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27 Playable Wii Games At E3 426

Posted by Zonk from the omg-so-cool dept.
The Nintendo conference seemed to be the perfect opposite of Sony's conference yesterday. It was polished, the presenters were poised, and the demos conveyed exactly the message they were aiming for. Notable info includes 27 playable Wii titles on the E3 floor, a speaker in the Wii controller, a StarFox title for the DS, and a confirmation of motion sensor in the nunchuck attachment. There will be two versions of Twilight Princess (one for Wii, one for GC) and they'll both be out on Wii launch day. Launch is slated for Q4 of this year. The presenters kept the launch price and date under wraps as the tone of the event was inspiration, not information. The number of playable games available this week confirms their commitment to a launch date this year, and the hilarious tennis game played onstage by the Nintendo honchos and the contest winner made their 'playing = believing' slogan really hit home. More flash than substance, but a solid presentation overall
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27 Playable Wii Games At E3 More

27 Playable Wii Games At E3

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  • Slight disappointment (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Lacobra ( 954784 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:49PM (#15294803)
    That rocked hard, but the absence of any SSB details, Virtual Console demo or DS-Wii connectivity was a major letdown. Compared to Sony's CG filled rip-fest. Wii couldn't have asked for more. Nintendo FTW!

  • I think I speak for us all when I say... (Score:5, Funny)

    by brjndr ( 313083 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:50PM (#15294809)
    Scott Dyer, you luck bastard.

    I hate you so much

  • Q4 2006 (Score:4, Informative)

    by mysqlrocks ( 783488 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:51PM (#15294817) Homepage Journal
    An important piece left out of the summary but mentioned in some of the articles is that the Wii will launch Q4 of 2006. It looks like shoppers this holiday season will be able to pick from all the next-gen consoles.

    • Re:Q4 2006 (Score:4, Funny)

      by buswolley ( 591500 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:02PM (#15294928) Journal
      So they will get the christmas rush.. is this some of the greatest execution ever by any company in the industry?

      • Re:Q4 2006 (Score:5, Interesting)

        by nate nice ( 672391 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @02:28PM (#15295780) Journal
        Well, they're bring out really innovative hardware and this is the first time they've really proven it will work and people are really excited about it now. They're going to be much cheaper than the competition and to people like me who don't buy many games or play many games anymore, I'm ready to throw down for this.

        Not to mention Mario and Zelda on the same day?! That Tennis game is going to be rather uber as well.

        So yeah I agree, Nintendo is really taken advantage of the fact XBox and PS have nothing new but amazing graphics with a super high premium. They can come in from behind with a truly innovative game play system and a cheap price tag. The graphics won't dazzle everyone but they'll be fine.

        I'm actually excited about a video game system again.

        • Re:Q4 2006 (Score:4, Insightful)

          by phritz ( 623753 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @07:53PM (#15297924)
          The graphics won't dazzle everyone but they'll be fine.
          In my opinion, this is actually a big FEATURE of the Wii. The better the graphics, the more work that needs to go into every square inch of every surface, polygon and texture. That means that a) no one except huge production houses is able to afford to produce a game that looks alright, and b) game production is far too expensive for any company to risk innovation.

          I think that the wii will definitely have a boost from being cheaper to develop for than the other 2 systems. Less time spent on polygons and and high textures means more time to innovate. I'm also of the opinion that artists tend to produce far more intersting output when they're working under practical constraints - give someone the freedom to do everything, and it becomes hard to do anything.

    • Unless they live in Europe of course.

      Looks like the EU won't see the PS3 until 2007, and Nintendo havent been forthcoming in their approach to the EU market, but with the painful price point on the PS3, I'm not looking forward to what they'll put it at in Europe before the 21% VAT sales tax...

    • Re:Q4 2006 (Score:3, Insightful)

      by youknowmewell ( 754551 )
      Nintendo never actually said that the console would launch in Q4 '06, just that we'd be playing it in Q4 '06. They were vague about the launch date, as they were with other things.

  • Decision made (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Kazzahdrane ( 882423 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:52PM (#15294827)
    Well, I've already decided that out of the next-gen consoles I'll be preordering, the Wii is the one I won't be selling on eBay for megabux.

    Interesting that Nintendo have finally conceeded to having two different versions of Twilight Princess, rather than a Gamecube game that would have added Wii functionality.

  • Nevermind those engadget idiots :) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by csoto ( 220540 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:53PM (#15294835)
    I like the name "wii" and I'm getting one for my son the day it comes out. Nintendo understands why I got into games to begin with - social interaction with people in the room. Yeah, FPS is fun, but nothing beats clobbering your bros. at Cyberball or NHLPA Hockey (yes, Genesis days, TYVM) and telling them their "face" was just handed to them...
    • I remember!

      Banning the "cheap goal" in SNES NHL '94 under penalty of an ass kicking.

      The screams of "Mom! JOE KEEPS BREATHING THROUGH HIS NOSE!" when I was winning. Those were the days.

    • intendo understands why I got into games to begin with - social interaction with people in the room.

      indeed. halo...how i love halo. but i have to admit -- silly little sidescroller Super Smash Brothers and all the various MarioKart/MarioTennis etc got gamecubes in lots and lots of dorms, and unlike halo, the girls would play, and unlike halo, there would be laughter and side-conversations during play. x-box is great for immersion...but as much as i've smacked on the puny power of the gamecube...Nintendo

    • But it wasn't like these [thewiitalk.com] high-res pics. Damn!

  • Great, great conference (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Swimmin' Pants ( 911939 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:53PM (#15294837)
    After nearly falling asleep while watching Sony's conference, Nintendo's was a breath of fresh air. The games they had on show looked great, and looked like they played great. They actually had something significant to show! It was awesome, plain and simple. I think Nintendo's really got the goods this generation. I just wish we could've seen a price.

    Also, I'm very happy that there's going to be a Fire Emblem game for Wii :)
    • All I know about price is $PS3 > $XBOX360 > $WII. Funny thing, is if you reverse that equation, you have my levels of interest in the consoles. Wii is a must have, XBox360 if they start delievering some games, and the PS3 when the price is cut by at least half.

  • Coming to a theater near you! (Score:4, Funny)

    by joshmathis ( 15461 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @12:56PM (#15294853) Homepage
    I smell a feature film in the works... The Wiizard? [imdb.com]
  • Low: I think the lack of final price and exact launch date was a bad idea. I know that people were bored during Sony's "stock analysts wet your pants with numbers" opening - but those two details were important. It may be that Nintendo's seeing that Sony's final numbers look like and if they really have a market so they're not competing directly - but who knows.

    Highs: Lots of games. Zelda looked awesome, and "Red Steel" is up there on my must try. Even the "Wii Sports" game they showed off towards the end looks interesting - I can see my son and I playing with the baseball game, and my daughter will like the tennis stuff. And golf? Well, that's for my wife so I can get behind her and help her with her strokes.

    Low: They kept showing a Mario game (Mario Galaxies or something), but I either missed the details or they didn't talk about it. Where's Mario 128? Where's the Kojima new IP?

    High: Showing the new guy playing with the Wii controller. "Easy to use, difficult to master" seems about right. The sweepstakes winner seemed able to play around with it without too many problems - with a few more minutes he would have been better I'm sure.

    • Re:Highs, lows, and missing data (Score:5, Funny)

      by cyber0ne ( 640846 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:11PM (#15295020) Homepage

      Well, that's for my wife so I can get behind her and help her with her strokes.

      Too.... many.... punchlines.....

    • I think they are holding back on the launch date and price until after the Microsoft conference later today. Why give away everything when one of your main competitors still has to go.

      Of course, I could be completely wrong, but it makes sense.
    • I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of a price too. Nintendo would have decimated the competition if they pulled a Sony and the first three words were "One Ninety Nine".
    • Low: I think the lack of final price and exact launch date was a bad idea.

      Nintendo's probably rethinking their pricing now that Sony has high price of $499 & $599. Some Nintendo analyst is problably figuring out if they add another $50 to the cost of the system.

      My gut feeling was that it was going to be $249 but now Nintendo might try for $299.

      • "My gut feeling was that it was going to be $249 but now Nintendo might try for $299."

        If they pull that, I hope they put more RAM into the machine.
      • Add another $50 to the system and throw in a second controller (at maybe a $10 cost to them) and a first-party title (at maybe a $2 cost to them), call it a bundle, give them a Nintendo Power subscription, and you're sold. Your margins go up, your first-party launch title gets free sales and gets the word out there, and people don't get sticker shock at the register.
    • Low: They kept showing a Mario game (Mario Galaxies or something), but I either missed the details or they didn't talk about it. Where's Mario 128? ...That was Mario 128. It has a new name now.

      I expect you'll hear about it when it's on the show floor tomorrow?

      Personally I thought the Mario Galaxy trailer was the best part of the entire press conference, especially when you got the sense that you could actually see how the controller movements were translating into mario's movements. It just made me really h
      • It just made me really happy, it looks like we're finally getting the 3D mario game Nintendo's been trying to make for years but never quite pulled off.

        I am hoping against hope that Sonic Team manages the same thing with Sonic on Wii. We've been waiting soooo long for a good Sonic 3D game.

        (The worst part is that they haven't sucked completely. The Sonic (and Shadow in SA2) sections are actually pretty good; if they actually focused (damn it!) on speedy 3D platforming instead of weighing it down with other s
    • Sounds like you saw it. Any links to videos. I can't find any, even the E3TV doesn't have it yet. :(
    • It's E3, you either steal the show or you get totally ignored. If they save the release date for a months time they will have the news all to themselvs as everyone else burnt themselvs out at E3.

      Nintendo arn't pulling punchs this time round. They got MAJOR press the week before E3 (hence stealing all the "WTF will they do at E3!?" press in 1 switch sweep), then they came out the corner swinging like a drunk hobo with the games list. They really are in an awesome position to dominate E3 from the week before

    • Re:Highs, lows, and missing data (Score:5, Funny)

      by focitrixilous P ( 690813 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @02:50PM (#15296001) Journal
      Low: I think the lack of final price and exact launch date was a bad idea

      No, they just don't want Sony to steal it.

  • Zelda, sports games (Score:3, Interesting)

    by interiot ( 50685 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:00PM (#15294900) Homepage
    The per-pixel control doesn't fit that well into Zelda (as part of the game, it's mainly only used for ranged attacks, such as with Zelda's bow). But it's also used quite a bit as a mouse would be in a computer game, letting the user pick things from a UI interface, selecting enemies to focus on, etc. I might have thought that computer UI semantics might not be more complex than consoles (and Nintendo in particular) might go for, but if mouse-like control is the right way to go, then Nintendo's controller will be used quite a bit in a broad range of games.

    The presentation also showed that almost every sports game will make big use of the controller.... from Madden to tennis to running (which the Wii sees as the controller being shaken up and down as you make a jogging motion) to driving (as a simulated wheel that should have more resolution than a 1/4" stick can have) to obviously sword fighting.

    Also, the Wii controller will have a rumble feature, but the PS3 controller won't? Is that right?

  • The delivery was pretty bad in places. It's really something that the games/controller are strong enough that the presentation was interesting in spite of the long pauses, missed lines and mistakes. (I wonder what it is like walking around looking so angry all the time? ;)

    If the games are as fun as they looked this is going to be a pretty good few years for Nintendo.

  • Joystiq (Score:5, Informative)

    by Southpaw018 ( 793465 ) * on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:02PM (#15294921) Journal
    Great 'Live' blog-style Joystiq coverage here [joystiq.com] too (IMO better than the Game Daily one). They seemed exceptionally impressed with everything but the eye candy. And by that I mean it sounds like they and everyone else in the audience wanted to be onstage playing. Night and day difference from Sony's conference.

  • Wii-markable (Score:3, Insightful)

    by swanriversean ( 928620 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:03PM (#15294944)
    Early coverage seems to show that after Sony's belly flop yesterday, Nintendo hit a perfect 10 today.

    I can't wait to read the reviews tomorrow after everyone has got to play the games!

    When Nintendo anounced the virtual console last year, I starting thinking about buying my first console since my SNES (which I still have and play occationally).

    Everything they've done since then has shown me they are serious about closing that deal.

    Bringing lapsed gamers like me back into the market is just half their plan though, if they can get my mother gaming, or my grandma (that Joy of Painting game might be something she'd really enjoy - if it gets released) then they're going to blow Sony and MS out of the water. I don't even think the so-called "industry experts" have thought about the impact the addtion of lapsed, PC-only, and new gamers will have on the market. Sony may well keep 40-60% of the current market base, but if that market grows, I think it will all go to Nintendo ... and there are significantly more non-gamers than gamers.

  • Could've been better (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:04PM (#15294950)
    I watched the Sony press conference yesterday and that was a total failure (wtf they copy Nintendo's motion sensor after mocking them?) but I think Nintendo's press conference could've gone better. Admittedly, I didn't think they would announce the launch date or price of the Wii (just in case Microsoft decides to announce a price cut later), a lot of the stuff they've showed has already been talked about. Here's my short list of what Nintendo SHOULD have shown:

    1. 3rd party add-ons for the Wii controller. Lets get an idea of what developers are doing and show us that they're serious about supporting the Wii.
    2. Give us a glimpse at how the older NES, SNES, Genesis, etc games will be played (the Wii controller flat-out lacks the proper number of buttons).
    3. Wheres the multiplayer? Yes there was that tennis multiplayer match near the end but it seems like they didn't talk about it much overall.
    4. Three words : Super Smash Bros. Where was it?
    5. Less pre-made pre-arranged (gameplay?) videos, more on-stage demonstrations. (We don't want another 'was the Killzone video real time?' debate.)

  • Text coverage of the conference (Score:5, Informative)

    by pjcreath ( 513472 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:04PM (#15294956)
    For those of you at work who want to know what happened without pulling up a (overloaded) video stream, here's a text summary [nyud.net] of everything that happened.

  • Best console launch ever (Score:4, Informative)

    by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:04PM (#15294957) Journal
    I'm thinking the Wii is going to be the best console launch ever. I'm counting at least six "must own" games for me: Mario Galaxies, Twilight Princess, Red Steel, Metroid Prime 3, FF: Crystal Chronicles (assuming SquareEnix puts some decent effort into it, which I expect they will), and Dragon Quest. Plus I'm interested in some of the other things they didn't talk about during the conference, like Sadness. (Don't know if I'll buy it, but I'm interested.)

    Conducting the orchestra in real time as the opening was sheer brilliance.

    Definitely more compelling to me than the Dreamcast, which in my (highly-debatable, of course) opinion held the previous best launch lineup, at least in the US.

  • Nintendo, I applaud you (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kaptain_Korolev ( 848551 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:05PM (#15294961)
    You listen, you notice, you innovate!

    While the other two are busy trying to out do each other with hardware oneupmanship Nintendo is bringing us a console that is shock horror, fun to play and has games people want to play.

    I don't own a console. I'm an electronics engineer, I spend all day on my ass in front of a computer thinking. When I come home I want to switch off, play a quick 30 mins of computer games that are fun. I DON'T want to play a game that takes hours to get into and that I must devote my life to.

    I want a game like chess.... anyone can learn to play in a short while, but it takes ages to master.

    Altogether now, Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
  • I quickly googled for pictures of the Wii and came across this:

    http://www.wiicentre.com/gdc-2006-revolution-image s/ [wiicentre.com]

  • Not bad... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MaestroSartori ( 146297 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:17PM (#15295076) Homepage
    ...and disclaimer, work for Sony, am the devil incarnate etc.

    From the sections of the thing that I saw (Zelda, and Red Thingy the FPS) it looks like the Weemote works fairly well. One of the big worries I had, that it wasn't gonna be precise enough for decent lightgun-style control, wasn't an issue. Some of the gesture-based stuff also looked cool, like Link's shield-block in the Zelda fight.

    One of the things I thought might be a problem did crop up in Red Thingy - using the "mouse-look" style of aiming to also rotate the viewpoint. It seemed like the character was fairly slow to turn around, throughout the demo it was all fairly gently turns rather than how I know I play fps games (twitching round corners like a caffeine bomb just went off).

    I think a great deal of the success of the new control-style will be how well it maps onto what gamers expect it to do. We've had pads and sticks for a long time, and we've mostly grown accustomed to the quirks of how we map them to solutions - when these fail, like FPS y-axis inversion and left-right camera rotation in 3rd person games (my own personal bugbear), it really kills the enjoyment of the game for some players. If the blend of interaction is right, these things will fly off the shelves.
    • It seemed like the character was fairly slow to turn around

      sony employee aside, did you even see the WarHawk demo form Sony? I talk about lag! Jeebus! It took 0,5 seconds from movement of the Dual... ...uh... non-shock3 for the plane to react. It was horrible, horrible. Not hungercrisis-horrible, but botched press conference-horrible. Sony made an ass of themselves at E3 this year, and it shows in the Slashdot and Digg comments. For the first time since 1987, I'm buying a Nintendo, Not a Playstat

  • Maybe I'm oversimplifying... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FryingDutchman ( 891770 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:19PM (#15295095) Homepage
    I drive several cars...

    The Mini Cooper is very very fun. Totally unrefined ride, doesn't present itself as well as a more elaborate or expensive sports car, but it's quick, nimble, and fun. Just fun.

    The Mitsubishi Endeavor is a generic SUV. It's got leather and a loud stereo. You can do a lot with it, and it serves many purposes. Generic and useful.

    The Dodge Viper is neurotic, takes it's design and engineering queues from many sources, but when the stars align and you find a situation to use it nothing is better.

    In case you haven't caught on I'm making a very VERY poor attempt at generalizing that these 3 consoles are as far apart as you can get within the same arena of "nextGen Consoles". Mini = Wii. SUV = 360. PS3 = hypothetical viper.

    Seems to me instead of arguing which is better (makes about as much sense as arguing if Starbucks makes a better cup of coffee than Burger King makes weird commercials) we should be revelling in the fact these billion dollar companies are competing fo fiercly to create a product we'll buy. Dance, monkeys! Also I will be buying PS3 and Wii. The 360 seems to fade out somewhere...

    And no, I don't drive a viper, but I hear they're not slow.

    Enter the "off-topic" mod...

  • Web Browser included? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by JonNoH ( 973783 )
    Was it just me or did anyone else hear Iwata mention the Opera Web browser when talking about the Wii? This would be the first console since the Dreamcast to have that built in ability.

  • Fourth Quarter Not Confirmed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by warmgun ( 669556 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:20PM (#15295105)
    Reggie actually said you'd be playing Wii by the fourth quarter. That isn't the same as saying it will launch in the fourth quarter. I wonder if they have a summer surprise up their sleeve... Their biggest launch title is a reworked Gamecube game.

  • Integrated Web Browser = Opera (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Alzheimers ( 467217 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:23PM (#15295136)
    So it seems that the work Opera did in making the webbrowser for the DS hasn't gone to waste -- it's going to be the integrated browser in Wii too. But, has Nintendo made any mention of an internal HD yet? I haven't seen anything in their specs about data storage, except mention that the Wii-motes will hold the save games.

  • Wii Will Wii Will ROCK YOU (Score:5, Funny)

    by EmperorKagato ( 689705 ) * <sakamura@gmail.com> on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:23PM (#15295137) Homepage Journal
    slam-slam,clap. slam-slam, clap. Wii Will Wii Will ROCK YOU! slam-slam,clap. slam-slam, clap.

  • These are the games ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by stylee ( 253307 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:29PM (#15295194)
    mentioned by name in the joystiq live blog of the event:

    Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
    Wario Ware
    Zelda: Twilight Princess
    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
    Hyper Sonic
    Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
    Finalfurlong Revolution
    Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
    Madden 07
    WiiSports

    Maybe they missed some, there are only 23 there. If not, there are a few more games not mentioned that will be on the floor tomorrow.
  • Here's another very important liveblog [blogspot.com] of the big event.

    </shameless plug>

  • Huh? (Score:2)

    by Dr_LHA ( 30754 )
    What's with the "More flash than substance" comment? At least Nintendo actually showed gameplay, in fact it was all about the gameplay. If by substance you mean "had a 1.2Ghz CPU, 10 squillion polygon fill rate" then you need to recalibrate you brain to what really matters: fun, and Nintendo's presentation showed that Wii has that in spades.

    Seriously, after Sony's lackluster presentation and collection of FMVs yesterday, Nintendo's presentation was like a breath of fresh air, and was all substance where Son

  • New slashdot poll (Score:5, Funny)

    by Fahrvergnuugen ( 700293 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:39PM (#15295320) Homepage
    I propose a new slashdot poll:

    Who will win the next generation console wars:
    Wii
    xBox 360
    or PS Thwii

  • All I want to know is... (Score:5, Funny)

    by lewp ( 95638 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:53PM (#15295479) Journal
    Where the fuck is Duck Hunt?!

  • E3 Movie (Score:5, Informative)

    by Varkias ( 631272 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @01:54PM (#15295484)
    Check out the E3 video. http://wii.nintendo.com/home.html [nintendo.com] and click on the Fresh Experiences Tab to see the video they presented. It's awesome!!

  • My family's thoughts (Score:3, Insightful)

    by GodSpiral ( 167039 ) on Tuesday May 09, 2006 @02:09PM (#15295588)
    As I was watching the PS3 conf last night, and figuring out that I was unlikely to be shelling out for it and an HDTV at the same time, the familly (past N64 owners) kept shouting back "wait until the games before you decide what to buy"... I wasn't allowed to say "but this thing is $600 minimum... there's no way"... I heard a "need FFXII" comment, but I plan on undermining PS3 requests at home for the next 2 years.

    I think the 3 in 1 sports game at launch is gonna be a great title for wii. Spastic sports fun that could make mediocre sports titles fun, and a must buy, if they are packaged together, and their individual simulation value is overlooked.

    The family will definitely drool over zelda. And I expect a good mario-party like title with fun mini-games.

    So even if the controller response is going to underwhelm the hype, I'm pretty sure the wii will be fun enough to buy, and the family will enjoy it.

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