Nintendo's Pre-E3 Press conference feed!

[Gingerlink 2]

Just like I did for Miyamoto's speech at the game development conference, I'm going to be providing constant updates on this page of any goings on at Nintendo's press conference, you'll probabbly want to keep ready on your F5 key (refresh if you didn't know), just so you don't miss anything.

The conference is expecting to start at 09.00 PST (17.00 GMT) so about 10 minutes from now, but if the games devlopment conference is anything to go by, it'll be probabbly a short while before they begin, although expect plenty of announcements from this one!

Main Announcements:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be released December 3rd in the US
New Wii Channel "check mii out!"
Mario Kart Wii, due Q1 2008 including online and hints at big player numbers
Super Mario Galaxy to be Released November 20th in the US
Wii Fit Announced

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(all times in PST)
I'm going to work my way down this time because it was a real pain to reverse every single note at the end of GDS...

8.53: It's not even SUPPOSED to have started yet, what do you expect there to be? Miyamoto dressed as Princess peach?

8.56: "Ladies and gentlemen, the show will begin in approximately five minutes." They're NOT going to be late?

9.06: and it begins with Reggie walking onto the stage "My name is Reggie - and I am happy. Today is more than a press conference or a business meeting. We see today as a celebration." "This E3 marks a conclusive turning point," he says

9.08: "This could be a coming out party for an entire industry when videogames take their place... as a staple of leisure entertainment."
well we know what the theme is going to be tonight then...

9.10: More of the usual sales figures, industry growth is up by 115% in Japan and the DS doubled its percentage of the market from 12% to 23% apparently....

9.12: "The Nintendo DS may be the beacon that's lighting the way to the future of the entire games industry." Somehoe this isn't as inspiring as Miyamoto's speech was but we'll be getting onto the game announcements soon...I hope...

9.13: Another graph, male/female split for videogames in general is 80/20, for Nintendo its 67/ 33

9.15: 140 more titles this year for DS, 100 new games for Wii this year. "The development community realises the opportunity." this is a bit more like it!

9.18: A trailer reel, but it's just youtube videos of people playing the wii and random headlines about the wii and stuff like that....

9.20: Talking about the zapper, it's been mostly left out of things until now, so I'm gonna geuss they're gonna talk about its actual release..

9.21: Could do for RPS what Wiimote did for Sports, he says. The front grip has the Wiimote with trigger and the back one has the Nunchuk with analogue RE: UC and ghost squad would both work well with it. Also EA's Medal of Honor for Wii takes specific advantage of the Zapper. Up to 32 people online.

9.22: The Zapper will be packaged with some Nintendo software, otherwise its going to be $19.99

9.24: Mario and Sonic, Dragon Quest swords both being shown, we'll try and get some new videos up later...

9.25: DECEMBER 3rd FOR BRAWL (in the US)

9.27: Gonna demo Phantom hourglass. It's out in Japan already though, o well each to their own...

9.30: Switching between items easily, using the grappling hook (wait, did we know about that before?)

9.32: That Demo's over, going to be demoing Metroid Prime 3 now (i'll find a link to watch the whole conference after this)

9.35: 5.5 million unique users of the online wi-fi, I'm not sure whether that's the wii or the DS or both....
5.6 million VC titles downloaded

9.37: New channel called "check mii out". this is obviously what Miyamoto was on about in April

9.41: Mario Kart Wii Announced. Racing around minecarts, online battle mode (which the DS version missed). Hints at big player numbers. Obviously lacking the ability to see, I can't say whether they scraped the 2 character on a kart thing...

9.49: Still nothing completely unexpected yet, Iwata's on the stage now, talking about his first experiences of games and how he wants everyone to feel that enjoyment

9.50: They say that Mario Kart wii will level the playing field between gamers and non-gamers, destroying snakers perhaps? Says the Zapper will also help acheive the same thing

9.54: November 12th release for Mario Galaxy, sorry, just needed to get that out of the way, new footage being shown
Brain Age 2 is out on August the 20th

9.57: Talking about more Mainstream games again, mySims, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, back to brain age again...

10.00: "Last game to be announced today" *sigh* that doesn'tmean there's gonna be any more. Anyway, Wii Fit it is

10.02: As you can geuss, it's a kinda fitness game on the wii, Aerobics, winging legs, press ups etc, while holding the wiimote in a certain position

10.03: Shigsy's on stage, looks like hes going to be demoing it

10.06: "Doing this while maintaining balance improves muscles that help with balance" Wouldn't that seem obvious?

10.07: Everything needs to be timed to the music, mixture of rhythm action and aerobics then...strange...

10.08: "Wii Fit features four genres of activities - aerobics, muscle conditioning, yoga poses, and some balance games." Over 40 activities in the game.

10.09: Ah, that would explain how it works...ish, they have a "wii balance board" it's a new interface that for games that accept full body movement, ooooo, it can measure weight and how your balance shifts while on it.

10.11: They're testing it out on Reggie, he's asked to release tension and stand still.

10.12: It shows Reggie's balance is slightly to the right, wopuld that be the case for most right handed people

10.13: The game shows BMI, not weight. Reggie's is 27.51. "Overweight" yells the game.

10.14: Head to head Soccer heading session using the boards, looks like these boards can actually do quite a lot...

10.17: Miyamoto's left the stage, "Our primary target is much wider. There are 24 hours in every day, and only a small amount of time is available for leisure entertainment. Minute by minute, we intend to steal more of that time for videogames." Sounds's like Reggie's starting a war or something...

10.20: "We are the ultimate interactive experience. The future should belong to all of us. And when that day comes; that videogames are accepted as the pre-eminent form of leisure entertainment by the greatest number of people over the greatest part of the world, then we might also be happy, and might also be satisfied."

and with that it looks like they're done...

[Nathan 0]

I can't wait for Brawl You certainly are thorough, thanks for the coverage.

[eyeoftruth 2]

wahed it live over at gamespot... ehh... well well, i don't know, but is slightly dissepointed. But that's just me It did say that we can exept another 100 games for the wii by the holydays so that's good=)

[Gingerlink 2]

I tried at gamespot and G4, but I think my media player is messed up because neither of them worked for me. So it goes to scouring for the clips that were in the conference...

[Crowned Twili Princess 0]

At least SSBB is coming out during the holidays! I'll have to ask for that game along with a Wii system, and some other games.

[eyeoftruth 2]

[quote name='Gingerlink' post='57037' date='Jul 12 2007, 07:30 AM']I tried at gamespot and G4, but I think my media player is messed up because neither of them worked for me. So it goes to scouring for the clips that were in the conference...[/quote]

oh well...

[xskullkidx 0]

omg thts wicked lol

i want to know, WTF is a zapper.. im unsure... ok and alsooo... when is the new mii channel set to release??

[Goron Merchant 1]

The WiiZapper is like a gun design that you insert the Wii-Mote and Nun-chuck into. I'm not sure about Metroid Prime 3, but Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is gonna use the WiiZapper.

[xskullkidx 0]

[quote name='GoronMerchant' post='57074' date='Jul 11 2007, 11:32 PM']The WiiZapper is like a gun design that you insert the Wii-Mote and Nun-chuck into. I'm not sure about Metroid Prime 3, but Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is gonna use the WiiZapper.[/quote]

ooooh riiight the guuun! ok thank you!

ive never played a metroid game.. i may try it one day.. ive played like.. the very first ones but...... meeh..

[Twili 0]

I'm watching it right now.

[eyeoftruth 2]

[quote name='GoronMerchant' post='57074' date='Jul 12 2007, 10:32 AM']The WiiZapper is like a gun design that you insert the Wii-Mote and Nun-chuck into. I'm not sure about Metroid Prime 3, but Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is gonna use the WiiZapper.[/quote]

I think you'll be able to use the wiizapper in any fps game.

[Gingerlink 2]

you can use the wii zapper in any game you want, it's just not necessarily convenient in anything other than an fps

Plus the design is different from the ones we've seen before

[eyeoftruth 2]

[quote name='Gingerlink' post='57187' date='Jul 13 2007, 03:35 AM']you can use the wii zapper in any game you want, it's just not necessarily convenient in anything other than an fps [/quote]

yeah that's kinda what i ment

[Goron Merchant 1]

[quote name='Gingerlink' post='57187' date='Jul 12 2007, 07:35 AM']you can use the wii zapper in any game you want, it's just not necessarily convenient in anything other than an fps

Plus the design is different from the ones we've seen before[/quote]

I imagine it'd be kinda hard in a game like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.

I don't know, the WiiZapper doesn't look that great. Kind of uncomfortable. It would make pistol whips and gun butts pretty fun though. . .

Here's an article on it (and using it for RE:UC) written by [b]Chris Kohler[/b] for WIRED.com

[i]"I don't know if there's much more that I could tell you about Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles for Wii that I didn't already tell you in my last preview. You shoot zombies. It's great.

Here's something: I don't like the Wii Zapper for this game. Capcom had it set up with the Zapper, which from all appearances is a non-electronic piece of plastic that serves as a shell to hold the Wiimote and nunchuk in a gun-shaped configuration, and it just made a smooth, comfortable game into something janky and less fun.

Basically, I don't want to hold a big oversized gun while I'm playing a game unless the game is specifically designed for it -- and even then. Playing Umbrella with the standard hand-held, dual-hand Wiimote/nunchuk combo was great, because all you needed was tiny, precise hand movements to move the targeting reticule and shoot guys in the head. Now I'm waving a gun all over, and I have to hold my hands close together and tight to my body, using my chest and arms, not my wrist, as a pivot point.

Yeah, it didn't work. Nintendo might come up with a good software package for Wii Zapper, but Umbrella Chronicles makes about as much sense as using this thing to play Zelda.

Umbrella is great, though. Can't wait for November."[/i]

[eyeoftruth 2]

[quote name='GoronMerchant' post='57217' date='Jul 13 2007, 05:59 AM']I imagine it'd be kinda hard in a game like Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.

I don't know, the WiiZapper doesn't look that great. Kind of uncomfortable. It would make pistol whips and gun butts pretty fun though. . .

Here's an article on it (and using it for RE:UC) written by [b]Chris Kohler[/b] for WIRED.com

[i]"I don't know if there's much more that I could tell you about Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles for Wii that I didn't already tell you in my last preview. You shoot zombies. It's great.

Here's something: I don't like the Wii Zapper for this game. Capcom had it set up with the Zapper, which from all appearances is a non-electronic piece of plastic that serves as a shell to hold the Wiimote and nunchuk in a gun-shaped configuration, and it just made a smooth, comfortable game into something janky and less fun.

Basically, I don't want to hold a big oversized gun while I'm playing a game unless the game is specifically designed for it -- and even then. Playing Umbrella with the standard hand-held, dual-hand Wiimote/nunchuk combo was great, because all you needed was tiny, precise hand movements to move the targeting reticule and shoot guys in the head. Now I'm waving a gun all over, and I have to hold my hands close together and tight to my body, using my chest and arms, not my wrist, as a pivot point.

Yeah, it didn't work. Nintendo might come up with a good software package for Wii Zapper, but Umbrella Chronicles makes about as much sense as using this thing to play Zelda.

Umbrella is great, though. Can't wait for November."[/i][/quote]

...

I hope that the zapper will work for other games...