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The kind folks at Best Buy have pulled off the shadester move of the week, and are offering Nintendo Wii games for "pre-order." Right now they have Red Steel, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl available for pre-order, with a supposed release date of 12/01/2006. All three titles are priced at $49.99. The odd thing about it is that the two first party games, Mario and Smash Bros., aren't even slated as launch titles, not to mention the fact that releasing a console 8 days after Thanksgiving is a bit silly. We're sure these are just placeholders for now, to get your bucks early (like those crazy Xbox 360 bundle schemes), and actual details will be filled in with time. Those dang capitalists.

[Thanks, David M.]

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One of the things I’ve also been hearing is that even from the most evangelical and dedicated Nintendo fan base, there’s been this — and Reggie acknowledged it in the presentation — very negative reaction to the name. Obviously, we’re going to have to touch on this. So I was curious to know –

Wii are going to have to touch on it.

[Laughter] I’m trying to avoid that, but yes.

It’s made for a lot of great fodder.

What do you think Nintendo could have done to improve this situation or avoid it?

You know, I actually think in many ways, the way that we did it is right. We got the name announcement out before E3 so people could have a chance to understand why we named it that, why we created what it looks like visually, what our thought process was, and why we did something so innovative and so odd as a name, and give people a chance to get over it or be happy about it, and come to the show with jokes or saying, “I’ve embraced it, that works for me.” In the end, it’s not necessarily what something’s named, it’s what it does. But for us, Wii stands for a lot of different things, including the inclusive nature of game playing. And we actually did get some fan mail, but I think most people have settled into it.

One of the things that really took me back that I’ve never really seen before in this kind of instance is that people had such visceral reactions. They were making petitions; many people declared that they thought it was a hoax and that the real name was going to be announced at E3.

I think in some ways we took that as a back-handed compliment. These people who are so compassionate about gaming and care and really want to see Nintendo do well or do something in the way that they think is the right way. I think we single-handedly choked the internet that day. It was interesting that people were that passionate about it, that they had something to say. I actually think that’s a really good thing.

One thing I’ve been also hearing — and we don’t have to dwell on this too much longer — that people really got affixed to the Revolution name. The DS had that as its code name and there was talk about change, and then it stuck — people got stuck on the DS and the DS name got stuck on the device. At what point did you guys decide you were going to jettison “Revolution?”

We’ve known for some time, which is why we’ve continued to call it a code name. People are going to get very comfortable with “Wii.” There are already starting to be more comfortable at the show. Whether you individually like it or not, that’s a different story, but I’m sure when people saw Google, you know, it still sounds like a really weird word.

That was the example that Reggie used. A lot of those names, whereas they sound unusual, I don’t think they’re called “bad” or “dumb.” Google makes sense because it’s the combination of a very large number and to ogle something — there’s a brand synergy there. I don’t think anybody saw Wii coming.”

I don’t think they saw it coming because we were pretty quiet about it but, I do think We as in, “the inclusive nature of it,” does mean something. For those who don’t favor the name, all I can say is hang on and try the product yourself because I think the rest of that is just going to dissipate.

One of the things that wasn’t very clear was the online interface and that service. You announced Connect24, so we kind of know that there’s something going on there, but that’s still pretty nebulous and we don’t know how the game experience is going to change from what already exists with the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection.

The two things we did announce: Opera browser, which shows that it will have wireless around the world, and then Wii Connect 24 is certainly a magnificent feature. It’s sort of unlimited what kind of surprises people could find when they wake up in the morning. And in the coming months there will be a lot more that we will be sharing. We tend to pick just a few items to share at E3. It’s a really busy time, it’s a really crowded time. There’s just not enough room for everybody to be announcing everything, so we really just chose to have people focus on playing and the experience and then all the rest of it, we’ll begin to share.

So how do you think Connect24 is going to stack up against Xbox Live, which is the leading online gaming service, and then Sony’s nascent service?

We’re all at the same show, but Nintendo is a really different company than the others. Our products are really, really different, and I would hesitate to even compare. There are different kinds of people that are interested in that. The hardcore gamer is going to have both [consoles]. So it’s a very different focus. Our DS Wi-Fi, when we went created it as a free service — which is something we really wanted to — its growth was very fast. So we think we figured out the sweet spot for what works for us and for our consumers and we looked at it the same with the Wii console.

One of the things that a lot of fans of Nintendo, especially of the Wi-Fi Connection, have persistently complained about — and this is something that we tried to address with Reggie and he said we’d learn more about at E3, but we haven’t — is persistent user profile system. Or a less distant form of online gaming community that currently exists with Nintendo’s –

I think things will mature and progress more with the Wii console, but there was definitely a safety concern that is a prominence to our company and we just have a different approach. I do think you’ll hear more about it in the coming months. Reggie may have said E3, and then things to shift, but you will understand everything between now and when the console launches. It’s never as early as you would like.

Of course. So how about online episodic gameplay? The Wii console is not very storage-oriented. The 360 has a hard drive and an HD DVD drive, which they announced, and Sony has a hard drive and Blu-ray drive. These are very storage-oriented devices, and Wii is obviously not as storage-oriented. How does that play into episodic content?

I think when you experience the product you’ll understand that. Nintendo is little less about making Lord of the Rings kinds of novels — Zelda and Mario are deep, rich games — and for us, it’s less about having 10 volumes into one small box. We think there’s enough memory and capacity to do all the things that we think will bring consumers fun, joy, stimulation. Again, it’s just a different approach than the other companies.

You don’t see any specific need for development of episodic content, like what you see with Oblivion? You go online with Xbox Live and you can download new episodes to further the game, so the experience will last for years.

Part of the Wii Connect24 is built on that. There’s a myriad of other things that people will learn about that, we’re just taking a slightly different approach to it, which will probably keep you thinking a lot.

I find it interesting that you mentioned just a minute ago about the Xbox 360 and making a mild comparison. Earlier this week, Peter Moore said he thought that gamers would buy a Wii in addition to a 360.

The hardcore gamers, the gamers that are their customers, they love to play and they will probably want our system and their system. I do think the casual gamers that we are expanding into will own only one, and it will be ours.

Do you feel that the systems are in any way complimentary?

I think they could be. For a hard core gamer who really wants a plethora of ways to pick from, someone who really wants to spend a lot of time gaming. Yeah, of course I knew Peter. He’s one of my favorites in the industry. He’s great; a great guy. Known him from the Sega days.

You have any Nintendo tattoos?

I don’t have any Nintendo tattoos, doesn’t mean that at some point I won’t. Maybe he’ll put a Nintendo tattoo on his arm. We like what he had to say too.

Moving back a little to the internet integration: one of the things that also seemed omitted from what Reggie said, was that you guys are only going to talk about some things and that you were going to leave a lot of questions unanswered –

Much to people’s frustration, but there’s no lack of speculation.

Right, and one of the things that Reggie said last time that we interviewed him and was very specific about was that we’d find more information about the Virtual Console. I think there’s still a lot of questions to be answered there. What’s going on with the arcade titles and actual games?

Our focus now is less on what we’re going to have, because we’re going to have tons. It’s about finalizing and then being able to announce what our program is going to be. Is it subscription based, is it a per game thing, is it for x amount of time, what does that structure look like? Are their different tiers for people to pick from. So you’ll have a chance to opt in right away. We still don’t have all those details finalized.

So what you’re saying is, between subscription, purchase, leased games, etc., these different models, Nintendo’s still not yet finalized then?

Oh yeah, not yet finalized. But in terms of what we’re going to have, it’s a lot. It will be great. We have a big team working on it, Virtual Console’s really important to our future.

One of the things about Virtual Console that’s interesting is that it opens up doors for casual gaming, and it also opens up doors, potentially, for independent game publishers. Once you start talking about independent game publishers, then you have this issue of homebrew. And homebrew is becoming increasingly popular on all these game consoles that are out right now. So I’m interested in what the barrier of entry is for independent publishers?

It’s a lot lot lot lot less expensive; it’s an absolute fraction of the cost to be making a game for the Wii console and I do think Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto really appreciate creative ideas and I think they really would and do encourage if there’s anyone who really wants to develop to make sure they contact us and are able to do that.  We think it’s the land of creativity, and I actually think this system is a better place for those creative ideas to reside in. It’s easier to develop for at a fraction of the cost. The barriers to entry are quite low.

There is so much creativity and so many creative people who have zero resources who just want to develop this as a hobby. Is there room for Nintendo to embrace homebrew development?

That’s a tough question, and not one that I’m comfortable answering right now. I’d have to talk more with our engineering group to see what their thought is on that. I know that we encourage creativity most definitely. We’ve talked about that a little bit.

Most people perceive that as a business decision and less of an engineering one.

Yeah, but a lot of that stuff comes through in thee way in which we work together, they have to leave a place to provide the support for you to be able to do it. We have to have our questions answered somewhere.

We’ve seen a lot of titles here, but it’s still not incredibly clear what’s going on with launch titles, how many first party, how many third party?

Isn’t that frustrating?

Is that your answer?

No, but it’s frustrating, it’s frustrating to you. We really just wanted people to come and take this stuff for a ride. You know, the maturity of some of the stuff that’s on the show floor is going to have some kind of presence in our launch window, somewhere or another. We haven’t final decided what will be on launch day, other than Zelda. But we are going to have a lot of products to pick from and it’s something we’ve already committed to, and then in that first 90 days have a lot else to pick from including really great third-party titles, you can assume Red Steel is going to be in there as well. We know it’s frustrating, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there.

In terms of Super Smash Bros. which was revealed –

Was that a good way to hear about it?

Well, that’s my question. Why wasn’t it shown at the original press conference, where I think it would have made a really big impression?

I think that in some ways that was a gift to those of you that we know are the hardcore gamers. That it is important for the general consumers to hear, and the general consumer media, but if there’s anything we could save because frequently nothing is saved. It’s all given at the media briefing, and that we could have one sweet thing to save and give to you guys, that was it. Our goal was first to give you a diamond and make you happy and second was to get coverage on it, not the reverse. If we wanted to get the maximum amount of coverage, we would have done it in reverse, but it was just more important to us to say, “Hey! Let’s keep this thing up our sleeve and those guys will be really excited when they hear about it.” That was our strategy, it was to honor you guys at the developer roundtable. San Jose Mercury News cares less about it than you do.

At last year’s press conference, Mr. Iwata walked on stage and when he started talking about the Revolution, he said Smash Bros. would actually be a launch title.

He didn’t actually say launch title, he said Smash Bros. would come to the new console. It’s like baking a cake, all these products are, as stuff comes brewing along they assess do we feel like it will be ready. It’s really more important to make it right.

Perhaps it would be better to ask what are the chances of it being a launch title?

It will not be a launch title at this juncture, we’re looking at it to come after the turn of the year, although it won’t be that long after.

One of the interesting things about Smash Bros. is that it’s one of the first-party, one of the most prominent titles that’s going to be on the Wii, and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be taking advantage of the most prominent features of the Wii which is the motion control. Can you talk about where this delineation is?

Yeah, there’s a ways to go. I think not having it launch with the other games. I think at the end of all this, we will have the best launch of any product that we’ve ever had. We’ll have a plethora of games to pick from that people are just craving, and you also want to save a couple diamonds for shortly thereafter. You want to keep people really keep people engaged. One of the things we did with the GameCube was we had these big gaps in time and that really tested people’s patience. They want to always have something new coming in and our goal with the new system is to not make people wait too long.

With regards specifically to Smash Bros., that is a title that is not necessarily going to be using the Wii motion control.

It may or may not, but I guess it’s still in development, so let’s talk when it’s done.

One of the developers said at the event where it was unveiled, “Don’t throw away your GameCube controllers.” That would imply that maybe…

That would apply to Zelda too, and Virtual Console games…

I guess what I’m trying to get at here is …

… that you wish it was different?

No, not necessarily. I’m just trying to understand where you have this really big first-party title and this really important feature to the Wii, and why there’s no synergy there.

Again, wait until it’s done. We’re talking about something before it’s completed. But there are 27+ games on the show floor, all of which do use that. It’s the main thrust for us, but Smash is a great game no matter how you play it. Especially if it’s called Brawl.

What happened to the GameCube. Why is it not here?

There is a finite amount of show floor space and we really wanted to blow it out with these other products. We’re still supporting GameCube. It’s not gone. We don’t have GBA out there either, it’s the DS. We’re just trying to blow out these two products and really exemplify there’s a lot of software to show for each. We still love our Cube.

PlayStation obviously, their motion control was directly in response to Nintendo, I don’t think anyone would really argue about that, and some PlayStation developers have even said they only found out that they had to start developing for this control system a couple weeks before. So what could Nintendo have done differently to prevent this kind of situation? What is it that Nintendo is going to do in the future to differentiate itself?

You know, it’s one of the reasons we keep this information really close to our chest, we’ve been copied numerous times. It’s happened throughout Nintendo’s history. It is, in this particular case, a nice form of flattery because it shows you that innovation is a great thing and that what we came up with is great. We’ve been working on it for a long time and I can guarantee that what we’ve got created works pretty darned precisely. But that’s why we frustrate you constantly for not sharing. We love that you guys care enough to even be frustrated, that’s a compliment.

We appreciate you meeting with us and we appreciate Miyamoto-san meeting with us.

Let me know if there’s something you guys need.

I need a Wii.

You’ll get one when it’s done!

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Storage

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Filed under: Features, Gaming

Well, we should preface our thoughts by some interesting information we discovered talking to a lead developer at an unnamed publishing house: they discovered about the PS3 controller's motion sensing capabilities just a couple of weeks before E3, which is why we're not at all surprised there was only one motion-sensing capable playable on the floor, Warhawk. Does this last-minute decision point to indecisiveness or lack of direction in Sony's PlayStation group? Not necessarily, but you'd better believe it was a decision made in response to the capabilities of the Wiimote.

Now that we've got that out of the way, we played with the controller in two ways: on Heavenly Sword, which was buttons only and no motion, and in Warhawk, purposefully avoiding the buttons, so as to concentrate only on the translation of movement to game.
The controller itself is markedly light, as Sony lauded it to be. Perhaps this is because they ganked the rumble, perhaps this is because of some optimizations they've made to the hardware. But the result was something that some have described as cheap-feeling, but that we actually think shows foresight. When you're holding that controller out and swinging it around wildly for hours on end, you're not gonna want something that's going to make those atrophied gamer arms of yours buckle. Remember how appealing sounding that 17-inch laptop was when you first got it, but how much you wished it was an ultralight when you actually had to take it somewhere? We're thinking it could be like that.

The loss of rumble in the PS3 controller is definitely causing a fissure amongst the PlayStation fan community. We're sure it has everything to do with the fact that that the last minute addition of accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors nixed the possibility of force feedback (unlike Nintendo's external sensor-based motion system). We're not saying it's impossible they'll add rumble before the PS3 launches, but it doesn't look great if Sony's gonna stick to their current technological implementation.

Everything about using the controller as normal was otherwise status quo. The buttons felt and played like a PS2 controller, and the addition of a mini USB port -- which we're hoping they'll keep -- could mean easy charging, and possibly even use on a PC. The motion control, however, was another story entirely. Whereas the Wiimote seemed to produce different experiences in different games and scenarios, the only title being shown with motion on the PS3 produced one experience: laggy control. The level of sensitivity and correspondence of physical to virtual motion was more or less spot on, everything worked as we'd expected -- it just took a lot longer to register movement than we found acceptable. You'd bank left... then it banked left. Do we see this improving with time? Oh sure, no doubt about it.

We realize both controllers are still technically beta hardware, but if we had to choose based on the what we played with at the show, out the door we're gonna have to vouch for the Wii controller first and foremost. Both worked (in the basic-most sense of the word), and both provided a new level of immersion to gaming. But even assuming both functioned equally well, Nintendo's controller's shape and design proved to be more versatile in lending itself to a wide variety of uses and scenarios in movement-based gaming than did Sony's. The simple fact of the matter is Nintendo designed their controller from the ground up with the intention to play with movement, while Sony merely tacked the ability onto their own already-classic design. Now, if you want to talk about a scenario where you've got a severe button masher of a fighting game that needs a thorough going over on both platforms, you're going to have a completely different answer; but as long as we're talking about these controllers' performance with their newfound functions, we have to tip our hats to Nintendo.

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Filed under: Features, Gaming, Interviews

When it comes to designing these games, specifically with regard to the Wii controller, what kind of role is it that you play now within Nintendo, and how do you oversee the process of game design?

Well, I am overseeing a large number of games at one time. But at the same time, out of that large number I always try to choose maybe two or three games that I focus on, and that I try to involve myself directly in.

So then that would beg the question, which games specifically bear your mark? Which two or three of the most recent spate of games show your signature on them?

Well, obviously I have to kind of take responsibility for Super Mario Galaxy, and Zelda: Twilight Princess, as those are two of my most important franchises, so I'm always involved in any new development on those. On top of that I'm also working on the Wii Sports games. We have a number of very young directors, about six of them, each of whom is responsible for one of these sports games. So they're all working underneath me, and I'm giving them quite a bit of direction as well.

Being that there's some delegation of game design to other people, what is it that you think is really the hallmark of your contribution to these games?

Well, game development takes a very long period of time to complete. And over that period of time you experience any number of elements that you devote a lot of time to -- and maybe you make some mistakes on and you have to go back and redo. So I think my biggest contribution is to be able to step in and try to pinpoint where those types of errors might occur before a lot of work is done on them; to keep that type of effort at a minimum. It would be best have those young directors kind of experience those mistakes for themselves and learn from them, but at the same time, in the idea of trying to keep the development time lines down it's also important for me to step in and kind of point them out, and help them overcome those mistakes.

And then on top of that, I think something else that's very important is bringing all those directors together and communicating with them in a group, so that the other directors can also learn from the experiences that everyone else has had, and learn from the mistakes that they have made.

I would love to have a specific example of a mistake that was corrected by you; you stepped in and you made some changes, and you taught others what not to do in that situation. Can you think of a good example?

This is a kind of a slightly different case then what I just explained, but one example I can give would be with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which as you know takes advantage of the Wii remote for aiming with the bow. Some people found that when they were aiming with the bow, as they release the button to fire the arrow your aim would move slightly, and that would make it more difficult to hit the enemy. So the natural thinking was that maybe on the software and programming side we could make it so that even if your aim moves just a little bit as you release you'll still hit the target, kind of almost like an auto-aim type of feature. That was kind of the natural thinking in terms of how we could improve that.

But I went back to the team and I said, well, you know, if you think about it though aiming a bow is not something that's very easy to do. So the fact that you have to be very precise adds reality, it adds realism to the game. So rather than try and take that type of aiming system and change it into something that's more along the lines of a shooting game, it's better to retain that type of realism and challenge the player to really kind of get into the feeling of shooting a bow. I think often times people kind of have these old habits in creating games, that they always tend to try and resolve issues in the same way, even though resolving that issue may not be the best solution for that particular piece of software.

It's interesting that you talk about the experience of actually using a bow and this kind of kinetic movement, because one of the things we wanted to know was how essential to the experience of using the Nintendo Wii is this full body motion that we've been seeing with a lot of the titles that are on display here?

I think what's really important is to think of how the player feels while they're playing. For instance, with the Tennis games, you don't necessarily have to do big swinging motions to play it, you can actually make just very simple motions; you could even just tap the controller back and forth on your hand and still execute the actions on the screen. But in fact for most players getting a good swing in and actually playing the game with those sweeping motions is a lot more fun. Simultaneously, something else that we've tried to think of is, as we're creating the games is does the game look like it's fun to play when you see someone else playing it? I think that's very important, this idea of when other people are looking at the player are they being encouraged to actually try and play the game as well. And so really it's a balance between these two, and I think that's something we'll be working on going forward.

So yeah, there's a plane demo out on the show floor that you can control just holding your controller like that and tilting a little bit, but we find that holding it like an airplane and doing the dives yourself and pulling up and doing loopty-loops is much more fun.

This more active gaming style is a departure from today's gaming, which tends to be sedentary.  What's the backup plan if gamers aren't willing to follow into that more active sort of gaming? Do you see more games being made for the classic controller?

Of course we will have games that will be functional with the classic controller as well. And in fact if you try Zelda in the living room setting on the show floor you'll see that you can actually sit back and with very little motions play Zelda and have a very good time with it. Those gamers who aren't interested in doing those very sweeping motions, they don't have to. But in fact, I think, they're going to find as they're playing that they're gradually going to start doing those motions because it's so much more fun to actually be that involved in what is going on the screen and it adds that much more realism and I think there a large number of players out there that are really excited for that type of control scheme.

Even when you're just sitting there with this more laid back style of gameplay, I think everyone's going to find that just using the pointer in and of itself is very convenient and a very good addition to the control experience as well.


Your chief competitors are adding multimedia experience to their consoles -- movies, downloads -- a lot of different experiences that aren't gaming related, and yet they plan to mix those with gaming. How do you plan to address if the gamer thinks this is important? Will the Wii console, by comparison, look less attractive to the gamer?

As we see the other consoles get more and more PC like in their nature, it's only natural to try and use more PC-like functions in terms of downloads and things like that. You know, Nintendo really focuses on entertainment and we've really created the Wii to be this entertainment device that couples with your television set that anyone in the household can find entertainment value in. So in that sense we're not focusing so much on extemporaneous functionality so much as what kind of core entertainment value we can include in the hardware that everyone in the household will be able to enjoy.

One of the functions that we've added to the hardware that we think will really add to this is the Wii Connect24 feature, where Wii is the only hardware system that is connected to the internet 24 hours a day, that also means your television will then be connected to the internet 24 hours a day and that would allow for different types of functionality and different types of entertainment for everyone in the household. Additionally, we're not looking at including unnecessary types of functionality that would unnecessarily increase the cost of the system, we want it to be very affordable so everyone can really enjoy it and then will take advantage of these functionalities. Wii Connect24 will not necessarily allow for the downloading of massive content, but rather using that functionality allowing for packets of data to be traded back and forth between different players, and having that give birth to different styles of gameplay.

How do you think high definition will change gaming?

I think at some point there will be a point down the road where most everyone does have an HD TV. But right now I don't think that what gaming needs is more high definition graphics, I think what's more important is the interface for how you interact with your games, how your games connect to the internet and take advantage of that functionality, and even more simply just how everyone in the household is able to interact with the hardware itself and find entertainment value in that, thereby allowing us to increase the people who are engaging the game. I think these are far more important issues for us to be thinking about rather than simply prettier graphics for the same games that people have seen.

As a possible counterpoint to that, what about the idea that the DS itself is an portable HD device? You had just one screen initially and then you add another screen and look at all the gameplay possibilities that extra screen real estate opened up to you. And that's what HD gaming can do to an extent: it gives you all this extra area to display other information, so it's not necessarily prettier graphics, but extra space for more of the same fidelity graphics.

I think that in the future there is definitely a possibility to take advantage of that type of functionality, but what I think is more important right now is reinventing the interface. The reason that I say that is because if we continue to do the same type of things we've been doing with gaming with the same interface, and we simply take advantage of the new capabilities that HD would allow us to take advantage of, that's not going to expand the audience, it's just going to be the same people playing video games that have always played video games. And if we continue to go down that path, we're just going to see the video game audience shrink, as we've seen elsewhere. Really, what we need to do is take advantage of this opportunity to reinvent the interface, use that opportunity to welcome more people into gaming, expanding that audience, and then later on perhaps going down that road and taking advantage of the types of advances that HD technology would allow at a time when everyone has an HDTV.

I think what was more important to the DS' success was the implementation of these new interfaces like the touch screen -- being able to interact directly with the game simply by touching the screen – or the voice input using the built-in DS microphone. Or being able to display larger fonts on the screen so that people who haven't been playing video games before can actually pick up the DS, make it feel like a book, and feel more natural interacting with this technology device that normally they wouldn't. Coupled with that is the idea that the software is very appealing as well to people who haven't played video games before: things like Nintendogs and the Brain Training games. I think it's this combination that has really contributed to the success of the DS rather than just the improvements in graphics or the area of the screen.


So what non-Nintendo-platform games are you most looking forward to playing on either the Xbox 360 or PS3? I assume as a gamer and designer you play all sorts of games.

I actually haven't had a chance to even be out on the show floor so I don't even know what's available to play. Although I do want to see how Sony's little sensor is working. (Laughs)

What do you like better: E3 or the Tokyo Games Show?

(Laughs) I haven't been to Tokyo Games Show in many years and we haven't shown any software at Tokyo Games Show in many years, so I actually prefer E3.

Thank you for your time, Miyamoto-san!

You're welcome!

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One problem has been that far too often Nintendo’s definition of inclusion has reverted to its lowest common denominator of the kiddie core audience, and those players nostalgic to relive their days in it. Nintendo has proven adept at furthering its platforms’ agendas with its first-party titles, such has been the case with the varied input methods of the Nintendo DS. But it also tends to fall back to the easy money of its franchises, and it will need to move beyond that to become truly inclusive. On the other hand, some of the more adult-oriented DS games, such as the brain-training series, have moved beyond kitsch without racing to the extreme of the horror genre..

Using motion-sensor controllers as proxies for real-world objects is not new. For several years, XaviX has sold a system that includes controllers that simulate baseball bats, ping pong paddles, and even a bowling ball. What Nntendo has added, though, is the flexibility and convenience of having one controller mirror many different devices and the advanced graphics of a next-generation console.

To do even more to capture the inclusiveness of early-day consoles, Nintendo should consider returning to an inviting feature of those machines, including a second controller and a game, one that demonstrates its unique operation. The playful Wii Sports games the company showed at E3 would work well without any chance of cannibalizing a more realistic league-licensed title from the likes of Electronic Arts or 2K Games.

Microsoft and Sony are investing millions in sophisticated multiplayer networks that allow strangers to play with each other, but a long-abandoned key to making family gaming fun again is out-of-the-box matchmaking for moms, dads and siblings.

---

Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis for consumer technology at market research and analysis firm The NPD Group and a contributing editor for LAPTOP. Views expressed in Switched On are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.

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Unfortunately, we soon realized a flaw in the control scheme for golf, in that there was no frame of reference or feedback for our motions. A traditional analog stick lets you know how extreme your motion was, but we just couldn't quite get a feel for how much power we were putting into our putts. Nintendo's "Tennis" game was quite enjoyable by comparison, but it automates a lot of the control such as the movement of your character. You also can't miss if you time your swing well enough, so we can't say this really tests the controller. That said, it was quite fun and provided a whole new type of play experience that we look forward to more of in the future. Next up, the "Obstacle Course" tech demo, which was so painful to play we almost swore off the controller altogether. Yeah, that fast. The sensitivity was so high that we couldn't keep our character from bouncing all around and losing all his coins, but our opponent managed his character fairly well, so perhaps we just don't got game.


Our hopes were buoyed by the sight of Ubisoft's "Red Steel," but were quickly dashed by the incredibly awkward FPS aiming that this game is banking on. The controls were great and easily learned, and we were soon slashing, parrying, ducking, shooting, reloading, opening and pushing with more convenience than we can ever remember in a shooter, and never had to look down to find a button once. But our aiming could be best compared to that of a hyperactive drunkard, and we seemed to get worse at aiming as the demo progressed. This is bad news for FPS fans who thought they might have found a new home on the Wii, but we have heard that games will allow you to set the controller sensitivity yourself, and Ubi obviously has some polishing time left before release.


We had a much more enjoyable experience aiming in a simple Bomberman mini game in which we shot at balls of lava, but weren't required to pan the camera or anything fancy. The other Bomberman mini games were equally enjoyable, including a balancing act, and a old school Sonic-like tunnel run that had us twisting our wrists in some rather uncomfortable ways -- in a good way. We didn't get to Zelda or Metroid, but we heard conflicting reports as to the ease of aiming in both of those games, with one complaining of the oversensitivity of Zelda, and another claiming Metroid to be the very pinnacle of the series and singing the praises of the FPS control.


The overall story seems to be that Nintendo's Wii controller (along with the expertly crafted and very intuitive nunchuka attachment) is all it claims to be, but software manufacturers still haven't figured out how to get this wonderful hardware to control their games as easily as the gamepads of yore, and our skills have not yet progressed beyond a shaky noob. It might turn out that the controller is just too abstract for some actions, and too hard to hold and control for others (let's hope FPS doesn't fall into that category), but we're going to reserve judgement until the software is more mature and we get a Wii in our living room for a few nights of practice.

So, first impressions in a nutshell: mixed bag. Are we hopeful? You bet. Are we floored? Not yet, but we're not willing to rule anything out. We're expecting to get some more play time this week, so we'll check back with you.

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The Wiimote

It looks good, it feels good, but how does it play? In truth, we can't say we were blown away. Sorry to tease, we'll have our full impressions up soon, but for now feel free to ogle.










The Hardware





Virtual Console








The Games












The Booth






The Mari-freaking-oh

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12:21 pm - So the crew is split into two levels of the theater -- we've got our writers up top and the photographers down below, right friggin' next to the stage. The folks in the nosebleed section seem ok with their lot. Many are sitting silently, pensively almost. Or it could just be that the coffee hasn't kicked in. On the speakers, hip clubby trance music. If Sony's pre-conference music was high school dance, this is college rave.



12:23 pm - We've been informed that the program will start promptly at 9.30 am PST, right on time.



12:28 pm - Here's the layout -- yellow and blue ticket holders were sent to the third and fourth floors of the theater. Green tickets are on the second level. On the ground floor, those with red tickets (Mushroom Kingdom) are holding court.



12:37 pm - And it has started: symphonic music : Miyamoto takes the stage and directs a puppet symphony with the Wii controller. He's looking dapper in a tux. As he waves his hands, the symphony adjusts its pace to keep up with him. The music swells when his arms wave wildly, the tempo adjusts with his tempo.



12:38 pm - The crowd goes wild -- that many symphony geeks? Who knew. First Guitar Hero, now Symphony Hero (not the actual title). We're being shown a driving game, a sword fighting game, and more conducting from Miyamoto. It's worth taking a pause right now to remark that these gamers are, in fact, waving their arms rather wildly. This system is going to be a workout, but we're cool with that.



12:41 pm - Reggie takes the stage: "You came to LA this week to peek into the future, but if all you want is next generation you're in the wrong place. What we're unveiling is the next leap in gaming. It's no longer confined to just a few, it's about everyone. It's not about what you see because what you see isn't always what you get. The next leap is about playing because playing is believing"



12:42 pm - Reggie's wearing the game executive's corporate uniform: suit and no tie. After a short intro, the Regginator steps off the stage and we're treated to a brand-spanking new trailer. Hipsters drumming, clean youth playing tennis, a middle-aged couple golfing, an  entire Japanese family conducting a symphony, an earringed, pony-tailed fellow steering an off-road vehicle. CONFIRMED: Speaker in the Wiimote.



12:44 pm - Now we're being shown a flight sim, then Metroid Prime 3. The Prime demo looks hot in terms of playstyle -- with the gamer ducking and rolling in order to dodge enironment obstacles. We're shown an updated Wario Ware with a variety of mini games that involve the controller. Depending on the game, the controller is held in a different fashion.



12:46 pm - A note on graphics: these graphics aren't all that impressive, but the gameplay looks super fun. Zelda demo demonstrates the Wii controller's use to shoot a grappling hook, shoot arrows, fish, sword fight. Reggie: "Two years ago we pulled the curtain back on DS and many said, 'huh?' Then nine months ago we revealed how Wii for Nintendo will change gaming forever, and a lot of people said, 'we'll see'"



12:47 pm - "Our purpose this week is not to feel your left brain with informationm but to jolt your left brain with inspiration." The Wii logo appears again, and the two little "i" characters take a deep bow. Very Japanese, but universally understood. After the trailer is over, there's genuine applause. The audience is certainly more into this conference than Sony's audience was into their conference yesterday. "Let me ask you ... 'do you know someone who's never played a videogame? I bet you do. How can this be? If we want to grow as an industry this has to change. And today, change begins today."



12:50 pm - "As many of you know, Nintendo's way is to challenge conventional thinking." Reggie spins a metaphor: "The graveyard of the industry is filled with the headstones of companies who tried to keep doing things the same way. Over the years our industry has come to gauge progress simply by what's displayed on screen ... In the same way that Super Mario 64 changed everything, we asked how do we make games that will entirely new. We will give you more fun for less money, and you will be playing we in Q4 in 2006."



12:51 pm - "Okay, the name ... we want to thank everyone that had good things to say about it ... both of you." Reggie's pronunciation of Wii is different. He says "Wii" in a clipped way, flattening the "i" a little bit, and driving it from the diaphram. "Every distincitive name sounds strange at first. Cahnge is good. [Wii is] a giant leap of gaming, for everyone around the world. It's the sound for the future."



12:54 pm - List of games: Metroid Prime 3, Dragon Quest Swords, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Fire Emblem, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Cars, Super Mario Galaxy, SD Gundamn G Breaker, Tony Hawk Downhill Jam, Sengoku Action, Excite Truck, Elebits, Red Steel, Rayman 4, Super Swing Gold Pangya, Sonic, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., Finalfurlong Revolution, Madden, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Twilight Princess



12:56 pm - "This is by far the best Zelda we have every made, and also the most beautiful game Nintendo has every made. But this is breaking precedent because this is the first time a Zelda game will be along side a Nintendo console on launch day." Nate & Bill of Nintendo to host world premiere of Zelda on Wii.



12:57 pm - Bill: Very basic control ... your movement is handles with the analogue stick. Zelda's targeting system with be handled using the Z button. The Wii control adds the presence of a fairy, which indicates where you will be pointing using the Wii controller. Forward swing is handled using the B button. Link's bow is aimed using the pointer on the Wii remote. The series of trailers went by quickly, but here's the impression we got from it: there's real variety in gameplay, and lots of variety in graphics. Some of the graphics look decidedly Xbox/GameCube/PS2, and some look incredible. It was unclear which were pre-rendered and which were footage of actual gameplay. The best-looking trailers were graphically impressive. Overall, sound was disappointing. We're hoping that's just an issue with the theater.



12:58 pm - "With the bow, the Wii remote adds depth of sound. Built-in to the Wii remote is a speaker. You'll hear the bowstring draw taught and you'll hear the bow sound draw to the screen as the arrow is shot. A quick jab with the Wii remote and shield shove. You'll feel the impact with the built-in rumble." Using pointer to launch boomerang. Classic Zelda chime heard on Wii remote speaker. You can pick up crates with the A button and then chuck them with a quick motion



1:01 pm - You have two different controllers and two different motion sensors. Link's iron boots also make a return. This time they lift you up [Link is hanging upside-down from the ceiling]. A quick rotation for spin attack, stab down with controller to do down thrust.



1:02 pm - The Zelda demo focuses almost exclusively on gameplay. Though the narrator tells that it's intuitive, the control scheme is actually fairly complex. It's certainly not dumbed down, but we wouldn't say that it's as intuitive that they're making it out to be either. Then again, few games these days are, and Zelda's one of those games that appeals to the core gamer audience. It won't be one of the titles that Nintendo uses to break into the mainstream market.



1:04 pm - Reggie: "This Zelda is the first ever to feature unique freehand control. Here in the America's Nintendo will launch two different versions: one for GameCube and one for Wii -- on the same day Wii launches ... Mario is  back too!" Game list again. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is "most intuitive first-person shooter ever," says Reggie. Super Mario Galaxy: With freehand control Mario has new moves. Swing hand to grab objects ... swim threw space (and more).



1:06 pm - Excite Truck: "Now you're holding the steering wheel of a big damn truck! This feels like driving ... What happens if the bad guy is mother nature? Come feel the panic and bring the catastrophe uner your control"

1:08 pm - "Square Enix is offering exclusive iteration of Final Fantasy Chronicles." Excite Truck is one of 3 new franchises, the others being Project H.A.M.M.E.R. and Disaster: Day of Crisis. More third party titles:

1. Hyper Sonic.  "Finally the speedster is totally under your control."
2. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
3. Madden 07
4. Activision's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
5.  Ubisoft's Rayman
6. THQ's Spongebob Squarepants


Reggie: "We are not gonna specify a launch number this morning, you'll be playing 27 titles on the show title tomorrow. That 27 does not include Virtual Console [games]."



1:10 pm - Now showing Red Steel demo: "Red Steel is a first-person action game set in US and Japan. Player must master both firearms and katana." Taking the stage,  Xavier Poix (studio director) and Roman Campos (lead game designer), both from Ubisoft Paris, where Ubisoft is developing the Wii-exclusive title Red Steel. Destuctible environments, soft bodies, realtime physics. Technical difficulties: The screen is blanked out with just a "Wii" logo, the Red Steel demo isn't being shown for the first minute of the presentation. When it comes back, there's a bit of applause.



1:12 pm - More still on Red Steel: enemies will care for themselves. They will hide, go for cover, and flank. Unique wepaons like the shotgun -- the shotgun is unique? AI uses 'clan system' where one enemy is the leader; if he is killed, the others become confused. Free shots mode: by holding button, player can freestyle, and target points on an enemy. You choose between killing or making them submit.



1:15 pm - Sword fight: the moves you make are intricate. You can block with left, and slash with right in any direction. That means there are dozens of combinations. This is easy to learn, but hard to master (sounds like the Tetris catchphrase). Playable tomorrow at E3 booth. Hate to inject a little bit of reality into the conversation, but Red Steel's visual quality lacks the sex and sparkle of the Sony demos yesterday -- take away the controller, and the game could run on an original Xbox or PlayStation 2. Nintendo would of course remind us that judging a game by what's displayed on screen is a mistake, but the game industry has tended to judge games visually for many years. Nintendo can't change the critical criteria overnight. They're going to have their work cut out for them on this front if gamers prove intractable in their lust for next-gen graphics.



1:16 pm - Reggie: "We want to switch gears now to what's hot right now: Nintendo DS." George Harrison enters: "What we've given you today is a promise: 'Wii' will make things better." The conference has moved on to talk about the Nintendo DS.  16 million Nintendo DSs have sold worldwide (that's sold, not shipped). "Wi-Fi service is easy and free. 1.3 million discreet wi-fi connection users totalling over 40 million gameplay sessions."



1:18 pm - Brain Age launched three weeks ago in North America. In Japan, 5 million purchasers. The first few weeks here have sold better than during the Japanese launch of Brain Age -- but does it have the same staying power?



1:19 pm - "Nintendo DS Lite is smaller, lighter, and brighter than the original. In only a week you'll be playing a new Mario game, which is the very picture of 'old school.' But this is a brand new Mario game, which will appeal to brand new players. Pokemon is coming too. You don't play with the Pokemon, you are the Pokemon."



1:22 pm - "Final Fantasy III ... be prepared to be fulfilled. The legendary title will have improved graphics." We're being taken on a tour through DS titles and sales. Tony Hawk Downhill Jam announced. Exlcusive Zelda ... The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Features sailing, sworday play, and the boomerang. All in all, 100 new games for DS from now until end of calendar year 2006, including Mario Hoops 3 on 3, Starfox DS, Diddy Kong Racing, Final Fantasy III, Yoshi 2, Elite Beat Agents (multiplayer multi-rhythm, Pokemon Myster Dungeon, Diddy Kong Racing, Big Brain Academy, Mario vs. DK: March of the Minis.



1:25 pm - Iwata takes the stage: "In order to [expand the total number of players who play games] we needed to target ... those who once played and who lost interest and those who never played before. How do we do this? The logical solution is to reinvent the relationship between player and game. The game controller interface. We believe this approach can appeal to a much broader audience. Our first implementation [of this imprvement] was Nintendo DS. At first it confused some people, but these people started to understand when they started to pet their puppies with their stylus."



1:27 pm - Iwata nonchalantly tucks the remote into his pocket. Why, hello sir, is that Wii in your pants, or are you just happy to be here? The Virtual Console will bring gamers together and act as the leading laboratory for simple games.



1:28 pm - "The startup time before gameplay begins is growing longer and longer. These days I am busier and busier and ever. Even if I have to wait 30 seconds or 40 seconds or more for a game to load, often I get frustrated. Sometimes I just cannot wait. And now that I know I can instantly stop or start playing my DS by just opening or closing the top, I think I am spoiled. Maybe this has happened to you too? If seriees gamers find the delays frustrating, how can we ever expect the mass market to show more patience than we do. Unless we change we can never increase the game population."



1:30 pm - Audience chuckles as disgruntled gamers are flashed on the screen. "The Wii console will also help solve this problem ... [it will be] almost as fast as the television or telephone. One more hardware feature -- we've designed our machine to provide owners with a variety of services when it is turned off. Wii Connect 24: the Wii console can be constantly connected to the internet. This means that developers can push a new weapon or vehicle to you even while you sleep. Anytime the console is in standby, players may return to find that their friends have left a message or a gift."



1:32 pm - Networking software is included in the hardware. In other words, developers don't have to write code to utilize this. "What we are aiming for is a system that is new everyday." WiiSports ... this is a combination which will include tennis, golf, and baseball in one package. It will be available on launch day.



1:33 pm - "Today, there are people who play and people who do not. Wii will help destroy that wall between them. Anyone can instantly understand Wii. Everyday there is something new for everyone, eveywhere. This is our answer." The "playing = believing" slide has been shown for the -- what -- sixth time now? In repeating this phrase, Nintendo's driving home the point that the typical version of this aphorism ("seeing is believing") no longer applies to their console. This is a key message for the audience here to believe, because without that belief, gamers will compare  Nintendo's console to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on a purely graphical level. This console simply cannot hold its own on a purely graphical level. Nintendo knows that, so the company *must* insist that playing is believing.



1:34 pm - Back to Reggie: "We'd like nothing better than to invite you all up on stage to play. While we can do that for everyone, we can do that for one person ... We have three grand prize finalists. Mr. Miyamoto has randomly selected the winner ...



1:37 pm - Miyamoto: "The winner is ... Scott Dyer. [To Scott] May I ask you to be my partner in the next game?" He agrees, of course. It's Iwata and Reggie vs. Miyamoto and Scott in tennis. Miyamoto demonstrates how the remote is used for a variety of shots in tennis, from serve to lob to to smash. It looks fun and responsive.



1:38 pm - Team Miyamoto wins! Huzzah! Scott aces Iwata on the serve! Team Miyamoto wins again!



1:41 pm - The game will clearly take some practice to master, which is as it should be. Most impressive is that a clumsy return will send the ball wide of the court. In many tennis-type games, it's far too easy to keep the ball in bounds. Reggie: "Bottom line of every E3 is what's hot and what's not. What's hot is the next step ... What's hot is if it's disruptive ... We know that the future is right here. Wii and the DS represent that same thing: risk. Change is good. We were the disrupter 20 years ago ... Wii will come next. Playing is believing. Thank you all, we look forward to seeing you on our show floor tomorrow."



1:45 pm - Reggie's talking a big game about how the company doesn't run from risk, but runs to it. An obvious counterpoint jumps quickly to mind: Nintendo is a very conservative company. Though the company has taken some risks with DS and Wii hardware, its also meticulous about controlling hardware costs, managing contracts and quality control, and in general ensuring that the margins are there to make a console profitable. Nintendo supporters routinely brag about the comapny's ability to make money, even on the GameCube. Their ability to do this is directly reliant upon keeping investment (in hardware, in marketing) low relative to sales projections. That is the very definition of risk averse. To put it another way, these aren't bet-the-farm risks. Touchscreen aside, the DS is still a solid gaming handheld supported by a very standard ecosystem of software developers and a solid portfolio of original IP. The Wii strategy takes a small risk on the HCI (human-computer interface), but everything else is rather similar to any other console's strategy, sans insane spending.

Sony's taking more risks this generation. Blu-Ray's success is critical to multiple lines of business that keep Sony afloat. It's huge investment in complex technology that will make or break the company in the decade to come. That's risk. Even if the Wii were to end up in third place again (as several analysts we talked to yesterday predicted it would), Nintendo will still survive. If Sony were to fail to capture dominant marketshare this generation, the results would be catastrophic. That's risk, and we just wanted to set the record straight on it.

That's it for the Nintendo press conferece! Thank you all for joining us, and be sure to check out the Microsoft press conference, which we will be covering shortly.

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