*NOTE: Sorry for any blurry pictures, I don't have the best digital camera!!!

Hello! As most of you know, E3 kicked off this morning in sunny Santa Monica, California and your very own Tony Peters (from the U.S. team) was on hand. Kicking everything off was Nintendo's press conference. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's President and Chief Operating Officer, MC'd most of the event. Instead of putting the focus simply on games, the PC was filled with statistics, graphs, videos, news clips, etc. involving the DS, Wii and Nintendo as a company.

The main focus of these was on not only Nintendo's place in the gaming industry as a whole as well as how Nintendo is faring with the 'casual' and non-gaming crowd. Fils-Aime spoke on how the 18-24 demographic has been steadily growing, as has Nintendo's grasp of the female gaming crowd. As the DS recently passed the 40 million units sold around the world mark, Flis-Aime was ready to place the Wii, sold out for the entire 33 weeks it has been on the market (though rumors of that having more to do with Nintendo than consumers still ran rampant), at the top of the next generation console war, claiming it shall overtake the lead soon.

But politics aside - its the games you want to hear about and the games I want to talk about! The first announcement was not a game, but an accessory - the new Zapper. This new controller houses not only the Wiimote, but the nunchuck as well. The Wiimote sits on the front facing forward, as one would imagine it would, and the nunchuck connects to the back. As the bottom of the Wiimote is now covered by plastic, the trigger has been moved to a natural gun position on the actual Zapper. It was revealed that Capcom's upcoming Wii shooter, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, would take advantage of the controller, as well as SEGA's Ghost Squad and EA's Medal of Honor: Airborne. Medal of Honor is special, as it also supports 10 Wii-specific gesture motions to work with the zapper (what these are weren't revealed). The best part about the Zapper may be the price, coming in at a paltry $19.99 USD.


Following that was a reel of upcoming third-party titles for both the Wii and DS, including Namco-Bandai's Soulcalibur Legends (Wii), WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 (both), Dragon Quest: Swords (Wii) and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii). These were just quick looks at Nintendo's support of the third-party developers who have been flocking projects to Nintendo systems recently.


Following this was a few pictures and short clips of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. While no new gameplay information was shared (nor was Sonic announced as a playable character - you know Mario can't win a foot race with the 'hog, so they have to bring the fight to his turf!), one truly important one was: the release date. Brawl will be kicking Wii butt on December 3rd in the U.S.



Then we had a recap of Nintendo's online presence (or some would say lack there of) before receiving a few tasty online treats for the coming months. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS), Madden NFL 08 (Wii), Medal of Honor: Airborne (Wii - up to 32 players!)and FIFA 08 (Wii) will all support online gaming! The EA online games are extremely important, as they show that Nintendo is finally opening up their online plans to third-parties. Let's hope other companies will be allowed to follow suit just as fast!

Next up, we were treated to Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass as it was played by a Nintendo fan on the big screen, followed by another fan playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Neither play-throughs were short and lacking in new details, but I do admit I was pretty jealous to be watching others play. Both titles are shaping up quite well and I can't wait to get my hands on them in the coming days!

Now comes the biggest news to come out of the PC. Are you ready for this? Coming to the Wii early next year is Mario Kart Wii. This racer will be fully playable online and the series is about to receive a change in how many people can play the game - what that means was not revealed, but it sounds like Mario Kart is about to finally see some real gameplay changes (sorry, but two people karts doesn't cut it).

Bundled with each copy of the game will be a wheel controller, but unlike Monster 4x4, this wheel does not appear to just be a cheap Wiimote holder. The pictures of it show a trigger button on the back, one for each side, and though the picture does not show it, a press releasing accompanying the PC says it does indeed house the Wiimote and is not a stand-alone controller.

Fils-Aime turned over the MC duties to Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, who shared his journey through gaming and how accessible it has become over the years. This was followed by videoes of one lucky family who was able to play Super Mario Galaxy and talk about. New levels, including a pirate ship, were shown as well as a glimpse of Mario in a bumblebee suit. The focus on the video was not on the game, but how gamers and non-gamers played the game and interacted with each, which kind of sucked because you know we all really just wanted more game footage!

Finally, Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage to unveil the final card up Nintendo's sleeve - WiiFit. Using a white pad, apparently about the size of a bathroom scale, that reads weight and pressure on it, you can get a workout through 40 mini-games designed to get gamers in shape. Games should range from straight, no-frills workouts, such as balancing, stretching and push-ups, to fitness entertainment such as aerobics (think simplified DDR) and blocking soccer balls with your head (an event Miyamoto and Fils-Aime dueled each other against on stage). Though hardly mind blowing, WiiFit does continue to push the boundaries of casual gaming to new frontiers and should attract even more consumers to the Wii than before!

That wraps up the Nintendo press conference. Later today I will be attending press conferences for Electronic Arts, Activision, enjoying some private playing time with SEGA before wrapping up with the Konami press conference. Speaking of the Konami PC, I was emailed today to expect an unannounced title and while this is based completely on eavesdropping (hey, they sat next to me at the Welcome Reception last night, I couldn't help not to listen!), it could be Silent Hill 5. COULD BE. All I know is when it was mentioned, a Konami PR rep didn't answer about the possibility, and I would imagine a 'no' would be in order if it were truly the answer in such a casual setting. But what do I know?

Okay - lunch awaits! Expect more updates later tonight!

Labels: E3 2007, Nintendo