Nintendo girl who works under Reggie (didn’t catch her name) is making a joke about being a mother and snowboarding. Wii snowboarding hint using the balance board possibly?

12:10- Holy crap, that’s Shaun White, using the balance board and a Wiimote. Neat. Lolz, he fell. White says it’s really accurate, and helped with the development. Shaun White Snowboarding for the Wii.


12:12- I always like how Nintendo is so chill showing their games. See, when Microsoft tried to do this it looked forced.

12:13- Huh, this snowboarding game actually looks like fun.

12:14- Iwata makes an appearance. He’s really been President for 5 years? Crazy.

12:16- New paradigm for games. One: games would normally not sell for three years. Two: Graphics aren’t everything. Three: User base has expanded. Games aren’t just gifts. Europe: 200,000 DS per week sold. 700,000 Wii’s sold in three month spans.

12:20- Games to bring non-gamers and gamers together. Wii sports and Mario Kart Wii were examples of that coming together.

12:22- Engaged, enriched, enthused are the goals of Nintendo. Can we see some games now? I get the paradigm shift, which is only half-true, I believe. It’s hard to convince “hardcores” that graphics don’t really matter.

12:24- Animal Crossing City Folk. No required goals. Even when not playing, game goes on. Woah, a new city element. Can alter yourself to look like your Mii. Can send messages to Wii message board on other Wiis. Wii Speak? It’s a microphone placed on top of the Sensor Bar. Can visit other towns. Neat, looks good but more of the same for Animal Crossing, except for the City part. End of this year release date.


12:28- Reggie appears! 20 million DS sold in US. 10 million Wiis sold in US. Ha, he admits that the market stuff will be short. More wanking for Nintendo. Everyone has to do this I guess.

12:33- Alright, I get it; Nintendo makes a lot of money. Games please? On a side note, the girlfriend (GF) has awakened. She was surprised that Nintendogs is so popular.

12:37- Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The GF likes the Yoda. WiiMote light sabers, who didn’t see this coming eventually?

12:38- Rayman Raving Rabbits. I swear; this game is on crack. Uses the balance board though, cool.

12:39- Call of Duty: World at War. GF’s response? Munching on cereal. I hate Corn Pops. Call of Duty: World at War used with Wii Zapper, okay, kind of neat, not gonna buy it though.

12:40- Female gamers becoming more apparent. Mmm.k. Don’t care.

12:41- GH: On Tour. Can share songs with other DS’es. Not interested.

12:42- Spore Creatures. Focusing more on the creature creation than PC version. Can share creatures with other DS’es. Too short; I need more for Spore. I am really anticpating this game.

12:43- New Pokemon Ranger game. Release Date: Nov. 10.

12:44- GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to DS. I can’t hold back the laughter. No trailer either. Sorry, this up-tempo host girl saying Chinatown Wars is priceless.

12:45- DS and air travel? Testing DSes to become what looks to be like GPS systems. Can use the DS in Safeco Field to check box scores, do trivia with only people in the stadium, or to order food. DS software as electronic cookbook in November. GF says she’s worried that the DS will get covered in turkey juice.

12:47- Wii MotionPlus. More sensitive and measures shift in your arm.

12:48- Wii Sports Resort. Free Motion Plus coupled with game. Wow, it looks precise.

12:50- Wii dog disc throw looks casual but really really cute.

12:51- “You really like that throttle Reggie.” Lolz. Wii Sports Resort puts Reggie on a jet ski. Neat, but more casual fluff.

12:52- Accurate Wii sword fighting in the new Wii Sports. Now this has potential for some crazy sword-fighting games. Developers must have their mouths watering. Wii Sports Resort coming in Spring 2009.



12:55- Guy playing on Drum Set (wiimote + balance board), it’s pretty accurate too. Oh, here comes Miyamoto playing the sax with a remote. Bass and keyboard fall in, guy still playing drums also. Very jazzy, crazily accurate. Actually an awesome song.

12:58- GF says Miyamoto is cute. He is.

12:58- Wii Music available this holiday. You just need to move your body and the Wii will match the song for you. Hm, sounds kinda limiting, especially as a musician myself. 50 different instruments? Damn. Lots of percussion as well. Drummer's name was Robbie Drums. Creative.




1:03- Orchestra and note-matching games included in Wii Music. The game will record videos of your performance. Can record separate tracks and make a music video.

1:05- They are playing Wii Music together. Miyamoto gets the cowbell. Sounds pretty disjointed but looks fun and silly. GF says there’s a little too much cowbell. I say there is never enough cowbell. Miyamoto is rockin that thing though.

1:10- Reggie jabs that other companies are not innovative enough for the paradigm shift in gaming. Meh, pretty standard E3 showing. Again crazy potential with another new peripheral, the Wii Motion Plus. This has been the problem with Nintendo recently, a lot of untapped potential.

1:14- Back to G4 lame coverage. That’s all for Nintendo.

1:25- Reggie’s avoiding all the questions that appeal to core gamers in a G4 interview. His response for appealing to core gamers was Animal Crossing. Oof, that’s hurts. He does hint that Zelda and Mario aren’t done for the Wii. Wii motion plus for Zelda? “Just Speculation.” Kid Icarus Wii? “We didn’t announce that.”

Wow, Nintendo really dropped the ball with this press conference. There was a litany of great games listed in the press conference but nothing big that would blow your mind like FFXIII did for Microsoft. I will buy Wii Sports Resort, Wii Music, Animal Crossing Wii, and maybe the Shaun White Snowboarding game but none of those are blockbuster titles. Even just a teaser for Kid Icarus Wii would have been nice. Or more Megaman 9 footage. Or just something to make me jump out of my seat. Again, Nintendo has a ton of potential with the new Wii Motion Plus, but why would developers bother making big games when the causal stuff sells just as well and has less developing costs? Nintendo, I am disappointed, and I am a big Nintendo fan.