Nintendo - "Everyone is a Gamer"

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

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[Mr.Dippy]

I am the same way to a certain point. However, I've been more interested in downloading the classic games and that is where I spend 90% of my Wii time. I had the same attitude with my DS when it first came out. I played it for about a month or two and then it sat on my desk collecting dust. Then games like Meteos, Kirby, and Castlevania came out and I started playing again. The Wii has the problem right now where there are no new good games. Give it till the end of the summer when metroid comes out.

Not bad

[alvinrod]

Didn't get to watch it live since Gamespot was having some kind of issues with their live stream and I couldn't find another one for free. Guess I'll have to check on google video for it later. I did read through about five different live blogs to get a good feel for the presentation though and overall I think they did alright.

I would have liked to see more focus on some of the third party exclusives that were being brought to the Wii, something that seems a little lacking. I know that a lot of companies have pledged support and are releasing games, but a lot of them turn out to be crappy ports that no one's interested in. They probably should have shown something from Square Enix in more detail.

I'm glad that Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. are dated now and it'll be nice to finally have some AAA games coming out. Hopefully, I'll be able to stand the wait between now and then. Announcing Mario Kart for 1Q 2008 also helps to let everyone know that there won't be another gaming drought, at least not for a while. Hopefully there will be some good AAA third party releases by then to start picking up the slack.

I'm glad they made some announcements about expanding online play in games on the system, but I still want to know more about it and how all of it will work. I'm not a huge fan of friends codes and would prefer that they used a set-up more akin to Xbox Live. At least they're finally catching up to Sony and Microsoft in terms of online play.

The Balance Board and their new light gun look like some interesting additions. I can see how the light gun adaptor would help to break down some of the barriers between casual and hardcore gamers. I also suspect that WiiFit will do a lot better than most people will give it credit for.

I'm going to go see if I can find a stream for the Sony conference now.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[DrXym]

If the conference is anything to go by, their strategy is to produce a continuous stream of add-ons. Gun "zappers", steering wheels, balance mats and so on. The wheel was just silly, the gun zapper wasn't much better since aiming down the barrel isn't going to work plus the awkward position of the nunchuk. I could see a mat that could weigh you and do other things having potential though.

Same Message, Different Reception

[pokerdad]

The press conference ended with Reggie Fils-Aimee revealing Nintendo's goal to make videogaming one of the pre-eminent forms of entertainment, across all age groups.

Revealing? They said the same thing last year (and I think they said it two years ago too), but I suspect the number of people who are taking them seriously has increased a hundred fold.

Re:Two years ago

[Selfbain]

If Nintendo keeps focusing on innovating and making games fun while Sony/Microsoft keep focusing on making the same thing more powerful, I think Nintendo will do quite well.

Re:WiiFit

[Anonymous Coward]

If you had said "I disagree with him", I doubt you'd have been modded as a troll. But calling someone "batshit crazy" ain't exactly the way to start off a conversation. As Jules Winnfield once said, "Personality goes a long way."

I find myself less and less interested in Nintendo

[hudsonhawk]

...because they seem less and less interested in me.

And as someone who has owned literally every Nintendo console ever (yes, even the Virtual Boy, though not yet the Wii as it hasn't yet sold me) that makes me pretty sad.

Of course I understand why they're doing this from a business point of view. But as a long-time, moderate gamer, I don't really care - I'm a fan of their games, not their business - I just want good, engaging, and deep games to play. And that's not the direction they're going. I have seen the future and it's a collection of mini-games.

Sorry Nintendo, but Wii Yoga isn't going to win me back. I see a lot of new experiences for non-gamers, but for all its promise the Wiimote has yet to really add anything compelling to traditional gaming (waggle doesn't really count). I didn't see anything in that conference to convince me otherwise.

More than the base

[dazedNconfuzed]

The rest of the show was about how people who don't normally game were getting into the Wii and DS.

Maybe they're finally realizing that there are a lot more would-be customers out there who want to play console games but can't last 30 seconds in games designed for the hardcore. My wife spends far more on console games than I do, and does so in hopes that she'll have fun ... and then invariably discovers that she has no idea how to play these convoluted things and lacks the years of experience necessary to do so with agility. Upshot is potentially lucrative enthusiastic customers are discouraged from continuing before they reach the critical mass of fun that will propel them into the "hardcore" realm.

You're a hardcore gamer. You're going to buy more games. There are more games coming for you. You're not going away anytime soon.

For just one conference, they decided to focus on trying to attract and retain more customers. You may sneer at Wii Fit, but that (a typically lame attempt at reaching out to the luddites) is a step toward figuring out what non-"gamers" want in a game.

Re:Two years ago

[AKAImBatman]

I'm betting that Nintendo is a one trick pony

Considering that both the Wii and the DS are smash hits at the moment, I'd say that Nintendo is a "Two Trick Pony". Unless you count the continuing success of the Gameboy Advance. In which case Nintendo is a three trick pony. That is, unless you also count their unrivaled success with the Super Nintendo. In which case they're a four trick pony. Oh, but what about the original Gameboy? Make that a five trick pony. Six if you count the market-reviving, competition-stomping powerhouse that was the NES. Oh, but what about the games?!? Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., Mario 3, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, DK:Country, Mario Kart, Link to the Past, FZero, Mario 64, Starfox 64, Ocarina of Time, FZero X, Metroid Prime-- oh to hell with it. I'll just give you a grand total.

By my count, Nintendo is a 3,421,978 trick pony.

I can certainly see your point. By my count Sony has innovated much more than Nintendo with a grand total of... erm... two tricks. 1.5 if you believe in Sony's (rather confusingly put) "more than 10 years" philosophy of console design.

Re:NinTardDuh

[VJ42]

Artificial demand? Looking at the numbers [vgchartz.com] I think that the problem is just that they can't get them out the door fast enough. They've almost sold as many as the 360 which had a yeas lead over them. In fact on closer inspection [vgchartz.com] you can see that the 360 gets a boost due to the launches of the Wii and PS3. Without that effect (essentialy help fro Nintendo and Sony) they would have already sold more.

Re:A pretty dull presentation

[MBCook]

I kind of agree with the steering wheel and the zapper shell. The wheel looks more advanced (has buttons and such), but it's still just 'meh.'

The platform on the other hand, is HUGE. Look how many "non-gamers" like the Wii. Now give them an exercise device that is kind of fun to use, lets you do step-robics. It's like the mat from the NES days, but updated. Having all the balancing mechanics in it can open some more very interesting possibilities. It may die a quiet death, but it may be another game changer.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[shoptroll]

On the flip-side:

Look at DDR and Guitar Hero. Both feature accessories that are incredibly limited in scope. Yet Harmonix and Konami are raking in cash with them. Which you pointed out.

Also, a lot of arcade games these days center around non-traditional input devices.

Talk to HCI people and I think they'll agree that custom inputs will always be preferred to a general device by users. Especially if it maps a lot better to the task at hand. If the game industry wants to expand beyond the core audience, they need to break down the barrier between the game and the user. Which means, doing away with the abstract link between pushing buttons and what happens on screen. Which is pretty damn evident when you look at the near universal appeal of something like Guitar Hero.

Overlooked real target for the fit board

[brunes69]

Did no one else look at this thing and instantly think "Tony Hawk"?

Come on - medium sensor board, that's light and wireless, detects weight and pressure both?

Slap a shock-absorber attachment on the bottom so that it doesn't snap in half when you come down on it and you have an instant virtual skateboard. Hell you could even make a velcro attachment to the WiiMote so you could strap it to your leg to mimic pushing off.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[Anonymous Coward]

I find it interesting that the preceding post got 5 points for being "interesting" -- come on, the guy is just talking about getting outside once in a while instead of staying indoors, continually mesmerised by some vapid gaming console! Really, it's not all that unusual! This is news to you kids??

Hardcore Gamers don't really matter

[LKM]

Nothing Nintendo has shown today really rekindled my interest in my, dusty, Wii.

Mario Kart Online? No? really?

I can't really imagine what they could come out with for the system that will bring back that hype I felt late last year.

I think you're missing what created the hype in the first place. It wasn't you. It wasn't the gamers. It was the old people playing videogames for the first times in their lives. It was the parents, gaming with their kids. It was the kids, getting off the couch and jumping around. It was was the soccer moms, touching a videogame controller twenty years after they last played Pong.

The Wii Fitness thing may very well be huge. This may be the next Nintendogs, the next Brain Training, the next Wii Sports. The fact that most "hardcore" gamers don't really care doesn't factor in at all.

Metroid, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Mario Galaxy may all seem like important games, but it's possible that they won't be able to compare to the importance of something casual like the Wii Balance Board.

Re:More than the base

[demi]

I'd love a Myst-like game for the Wii, and my wife probably would, too. Limited-scope, mini-game style games are okay for a while but it would be nice to have something to sink your teeth into that wasn't a twitch adventure.

Different Market

[LKM]

But every PS2 is also a sale that "could" be going to the PS3.

I doubt it. People buying a 100$ console and people buying a 500$ console are an entirely different market, I think.

I don't think the PS2 is competing with the PS3. If anything, it's competing with the Wii.

GOW2 seems like a big hit for Sony. But why isn't it a big hit for the PS3? I doubt that every PS2 sold is a lost Wii sale. Nintendo last time I looked was selling every Wii they made.

Which actually means that a lot of people looking for a Wii may end up with a PS2 instead. They wouldn't pay twice as much and buy a PS3, but they might pay half as much and buy a PS2. I doubt it happens often, but it seems more likely that the PS2 is stealing from the Wii than from the PS3.

Re:'twas lame

[jayhawk88]

I hate to break it to you, but Nintendo has realized that there is far more money to be made doing exactly what they're doing, then catering to the "hard core gamer", and looking at how things are going it's hard to argue with the strategy. What you call a lame/pathetic DDR style game is going to be a humongous hit with all those people who've never heard of DDR.

Is this wise? Again, time will tell, but hard to argue with the results so far. It's clear Nintendo has tapped a new market here, though, and personally I think they're onto something. Web games have shown us the future; it's important to realize that "fun" is defined very differently for this type of gamer.

Re:Does Anyone Really Use Their Wii Anymore?

[scarpa]

Yes, I play mine almost every day. My wife also plays it often, she is a sucker for anything Mario Bros. and loves Super Paper Mario. I currently have a stack of games that will take me at least 2-3 months to burn through.

I almost feel like the Wii was made just for me. I burnt out on the hardcore online gaming scene about 5 years ago, and haven't been able to keep interest in any serious games since then. It's not that I don't like new games, it's that I no longer have hours a day to invest in a game that takes 60 hours to complete. My gaming time has been cut down to an hour, hour and a half at a time max.

I even thought for a couple years that I was no longer a gamer, until the DS rescued me from that dark vision.

I guess if I was still a "hardcore" gamer and was into online play and FPS or MMORPG games I'd be underwhelmed by the Wii. But I'm not, my glory years of gaming are in the past and now I feel like there's a game company that understands that.

In short, I've become an old man.

Re:I find myself less and less interested in Ninte

[gstoddart]

Of course I understand why they're doing this from a business point of view. But as a long-time, moderate gamer, I don't really care - I'm a fan of their games, not their business - I just want good, engaging, and deep games to play.

Well, at least you understand why they're doing it.

As someone whom gaming has been steadily leaving behind in terms of skill dexterity (and patience), I'm glad to see someone is accounting for the fact that old geezers like me still want something to pick and play with in short bursts, and doesn't need 40 hours/week to play or preternatural dexterity to control 15 buttons simultaneously in a fast-paced game. I last about 10 minutes on a modern game, get frustrated, and stop playing it altogether.

Nintendo does seem to be abandoning you as a segment. But, in order to sell more games with a wider appeal, they're focusing more on other segments (those without l337 gaming skills). Give it time, if the Nintendo platform keeps selling as it has been, the other game makers will have to start releasing their more "hard core" games on the platform.

Unfortunately, the choice seems to be between "amazing graphics but unplayable for many people" or "moderate graphics, but playable by anyone". There's obviously more people interested in the latter category.

Cheers

Re:Mii Hot or Not?

[shoptroll]

Ugh. It's like someone mixed "The Sims" with XBox Live.

Personally I'd hate that. I still don't see the benefit of micro-transactions other than as a way to fleece a couple extra bucks out of the customer.

Hardcore Gamers are idiots

[Rosebud128]

2004- When the DS was revealed, they laughed at it. PSP would destroy it, and Nintendo would go third party.

2005- When the "Revolution" was revealed, they laughed at it. "Nintendo cannot compete." Meanwhile, they went 'ONE CONSOLE FUTURE' to the Sony Killzone 2 trailer and Microsoft's Xbox 360 showing.

2005- (TGS) When Nintendo revealed the Wii controller, they laughed at it. They compared it to the Powerglove and that it would flop. They hailed Xbox 360 launch as start of 'high definition' generation.

2006- When the Wii name is announced, hardcore gamers laughed and considered the Revolution to be 'dead' on arrival. After all, who would play the 'Wii' when there were much cooler names like Playstation 3 and Xbox 360?

2006- Nintendo's excellent E3 showing was not worth thinking about, they said. After all, Nintendo fans go ballistic on every Nintendo E3 presence. PS3's brand name would sail it past very fast. And while PS3 was expensive, you got so much value in it! Wii wasn't future proofed.

2006- Wii's $250 price shocked them and they declared it too expensive for any reasonable person to buy. The bundling of Wii Sports would destroy third party software sales. Don't bother pre-ordering since you can walk in the afternoon and buy it anytime.

2007- Wii is still selling out. Obviously, it must be a fad. A novelty. Hardcore gamers believe they are the mainstream after all. PS3 is not 'dead'. It is just 'slow' in starting. It will overtake the market in time. It just has too.

2007- Wii Balance Board? "Nintendo is DEAD as a gaming company!" they proclaim. "I don't even turn on my Wii anymore," they keep telling us. Obviously, the end of Wii had come and everyone will rush to get Xbox 360s and PS3s.

The pattern shows that Hardcore Gamers have been 100% wrong on Nintendo ever since the DS. Why should we listen to them now? They're wrong then, and they are wrong today.

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

Re:Hardcore Gamers are idiots

[grumbel]

Hardcore gamers care about games, not how much money Nintendo can make with the Wii and in terms of games so far the Wii is far away from being impressive.

Re:The preeminent form of leisure entertainment?

[ZachPruckowski]

The Wii isn't designed to replace bars, parties, and hot sex. It's designed to replace "400 hundred channels and there's nothing on!!" or "Dude, I'm so bored" or "Let's go to the movie theater". I'd go out on a limb and say that that's the nightlife for most people 4-5 nights a week. The only people I know with a life like you describe every single night are college kids failing their classes.

(Disclaimer: I am not you. You might have a life where-in you do go out or have sex every night of the week. If so, congratulations. But that's not typical).