[E3 08] Nintendo Presser Recap [Wii|DS]

[Dr.Finger]

Nintendo just wrapped up their E3 08 press conference. Here's a rundown of the highlights.

- Shawn White Snowboarding [Wii]. The Flying Tomato brings his game to the Wii with balance board functionality. Q4 2008

- Animal Crossing: City Life [Wii]. Another iteration of the cutesy franchise that will use the Wii Talk. Late 2008.

- Wii Talk [Wii]. An ambient microphone that's supposed to make the experience more social by picking up the conversations of everyone in the room.

- Star Wars: Clone Wars [Wii]. The previously announced title that ties into the upcoming 3D CGI Clone Wars animated movie and series. Lightsaber by Wiimote. Q4 2008

- Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party [Wii]. Another mini game compilation. Late 2008

- Call of Duty: World at War [Wii]. Co-op FPS for the Wii, coming later this year.

- Guitar Hero: On Tour: Decades [DS]. Another GH game for the DS. They promise that you'll be able to share songs from various versions of the game over WiFi. This Fall

- Pokemon Rangers: Shadow of Alma [DS]. My Poekmans, let me show you them... on November 8th.

- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [DS]. An all new GTA game set in modern day Liberty City.

- Cooking Navi [DS]. An English version of the popular Japanese interactive cooking guide. Coming this year.

- Wii Sports Resort [Wii]. A new game that uses the previously announced Motion Plus accessory (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57587), which it will come packaged with. Games include Disc Dog, Jet Ski and Sword Fighting. Spring release.

- Wii Music [Wii]. A different sort of music game. Less a rhythm game - you don't have to hit a certain note at a certain time - than a music generator and mini game platform. Over 50 different instruments (guitar, drums, saxophone, cowbell, piano and violin were shown), plus the ability to conduct an orchestra. You will also be able to make music videos with your friends in the game. Slated for release later this year.

[Dr.Finger]

This presser was very disappointing. Nothing - other than GTA and CoD - that appeals to the core gamer. Lots of "casual" games that don't look like they'll hold your attention for any length of time. No Kid Icarus. No new Mario. No new Zelda. No new Pikmin. No new Donkey Kong. Just a lot of shovelware and ports.

[Sandman]

To sum it up in a word : lame.

[AgtFox]

That chick is indeed in sales...she's the Sales and Marketing director for Nintendo. That explains a lot.

[Telefrog]

The Wii Music "game" seriously looks like one of the lamest products I've seen in a long time.

[Headcase]

Resort looks like one to look out for. It could have a lot of replay value, potentially.

Where are other games though? Kart and Smash were released pretty recently, but is that really all there is for Christmas? Resort, Animal Crossing, and Music?

Not even a Mario Party announcement? I mean, come on. It's Mario Party.

Also, I want Starfox.

[Evil Avnovice]

Let's see: I will partake of some Animal Crossing, Wii Music, and Rayman Raving Rabbids 3. :D

And like yesterday, I'll catch up via G4.

[Yeti2005]

Weak sauce.

[oldjadedgamer]

Wait... are you going to write more or was this the only thing they showed at E3? If so, they wasted their money even showing up.

[AgtFox]

Wait... are you going to write more or was this the only thing they showed at E3? If so, they wasted their money even showing up.
Yes, that was all that was shown. The majority of the presser was number talk. And Resort comes next Spring for a previous poster.

[Telefrog]

Wait... are you going to write more or was this the only thing they showed at E3? If so, they wasted their money even showing up.

Nope. That was it from Nintendo. Get used to it. They don't care about this audience anymore. Nintendo has a hot new girlfriend.

Your mom.

[Metal Jesus]

Hmmmm... not much to get really excited about. Too bad, cuz I'm still on the fence about buying the Wii...and hoping to make my decision based on E3 and what was announced.

[oldjadedgamer]

Nope. That was it from Nintendo. Get used to it. They don't care about this audience anymore. Nintendo has a hot new girlfriend.

Your mom.

Actually, it's my sister. My sister and her family of 2 small kids love the Wii. I just got them Wiifit not too long ago and they love it. I told her that she is Nintendo's perfect market. A midwestern mom with 2.5 kids.

[Purple Santa]

Let's see: I will partake of some Animal Crossing, Wii Music, and Rayman Raving Rabbids 3. :D

And like yesterday, I'll catch up via G4.

It's painful...and i'm a Nintendo faithful. Animal Crossing Ms. Claus is looking forward to...she'll play RRR 3 with mother claus...Wii music looks like it's great continuation what Nintendo wants to do with those who don't know from gaming...luring more in...but for myself, there wasn't much. I'm really hoping this was more Nintendo wanting to blow it's horn and will have good stuff to show at other venues...

[Bingley Joe]

- Wii Talk [Wii]. An ambient microphone that's supposed to make the experience more social by picking up the conversations of everyone in the room.


Yeah... not thinking that's a very good idea

U7dvWIEn0_M

.. although hearing the other side of some of those conversations might at least make them a bit more entertaining :p

[Greeble]

Wow that was terrible.

I'm actually thinking of getting a second console soonish because its seems my wife and I have exhausted the games she is willing to play on the ps3. (I have a backlog on Hardcore games, but I need more cutesy puzzle games) I was thinking about getting a wii, since I think she would like that wii fit, sports and that other crap, but now I'm leaning more towards a 360 because of Live Arcade. (I would still like to prefer to wait for a new 360 model/redesign though.)

[Inverarity]

It's weird: none of this stuff has much (if any) appeal to me, but I'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes. It bothers me that I don't understand the appeal of the Wii at all. I have one, and I really want to like it, and I want games that appeal to me, but...nope.

I'm not trying to be dismissive - seriously - because it's obvious that the Wii is a sales juggernaut and that tons upon tons of people are finding it fun and worthwhile. I want to understand that point of view, so that I can understand why any of today's announcements are appealing. Know what I mean?

[muddi900]

The GTA has me intrigued. What the hell are they gonna do on the DS? Is it gonna be a "classic" GTA a la GTA1 and 2? is it gonna be something like the way ahead of its time (for its own good) Body Harvest?

By the way, casual is the future of console gaming. It's unfair, but so is life. Deal with it!

[Franjo]

100% weaksauce!!

[Gott]

What a joke! That was the most boring keynote! All those games are crap.

[Redline]

The cavalcade of mediocre Wii software continues to assail us at a brisk and unrelenting pace. This, people, is the reason I still don't and probably never will own a Wii.

[51|RandoM]

After that non-event I've come to the conclusion that the only reason Nintendo came to E3 was to point and laugh at Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo is having Thanksgiving dinner while Microsoft and Sony sit in a corner squabbling over a stick of beef jerky.

[Evil Avnovice]

It's painful...and i'm a Nintendo faithful. Animal Crossing Ms. Claus is looking forward to...she'll play RRR 3 with mother claus...Wii music looks like it's great continuation what Nintendo wants to do with those who don't know from gaming...luring more in...but for myself, there wasn't much. I'm really hoping this was more Nintendo wanting to blow it's horn and will have good stuff to show at other venues...

Friend, unlike the Microsoft Defense Force, I'm not as wound up over E3 like the majority of posters here. If I can crib something from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony to take for myself, I'm happy.

I get that this is the internet, but my expectations weren't set that high or blown out of proportion. It's working out nicely for me because of it.

[Gott]

The music game looked like it took zero skill, besides the drums. Seems like there is a song programmed in there and the only effect you have on it is the tempo the song is played. It's a great game for kids from 2-8 yrs old i'd say...

[Amish Rake Fight Man]

why did I ever buy a Wii? I got more play out of my old Dreamcast...

The Wii sits collecting dust, disconnected and useless.

arfm

[Baron Samedi]

In the words of Dax, worst press conference evar.

[Heretic Machine]

Pretty happy with the announcement of a new Animal Crossing. Plus, the new one-to-one thing for the Wiimote sounds good, if they can set that up with the Clone Wars game.

[Gott]

Friend, unlike the Microsoft Defense Force, I'm not as wound up over E3 like the majority of posters here. If I can crib something from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony to take for myself, I'm happy.

I get that this is the internet, but my expectations weren't set that high or blown out of proportion. It's working out nicely for me because of it.

Well based on the blowout speech MS had, i think the bar was set pretty high for nintendo. They basically tripped on the first hurdle and fell on their face. As a nintendo fan I can't see how you can be happy...what do you have to look forward to? What are you even playing right now? Mario kart...still? Sure they sold a lot of systems...to the same nutty japanese who each own multiple ds's ...but what about some solid games?

[Chameleo]

that keynote was worth it just for the Animal Crossing announcement! and they're bringing voice to the Wii!! Never thought they'd do it!

can't wait to get my hands on the new Animal Crossing!

[Headcase]

They might be getting more backlash for being inconsistent. Up to this point they've had too few waggle games IMO but this Christmas they're showing nothing but waggle (and AC, which doesn't have an objective making it more casual than the waggle games... they mentioned Wii Music does not evaluate much either).

They could have covered this the old fashioned way by announcing a game "due to release this year" but secretly planned for 2010. They used to love that so much.

Personally I have a backlog of games to get to but if I didn't I would be disappointed. Resort has the potential to be a high quality, high replay value, hardcore-if-you-want-it-to-be game, but it would have to be a real AAA title to make up for this wasteland.

And third parties still haven't really embraced the platform fully.

[Texas Speed]

After that non-event I've come to the conclusion that the only reason Nintendo came to E3 was to point and laugh at Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo is having Thanksgiving dinner while Microsoft and Sony sit in a corner squabbling over a stick of beef jerky.

Actually, the Wii is no where near as far ahead of the X360 as I thought. Of course, I'm sure MS is raking in cash in the form of software.

[Paranoia]

Boring. Nothing to look forward apart from GTA for the DS.

[EternalGamer]

My favorite part is when they played the Mario Bros music with their lame ass "let's pretend to play music by waggling our hands around some" game. It was as if they thought playing the Mario Bros. theme was enough to get Hardcore energized as a "last minute surprise." Can their marketing department really be that clueless as to what appeals to their original base? Was it really that long ago? What is next? When Wii Fit two comes out are they going to cater to the "hardcore" by give us a Zelda stamp to mark off our yoga exercises?

I can't wait until three years from now when their "hardcore" pitch becomes allowing you to put in a secret code on the soundboard of "Wii Make Our Own Episode of Oprah" to the play the metriod theme as the opening theme music for the talkshow.

[grognard66]

The big reveal is another piece of white plastic bundled with mini-games. The only difference being this piece of plastic only fixes the original piece of plastic that didn't work right. Incredibly, this will sell millions and Nintendo will be lauded for its innovation.

[El Ikkir]

A review from a non-Nintendo fanboy:

Snowboarding? That game looks complicated... ...Nintendo: We Print Money... ...Yeah yeah, we get it already!... ...Nintendo: We Just Invented the Microphone... ... Facepalm... ...Alot of "Meh" in here... ...Audience with golf clap, hilarious!... ...5 Seconds of GTA, the only interenting in the whole presentation... ...more games for the causual gamers, still waiting for core games... ...WiiMusic, Nintendo, Fucking seriosly!?!.. ...Facepalm, (my face is starting to hurt)... ...WTF! no games for the core gamers!!!...

Rating: D+

Nintendo leaving their core gamers for the causal ones. Only gets a plus for the announcement of GTA DS.

[Evil Avnovice]

....As a nintendo fan I can't see how you can be happy...what do you have to look forward to? What are you even playing right now?

To answer both questions: Plenty. It was a little slow going with software in its first year, but after that, it's been ramping up quite nicely.

[Meatgortex]

Following on with the path layed out by WiiMusic here is the next Wii controller:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/371944179_b6801d8636.jpg

[vherub]

will wii talk mean voice chat for online gaming?

[donkeydrop]

To answer both questions: Plenty. It was a little slow going with software in its first year, but after that, it's been ramping up quite nicely.

What are these games, Plenty and Ramping Up?

[RMan]

Nintendo leaving their core gamers for the causal ones. Only gets a plus for the announcement of GTA DS.
Not trying to pick on you or anything, but this ‘core gamer’ thing always cracks me up. I mean, regardless of how much did or didn’t like different company’s announcements at E3 (which are almost invariably boring), why on earth would you want to see Nintendo making ‘core gamer games’? I mean, by definition these games would be common, and I do not want to see the leader of an entertainment industry focusing on being common. There’ll always be plenty of companies making the same old thing, and two of three consoles focusing on just that, I think Nintendo should focus their efforts on things others aren’t (as long as they are fun).

Of course, their offerings don’t interest me that much, except for the Sports Resort thing, which still bumps Nintendo to the top for E3 announcements for me, but only because the bar was so low.

[Venkman]

To answer both questions: Plenty. It was a little slow going with software in its first year, but after that, it's been ramping up quite nicely.

Please let me in on the secret. What games are coming? I'll pick up the Wii Sports Resort, but I don't see anything else worthwhile.

it was a depressing conference.

[gojira]

Well this looks weak to me also, and I'm feeling like a Nintendo fanboy right now.

On the other hand, when you are out-selling both of your top two competitors combined, do you need to hit one out of the park? I'm guessing Nintendo doesn't need a smash hit E3 show to stay in the game. With their sales numbers, generating hype might not be in their best interest. Until the Wii starts to stay on the shelf for a few weeks at a time, bringing out the big marketing guns may not be the best idea.

[GAThrawn]

Overall - a dud.

I'm ok with the Clone Wars. My sister is super excited about the animal crossing. I'm also curious about the GTA.

[Uniqueusername]

(I would still like to prefer to wait for a new 360 model/redesign though.)
I believe there's a new (cooler) chipset coming. The 60GB units may be where it shows up first, so you might want to look in to that.

Hopefully, they also work on reducing the noise. (Seriously, MS, splurge on some rubber grommets for the internals.)

[JRR006]

I'll maybe look into Animal Crossing, but that's it. A lot of nothing. Frankly, if I were going to show up at E3, I'd have the manners to at least acknowledge the primary audience demographic. Soccer moms and seven-year-olds don't watch E3 feeds.

I say this as a person who lately has used the Wii more than their 360.

[dfr]

madworld e3 trailer (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x64z6t_mad-world-trailer-e3_videogames) (via gaf)
noone was expecting to see this at an official nintendo event anyway

[pseudopseudo]

- Wii Talk [Wii]. An ambient microphone that's supposed to make the experience more social by picking up the conversations of everyone in the room.

It was "Wii Speak", not Wii Talk. I like that they debuted it as being part of Animal Crossing, and not on its own. Watch them not utilize it for anything else. ;)

That being said, Wii Speak was the only thing I really got excited about. And maybe the GTA game for the DS. Everything else was really, REALLY "meh". The Wii Music game doesn't look fun at all.

My girlfriend, who loves the Wii, was even disappointed in the presser. She said none of the stuff announced looked fun, with maybe the exception of the new Wii Sports.

One last thing - Wii Motion Plus - why wasn't this tech built into the Wiimote from the start? It reminds me of the Graphics Expansion Pack (or whatever it was called) that came out for the N64. I don't need even MORE shit to buy to plug into my Wiimote.

[ElektroDragon]

WiiMusic and MotionPlus/Wii Sports 2 were the highlights.... which is not saying much. Microsoft definitely "won" E3 this year.

[laggerific]

I don't have anything positive to add, but I signed in to say something, so I might as well go for it.

The Wii is a weak system, only supported by its 1st party titles (and for me, the lightgun game, but those would work on any system, like the PS3 for example, as demonstrated by TC4...so I don't really consider them with the others). I want to like nintendo...and I supported the GC, but I think they've gone off the rails. Not that they care...they are printing money with their new machine.

Wii Motion Plus...they damn well better have had an sheepish grin on their face with that announcement.

[vallor]

On the other hand, when you are out-selling both of your top two competitors combined, do you need to hit one out of the park?

I don't think MS and Sony are really their competitors (to the Wii). They are selling what amounts to a "toy" (I mean that in a good way) to the mass market for fun and games family friendly experiences where Sony and MS are pimping technology and omgbbq game and multimedia experiences.

Sort of like the difference between a bunch of friends getting together for a game of UNO (the Wii, where it is more about the interaction and less about the game) vs the person who flies to Vegas with the intention of playing poker and winning (the game vs the interaction).

Anyway, whatever the metaphor keep in mind that even if the Wii is pulping Sony and MS on the hardware side, they are struggling on the software sales side. And E3s like this show why that is, they simply aren't making many good "games" for their console, they are making software toys that allow for interesting interactions, and sometimes a game breaks out.

Only one of my friends has to own most of these nintendo games and that covers the 4 or 5 others of us in that circle because the games simply aren't fun enough to play by themselves (for the most part) so you are inevitably going to have a gathering anyway to enjoy many of these (WiiFit Girl notwithstanding :))

[Evil Avnovice]

Just caught Nintendo's press conference. The biggest announcement was Wii Speak. :eek: And Animal Crossing: City Folk was another one, as I enjoyed the GC game way back when. :D

High Voltage Software, here's your answer to voice chat for The Conduit. ;)

[Evil Avnovice]

29.99 (http://wii.ign.com/articles/889/889633p1.html)? Not bad. :)

[Venkman]

Just caught Nintendo's press conference. The biggest announcement was Wii Speak. :eek: And Animal Crossing: City Folk was another one, as I enjoyed the GC game way back when. :D

High Voltage Software, here's your answer to voice chat for The Conduit. ;)

Still waiting on the "plenty" list of games you alluded to earlier in the thread. I'm not trying to start something, as I own a Wii. I just want more to be excited about on that system. :)

[Chris_D]

Again, they just showed what they had to. Well more really.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Wow. I was one of the biggest Ninty fanboys on this site five years ago. I haven't bothered picking up the Wii yet, as there are only a few games I'm really interested in. This conference just sealed the deal for me - I definitely won't be buying a Wii anytime in the next eight months, if ever. Very disappointing.

It's kind of sad that I miss the days when Nintendo pimped Mario and co. in nearly every 1st party title. Now they can't even bother with anything more than generic characters.

As for the reasoning that Nintendo is making shitloads of cash so they don't need to announce anything - Who the fuck cares? Is this what we want? The console leader releasing nothing but shovelware and gimmicky peripherals? Did Sony completely sit on its ass when the PS2 was king?

[Jotoco]

Well...

Good or Bad the ONLY company who ended up in the "normal" news around here were nintendo with their casual games...

Microsoft or Sony weren't even in E3 as far as the non-gamer media was concerned...

[Evil Avnovice]

Still waiting on the "plenty" list of games you alluded to earlier in the thread. I'm not trying to start something, as I own a Wii. I just want more to be excited about on that system. :)

A couple of Wii titles I'm looking forward too, besides the ones in my sig, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for this year.

Some WiiWare titles are Alien Crush Returns and World of Goo later on in the year.

[Hemalin]

29.99 (http://wii.ign.com/articles/889/889633p1.html)? Not bad. :)

USB, I wonder how well it would work with a PC.

[Jotoco]

Oh, And completing my post above I don't think this is good.

I want my good old nintendo back! As much as I love the Wii (still don't have one, but plan on getting one as soon as I can afford) I wanted more hardcore games...

[Evil Avnovice]

USB, I wonder how well it would work with a PC.

How well would it work on the Xbox 360? :p

[Hexxagonal]

This press conference put the nail in the coffin for me on the fact that Nintendo doesn't want my money. Didn't Reggie a few weeks back say that they were going to give us "hard core" gamers something at E3? This the biggest disappoint for me by far of any E3 ever.

I love Animal Crossing but I want something new that is interesting about it. The Wii Sports title just makes me wish they had thrown together a Wave Race Wii, but seriously can't they do any new IPs?

[Ondo]

Did Sony completely sit on its ass when the PS2 was king?
As far as first-party stuff? Yeah, pretty much. IMO, Wii already has a better first-party lineup than the PS2.

[pseudopseudo]

Didn't Reggie a few weeks back say that they were going to give us "hard core" gamers something at E3? This the biggest disappoint for me by far of any E3 ever.

On G4, the first question they asked Reggie right after the press conference was, "Where were the games for the hardcore crowd." His answer? "What are you talking about? We have Animal Crossing!"

I think I left a red mark on my forehead after that one.

[Chris_D]

Animal Crossing is really big with kids actually.

[CapnBob]

This the biggest disappoint for me by far of any E3 ever.

...compared to Pac-Man Vs? Damn, either hyperbole is infectious or there are some really whiny babies around here.

[Philip J. Fry]

I went into this year's E3 tremendously excited to see what new games Nintendo would announce.... and I come out of it looking at buying a 360.

There was absolutely nothing for me announced today.

Maybe E3 2009 will actually feature Wii titles I want to buy.

[Hexxagonal]

WTF? Animal Crossing is a hardcore game?

Animal Crossing Wii gives me no reason to spend $50 on it considering I have it for the DS. No thank you I've bought the same game too many times.

[Hexxagonal]

...compared to Pac-Man Vs? Damn, either hyperbole is infectious or there are some really whiny babies around here.I actually had the SP adapters and the all of those games =P

[Magnanimous Gnome]

As far as first-party stuff? Yeah, pretty much. IMO, Wii already has a better first-party lineup than the PS2.

Damn, I guess Jak & Daxter, Rachet & Clank, Sly Cooper, God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, etc. were all in my head? :confused:

[Ondo]

Damn, I guess Jak & Daxter, Rachet & Clank, Sly Cooper, God of War, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, etc. were all in my head? :confused:
I didn't say they didn't have any first-party, as said it wasn't, IMO, as good as the first party Wii lineup. The only ones I like are Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and while those are exceptional the Wii has Metroid Prime 3, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Super Mario Galaxy, SSBB, and Mario Kart Wii.

Which is part of why I found Nintendo's press conference disappointing. I expect good things from them.

[Sandman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/djsandman/DrDoomChap.gif

[31 Flavas]

The big reveal is another piece of white plastic bundled with mini-games. The only difference being this piece of plastic only fixes the original piece of plastic that didn't work right. Incredibly, this will sell millions and Nintendo will be lauded for its innovation.And hardcore gamers slit their wrists because neither Sony or Microsoft thought of it first. I mean, geez, if only it wasn't a Nintendo idea... gamers wouldn't have to bash it!

lol, this like Sony fans trashing Bioshock before they got a version (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/5/23/).

[CapnBob]

I seriously don't know what everyone here is smoking. All I wanted today was tangible video evidence that motionplus could really do proper 1:1, and they definitely delivered that. From a game design perspective, especially for interface design, that's really fucking exciting. Nintendo just demonstrated to the development community a controller that is better than a mouse and keyboard for first-person shooters, and can double as a perfect virtual hand for manipulating objects in a 3D environment, and they're packing it with a game that guarantees adoption by the vast majority of of Wii owners. Sure, it should have been like that since the beginning, but that doesn't it make it any less important. It's a huge improvement to the system and I'm kind of shocked that nobody here seems to have the vision to see how this is going to affect development for every single Wii game in development from next year onwards. Instead of "hey, every new game on the Wii will be greatly improved by this" it's all "they didn't show us Kid Icarus, boo hoo! We wanted one big flashy hardcore game center stage or we're giving up on them!" Bleh.

[Ondo]

All I wanted today was tangible video evidence that motionplus could really do proper 1:1, and they definitely delivered that.
See, I just assumed they were telling the truth when they said it could.

I also assumed they were telling the truth when they said there'd be a game to make the "core gamer" happy. Hence my disappointment.

[Opty]

I love it when people watch E3 as if they're the target audience and then act surprised when Nintendo pulls out numbers at their press conference and focuses on the games that sell like hotcakes. Man, why would they ever do that when the purpose of E3 is to sell your company and its games to the people who control how much places like Wal-mart buy and how much shelf space each system/game gets?

[CapnBob]

See, I just assumed they were telling the truth when they said it could.

I also assumed they were telling the truth when they said there'd be a game to make the "core gamer" happy. Hence my disappointment.

They did tell the truth. You incorrectly assumed you were the core gamer! The core Wii gamer wants to swordfight, jet ski, and be Tom Nook's bitch yet again.

[CapnBob]

Man, why would they ever do that when the purpose of E3 is to sell your company and its games to the people who control how much places like Wal-mart buy and how much shelf space each system/game gets?

And to sell third-party developers on the viability of your nifty new controller accessory.

[Evil Avnovice]

*whispers* They're beautiful (http://www.gamekyo.com/news28293_wiispeak-wii-motionplus-some-photos.html). http://www.mazeguy.net/romantic/loveatfirstsight.gif (Gamekyo)

http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/7editeurs20080716_082448_0_small.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images0_4_28293.html)

http://www.gamekyo.com/Webmasters/Images/7editeurs20080716_082448_1_small.jpg (http://www.gamekyo.com/images1_4_28293.html)

[Lutheran]

Pretty disappointing if you ask me , the new Wii sports/motion plus/GTA DS is all I will be looking forward to. This can't be their whole winter lineup can it? Disappointing...The 360 owned this E3.

[AgtFox]

I seriously don't know what everyone here is smoking. All I wanted today was tangible video evidence that motionplus could really do proper 1:1, and they definitely delivered that. From a game design perspective, especially for interface design, that's really fucking exciting.
The one thing I am interested in is how much the MotionPlus add-on is going to cost us. One comes in the Wii Sports Resort package, but what about the other 3 controllers you might have? How much is it going to add up to?

And what's up with the Wii Speaker not being part of the Animal Crossing: City Life package? How much is that going to cost?

[Lutheran]

Pretty disappointing if you ask me , the new Wii sports/motion plus/GTA DS is all I will be looking forward to. This can't be their whole winter lineup can it? Disappointing...The 360 owned this E3.

Eh its not so bad when you add in the other announced games like the new Wario game and Mario Sluggers and of course Wii Ware still rules..yes I replied to my own post lol..still a little disappointing.

[Dr.Finger]

Lutheran, did you just quote yourself? ;)

[Blackstone]

The thing is, these casual games that they are touting are probably pretty easy to develop and get to market. That isn't the case for Zelda and Mario. Those games take several years to bring to market.

They did acknowledge that the Zelda team is bringing a new game to the Wii this generation, and then when asked about core gamers being disappointed in an interview (I don't have the link) Reggie Fils Amie basically said " I don't understand, we said the Zelda and Mario teams are bringing games to the system this generation"

So we have a situation, I think, where the Zelda team is working on a game, but it just isn't ready for any kind of announcement. You don't make that announcement a big deal when you have nothing to show. They want to push the products that are coming to market this Fall and in the near future.

The real test is not whether they will bring those hardcore games to market, but what they do with them, or I should say, what they do to them. They could really mess up those franchises for us going after this new demographic. But there is a Zelda Wii. Mario Galaxy was a big, big seller for them.

So I think we will see a lot of shovelware while the more traditional games gestate. In the meantime, there is PC, PS3 and XBOX. Anybody who thought the Wii was going to be a primary system just doesn't get it.

[Blackstone]

I should add that, it seems clear to me from several recent press releases, that the casual games teams and the Zelda and Mario teams function as somewhat separate entities within the Company.

Today, Miyamoto said this:


July 15, 2008 - No big surprise. At E3 2008, Nintendo confirmed (very vaguely) that the Mario and Zelda teams had reassembled, but offered no further details. But when we sat down with Shigeru Miyamoto this week, he elaborated on situation, absolutely confirmed that a new Wii Zelda is underway, and suggested that it will see some fundamental changes.

"The Zelda team in particular always works on Zelda titles. The core members of the Zelda team have for a very long time now been focused on Zelda games, and continue to focus on Zelda games, so they are hard at work and working away," Miyamoto said. "And then, of course, we have the DS Zelda team as well, so even there we're having some switching of people in and out where the DS team is mixing in with the Wii team and working on the Wii version."

At GDC 2007, Eiji Aonuma gave a presentation on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. At that time, he showed a brief snippet of an experimentation the Zelda team conducted -- it was Twilight Princess running in the first-person view. We asked Miyamoto if such a fundamental change could await players of Wii's next Zelda adventure.

"I don't necessarily think it will change that drastically, but I think that Zelda is a franchise that does need some big new unique ideas," he said. "And so the team right now is very focused on trying to find those ideas."

Whatever the next Zelda is, they just aren't ready to announce it, and considering their track record with the series, I'm willing to give them at least the benefit of the doubt that they still take the series and the Wii seriously.

[RMan]

The one thing I am interested in is how much the MotionPlus add-on is going to cost us. One comes in the Wii Sports Resort package, but what about the other 3 controllers you might have? How much is it going to add up to?
Agreed, especially since at some point down the road someone is gonna make us a game where you can duel wield. I'm still hoping for that boxing game for the Wii, thus far it has been a disappointment in that respect (Wii sports boxing sucked). Also would opt for a new controller with that built in, would likely be a bit lighter, I'm sure it's not heavy now, but lighter is always better.

[Variable Gear]

Can't believe they didn't announce their own wireless Nunchuck, especially after they shit on the Kama.

[Ondo]

They did tell the truth. You incorrectly assumed you were the core gamer! The core Wii gamer wants to swordfight, jet ski, and be Tom Nook's bitch yet again.
No, I didn't assume that. I assumed that their PR wasn't shit, and they did in fact know what their "core gamer" and "expanded audience" terms meant, and that those definitions were reasonable. I like many of the "expanded audience" games - that doesn't stop me from being disappointed that they didn't announce a new game to make the "core gamer" happy, like they said they would.

They did acknowledge that the Zelda team is bringing a new game to the Wii this generation, and then when asked about core gamers being disappointed in an interview (I don't have the link) Reggie Fils Amie basically said " I don't understand, we said the Zelda and Mario teams are bringing games to the system this generation"
When asked about hardcore gamers feeling left out on G4TV, he immediately pointed to Animal Crossing as a reason they shouldn't be.

I'm reasonable happy with where Nintendo is going, but Reggie has now had a couple serious PR blunders.