Game Stooge

E3 Presentation Mini-Review: Nintendo

• Scribbled on July 11th, 2007 by Mitch Dyer
• Filed in E3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii

At 10:00 AM Pacific time, Nintendo kicked off their E3 2007 press event in the hopes of wowing the attendants with a number of things. The conference’s theme seemed to be focusing on the appeal to all ages, and non-gamers. Reggie Fils-Amie dominated the stage and pumped out a bunch of numbers, honing in on the fact that older gamers were diggin’ Nintendo systems. Game industry growth, female gamers and more were a part of Reggie’s lengthy introduction which eventually took a turn for the worse, came back around, and then plummeted like a 25 fat guys in a cement truck driving in to the Atlantic.

Nintendo shot for the stars with their revelations, but before we get to that we need to cover a couple things. The event had no less than five breaks that consisted of Nintendo trying to sell itself to the audience. A montage of hired-guns singing about how awesome Nintendo is, random internet viral video’s (some regarding the Wii, some not so much) and random newscasts about how great Nintendo is, showed up far too many times. This was used to break up the unveiling of release dates, gameplay footage and other announcements. It was a strange thing to see Nintendo trying to sell itself in these shameless shills instead of showing games, which they didn’t do enough of.

We were graced with two men showing off Phantom Hourglass in yet another salesman like manner, singing about how it’s the best game ever, etc. Following this was some Metroid Prime 3 gameplay and talks of how it’s “the best shooter of the year”. Great. More shill. Among this however, there was some new stuff. Smash Brothers was dated for December 3rd, November 12th holds Mario Galaxy, and Mario Kart Wii will be hitting homes early in 2008. Mario Kart was among the highlights, as it was a showcase title for Nintendo’s new online initiative, which is… you know… having online games.

Regarding Mario Kart, the fact that Nintendo is including their new Wii-Wheel (Wii’l?) as an included bonus with the software is a nice touch. Having online is nice, and Reggie mentioned we should “Stay Tuned!” for info on how many people can play online, but nothing was divulged. The game itself looks like Mario Kart, but we’re intrigued as to how many people can play together, how motion control will play (with and without the wheel) and how true Reggie’s statements about veterans and novice people being able to have stiff competition as opposed to one obliterating the other. A brief mention of Wii-Ware, but nothing was to be seen sadly. It would have been great, but more focus was put in to WiiFit.

*From our Live Blog*

Three fitness trainers demo some of the activities: one-legged stretch, step aerobic — screen displays where you step on the mat and you follow that pattern with your feet, and the sideways twist is shown off — think trunk twists. The sideways twist takes balance into consideration.

Aerobics, muscle, yoga, and balance activities all playable.

The mat is called the Wii Balance Board. It measures your weight and balance. The board is wireless and allows you to use it in other games, offering up potential full body gameplay integration.

Personally, I feel that there are more important games than this, but the pad sounds interesting, and we wonder what else it could be used for.

Overall, the presentation was horrid, and what was unveiled was sort of satisfying. Putting WiiFit ahead of something like a new Pikmin or something is asinine. Miyamoto is a legend, he invented so many classics, developers look up to him and what’s the grand finale? An exercise mat. Fan-friggin’-tastic. It ended hastily and left a bad taste in our mouths. A Wii Light Gun in the form of a “Zapper”, dated games, new games, online initiative, it’s all here. However, it all felt like an hour long infomercial for Nintendo products, which we don’t need. We’re buying it all anyway. At least they didn’t unveil any hideous accessories.

For everything that happened, see our Live Blog.