E3 Live Blog - Nintendo

12:08 pm: Cammy Dunaway takes the stage. She talks about having fun. Perhaps she's been playing the demo of Gears of War 2.

12:09 pm: She has noted that indeed, she is not Reggie Fils-Aime. Thanks for telling me.

12:10 pm: "Shaun White Snowboarding" unveiled. It is being demoed by S.W. himself. He has fun despite wiping out twice. It is Balance Board compatible. Ubisoft is the game's publisher.








12: 12 pm: Cammy gives the game a shot. She demos the Half-Pipe mode in the game. Overall, the game is impressive, but one's got to wonder how it will compete with SSX and We Ski. Shaun White Snowboarding releases "exclusively on the Wii this year's end."

12: 14 pm: Nintendo's Global President Satoru Iwata takes stage. He's talking about change in the industry. He looks like the guy in Brain Age. Oddly enough, he mentions the game as an example.

12: 16 pm: "Small things with small budgets can capture great audience if they have great idea," he says. Trying to defend Wii Fit as a game is like telling me O.J. was innocent. Sorry, Iwata.

12: 20 pm: **Uploaded images for Shaun White**

12: 22 pm: Iwata took a subtle, indirect stab at Microsoft for their "new" Avatar system (read: Fall). He thanks everyone for their time. Let's do it.

12: 23 pm: Animal Crossing Wii announced. Where was this 2 years ago??

12: 24 pm: Looks damn near like every other Animal Crossing. Nintendo is clearly "pulling a Madden" here.


12: 25 pm: "Wii Speak" unveiled - a wired mic for Wii. It's being demoed with Animal Crossing now. A group of players in the game goes fishing and communicates with one another via "Wii Speak." Online features? I swear I just heard online shop and player interaction.

12: 27 pm: Demo over. Animal Crossing shows potential. Reggie Fils-Aime now takes stage.

12: 29 pm: Usual sales numbers and charts are being discussed. 2007 was "supposed to be" the Peak year for the Nintendo DS. It wasn't.

12: 31 pm: "Pokemon" is apparently the franchise hit of the DS. I don't think Reggie has ever heard of Nintendogs.

12: 33 pm: Wii software sales are discussed. These numbers are skewed by Wii Play, because that accounts for...I don't know...all of it.

12: 34 pm: Reggie believes that third-party developers have found success on the Wii. I beg to differ.

12: 36 pm: "Star Wars: the Clone Wars" just announced. This is the "Lightsaber Game" that everyone will ask for later this year. Looks like fun!

12: 38 pm: "Surf the Skies" (Rayman series) announced. It is compatible with the balance board.

12: 39 pm: "Call of Duty: World at War" - compatible with the Wii Zapper. It looks like an N64 game.


12: 40 pm: Cammy takes the stage again. She talks about upcoming Nintendo DS titles. "Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades" is announced. Game developers briefly talk about a new feature called, "Song Sharing." The game hits this fall.

12: 41 pm: New Pokemon Ranger. New Guitar Hero. Spore Creatures. <--these are the highlights. I'm concerned about Cammy's voice as she said, "This is the only version of Spore that hits this year." Uh, oh.

12: 45 pm: GRAND THEFT AUTO: Chintatown Wars hits Nintendo DS this winter. Fucking aweome. Excellent job, Nintendo!


12: 48 pm: Wii: Motion Plus is briefly discussed by Reggie. He announces "Wii Sports: Resort." It will come packaged with a remote Jacket and the Motion Plus device.

12: 49 pm: A demo of one of the "mini-games" on WSR, Frisbee Toss, is shown. Cammy takes stage and expresses the detection of subtle movement with Motion Plus. She then successfully throws a frisbee to a dog.

12: 50 pm: Reggie now demos another part of WSR, Jet Ski. The game shows promise in terms of actual speed. I'm being sincere.

12: 51 pm: A third portion of WSR, Swordfight, is demoed between Reggie and Cammy. There is some serious applause from the audience. I hope that people still buy Star Wars. Nonetheless, this game will SELL.

12: 53 pm: Wii Sports: Resort hits "next spring." That means never.

12: 55 pm: Reggie says something new is coming. It's "sure to bring smiles." I better hear Zelda.

12: 56 pm: I hear drumming. This is what's "new." Call me crazy, crazier, perhaps.

12: 57 pm: Miyamoto comes on stage playing a virtual saxophone thing with his Wii Remote. Together with the drummer, this is "Wii Music." Actually, it sounds like Good Charlotte.









12: 59 pm: "Most rhythm games require you to play an instrument by pressing a button at a certain designated time." Right, this requires skill.

1:00 pm: "Wii Music" is about playing the notes you want. ((Translation: this is for people who can't beat Easy mode on Guitar Hero))

1:03 pm: The game will include a lesson mode. You can play drums, piano, violin, guitar, and more.I'm going out on a limb here, but I think in 5 years, no one will play any real instruments.

1:05 pm: A group of four is demos the Mario theme for "Wii Music." At least Nintendo has created music for their own rhythm game. I'm kind of hoping this is a foreshadowing to a new Mario game. (Edit: hope is lost)

1:08 pm: Reggie takes stage again. He mentions the word "fad" in regards to the Wii. He is completely unaware of his personal announcement that "Wii Music" being available this holiday season.

1:10 pm: Nintendo's conference has come to an end. Mario and Zelda must've been too sick to attend.


Thank you!

-------
EAL