E3: Nintendo Conference Round-Up
Miyamoto unveils Wii Fit... and new controller comes too.
The Wii Zapper as it was back in 2006
As the gaming world holds its breath, Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime beats Shigeru Miyamoto-san at a session of 'soccer' head-tennis; a controller is officially announced; health, health and more health are rolled out along with a new Wii channel - and all to commemorate, "the coming out party for the for an entire industry".
Nintendo's triumphant (and triumphalist) E3 2007 presentation kicked into gear with presentations from Reggie, creative genius, Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo himself. The Nintendo gaming hardcore will be cheered by news of the latest controller - the Wii Zapper.
First revealed in prototype back in May 2006, the device is, according to Reggie, "...the first offspring of the Wii remote and the nunchuk". It looks gun-like, but as we're probably all aware from that prototype, it's actually a way to house both previous remotes (remote at the front, nunchuck at the back).
We reported on it back in April of this year when GameStop in the U.S. listed it as the 'Blaster', so it's good to see that it wasn't simply "rumour and speculation" after all.
Reggie proceeds to declaim about the use of the new semi-controller with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad and Medal of Honor. As a stand-alone product, the Zapper will set our American cousins back $19.99 (approximately £10, although no official UK pricing is available as yet).
Okay, so what of the real (not too casual) Nintendo fan's desire? What of real games? Well, Super Smash Bros Brawl was dated for December 3rd in the States - but only gets a rather loose '2008' release date for the rest of the world.
And online? The war in games is going to be online, we're all aware of this, so when Reggie announces that Mario Kart will be online 'global' in the first quarter of 2008 - well, it's relief all round.
Reggie also rolls out the long-awaited Super Mario Galaxy (which we first looked at back in May '06) - and its U.S. release date of November 12th this very year (European release is pencilled in, once again, for the fourth quarter of this very year, which to us is probably the same thing, but it's just not official yet).
Also on show are various third-party titles including Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids 2 and MySims on both Wii and DS.
But what of Phantom Hour Glass, which is due for a U.S. release on October 1st? Well, that's given a demo on the DS to a reasonably relaxed crowd who, it's got to be assumed are hanging out for Iwata and Miyamoto's words of wisdom. Not yet.
First there's a new Wii channel to be introduced to the crowd (the first since 'Everybody Votes' back in February). According to the press release that came out to support the keynote, "Now people can show off Miis they have created either on their own or for Nintendo-suggested competitions. Coming in 2007". Okay then... moving on.
Now, back in April this year, we have to admit that we said there was going to be a Wii-based exercise 'game'. We also said it would go by the name, Wii Health. Well, it's called Wii Fit and Miyamoto-san leapt out to introduce us (via his translator) to its delights.
What you get is a pressure-pad for you to stand on - it looks remarkably like one of those aerobic step doo-hickies that your girlfriend uses. But it's not, we're shown this by three 'fitness instructors' called Sharon, John and Josephine who go through all sorts of healthy movements from the 40 activities that are to be available in the 'game'. You've got body mass index (BMI) comparisons, you've got yoga, you've got all sorts of twisting and contorting - to be honest Joe, John and Shaz even make it look enticing.
The kicker (pardon the pun) is that Miyamoto-san was more keen to introduce Wii Fit than he was any of - gasp (and we would have done after having watched Sharon) - Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy or even Kart.
So, what is that pressure pad doo-hickie? Officially it's called the "Wii Balance Board". As far as SPOnG can tell it gauges the amount of, well, pressure exerted by the feet as the player attempts to step, hop, hoola-hoop and generally Wii themselves fitter.
So, when it came to the 'soccer' head-tennis competition between Reggie and Miyamoto that we referred to way up in the earliest part of this tale, Reg was able to score his requesite 20 points way, way before the creative genius Shigeru, simpy by jiggling his substantial hips.
Never fear though, all was smiles and the two parted without nutting each other. Soon after this, the hall was cleared and gaming came out.
So, it's fair to say that Nintendo is retaining much of its 'hardcore' gaming heritage. However, the show was interspersed with much, much video declaiming the Wii and the DS's brain and body health-inspiring goodness that it's plain Nintendo knows exactly what it's managed to achieve in the last year: right now, the casual gamer is Nintendo's, and it certainly intends to build on that.
Did we mention Iwata-san? We did... and boy was he there to confirm the opinion that casual Friday is turning into casual everyday for Ninty? Yes he was. His brief appearance included mentions of the Zapper as an aid to casual gamers; the fact that DS Cookbook has made him into an Iron Chef, and all of this is wrapped in exhortations such as "destroy the psychological barrier that separates veteran gamers from novice gamers", "Not only new games forever, but new gamers forever", and "We must accept that games are for everyone".
Nintendo's triumphant (and triumphalist) E3 2007 presentation kicked into gear with presentations from Reggie, creative genius, Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo himself. The Nintendo gaming hardcore will be cheered by news of the latest controller - the Wii Zapper.
First revealed in prototype back in May 2006, the device is, according to Reggie, "...the first offspring of the Wii remote and the nunchuk". It looks gun-like, but as we're probably all aware from that prototype, it's actually a way to house both previous remotes (remote at the front, nunchuck at the back).
We reported on it back in April of this year when GameStop in the U.S. listed it as the 'Blaster', so it's good to see that it wasn't simply "rumour and speculation" after all.
Reggie proceeds to declaim about the use of the new semi-controller with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Ghost Squad and Medal of Honor. As a stand-alone product, the Zapper will set our American cousins back $19.99 (approximately £10, although no official UK pricing is available as yet).
Okay, so what of the real (not too casual) Nintendo fan's desire? What of real games? Well, Super Smash Bros Brawl was dated for December 3rd in the States - but only gets a rather loose '2008' release date for the rest of the world.
And online? The war in games is going to be online, we're all aware of this, so when Reggie announces that Mario Kart will be online 'global' in the first quarter of 2008 - well, it's relief all round.
Reggie also rolls out the long-awaited Super Mario Galaxy (which we first looked at back in May '06) - and its U.S. release date of November 12th this very year (European release is pencilled in, once again, for the fourth quarter of this very year, which to us is probably the same thing, but it's just not official yet).
Also on show are various third-party titles including Ubisoft's Raving Rabbids 2 and MySims on both Wii and DS.
But what of Phantom Hour Glass, which is due for a U.S. release on October 1st? Well, that's given a demo on the DS to a reasonably relaxed crowd who, it's got to be assumed are hanging out for Iwata and Miyamoto's words of wisdom. Not yet.
First there's a new Wii channel to be introduced to the crowd (the first since 'Everybody Votes' back in February). According to the press release that came out to support the keynote, "Now people can show off Miis they have created either on their own or for Nintendo-suggested competitions. Coming in 2007". Okay then... moving on.
Now, back in April this year, we have to admit that we said there was going to be a Wii-based exercise 'game'. We also said it would go by the name, Wii Health. Well, it's called Wii Fit and Miyamoto-san leapt out to introduce us (via his translator) to its delights.
What you get is a pressure-pad for you to stand on - it looks remarkably like one of those aerobic step doo-hickies that your girlfriend uses. But it's not, we're shown this by three 'fitness instructors' called Sharon, John and Josephine who go through all sorts of healthy movements from the 40 activities that are to be available in the 'game'. You've got body mass index (BMI) comparisons, you've got yoga, you've got all sorts of twisting and contorting - to be honest Joe, John and Shaz even make it look enticing.
The kicker (pardon the pun) is that Miyamoto-san was more keen to introduce Wii Fit than he was any of - gasp (and we would have done after having watched Sharon) - Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy or even Kart.
So, what is that pressure pad doo-hickie? Officially it's called the "Wii Balance Board". As far as SPOnG can tell it gauges the amount of, well, pressure exerted by the feet as the player attempts to step, hop, hoola-hoop and generally Wii themselves fitter.
So, when it came to the 'soccer' head-tennis competition between Reggie and Miyamoto that we referred to way up in the earliest part of this tale, Reg was able to score his requesite 20 points way, way before the creative genius Shigeru, simpy by jiggling his substantial hips.
Never fear though, all was smiles and the two parted without nutting each other. Soon after this, the hall was cleared and gaming came out.
So, it's fair to say that Nintendo is retaining much of its 'hardcore' gaming heritage. However, the show was interspersed with much, much video declaiming the Wii and the DS's brain and body health-inspiring goodness that it's plain Nintendo knows exactly what it's managed to achieve in the last year: right now, the casual gamer is Nintendo's, and it certainly intends to build on that.
Did we mention Iwata-san? We did... and boy was he there to confirm the opinion that casual Friday is turning into casual everyday for Ninty? Yes he was. His brief appearance included mentions of the Zapper as an aid to casual gamers; the fact that DS Cookbook has made him into an Iron Chef, and all of this is wrapped in exhortations such as "destroy the psychological barrier that separates veteran gamers from novice gamers", "Not only new games forever, but new gamers forever", and "We must accept that games are for everyone".
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