E3: The Nintendo Conference 2006

Nintendo showed its strength with a slick presentation that unveiled the final mysteries of Wii and finally delivered on long-promised software. Full report and all sorts of photo joy.

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Independent developers have been hard at work in Japan, too. Reggie highlighted some examples starting with Sonic Wild Fire (which was mistakenly labelled on the video as Hyper Sonic, in much the same way Kikizo knew of the new Monkey Ball on Wii only as Hyper Monkey Ball before its name change).

Square Enix is also arriving on Wii with an exclusive iteration of its core series with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. "Yet again Wii will take what is familiar, and reinvent it", promised Reggie. Other thirdparty highlights inlcuded Madden 07, Tony Hawk Downhill Jam, Rayman 4, and SpongeBob SquarePants. "There's great stuff on the way... you'll be playing 27 different Wii games tomorrow on the showfloor, and seeing even more on video. And that includes none of the titles which will be available with our virtual console. Until you get the controller in your hand, you're nowhere near feeling what this is all about."

More from Super Mario Galaxy

Next, Reggie introduced two guys from Ubisoft Paris to demonstrate Red Steel, which debuted in a magazine cover exclusive last month and has been hotly talked about ever since. Learn to master both "modern firearms and the katana sword", it was explained, "taking full advantage of the Wii controller. With the Wii controller you can handle the gun the way you want simply by moving your hand in real life - so if you want to play it gangster-style, you can. If you see a door, there's no button to push - just push the door open. For the very first time in a game, you will really feel like both your hands have entered the screen, and that you are in the game." The demo offered destructible environments, realtime physics, explosions and soft bodies, to create an "immersive experience for the player".

There was more Wii information to come later in the programme, but of course, there's more to Nintendo than just the new console right now. The company's Senior VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications, George Harrison, emerged to talk about Nintendo DS. "What we've given you today is a promise - no matter who you are - gamer, developer, publisher, retailer - Wii will make things better" - and he cited Nintendo DS as the evidence for more innovation.

George Harrison - "for DS we're simply not letting up"

"We're not going to spend too much time today drilling down on the sales numbers," said Harrison. "Some questioned if we were up to the challenge [when the PSP came out]. But once the early adopters cleared away, it became clear it's a matter of games. In terms of actual sell-through, the DS has sold 16 million units since its launch 18 months ago, with the PSP at millions less." The first Brain game was used to suggest that sales are going to continue increasing, based on the five million units sold in Japan.

"For DS we're simply not letting up", he continued. DS Lite was talked about, and New Super Mario Bros was shown (see our review next week). The Pokemon also return in games for both DS and GBA, in which "you don't play with the Pokemon, you are the Pokemon." Other hall of fame Nintendo names are also on the way, he announced, including Yoshi's Island 2, Diddy Kong Racing and Starfox DS. Final Fantasy III is also coming to America on the DS, improved with 3D graphics. Tony Hawk Downhill Jam is coming to the portable system too, and of course, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, announced back at GDC in March, got its deserved mention as well.

Pressing on, and everyone's favourite videogame President strolled onto the stage before the massive audience of press and industry partners. "When I became Nintendo president, we decided on a new goal for our company: expanding the total number of people who play games", said Satorui Iwata. "We needed to target those who once played and lost interest, and even those who have never played before."

Sonic Wild Fire will demo on the showfloor

He said that games for core gamers will "not serve our purpose" in reaching these previously unreachable audiences and that the new control for Wii would attract the new audiences - but would also excite to core gamers, important because "core gamers represent our most important audience". He used the example of the Brain games, which have been played by millions who've never tried a videogame before, as successful in the goal. "Many people in our industry thought these consumers were impossible to reach. But now the trend is spreading to the western world", he said boastingly. "The control of Wii, like DS, breaks down the barrier for non-gamers."

Take five sips each time you hear the word "disruptive"

Iwata said that the Virtual Console aspect of Wii would also offer both nostalgic value for core gamers while attracting non-gamers to simple games, saying that perhaps games like Tetris "could be feasible once again". He went on to observe how load times are also a problem, that often he is too busy to wait ages for a game level to load. "Sometimes I just cannot wait", he said, "but I can play my DS by just opening and closing the top - now, I think I am spoiled! How can we ever expect the massmarket to show more patience than we do? Unless we change, we can never increase the game playing population." He said that the virtual console or the Opera web browser from a memory card could boot up as fast as a telephone or a phone - in "just a few seconds."

"Let me describe one more hardware feature", he said, about to offer the "final" secret of Wii. "No console serves any purpose when it's turned off, so we designed our machine to provide owners a variety of services even when it seems like it's turned off. Wii will become the system that never sleeps. Using a system called Wii Connect 24, the console automatically enters standby mode without the fan running, but still operating key functions, and using about the same power of a miniature light bulb."

This means the Wii console can be constantly connected to the Internet. For hardcore gamers it means developers can push a new weapon or vehicle to you, even while you sleep. For beginning gamers, any time the console is in standby, they may find that someone has left a message or a gift in Animal Crossing." Developers can add new functions at anytime he said, providing a system that is "new every day".

The tennis match was fun to watch... but playing is believing

Wii Sports was announced, and includes tennis, golf and baseball in one package. A fantastic demonstration followed, in which Reggie, Iwata, Miyamoto and the winner of a Nintendo contest called "first to play" all took the stage to play a game of tennis. Reggie piped up, "Mr Iwata, maybe this year, I can take the names, and you can kick the... you know..." Watching this was a real eye-opener, and seemed to work amazingly well, leaving attendees with just one thing on mind: playing Wii. After all "playing", as Nintendo reminded with its on-screen slogan throughout the show, "is believing". We've had the chance to get our own hands-on with Wii and will be bringing you exhaustive impressions over the coming days.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

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Video Coverage (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO ANY MEDIA FILE ON KIKIZO
Description	Dur.	Size	Details
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Direct feed trailer   (Wii - Nintendo)	02:35	67MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Super Mario Galaxy Direct feed gameplay   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:28	13MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Super Mario Galaxy Showfloor gameplay 1   (Wii - Nintendo)	03:18	101MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Super Mario Galaxy Showfloor gameplay 2   (Wii - Nintendo)	04:30	137MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Direct feed gameplay   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:19	8MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.3Mbps
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Showfloor gameplay 1   (Wii - Nintendo)	02:23	72MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Showfloor gameplay 2   (Wii - Nintendo)	02:10	65MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Direct feed trailer   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:24	11MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Showfloor gameplay 1   (Wii - Nintendo)	02:54	88MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Showfloor gameplay 2   (Wii - Nintendo)	01:51	56MB	CAM, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Direct feed gameplay   (Wii - Nintendo)	05:36	169MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Direct feed GameCube trailer   (Wii, GCN - Nintendo)	00:52	8MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 1.3Mbps
Wario Ware Smooth Moves Direct feed gameplay   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:19	6MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 3.3Mbps
Orchestra Direct feed trailer   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:22	8MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 3.3Mbps
Orchestra Miyamoto demonstration gameplay   (Wii - Nintendo)	01:20	40MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Wii Sports - Tennis Direct feed trailer   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:19	6MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 3.3Mbps
Wii Sports - Tennis Direct feed live demo   (Wii - Nintendo)	02:14	68MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Disaster: Day of Crisis Direct feed clip   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:13	3MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Excite Truck Direct feed clip   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:18	5MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Direct feed clip   (Wii - Nintendo)	00:10	2MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps