Way too early on a Thursday morning was the only time over the period ECTS spans this year that we had the opportunity to be in the presence of Nintendo. The Japanese giant has no presence at Earls Court this year, so invited the press along to a breakfast briefing in central London instead.
“Is the videogame market in panic?” asked David Gosen, managing director of Nintendo Europe. “No. In the week when Sony and Microsoft have reduced their prices, we see no reason to. The GameCube is the cheapest machine on the market and is backed up by over 100 software titles.”
That was the most interesting point made at this morning’s event. As far as press conferences go, the Nintendo Europe effort was really low on the quality scale. Although the BAFTA building offers a great venue, there was really no reason to turn up at all, aside for a new, free Nintendo satchel, something that is always welcome.
Nintendo’s problem today was simply that it was holding a press event to say nothing. Apart from the fact that there will be no GameCube price-cut, nothing at all new was learned. This left the company to fill a little over an hour by telling us some key points a number of times.
So, humble reader, Nintendo’s message to you is that they are great. And by great, we mean really, really great. Nintendo also wants you to know that they sell a lot of games. Tons of them. They also sell a lot of games consoles too. The launch of the GameCube was a great success. The launch of the Game Boy Advance was also a great success.
The conference was presented in the style of Channel 4’s Big Brother and even featured that Geordie voiceover guy from the TV series. Gosen was asked such questions as, “David, Big Brother would like to know what you think made the GameCube such a tremendous success.” He was also set a task by Big Brother. The task was to explain why he thought the Game Boy Advance was such a great success. The prize for successfully completing the task was to explain why the GameCube was such a success. You get the idea.
There was a video address by Satoru Iwata, the recently appointed president of Nintendo. He said that the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance were both a tremendous success in Europe, albeit in a pleasant, humble Japanese way.
The highlight of the morning came in the shape of Charles Martinet, the voice actor for Mario coming out onto the stage. He can talk exactly like Mario which is genuinely enthralling and interesting to behold. But, he can also talk like Waluigi which is hugely disturbing! He was great though, and received more laughs, applause and general good vibes from the attendees than the rest of the event put together.
Nintendo is here to stay. The firm expects to have 100 titles available for GameCube by Christmas 2002 in Europe and a UK-installed user base of one million. Great, as they say.
“Is the videogame market in panic?” asked David Gosen, managing director of Nintendo Europe. “No. In the week when Sony and Microsoft have reduced their prices, we see no reason to. The GameCube is the cheapest machine on the market and is backed up by over 100 software titles.”
That was the most interesting point made at this morning’s event. As far as press conferences go, the Nintendo Europe effort was really low on the quality scale. Although the BAFTA building offers a great venue, there was really no reason to turn up at all, aside for a new, free Nintendo satchel, something that is always welcome.
Nintendo’s problem today was simply that it was holding a press event to say nothing. Apart from the fact that there will be no GameCube price-cut, nothing at all new was learned. This left the company to fill a little over an hour by telling us some key points a number of times.
So, humble reader, Nintendo’s message to you is that they are great. And by great, we mean really, really great. Nintendo also wants you to know that they sell a lot of games. Tons of them. They also sell a lot of games consoles too. The launch of the GameCube was a great success. The launch of the Game Boy Advance was also a great success.
The conference was presented in the style of Channel 4’s Big Brother and even featured that Geordie voiceover guy from the TV series. Gosen was asked such questions as, “David, Big Brother would like to know what you think made the GameCube such a tremendous success.” He was also set a task by Big Brother. The task was to explain why he thought the Game Boy Advance was such a great success. The prize for successfully completing the task was to explain why the GameCube was such a success. You get the idea.
There was a video address by Satoru Iwata, the recently appointed president of Nintendo. He said that the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance were both a tremendous success in Europe, albeit in a pleasant, humble Japanese way.
The highlight of the morning came in the shape of Charles Martinet, the voice actor for Mario coming out onto the stage. He can talk exactly like Mario which is genuinely enthralling and interesting to behold. But, he can also talk like Waluigi which is hugely disturbing! He was great though, and received more laughs, applause and general good vibes from the attendees than the rest of the event put together.
Nintendo is here to stay. The firm expects to have 100 titles available for GameCube by Christmas 2002 in Europe and a UK-installed user base of one million. Great, as they say.
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