Nintendo’s conference this year seemed to be laden with stats (now that Nintendo’s owning in all of them), but there were a few unexpected revelations that presented themselves today that made this E3 special. With three new Wii peripherals, and a bunch of solidified release dates, Nintendo did not disappoint their loyal fans.
General
- bunches of charts showing how the DS alone represents 25% of all worldwide console sales
- 1/3 of Nintendo systems are being bought by girls
- “Nintendo is the future”
- Many montages were shown throughout showcasing news reports and fan videos praising Nintendo
- 5.5 million DS systems have gone online
- 230 million DS online game sessions have occured
- There has already been 5.6 million VC game downloads
New Peripherals:
- an AK-47-like shell for the wiimote and a nunchuck to fit in for FPS games
- Next Medal of Honor built especially for the wii zapper
- MoH also to have 32-player online multiplayer
- Wii Zapper will come with the games, but extra ones will cost $19.99 US
- Will come with Mario Kart Wii
- Meant to level the playing grounds between veterans and newcomers
- check the Wii Fit section below for more details
Game Release Dates
- Dragon Quest Swords (Wii) — Early 2008
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl — Dec. 3rd, 2007
- Mario Kart Wii — Q1 2008
- Mario Galaxy — November 12th, 2007
- Brain Age 2 (DS) — August 20th, 2007
Nintendo Online
- Wii Ware channel for Wii early next year with game demos and original games
- New Wii channel coming soon: Check Mii Out (CMO)
- CMO – create huge online Mii community
- CMO – contests to make Miis that look like celebrities
- CMO – contests online to see who has the coolest Mii, etc.
- Madden ’08 and Fifa ’08 to be online
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker for DS to have online play
- Guitar Hero III: Legend of Rock for Wii to have online play
- Mario Kart Wii to have online play — likely with at least 8 players
Wii Fit
- Game to come with a new peripheral, the balance board
- The balance board is placed on the ground and stood upon
- The balance board senses pressure and is wireless
- The game involves over 40 different poses on the board
- Includes games like: step aerobics, yoga poses, hula hoops, kororinpa-style ball guiding, pushups, soccer, and more
- an inordinate amount of glitches were occuring with the BETA pads
- Also measures BMI
- Reggie’s BMI was a little high ^-^
Other Stuff
- First (pre-rendered) video shown of Sonic & Mario at the Olympics
- Mario Galaxy will feature a bumble-bee suit
- Mr. Iwata appealed to hardcore gamers and asked us to remember our first time gaming, because he’s trying to make that transition easier for new people getting into gaming
- “Everyone can develop a taste for video games” – Mr. Iwata
- “The best game design lets players of all skill levels play together” -Mr. Iwata
Nintendo’s showing this year was okay, especially with the new peripherals coming out. Nintendo’s slowly inching into the online market no matter what Reggie claims. The side-mentioned Medal of Honor HUGE multiplayer mode could end up being a very important first-step for Nintendo. I’m still waiting for some online chat on the Wii, or even an onlinhe Pictochat channel. Nintendo’s future is still bright, but here’s to hoping that the hardcore gamers, and our ideal games and community features are not overlooked this generation.