Blogging the (Nintendo) Revolution

Super Mario Galaxy Boss Battle Video

Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii

Another one of those "why wasn't this in the press conference?"-announcement. IGN has the full scoop, but let me give you het most important bits from the article:

• New Characters: Pit, Zero Suit Samus, Metakinght, Wario, and.......Solid Snake!
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl won't be a launch title anymore but will be released in 2007.
• It will use the traditional controller attachment (or Gamecube controlller).

Duck Hunt and Gun attachment for Wii

I can't believe they didn't touch on this in the press conference, but Nintendo is showing a playable version of Duck Hunt for Wii with a light gun attachment called the 'zapper'. Awesome!

Super Mario Galaxy Video Footage

No direct feed, but good to get an impression of this highly anticipated game.

Miyamoto playing Tennis on Wii

Looks super fun!

Miscellaneous Nintendo Links

I can't possibly cover everything out there, but here are a few choice bits:

• Matt Cassamassina's gameplay impressions of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports, ExciteTruck.
• An interesting linguistic analysis of the Wii name, the letter "W" in particular, at "Strategic Name Development (a blog all about brand names and marketing).
• E3 isn't all about Wii. 4cr points to some cool GameCube games on show at E3. That Super Paper Mario game looks amazing!
• Oh, and the E3 DS lineup for good measure.
• Oh and be sure to download the E3 conference trailers!

Well I'm off to bed, more tomorrow.

Wii 'traditional' controller shell

No mention of this in the press conference, but to be found on the Nintendo website:

Looks pretty slick don't you think?

Nintendo Media Briefing: First thoughts...

I'm just wrapping my head around the stuff that came out of the Nintendo press conference a couple of hours ago. As expected it was decidedly Wii-centric and Nintendo showed a lot of games. Highlights (IMHO) include the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, ExciteTruck, and Wii Sports (the tennis demo was awesome). The new games look cool, but I missed a really big surprising title to blow us all away. Speaking of not blowing away... I didn't say "Wow" when I saw the graphics, they were more or less what I expected; incrementally better than current-gen graphics. Of course, graphics aren't really the point of Nintendo's new system. The gameplay opportunities are what sets Nintendo apart, and damn to some of these games look fun to play!

That said, perhaps more interesting than what Nintendo revealed was what they didn't reveal. No price, no date, no indication of what the retail package might look like, no (ok, very little) information on Nintendo's Virtual Console, no Super Smash Brothers info, no other attachments for the controller (although I must say that the built-in speaker is an interesting addition), no live demo of the new Mario game, no hints about DS-connectivity. There is a lot that has yet to be revealed. An awful lot considering the Q4 2006 launch window. When will Nintendo reveal all this stuff. Well I will make a prediction. Nintendo needs another high-profile event to showcase the Wii in all its glory. That's why I think we will see a Spaceworld conference this year an we'll hear about it real soon.

Nintendo's press conference was the best, most exciting, of the three, but I just want more!

What are your thoughts on the press conference?

PS:Good coverage of the event on Joystiq.

Oh, Sony....*shakes head*

PS: If you're going to borrow ideas from Nintendo please do it right.
PPS: $499 (for loser version)and $599 (for the real PS3). Say what?!?

E3 is on and Time Magazine scores a Wii exclusive?

Nintendo sure is taking this "expanding the gaming market"-thing seriously, huh? Just before the biggest most important gaming conference on the planet starts Time Magazine has an article with some exclusive Wii info. You don't get more mainstream than Time I guess, but that is all part of Nintendo's strategy. Enticing the hardcore gamer with classic and challenging franchises like Metroid and Zelda, but also luring the casual and non-gamer with games like Nintendogs and Brain Training (titles which many hardcore gamers also enjoy). So far, it appears to be working.

Regarding this E3, it seems to me Nintendo got a lot of the big announcements out of the way before the big show. They announced the name, a lot of 3rd party developers announced games for the Wii, and the Time article reveals that there will be a Wario Ware for Wii, a tennis game, and sheds some light on the Wii-controller functionality for Twilight Princess. What's left? Well... Games, games, games! I predict that Nintendo will show a lot of games, big titles in the Venerable stable of Nintendo household names, and most importantly it will introduce new franchises. Hopefully, these titles will really show off the potential of the controller. Finally, I suspect (or: hope) there will be at least one big Wii secret that Nintendo has yet to reveal.