E3 2008 Nintendo Conference

I think it's becoming clear that Nintendo (and others who will undoubtedly imitate them in the future) has reversed the player model for gaming; that is, in the past, hardcore gamers drove system sales, and then casual gamers could tag on in the last half of a generation, and we'd throw a few bones at them. It really was atrocious; even last generation, the only significant "casual" games I can think of on the PS2 were Eyetoy, Buzz, Singstar and Guitar Hero. There was a bunch of other smaller stuff (that the Wii has too), but those were the only real concerted efforts.

By contrast, in just the first two years, the Wii already has Wii Sports, Mario Party, Wii Fit, Wii Play, Guitar Hero, Carnival Games, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games as multimillion selling casual titles; it's fair to presume that Wii Music, Wii Sports 2, and several others will be following in their footsteps shortly.

The point being: in the past, casual gamers picked up the scraps at the tail end of a generation after the hardcore gamers had their feast. The situation is now reversed, and it appears that hardcore gamers will be bowing to the needs of casual gamers first and foremost in the future. Sony and Microsoft haven't adopted this model yet, but it's proven to be so absurdly effective that they either will do so in the future -- which is what I expect -- or they will be inevitably and relentlessley ground beneath its wheels.
 
Honestly, all I wanted them to show was Animal Crossing and they did. I'm happy to see that Nintendo finally realized that people actually like to talk to each other.

I'm a little disappointed in the lack of an alternative storage offering however.
 
Belongs here too...

bondwii.gif
 
I can respect what Nintendo is trying to do this generation in the sense that it has and will continue to make them gobs of money, but the 20-something gamer in me regrets throwing his Wii on eBay even less now. I bought one, figured I'd inevitably use it, played Mario Galaxy, abit of MP3....and now I threw the Gamcube back in the spot it previously occupied. Doesn't look like much would've changed in the coming times.

Still, my Wii is going to fund Gears 2 and some more 360 goodness and, for that, I thank it.
 
Was anything more said about GTA : Chinatown Wars beside showing the title? I find the subtitle intriguing, makes me think of Advance Wars. Maybe it's a turn based tactics game :lol
 
schuelma said:
Another thought- what does Ubisoft have on Iwata? Despite the general crap Ubisoft has given the Wii, 4 3rd party games shown, 2 of them from Ubi.
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Well, those were the only two with some effort brought into it...
 
Mama Robotnik: bow.


So, yeah, Wii Music looks like ass. Sounds like ass, too. And that's important.

When my non gamer friends come over to my place to play Rock Band, they dig it because of the music that they know and love. And because it makes them sound good.

nothing from that wii music demo sounded good. the drumming had no real rhythm, the saxophone sounded like a cellphone ringtone and the Mario song didn't sound right either.

I could understand why the motion board would do well last year, but so far the results of playing Wi Music look pretty bad. It seems less casual friendly because of this.
 
Opiate said:
The point being: in the past, casual gamers picked up the scraps at the tail end of a generation after the hardcore gamers had their feast. The situation is now reversed, and it appears that hardcore gamers will be bowing to the needs of casual gamers first and foremost in the future. Sony and Microsoft haven't adopted this model yet, but it's proven to be so absurdly effective that they either will do so in the future -- which is what I expect -- or they will be inevitably and relentlessley ground beneath its wheels.
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Or Sony and MS will do what they are doing now...diversify. They've done so by incorporating movies and music into their consoles, and by incorporating media streaming from PCs. They've diversified their software by going into XBLA and PSN, by hosting casual games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

And I think that's what people were expecting from Nintendo. Diversification so that they would have a decent selection of "hardcore" titles, and casual titles.

I can understand Nintendo staying away from Zelda and Mario for the time being as their recent showings were great, and there needs to be some time for gamers to recover, but I'm surprised that a game like F-Zero didn't get an announcement. We're seeing WipeOut HD using motion controls, I figured it was a safe bet to get an F-Zero. But beyond F-Zero, I didn't see much more coming out, so I'm surprised that Animal Crossing was announced, that was a pleasant surprise.

So I didn't expect much new stuff, at all, so I'm vindicated to a great degree here (unless something is revealed at a later date), but I'm surprised that games like F-Zero weren't even announced.

The thing is, the console will still sell like hotcakes, still turn in huge profits, which means that if we aren't seeing big Nintendo franchise titles this year, it's a bit longer of a wait...we'll definitely be seeing them at some point inthe future.
 
The part that makes me the most sad is that after all the ubisoft hate, there is a chance they will actually have a stronger holiday lineup than nintendo (if your not an AC fan).

Shaun White and Rabbids vs. Wii Music and Animal Crossing?


Edit: screw that, I just checked the live blog and we alread have 10+ more shit shovelware wii announcements. Looks like Ubi is capitalizing on Nintendo's empty schedule
 
omg rite said:
More bitching hardcore gamers?

Do you guys still not realize by now how this works? This is a press conference. The mainstream press are not going to give a shit or report on our hardcore games.

They'll report on Wii Music. Wii Music will be one of the biggest things the mainstream press talks about from this show.

My friend just IMed me saying how fun it looks.

Wait until E3 is over to see if there's a complete lack of "hardcore" games for Wii.

I'm just surprised you people complaining are so out of touch with what is going on in gaming right now. Everyone that says this is a shitty conference is wrong. It's not for YOU. But it will make headlines, more than MS or Sony will. Which means it is a success.

And I say that, being a 360 gamer. It's my favorite console this gen. I like Wii a lot, but not as much as 360. You guys need to look at this from an intelligent point of view.
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:lol :lol :lol

This is just pathetic
 
Since Zelda Wii isn't coming until fall 2009 at the soonest, there was no point in showing it.

The same can be said about any other major Wii game that people are anticipating.
 
:lol

god, the crybabies in this thread make me feel ashamed to be a fan

ok, the conference sucked ass. Ok, it was absolutely horrible. Ok, them games are a spit in the face to those who want more hardcore titles. All true, all ok, agreed 100%


but calling Nintendo "dead", people thinking about selling the console..

what the FUCK. Seriously, what the FUCK. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe Nintendo is going to abandon the hardcore and will never develop another big game? This is beyond retarded. This statement doesn't even have any fucking evidence to support it. In less than two years we had Galaxy, Brawl, Metroid this clearly says Nintendo still cares about their most loyal fanbase and their franchises, and we're already getting Wario, which is rad, there's just Zelda and Pikmin left. They're coming, bet your ass on it, along with F-Zero and more (

Nintendo is obviously using E3 like a place to show their big golden penis, which is understandable since they're enjoying their success and will make everything to let everyone know, and to keep those casual games coming out at fast rate since it's BECAUSE of casual games that they're having the success they have. Because they're a company coming out of two generations of humiliation, because they love the money (well, which company doesn't?) and because E3 is basically the most important showcase to keep pumping this momentum, and give us hardcore gamers the games we want, but in a less flashy way

those big titles will come, never had a doubt about it. But wanna know a thing? Sell your Wii if you want, I will enjoy the next Zelda, the next Pikmin, the next F-Zero, the next Tales, the next Punch-out.
Yes, conference was the worst I've seen in five years, but I understood that E3 is always full of surprises until the very last moment, and anyway the 07 edition, which was bad as well, didn't really demonstrate jack shit about big games not coming out, since we kept getting them.

E3 means shit.

sorry for the long post, but damn
 
FightyF said:
Or Sony and MS will do what they are doing now...diversify. They've done so by incorporating movies and music into their consoles, and by incorporating media streaming from PCs. They've diversified their software by going into XBLA and PSN, by hosting casual games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero..
Click to expand...

This business model has been proven to be so incredibly obsolete that I simply can't imagine it will continue in this vein. I don't think people realize how thorough a drubbing Nintendo is giving this industry; they are easily, easily making more profit than everyone else in the console gaming industry combined (Sony, Microsoft, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Sega, Konami, Capcom, Midway, Take 2, and so forth). Sony had the mindshare lead for some time, but they never came close to this level of economic dominance; in fact, Nintendo ran nearly neck and neck with them in this regard even when they were down and out.

Unless something big changes, other companies will adopt Nintendo's strategies, or the entire industry will warp around Nintendo's goals. One or the other. You can't have one company tripling the profits of the rest of the industry combined for long without serious consequences.
 
Eh, I'm about as casual a gamer as it gets nowadays (yes, I adore Wii Play and Wii Sports, and yes I think New Super Mario Bros. is the best Mario ever, and no, I hate Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Halo, etc.), but this lineup is total shit any way you cut it. Good grief. :lol

I was one of the first to jump on the "Wii <INSERT WORD HERE>" bandwagon, and I even had a good stint with Nintendogs, for crying outloud. I just can't see very many people liking what they saw today, at least. Am I saying these games won't sell? No, but this is definitely no longer expanding the userbase or even keeping the current users satisfied to any tangible extent.

But, oh well. Who gives a shit.
 
BIG BUBBA said:
Wait till Spaceworld...

'Nuff said.
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Not necessarily, but you're on the right track.

Anyone remember last October when NCL dropped a ton of megatons? FF: MLaaK WiiWare? FF4 Wii-exclusive? MH3 Wii-exclusive? Soniku in Sumabros?

All I'm saying is if this keep-secret-until-release mentality is true, we should hear a lot more about their core announcements sometime around that time this year.

Anyone agree or am I crazay?
 
I held off posting for a pretty long while since I was crossing my fingers for an after conference blowout like in 2007. Since it doesn't seem like there will be one this time, I guess I'll post my thoughts and feelings now.

1. I noted with interest that about half of the show's emphasis was placed on third party games. I guess its nicer that Nintendo is finally listening and giving them some prominence at their events but I feel left out since I don't care about a single one of those titles on either platform. I suppose the choices are understandable since they are either really popular franchises or mesh well with their expanded audience agenda but that doesn't do anything for me.

2. If this is Nintendo's second half, the one Reggie promised to show at E3, for the first time this generation I'll have more to play on another system (home system that is; the DS still rules with its heap of tremendous third party support). I love Nintendo's traditional titles like Zelda and Fire Emblem but I am very upset that nothing in that vein was introduced this time around. It also doesn't help that Animal Crossing, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Music all look like Ubisoft shovelware and will probably be horrible wastes of time. I'd only consider buying any of them for the peripherals.

3. I am also puzzled that Iwata seemingly thinks that Mario and Zelda titles alone are sufficient core offerings. It's fantastic that those EAD teams are working on the next iterations but that is simply not enough. The first problem is that a system that alternates between awesome release schedules like holiday 2007-March 2008 and periods like 2H2008 is not appealing; if Nintendo doesn't have the manpower to pump titles of this caliber out regularly, they need more IPs and more development studios if Iwata intends to live up to his promises of satisfying veteran gamers. The second issue is how he seems to define veteran gamers. I thought Nintendo wished to target all demographics; that can't be accomplished with only the core titles that failed the Gamecube and N64.

4. I find Nintendo's apparent withdrawal of high caliber hardcore 1st party support for the DS appalling. Thankfully it's been mostly mitigated by what Capcom, Square, and Atlus are bringing to the system but if Nintendo isn't doing anything of note with the Wii, then something more substantial should be appearing on the DS. I'm actually pretty happy with Nintendo's upcoming DS games since Fire Emblem and Kirby will be terrific additions and new experiences for me but I do consider the lack of something on the scale of Phantom Hourglass or NSMB troubling since there is obviously room for something like that. Nintendo's studios can't all be dormant.

Honestly, I don't think the immediate future for Nintendo is that grim; Little King's Story, Fatal Frame IV, Disaster Day of Crisis, Fragile, Arc Rise Fantasia, Wario, ToS: KoR, and far too many DS titles all pique my interest. However, I expect the market leader that keeps making promises to keep the hardcore gamer happy to demonstrate significantly more aggressive output, not a bit better than last place Sony, and I'd also expect the Nintendo console to occupy most of my time especially since I'm a pretty big fan. In addition to this, the fact that Nintendo still seems to retain the failed, archaic strategy (perhaps, even a diminished one since GCN Nintendo courted third party games far more aggressively) fielded during the last generation to lure gamers like me, the failure of this conference disillusions me more than usual.
 
Andrex said:
Not necessarily, but you're on the right track.

Anyone remember last October when NCL dropped a ton of megatons? FF: MLaaK WiiWare? FF4 Wii-exclusive? MH3 Wii-exclusive? Soniku in Sumabros?

All I'm saying is if this keep-secret-until-release mentality is true, we should hear a lot more about their core announcements sometime around that time this year.

Anyone agree or am I crazay?
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Megatons :lol
You are crazay :lol
 
Rancid Mildew said:
3. I am also puzzled that Iwata seemingly thinks that Mario and Zelda titles alone are sufficient core offerings. It's fantastic that those EAD teams are working on the next iterations but that is simply not enough. The first problem is that a system that alternates between awesome release schedules like holiday 2007-March 2008 and periods like 2H2008 is not appealing; if Nintendo doesn't have the manpower to pump titles of this caliber out regularly, they need more IPs and more development studios if Iwata intends to live up to his promises of satisfying veteran gamers. The second issue is how he seems to define veteran gamers. I thought Nintendo wished to target all demographics; that can't be accomplished with only the core titles that failed the Gamecube and N64.
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I agree, this is what I found so weird. So another Mario and Zelda is supposed to be all that's needed for veteran gamers? It seemed to be what he was implying....
 
could wii music prove too repellent even for present public tastes? seems like people will swallow any old nintendo pap, but their gorges have got to rise at this. it's hard to imagine a more complete travesty of games and music, and guitar hero and rock band are formidable competitors that have got the additional benefit of not being total shit
 
drohne said:
could wii music prove too repellent even for present public tastes? seems like people will swallow any old nintendo crap, but their gorges have got to rise at this. it's hard to imagine a more complete travesty of games and music, and guitar hero and rock band are formidable competitors that have got the additional benefit of not being total shit
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People will buy it without even knowing what it is because it's called Wii [insert].
 
Jokeropia said:
Do you know what Soniku in Sumabura means? That one was quite the big deal.
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hang on, lemme run it through my translation software

apparently it means 'i'm a fucking weeaboo'
 
Okay, haven't read through this thread at all, because it'd be insane to try.

Now, I got through the first 25 minutes of the conference and had to turn it off, sadly. The best part about it, obviously is Wii Motion+. Hands-down, no question. The demonstration was impressive insofar as the sword game and the movement aspect of the frisbee throw...not the frisbee "game" itself.

Other than that...the conference was drab. The presentation was stilted, the jokes were lousy, each presenter looked extremely uncomfortable (and holy christ I wanted to kill that insane woman talking about the DS), the games presented were so-so, and this...airport functionality for the DS was just...why?

I wasn't even going into this expecting great game reveals. Most that I wanted was some good stuff about Motion+ and I didn't even get that. We got an on-stage live demonstration, which was impressive as hell, but ultimately forgettable since nothing else was given. For all of Reggie's talk about their "expansive" game line-up, to only show maybe six games was pretty strange.

With Motion+, it would not have been unheard of at all to reveal Pilotwings. I remember Pilotwings being the single N64 game my father played. It's the kind of game that absolutely straddles the line easily. You can market it to the new players because it looks cute and harmless, and the core audience would go nutso for it because they've played it for years prior. Marketing Pilotwings to both audiences simultaneously when you've just introduced a significantly improved and more responsive control method is a sure-thing. If you want to keep the "Wii" marketing spin alive, slap "Wii" in front: "Wii Pilots." Simple.

No mention anywhere of the Starfox game we know we're getting was strange, too. Again, even Starfox isn't a game where it's impossible to market it to both audiences: "With our new controller, flying has never been easier. Using the Wiimote with WiiMotion+ just like this [gestures], your hand becomes an agile jet flown by the greatest pilot ever. Notice how intuitively the ship moves through the air [gameplay demonstration]. Join Fox McCloud as he frees the galaxy this [product release date]."

It's really not a matter of any of these games being so removed from any audience. It just takes some good, enthusiastic marketing. Starfox can very easily be marketed to both audiences, especially with Motion+. Devoting the entire conference to the likes of WiiMusic and such was kind of silly, because they're going to get insane press no matter if Nintendo spent 5 minutes or 5 hours on them.
 
drohne said:
hang on, lemme run it through my translation software

apparently it means 'i'm a fucking weeaboo'
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You might not remember, but that was how the official GAF thread was labeled.
goompapa said:
Does nothing for me looking from a gameplay-perspective.
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Hmm? I don't see how this is relevant. Are you sure you understand what it meant?
 
Aww, the sweet smell of fear and bitterness from niche videogame fans gaining perspective of their actual role and irrelevance in the grand scheme of things. I should bottle this and sell it at Macy's. I think I'll call it "Luscious Pink."
 
Jokeropia said:
You might not remember, but that was how the official GAF thread was labeled.
Hmm? I don't see how this is relevant. Are you sure you understand what it meant?
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Dude everybody expected it. And Sonic have been sucking for years and on Nintendo console as well. No really, it means nothing. Yes, I have lived through the Snes-Genesis hell.
 
Alright so what we now know is...

Nintendo hates us. Really really hates us.

Nintendo really really hates third parties who put effort into their games. On Wii they demonstrated two Ubisoft games (which is really all that needs to be said), Call of Duty and a Star Wars spin-off. Never mind the fact that the likes of Sega (Samba de Amigo, Mad World) and Marvelous (Arc Rise Fantasia, Little King Story) are actually giving the system some genuine support while Ubisoft have basically just pissed in the faces of everyone who owns a Wii to date.

Nintendo hates core games full stop, No Wario. No Disaster. No Fatal Frame.

Bring back connectivity, at least Four Swords was actually fucking awesome.
 
goompapa said:
Dude everybody expected it. And Sonic have been sucking for years and on Nintendo console as well. No really, it means nothing. Yes, I have lived through the Snes-Genesis hell.
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Your personal feelings on the matter is not really relevant on whether it was a big deal or not, since for a large amount of people, it was. I'm not really interested in FFXIII so which platforms it will be released on doesn't have much effect on me personally, but it's certainly a big deal for a huge amount of people. That's how I'd define a megaton anyway, something that rocks the gaming world and is a huge deal for a lot of people.
 
I find it crazy that the defenders are calling people who hoped for an actual video game to be shown are "Niche Gamers" most of the people here are upset that they didn't show any new franchise iterations besides Animal Crossing, that one being a shoddy looking effort.
 
Mariah Carey said:
Aww, the sweet smell of fear and bitterness from niche videogame fans gaining perspective of their actual role and irrelevance in the grand scheme of things. I should bottle this and sell it at Macy's. I think I'll call it "Luscious Pink."
Click to expand...

shouldn't niche fans of mass-market games be a little frightened? wii music is a pretty strong indication that nintendo have burned out, and surely you don't suppose that the new and precarious casual games market is totally impervious to bad product.

actual mass-market gamers needn't be frightened -- they'll contentedly go back to not playing games
 
SpacePirate Ridley said:
WOW:lol :lol :lol :lol

WiiMusic really sucks, it looks like if they were doing this:
64347493666cefcd53504bdb219d056co.gif


And I thought wiimusic would be good :snif:
Click to expand...
to be fair

guitar hero or rockband doesnt look any better
 
Polari said:
Alright so what we now know is...

Nintendo hates us. Really really hates us.

Nintendo really really hates third parties who put effort into their games. On Wii they demonstrated two Ubisoft games (which is really all that needs to be said), Call of Duty and a Star Wars spin-off. Never mind the fact that the likes of Sega (Samba de Amigo, Mad World) and Marvelous (Arc Rise Fantasia, Little King Story) are actually giving the system some genuine support while Ubisoft have basically just pissed in the faces of everyone who owns a Wii to date.

Nintendo hates core games full stop, No Wario. No Disaster. No Fatal Frame.

Bring back connectivity, at least Four Swords was actually fucking awesome.
Click to expand...
maybe nintendo just hates e3 and really really loves coro coro magazine
 
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