Nintendo Wii Fanboy

I'm of the persuasion that it was a win, personally. I think we're a society spoiled by the Apple "Oh, and one more thing" presentation.

My entire impression can be found here:

http://www.outsidetheworld.com/blogspot.htm

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I predicted we'd get a Brawl date, new SMG media but no date, and 3 new casual IPs. So, needless to say, I'm pleased with the release dates for BOTH games and the focus on only one new casual game, with the offiicial announcement of Mario Kart.

I'm interested in the Zapper, but the Wii Wheel looks like a throwaway to me. And I have no problem predicting that WiiFit will be a million copy+ seller, no matter what so called "hardcore" gamers think about it. Brain Age, anyone?

Nintendo by itself was satisfying. On the media side, the keynote was a little short but the steady stream afterwards made up for it. I think Microsoft did the best, simply for all the games. I didn't expect a price drop from them so that didn't hurt their presentation for me. I think Sony did the worst - with half their time spent on a new PSP and Home, I was bored before new content arrived. Then I was interested in maybe two games they had, and both will be on the 360. Then we get the confirmation that the 60GB price drop is really a clearance sale. Sony's strategy is to keep improving the tech in the $599 model while dropping the previous model to $499 to sell it out. That's nobel and all, but it's not what consumers want. Consumers want a model sub-$300 and don't want to be penalized for buying a PS3 now versus later.

So, I'd rank them like this
MS 9/10
Nintendo 7.5/10
Sony 6/10

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Last year, I was crazy about E3. I watched the Sony and Nintendo conferences both live and wholly on Gamespot. I would have watched Microsoft's, but I had to be somewhere when it took place.

I enjoyed Ninty's conference very much, I spammed on the official Nintendo E3(2006) thread every time someone said anything at all, but everyone else spammed in it, and it kept the spam threads down. I remember getting pissed off when Sony announced the Six Axis, and I spammed the Gamespot forums too. And being a real nerd, I printed off pictures from the Sony event and showed them to my friends. They were pretty down that the PS3 would cost them $600.

This year, I couldn't care less about E3. Maybe it was the scattering of the events, or maybe it wasn't the year where two new consoles would be launched. I pretty much avoided Joystiq and Kotaku in my feed reader, and decided to unsubscribe from GoNintendo and just visit their site, because of all the E3 posts that would come out of them.

From the news I've read (and I've ignored a lot of news, so my views are going to be very inaccurate), Microsoft showed of lots of games that I couldn't care less about, Sony did the same except had an 80 GB PS3, and Nintendo announced peripherals left and right, then gave us some release dates so we wouldn't get too pissed.

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@RD: Your comment about being spoiled by Apple keynotes is exactly what a buddy of mine and I were discussing this past week.

Overall, I was pretty happy, but I think in my playing habits, I'm much more of a casual gamer nowadays. I'm excited for the new toys from Nintendo: the wheel, zapper, and fit pad.

I would have liked more DS news, though.

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I've not seen any of sony's show as a PS3 is definitely something i have no intention of buying...atleast for several years! But i thought Nintendo's was great...don't know why so many people complain about it really.

I particularly enjoyed their video intros that showed clips of how well the wii has done in the media. Think it rubbed it in to the faces of the competition and anti nintendo people so i loved it :D. I think reggie is also great at doing these things while peter moore seems to like making a fool of himself.

I think microsoft tried to give a big intro much like i think nintendo did last year with miyamoto doing that wii orchestra thing, but with those people playing violins. Too be honest the violin stuff just annoyed me cos it just seemed to take ages when i wanted them to get on with it.

I've prob gone a bit off topic cos we're discussing nintendo's show. The wii fit thing looks pretty interesting so i hope skateboarding/snowboarding games start to use this tech and i'll definitely get one.

So for me compared to microsoft, nintendo definitely won again....would like to hear european dates for mario galaxy and smash bros though!

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for the introduction of a new mariokart the game came very short
i hope they put more effort in it than in double dash

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Compare: Ingame scenes from Killzone 2 and Mario Kart. That's just unfair, we do not get good games. I'm simply not in the right age to buy some fitness equipment for my gaming console. I have the strange feeling that I should give my console to my parents as they appear to be the aim of Nintendo's new strategy rather than me and that's just not right!

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For as long as the Wii has been out, well when the DS Lite launched, we the Nintendo fanboys have been touting sales numbers and profits that we're winning. Then a game is announced that could smash every game but Wii Fit is decried because it doesn't appeal to the "hardcore." I'm somewhere in between a casual and hardcore gamer. I spend regular amounts of time playing games on my DS Lite and Wii and buy some games on a regular basis, but my tastes overlap the casual and non-gamers'. So yeah the core games like MP3:C and SMG appeal to me but Flash Focus, Brain Age 2, and Wii Fit also appeal to me. Getting the attention of the mainstream press and to the whole audience was much more of a target for Nintendo's press conference. And then later on in the booths and private sessions they had more traditional games set up for the gaming press. They did a solid job.

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it's taken me this long (been an owner since christmas-ish), but i'm starting to get pretty disappointed with the wii releases. i figured early on there'd be a lot of filler, but it seems every new announcement has the wii getting shafted - for example PS3/Xbox gets Speilberg's new action/adventure, Wii gets a Jengalike fresh on the heels of another announcement for..... Jenga. what happened to games like Sadness? Developers, tell me a story!! let me fight evil!! back when i was a kid, what i liked best about Sonic (and i was hardcore, hardcore into Sonic) was his purpose. the Genesis-era games were about one thing for me, SONIC SAVES THE ANIMALS. there's a bad guy, CAPTURING AND HURTING ANIMALS, and Sonic saves them. awesome. it's that kind of feeling i wanted from the simple, gameplay based, back to basics speeches nintendo was making, not a multi-digital-block-stacking powerhouse.

i've pretty much pinned my hopes on No More Heroes... we'll see what else comes along, but unless a third party non-minigame set comes along and makes some money, i'm getting scared that devs aren't going to bother making anything with... you know, a plot, or something.

god, that was a rant. stay happy, everyone.

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I have to agree with engadget on this one... "What the hell happened to E3?"

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Back in my day, E3 used to be about making a big splash with announcements up the wazoo. No such thing this year. The biggest announcement from any of the big three was WiiFit. Things would have been better if they'd teased some new installments of old franchises (Zelda, Pikmin, Pokemon even...) or showed off some actual trailers for upcoming games (disapointed with the lack of Brawl, among other things). Some of the best announcements of the show were not announcements at all really. "Ooooh, there's a new Silent Hill and Resident Evil!" Like we didn't know both were coming. Biggest non-announcement? Golden Sun DS. So...I suppose Nintendo comes out a winner there.

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A lot of us could use the Wii Fit (especially some hardcore gamers), so I was pleased about that. Nintendo definately had the best presentation, considering that they seemed more concerned with innovation rather than copying from other companies.

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I would say Microsoft did the worst in that they showed few new games and few new concepts

Sony had a good smattering of good new games (Echochrome especially looks intriguing), while Nintendo's new Balance Board really shows a lot of promise, and they are guaranteed to grab massive marketshare and mindshare off of Wii Fit

I'd say Nintendo got an 85%, Sony got an 80%, and Microsoft got 70%

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happily and almost sadly, we still have one more big show headed to LA before the end of the year. I'm hoping that one will be somewhat like the E3 of old.

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I was disappointed, mainly because of WiiFit and the fact that Nintendo seemingly now only opens its mouth to bang on about how they're "expanding the audience" and "appealing to casual gamers" again and again and again. Please, for God's sake, change the record!! I don't know why they're so proud of it. Companies have been exploiting stupid and insecure people with this sort of training, self-help, lifestyle crap for years and years. It's nothing new. Nintendo is just the latest company to realise they can make an easy buck out of it (and I thought they were better than that).

You're all saying "but it'll sell loads". Well, is that all that matters to you? Are you fans or shareholders? I don't mind some of these casual games (I love Brain Age for example) but this is getting ridiculous. It's all very well Nintendo appealing to casuals and I'm happy that they're selling so well, but not if it's at the expense of their artistic integrity.

I have owned and adored every single Nintendo console, but as a gamer I'm starting to look at my Wii with contempt. I was all for the Wii when it was first announced, but if by "revolution" they meant WiiFit then I feel betrayed. I want to play games, not exercise!!

I (foolishly) expected Nintendo to use this E3 to reassure me, but instead they did the exact opposite. I want to be told that I'm a "SUPER GAMER" not that I'm "overweight".

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I just wanted the Super Mario Galaxy release date...so I'm happy.

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@ Iggy

More sales not only benefit shareholders and company owners, but more $$ means more for creative R&D

The $$ from Wii Sports allows them to spend more to make Galaxy, Disaster, and mysterious Zelda Wii the best they possibly can

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I came away less than impressed. The fact that Nintendo used WiiFit as their "big game" when it isn't even releasing this year compared to Metroid, Smash Bro's, and Super Mario was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I'm intrigued by WiiFit and will definitely buy it (my wife already wants it), but I bought the Wii to play games.

My biggest gripe was the fact that Nintendo didn't give us any news on new IPs for traditional gamers. Not one. The only new game that was announced was Mario Kart, like everyone didn't know that one was coming. I'll believe the Mario Kart in Q1 2008 when I see it.

Finally, Nintendo needs to realize that when they get grilled in every interview about their lack of online features and the lack of upcoming games for hardcore gamers besides the franchises we always get, there may be a problem. Usually after every E3 I'm updating my want lists and am giddy at the new games coming. I don't think there was one game I needed to add after E3.

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I thought it was completely disappointing. They only showed 3 games for Wii that actually appeal to their "hardcore" audience, and that is NOWHERE near enough. If you expect me to just grab MP3, MG, or SSBB and then try to make me exercise with WiiFit then I'm not too sure I want to have a wii anymore. I have to agree with Iggy Koopa on this one. I was all for the Wii when it came out. I thought this is gonna be awesome, there'll be a new smash game a new Mario game, etc. And sure they've shown that, but really I'm starting to think it's not enough. I feel not only betrayed, but forgotten. In short, I wish I had a 360 right now because I would actually have a bunch of awesome games to play and quite a few to look forward to. You've let me down this year Nintendo. :(

In order of the conferences, I would say Sony won because of their wealth of content and many game to look forward to. Microsoft came in second because the whole thing seemed like a powerpoint presentation, and they didn't look into 2008 at all. And Nintendo took up the rear because they were defending that they haven't forgotten the hardcore gamer, but couldn't actually prove to me that they were. Not to mention the only actual surprise I got out of all the conferences was Resident Evil 5. That came out of nowhere. All the more reason to have bought a 360...

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I really dont get why you people are so dissapointed, theres a ton of awsome wii games coming out that were shown at e3, most of them we already knew about but didnt we used to complain about not knowing about games until a couple months before they came out? Nintendo could of just not told us much for a couple months before e3 and then you guys wouldnt have been dissapointed, but in the end its still the same.

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Mario Kart was good news to hear. I was really looking forward to a Brawl trailer but it never happened. Though I was given a release date so I was happy.

Nintendo might be holding off some new Brawl trailer or event later.

Hell.. Brawl might get it's own party like Pokemon did at the Nintendo store in NYC.

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@ 15

I do not think that they are requiring you to purchase Wii Fit. There are other games and products available just so you know.

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I really don't understand why people are so stucck on this Wii Fit issure as if nothing else was shown. Seriously complainers get over yourselves. Nintendo has a lot to offer and you cannot tell me that they don't just because they only showed you a piece of what they have coming. What happened to the element of surprise and what is wrong with variety. If you want a whole bunch of shooters go grab a PS# or an XBox, but thank you very much I will keep my Wii.

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I think that there is a general air of disappointment, regardless of what console you may or may not support, with the new E3.
It's exactly what it was billed as...a 'business and media summit'. That's about 2 rungs above 'corporate shareholder's meeting' on the excitement ladder.

So the question a lot of us are probably wondering now is..."where are we going to get our 'red meat'?" Where's the stuff that makes the hardcore audience drool?
That was always E3 in the past, but not quite so anymore. Will it be the PAX Expo? E For All? Tokyo Game Show?
Nobody seems to really know where we're going to see the next Smash Bros trailer or see a real unveiling of new games or games we only saw snippets of in the past.


As a whole, I thought Nintendo had the best presentation. It was the most entertaining and they showed the most games that were of interest to me.
Sony did a pretty good job, but then the whole PS3 pricing scheme broke and really tarnished their showing...like they were saying, "Hey! Look over there while we do this!" to us...and I'd say it's fair the say that most people are weary of Sony treating their customers with zero respect.
And Microsoft just kinda tried to hold status quo.

Overall, it was very boring and none of the presentations were particularly exciting. No big surprises and only a smattering of new games shown (just barely, at that) from all sides.

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@ Iggy

To expand on what Mr Khan sad, not only does more sales give us better 1st party franchises but it also draws in 3rd parties. I might buy WiiFit, I might not. But if it sells a few consoles it is a good release. If in two years Nintendo has three times as many consoles in the market as Sony, what console are developers more likely to support?

The only thing is, we have to show them through sales that casual games are great but they aren't the only thing. Case in point, Capcom is going to look at the sales of RE4 versus Umbrella Chronicles to see what kinds of games to produce for the Wii in the future.

Personally, I hope we can get both casual and traditional games. Stack UC next to RE4, stack WiiFit next to Zelda, WiiSports next to Madden, etc.

Do I make money with Nintendo sales - no. But every sale makes my purchase of the Wii that much more valuable.

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I guess you're right, but I just wish they'd stop going on about it constantly. I know that Nintendo is still about the hardcore gamer (TP, SMG, MP3, SSBB). But of late they're providing very little evidence in anything they say to suggest that.

I'm worried that soon they'll start thinking: why bother crafting deep, thrilling, enthralling, moving, beautiful games, when we can churn out this training crap in no time, with no effort and no imagination and the ignorant mainstream masses will swallow it up.

I am not comfortable with WiiFit. I think it's horrid.

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Sony won hands down. They were the most humble, showed the most games and showed off Home and some important in game functionality for Home. Nintendo did pretty bad. I was very upset when they kept showing how everyone loves the Wii and kept showing people playing the games but never showing the games themselves. I consider myself a hardcore gamer so I guess thats why. But if I had to vote it was:

Sony: 90% really showed they cared about gamers.
MS: 80% the disney thing really hurt this score.
Nintendo:60% for bragging about sales and basically showing they don't really care about the hardcore anymore.

I really find it funny when you guys say Sony did the worst, what presentation were you watching? :) One way Nintendo can win me back is by releasing a lot of hardcore games obviously and not ignoring the online aspect of gaming. When Reggie said that online has been here all along and then used VC as an example, I got a little angry. That is not what we mean by online Reggie.

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The most dissapointing thing; the zapper. Not a single person has praised it - and it looks oh so cool.

BUT BALANCE BOARD - finally a real surfing game... maybe.

And the new E3? What a fall from grace...

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Sony and Microsoft did not impress me in the least and Nintendo did not have the tremendous bang I was looking for. I think all three did pretty bad with Nintendo at least trying. The Wiifit balance board can probably do alot for us in a quasy virtual gaming experience in the near future when they incorporate it into a boxing game or a "Police 911" game( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_911 ). I do think that this infomercial appeal like buy Mario Kart Wii and we will throw in a plastic steering wheel, a $19.99 offer, absolutly free is quite absurd. Espeacially when they did it three times in the same show for there top three games(Mario Kart, Wiifit, Metroid 3).

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It's ironic that all the mainstream, non-gaming publications labeled Nintendo E3's "winner" by a long shot, a proclamation I'm guessing most "hardcore" gamers would raise an eyebrow at. I'm worried that Nintendo will go so "mainstream" that their previous commitment to challenging games instead of gimmicks will fall by the wayside. I was most disappointed to find out that, despite what some people said earlier this year, there's no new Zelda in "deep development"; in fact there may never be another Zelda for the Wii, a sickening thought.

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Overall, I thought E3 was a major success. I was very pleased with Microsoft and Nintendo because they had offer more for more people. Sony, on the other hand, I wasn't too thrilled with. They had some good stuff, but most of it was also being offered by Microsoft. The Microsoft press conference was a major success, but I missed Nintendo's & Sony's. I can safely say because of the last year or 2 I have finally lost faith in Sony as a video game company. I also plan on getting a 360 (possibly the new Halo 3 edition) and I already have a Wii but plan on getting many new games for it thanks to this years E3. Here are my closing ratings on each company:

Microsoft: 9.5/10
Nintendo: 8/10
Sony: 4/10

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I've got a Wii, and I'm a little scared for its future. There are a couple good games coming out soon, but I haven't seen anything cool at all outside of first party titles with the exception of Resident Evil.

They've got a revolutionary control system. Now they just need to use it to make games that don't suck!

I will likely get a PS3 some time in the foreseable future. I don't even consider myself "hardcore" or whatever, but these kiddie games just aren't doing it for me so much as they used to. Some of those "party games" are cool, but I do 90% of my video game playing alone. And those games aren't fun at all by yourself. Someone else here asked to right question: "Where are the stories?"

The Wii could very easily become a one-trick pony. And it's already safe to say (and no one can deny) that it will have the shortest life-span of any of the consoles in this generation. Not having HD is going to really hurt it as the market continues to convert over to HDTV's and start really expecting more from their game consoles.

What is Nintendo's next big thing going to be after the Wii (since that question is going to be relevant much sooner than with MS or Sony)? With such a specialized console, things like backwards compatibility might become an isue. And is this wave something can be ridden permanently or is it simply just a trend? I think it's on Nintendo's shoulders now to prove that it's not a trend.

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idk how many people have said this before, but i'll say it again, i'm tired of Nintendo talking about "expanding it's audience" and all that other bull crap...
i thought Nintendo was the best, or one of the best, cause it gaves us what we wanted, a release day for Super Smash Bros., a release day for Super Mario Galaxy, the anouncment of Mario KLart Wii, the Wii Zapper, Wii Fit, which i think is cool, new Metriod Prime 3 footage, you know, everything that a Nintendo fan wanted, but i think they screwed up with that long and dumb montage, with all due respect, i liked it, but, it was too much...
nintendo gets a 8.0/10.0 on my chart..

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I liked what they revealed, but I feel like they could have offered more "mature" level content: crime, science fiction, war -- and build a game around that.

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I too found the Nintendo conference a bit flat, no so much due to WiiFit(which doesn't interest me BTW), more all the backslapping, youtube videos, advert clips etc.

I just wish they could have at least compile a showcase video of some of the upcoming games to show people what variety they can expect. It almost looked as though there are only a few decent titles heading for the Wii with one of those being penciled in for "cough" Q1 2008(Q1? Can't see that somehow).

Probably my biggest hope was for Nintendo to reveal a bit more about their future plans for online games. They did give a nice titbit in commenting that the upcoming MoH game would support 32 players online! Fantastic! But what about voice comm support? I wish they'd finally clear this up instead of leaving us to speculate the possibility, personally I'm right off Nintendo online gaming if I can't communicate with my friends/team mates in-game. They say they're taking online seriously, I just wish they could show it.

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I think the best way to characterize Nintendo's E3 is like this: If I were a shareholder of Nintendo, I'd be super excited, instead I'm a Wii Fanboy and as such I'm not so excited.

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I think that overall Nintendo did a good job with their press conference. I think that they chose the mesage they wanted to spread, and they nailed it...the mainstream press is ALL OVER them and Wii Fit.

I do understand the upset that a lot of the 'Hardcore' gamers that veiw this thread are feeing...but you have to remember that Nintendo (and the 3rd parties) only showed us stuff that is coming out for Holiday 2007 and the 1st quarter of 2008...barely 6 months worth of upcoming releases. If you have been following Nintendo for any length of time, they are almost as secretive as Apple (which is VERY secretive).

I have noticed that there seems to be a real breaking point in who was happy and who was not happy with the press conference. If you are over 30 years old, you most likely are happy with the announcements...under 30, not so much.

I got what I was expecting (short of the HDD add on), and more with Wii Fit. Did I want to hear more...of course.

MS did OK...but does the world REALLY need that many more FPS games?
Sony did OK, but the $100 'price drop' was a joke...more like a fire sale to clear out too much stock on hand.

Nintendo - 8/10
MS - 7/10
Sony - 6-10

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Overall, E3 was dissapointing, but for the highs.. MP3's release date and WiiFit. I dont give too craps about the game, but the board has ALOT of potential, and I want to see mech games use that... day 1 would be ideal.

Overall, my view of the consoles hasnt changed:

Nintendo: the risk taker. Frankly I want to encourage this, as no one else will take the risks needed to keep gaming from going stagnant. They dont have a lot I want, but what they hit, they hit REALLY well, and for the price, Im not arguing volume. They got passed that a few months ago for me.

Microsoft: I like the 360, I really do, but being a computer gamer, there is 1 title I want and 1 Im interested in I have no comfirmation wont hit my PC... so I have no reason to want it. (well ok, and I dont do analog sticks well).

Sony: They dont have any titles I want pretty much at all... sorry, Sony....

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I think Nintendo sucked this year at E3 because of Wiifit, it's the most ridiculous thing ever. Let's show 10 seconds of Brawl (the main reason I bought a Wii) but focus the show on some lame ass work out technology.

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