Nintendo - "Everyone is a Gamer"

There's nothing that excites gamers like statistics; pie charts and graphs dominated the opening of Nintendo's E3 conference. Fortunately, the event had more than just business to discuss. They unveiled a 'Wii Zapper' housing that allows the Wiimote and Nunchuck to combine into a light gun, which will retail for about twenty bucks. They showed off a number of third party titles to prove the outside-the-company commitment, such as a Soul Calbur and Medal of Honor (which will be playable online) designed specifically for the console. Hardcore gamers were the focus of the early portion of the conference: Smash Brothers Brawl has a launch date of December 3rd in the US. They heavily hyped online play, with several EA titles and a Pokemon-like Dragon Quest title. Mario Kart for Wii will be launching early next year, will be playable online, and will have a Wiimote driving wheel housing packaged with the game. With the hardcore discussed, the attention shifted to mass market games. A new channel, 'Check Mii Out' will allow for a HotorNot-style voting mechanism and contests to make the most realistic celebrity Mii. There was much discussion of the Nintendo approach to expanding audience; Super Mario Galaxy was brought up as bridging that gap, as a second player can 'assist' the primary player in various ways. Galaxy will be launching on November 12th. Targetted more directly at this 'outside the norm' group was WiiFit, which uses a dedicated device called the Wii Balance Board. It allows for a daily exercise routine, can track data over time (and compare it to other family members) and includes some simple minigames like a soccer heading game. The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal to make videogaming one of the pre-eminent forms of entertainment, across all age groups.

Comments

Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[Anonymous Coward]

It has gotten to the point where I feel like I am forcing myself to turn it on once a month or so. It does get the occasional use when someone comes by and they haven't seen the system yet, but the number of people who haven't heard about the Wii is pretty small now. And it seems like most people are extremely interested at first and then their interest rapidly diminishes to zero.

Nothing Nintendo has shown today really rekindled my interest in my, dusty, Wii. I can't really imagine what they could come out with for the system that will bring back that hype I felt late last year.

'twas lame

[androvsky]

For nearly all the gamers that actually watched it, this conference was a disaster. They didn't really reach out to hardcore gamers, they basically told them to shut up about online, and yes, the three or four games you already knew about are still coming out. Yay. The rest of the show was about how people who don't normally game were getting into the Wii and DS. That's great for Nintendo and the shareholders, people who would classify themselves as gamers were basically shoved over to the MS/Sony side of things. Then they trot out Miyamoto, the genius that is the only reason Nintendo still exists, especially in the minds of regular gamers, and then reveal his amazing new project! Wii Fit. It's basically a two pad DDR pad that's pressure sensitive. There was even a horrible DDR-style step exercise program, it was pathetic. The only mildly entertaining thing in it was the Soccer headbutting mini-game. Good to kill a few minutes at a friend's house, but not something to replace, you know, a real game. Oh, it had a scale function too! Now THAT'S Next-Gen!! You can find out what your BMI is!!!! Nintendo is making Super Rub-A-Dub look like an epic. And this is what Miyamoto's doing now, coming up with new ways to disguise a gaming system to sell to people who don't want to play games? For all the gamers I know, Wii Wept.

Re:Hardcore Gamers are idiots

[ben there...]

Hardcore gamers say, "I understand Nintendo trying to expand the audience. But why don't they listen to us?" It is because hardcore gamers ARE the problem with gaming. Microsoft and Sony listened to them and look at where that got them. The more Nintendo defies the hardcore, the more their success.

If you're trying to convince me that the Wii is one step up from flash games and solitaire, designed for casual gamers, you're doing a good job.

Here's a hint for you: without hardcore gamers, most of the gaming industry never would have been developed. Most of the game programmers ARE hardcore gamers. MIYAMOTO IS A HARDCORE GAMER. Now can you please STFU with your Apple-ish "n00bs rule the world" elitism? Nobody cares. Now get back to drinking your Chai.