Nintendo Conference

flogen

Yeah, was hoping for price, specs and release date, but oh well..
Games look well, Zelda shows that the predicted lower specs won't make a big difference to devs who actually get the finger out... games looked like fun, some nice ideas... shame no EU news on the DSlite... hopefully we'll know around the time it launches in America.

Better than sony's, despite the fact that it didn't feature anything earthshattering (although finally seeing a new Mario is big enough!)

Rabies

Bro got a 360 just after the launch. Think I will pick up a Wii when it gets released. Zelda is a great launch title.
Prob pick up a PS3 after the first price drop.

im...LOST

flogen wrote:

Yeah, was hoping for price, specs and release date, but oh well..

Is it over or is there more?
http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3live.html

evad_lhorg

over for now. microsoft later

flogen

Oh, and the nunchuck having motion sensitivity was a nice addition to the plan... as was the speaker in the wiiremote... did they mention force feedback>

monkeyfudge

I wonder how expensive extra controllers will cost for the Wii... could be a pricey exercise to play that tennis game in four player mode.

Tusky

anyway to download the conference ? I missed it.

im...LOST

monkeyfudge wrote:

I wonder how expensive extra controllers will cost for the Wii... could be a pricey exercise to play that tennis game in four player mode.

"Always look on the bright side of life."
ie:I hope not.controllers are pricey enough :€40!!!!

evad_lhorg

Tusky wrote:

anyway to download the conference ? I missed it.

gamespot will have it up very soon if not now.

im...LOST

Tusky wrote:

anyway to download the conference ? I missed it.

Missed most of it myself
Does any one have it?

honru

I'm dissapointed with the third-party offerings. Spongebob Squarepants and a new Tony Hawk on showcase...?

The only real promising third-party game was, of course, Red Steel. But where's the output from Japan? Capcom, Konami, Namco stuff were non-existant, and Square-Enix only had a sequel to the forgettable Crystal Chronicles.

And only three new francises from Nintendo, two if you count Excite Truck from the Excitebike series.

I'm completely sold on the controller, but while Sony had everyone on board, Nintendo just don't seem to have the support.

monkeyfudge

The Sonic game looked nice... even if it does look a bit like more of the same... it will be interesting to see how the control system works.

Rayman could be good too... very strange clip they showed with him beating up teddy bears and dressing up as a goth chick...

Smellyirishman

Definitly heard opera web broswer, followed by "on a smart card" I think.
It does [strike]vibrate[/strike] rumble.

Blowfish

flogen wrote:

Oh, and the nunchuck having motion sensitivity was a nice addition to the plan... as was the speaker in the wiiremote... did they mention force feedback>

Yep it will have force feedback. They mentioned it during the zelda bit afair. I've never actually owned a Nintendo before, but going by this, I will soon:)

evad_lhorg

yea third party support is lacking. majorly. althuogh cod3 was also announced for wii. no pikmin suprised me

TheIrishGrover

Blowfish wrote:

Yep it will have force feedback. They mentioned it during the zelda bit afair. I've never actually owned a Nintendo before, but going by this, I will soon:)

Excelent. That's good to hear Blowfish. All well and good to hear our approval as Ninty fans (If not nessessarly ninty-heads) but even better to hear how non nintendo users feel about it

Goodshape

That was really great. The confidence from these guys was great, definitely get the impression that they know gaming. The crowd seemed to love it too.

Reggie handled the name issue well - "thanks... all two of you" - and used it, along with simply 'we' in key places, enough during the show that it really has started to sound like a good idea. 'Wii' works perfectly with what they are trying to achieve.

"Disruptive is good" - he really sold that I think. It works in a money sense as trying to break out of the "gamers" niche, and it also reflects what gamers themselves have been complaining about for a long time: too much of the same. Sequels and then more sequels and then annual instalments (e.g. Fifa '06).

I think what Nintendo is trying to do is address this issue from an unexpected angle. No company want's to give up their franchises. Everyone in the computer gaming world knows who Mario is and you can't turn your back on that sort of exposure. Instead they're offering a totally new way to play these games. All of a sudden they look new and exciting, and everyone still knows who Mario is.

Iwata's speech, while a bit drab to start with, really picked up in the end. All the stuff about destroying the wall between those who play games and those who "don't", along with examples of how and why, sounds great.


The Red Steel demo : graphics definitely looked under XBox360 standers. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe it was the feed quality but models and animation looked pretty sub-par. Environments were good though and all in all it beats anything my PC (which is a couple of years old but still.. it's my benchmark) could churn out hands-down, so that's good enough for me.

Most importantly, the control looked amazing and pretty much made any thoughts of graphics irrelevant. Really want to play this game.

Zelda looked great too, hard to get a feel for it just watching the screen though - something they were most obviously aware of throughout the entire show.

DSLite : that was the first time I'd seen video of it in someones hands. Looks very slick altogether. Always thought the old one had a rotten outer-design, this fixes that and with some excellent looking games coming out I can't wait to get one.

No loading times is great, was that only mentioned for the DS and Virtual Console, or for Wii games too?

The whole tennis game was great craic. I was quietly hoping the (ehem) bigger kid would win when I saw they had to jump around and play tennis but alas, they got the tall guy instead. Looked great though. Can't see myself jumping about my living room like that too often (never mind four of us) but I take it it's not completely necessary.

I noticed various sounds coming from the remote-speaker when they were playing, like a realistic sound when your racket meets the ball. That goes some way to solving the problem of 'when do I know I've hit something' - when you hear the crunch.

They mentioned what the tennis game was but I missed it, is that one part of multiple-sports game? That would be cool.


Anyway, enjoyed that . Nothing bad to report I think... oh yea, no definit release date or price - that was annoying, but they made up for it. My guess is they're keeping quiet so Microsoft can't get the jump on a price cut in their confrence. Sneaky devils.

Microsoft's on in an hour, innit?

Keedowah

The Wii site is up too:

http://wii.nintendo.com/home.html

not sure if it has been posted already

Smellyirishman

Goodshape wrote:

They mentioned what the tennis game was but I missed it, is that one part of multiple-sports game? That would be cool.

Good write-up shape!

I believe the tennis game will be be bundled into the compilation WiiSports title. Would be pretty sure anyway.

Wonder how Mario Party 7 (?) will fair....

Goodshape

Oh yea.. Super Mario Galaxy looked class too. Really got the impression that I'd need to play it to know with that one.

monkeyfudge

Smellyirishman wrote:

I believe the tennis game will be be bundled into the compilation WiiSports title. Would be pretty sure anyway.

Yep... Golf, Tennis and Baseball all in one pack available on launch day.

Will you be able to make the characters look like yourself in the final project? That looked really neat.

Red Steel was an odd one the graphics front... some of it looked outstanding, like the explosions and debris. But the water flowing out of the fish tank looked a bit blockly.. again that could just be the feed though... The climbing up the ladder looked stupid though, as the characters hands didn't touch the ladder at all, hopefully that will be sorted in the finished product.

flogen

sorry, can't remember/didn't see it here, does the Wii sport wifi?

Goodshape

As far as I recall, yes.

Kenny_D

I noticed that blocky look on the water. Especially on the left tank. Anyway overall I was very impressed by the capabilities of the console. After hearing about sony's conference I think I can safely say I'll be having a Wii when its released. Sonys conference was a big let down, especially with a €600 price tag The microsoft conference thats going on now seems to be the star of E3 for me though. Halo 3 video is 40% downloaded on marketplace

steviec

I had reservations about the Wii before and I'm still not sold.

Red Steel looked great but thats about it. That tennis game will be impossible to play in a normal living room. Zelda doesn't use the controller at all really(apart from the obvious lightgun bow and arrow), it just uses gesture recognition instead of button presses, and gesture recognition gets annoying fast. Been there done that with Black & White, keyboard shortcuts are much better than gestures. The analog stick also being motion sensitive is good though, that opens some doors. Hopefully there will be more good games like Red Steel and less gimmicks like composing and less Gamecube games with gesture recognition shoe-horned in.

So far its been 2 disappointing conferences for me, Sony looking stronger. I haven't read anything about Microsoft yet, gonna wait till I can get a video feed.

evad_lhorg

sony was by far the worst. microsoft probably the best even though i didnt see it.

honru

Would I get a Wii at launch after seeing their conference? I guess that depends on how much I'll be missing out on if I stick to the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess. :cool:

Really though, third-party support is crucial, and the Gamecube certainly missed the mark on that area. Judging by what was shown, it seems that could happen again, although it's still early days yet.

Another "wait and see" I suppose. I don't even know how much it'll retail for, but they'd better release it in Europe this year.

evad_lhorg

not gonna happen. they seemed to be saying it as if they were only talking to the US

honru

I'd like to think otherwise, but Nintendo's European track record is just crap as we all know. With the PS3 being released worldwide this November however, they may consider a launch in all three territories.

Otherwise, Twilight Princess will supposedly be "Gamecube exclusive" to Europe for a couple of months. Fantastic.

RobertFoster

Unless of course we get that late too.