Nintendo Fall Press Conference 2008

Okay, I'll clarify my points now to the few people who responded to me. I won't quote as it'll just make my post look epic.

Firstly the iPhone thing. If you guys think the iPhone isn't a gaming competitor for the casual market then frankly you need help. Shitty games like spinner prologue have been getting 240,000 downloads, Super Monkey Ball getting 300,000 and whilst the quality is of course debatable it doesn't shake the fact that people are spending money on casual games on a handheld device that isn't Nintendo oriented. Nintendo have to fight back but this is the wrong way to do it. Gamers will not pay for a 3rd iteration when the second one does the job brilliantly, and non gamers will be baffled as to why they need this slightly improved version that does little different. And all those soccer moms they pursued so successfully, well they will be pissed when they realise the �100 they dropped now means they can't play all games (camera oriented ones) on it. Splintered the market in one easy move, which is the LAST thing a handheld dev would want to do. Also think it's pretty funny, all the fanboys who defended no music playback back at launch are now saying how useful it is across the net (not on here).

As for the camera 0.3mp is DIRE, absolutely DIRE. So you have the question, why release a 3rd iteration of a console when the 2nd is so popular? For me, and I'm confident for others a cheap camera and marginally thinner console combined with marginally bigger screens won't cut it. Game Boy Micro mark 2, consoles nobody wants and consoles nobody needs.

And GC remakes, give me a fucking break Nintendo. Original titles, original IP.

Yeah right, as if Nintendo need to put up a fight against the millions of crap Java type games on mobiles. Those games get far more downloads than you have just quoted, far more.

The same BS was said about the N Gage, look at that wank now.

EDIT:

Muramasa looks to be the work of genius

( Edited 02.10.2008 12:14 by Linkyshinks )

Linkyshinks said:
Yeah right, as if Nintendo need to put up a fight against the millions of crap Java type games on mobiles. Those games get far more downloads than you have just quoted, far more.

The same BS was said about the N Gage, look at that wank now.

Discount the iPhone if you want, but bottom line is that it's extremely popular and the casual market are lapping up the games. This is a front Nintendo have to fight on now.

People play flash games. Cell phone games already existed, were played, and bought.

What matters is whether they eat into DS hardware sales. There is no evidence of that. For Nintendo to be worried people would have to want to buy an iPhone, for gaming, over DS. They are not. At most, iPhone gaming is a bonus, but not a serious competitor. DS sales, hardware nor software, have not been hit by the arrival of the iPhone.

People buy the iPhone to be a phone, not a gaming machine.

Please, ditch the casual gaming stuff. It doesn't exist.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19554

Conducted with market research firm NPD, the study surveyed 2,611 gamers and determined that lines between casual and hardcore are blurry at best, and gamer demographics are broader than conventional thinking has held. As Big Fish chief strategy officer (CSO) Paul Thelen stated during a Casual Connect keynote, the traditional casual approach of "'one size fits all' doesn't work."

Rather than simply separating gamers into casual and hardcore, Big Fish created 10 casual gaming segments and four core gaming segments - when it comes to demographics, business models, and platforms, the gaming market is diverging, not converging, the company claims.

Thelen took aim at what he called industry myths - while common wisdom states casual gamers devote less time to games, he explained, Big Fish found that segments such as MMO players and "slow strategists" are the leaders in hours spent playing, and platformer- and rhythm- heavy "frenetics" also beat out some of the more hardcore segments in hours played.

DSi is moving forward Nintendo's online, and making the DS a little more general purpose for people who don't see it as currently worth it.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/ds-three/

DS Two brought in the peak of the DS sales. DS Two was what shot up DS sales in America especially. Women now regularly buy the DS Two and older people can be found getting a DS Two. DS Two was such a successful alteration that Nintendo phased out DS One entirely.

�But Professor Malstrom, what about DS Three?�

As you know, I thought it would make its appearance at E3 2008. The whispers among the investor circle was that the new DS was pushed back to enter the channels in the fall. After E3 2008, I posted how Nintendo execs talking about the DS being used for navigation purposes at airports and baseball games among other areas as well as the Cooking Navi pointed out how Nintendo was moving into Phase Three of the Blue Ocean Strategy. Nintendo was doing research for DS Three.

PHASE THREE: DISTANT CUSTOMERS

Distant customers is the third type of non-customer. They are not the lapsed or soon-to-be lapsed gamer. They are not someone who refuses to play video games. These are people who are in markets entirely distant. These are people who don�t even know what a DS is (unlike the Phase Two customer who knew what it was but refused to get it).

Phase three is all about the product becoming a tool for such a non-customer. This means the DS will be given non-gaming additions. This is not unlike the Wii having a Weather Channel and News Channel, for example.

Remember class, DS is not a disruptive product. That is what the Wii is. However, both the DS and Wii are Blue Ocean products. Sure enough, the rumored DS Three has all the requirements of the Phase Three: Distant Customer:

The rumored features are:

- (digital) Camera included
- music playback function
- Wireless connection function power up
- larger screen
- to be released this year in Japan
- under 20000 yen
- new types of games by using the camera
- get/exchange data from Wii and SD card (SD card slot included?)

All these fit the Phase Three of the Blue Ocean Strategy. Cameras are so cheap that most handhelds have them now. It is a wonder that PSP didn�t come out with one for they could have undercut Nintendo�s innovation by using the camera for games. Nintendo has used cameras for games before. And making games for DS Three won�t mean the DS One and DS Two can�t play it. There are GBA attachments. Hell, even the original Gameboy had a camera which Miyamoto, when asked about it a few years back, said he wanted to return to making games for a camera (which many thought the �Revolution� console would have something to do with cameras).

Music playback and likely firmware that allows it to be used as a tool, such as a cookbook or a navigation guide in airports and other areas, fit the �distant user� very well. People could buy the DS as a tool for those things and get into gaming in a more roundabout way.

It is very likely many of these details won�t be true or could change. That is the nature of rumors. But what will not change is that the DS Three will be used as a tool for these distant customers. This means non-gaming functions. This means hardcore having a cow. (Get out the popcorn. They will put up quite a crying fest!)

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/iphone-gaming-will-gobble-up-competing-cell-phones-not-ds/

The second post because the US event has started.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=58025

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/915/915544p1.html

^^^Liveblogs.

Ripped from IGN liveblog:

Built-in Flash memory. Downloadable games are now possible and they can be saved permanently to the DSi. New DS Shop will launch. Among the first games available on the service will be redesigned versions of the two Brain Age games.

DSi also includes a camera and music functionality. To appreciate these functions, \"you have to understand that we didn\'t set out to create the world\'s best camera or the world\'s best music player,\" says Reggie. Plenty of other players in the \"red ocean\" market. Want to create new types of games using these devices.

On the camera front, the DSi has not one, but two different cameras. One faces forward from the hardware. The other points back at the user. This allows a full range of unique functionality. These cameras work hand-in-hand with image editing software. You can share your edited photos with other DSi users.

Songs will be stored on an SD card. DSi will use the AAC format so you \"can easily move songs from your computer to your SD card to play on your DSi.\" DSI has built-in software enabling users to control attributes like pitch, playback speed, audio filters, etc. \"You may have a piece of music where you don\'t want to listen to vocals -- only instrumentals. The audio filter will allow you to do that.\" You can fast forward through podcasts, etc. You can record your voice through the built-in microphone and change your playback speed.

System will lose the GBA slot, but is fully compatible with the 600-plus DS games available.

Built-in Opera Nintendo DSi web browser that will run faster than the previous web browser, \"and so will the WI-Fi connections,\" adds Reggie.

As far as 2008 is concerned, the DSi is strictly for Japan. \"We will not see the product here in North America until well into calendar 2009,\" says Reggie. He notes this is because the DS Lite continues to sell at a phenomenal rate in America. In August alone, DS sold more hardware than had ever been sold in that calendar month.

Nintendo has sold a total of 22 million DS units in America.

Reggie talks Wii storage solution. Can now store downloads directly SD Card. And the process of storing on SD card will \"become dramatically easier,\" says Reggie.

Reggie: We will ship more DS units into retail in the October-December quarter than we did last year. We will ship significantly more Wii systems into retail during the same period versus last year.

\"Will this finally be enough to meet demand? My answer: talk to me in January.

[...]

Begins with Punch-Out!! for Wii. Available first half of 2009. Shows 15-second sizzle trailer for the game, which looks very good. Lots of trademark characters previewed.

Talks about Call of Duty: World at War. IGN has already posted exclusive hands-on of this game.

Now, talking about MadWorld. Available March 2009 for Wii. New build at event with new levels. This really should have been the company\'s E3 2008 show.

Talks about Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop. Available Winter 2009.

The Conduit. Available Q1 2009. Cammie called this an \"exclusive first-party shooter coming to Wii.\" We think she meant first-person shooter. Eric Nofsinger demoes the game on-stage. Says the game is still pre-alpha. \"Majority of single-player is complete. Primarily in the polish phase.\" Game looks good, as always. 16-player online. Traditional deathmatches. Level of detail system allows for crisper up-close textures. Light maps. Interactive lights. Dynamic water. Reflection and refraction. Normal mapping. Heat distortions. Etc.

\"We know we are making a game for the hardcore and we want to make as many of those people happy as possible. We want to be on your must-buy list for 2009,\" says Nofsinger.

Cammie back on stage. Says that at E3 you may have heard Miyamoto suggesting that Wii Music \"maybe shouldn\'t even be considered a game.\" Definitely agreed. Demo follows. Game features more than 50 songs and 60 different instruments from around the world.

Wii Music continues to look like a glorified noise-maker to us. However, we really think this game will go over like crazy with kids.

Cammie returns to stage. Offers some quotes about Wii Music from professional musicians, all of them positive.

Now talking about Animal Crossing: City Folk. \"Blends the best elements from the GameCube version with the best elements from the DS version.\"

Going to be bringing Animal Crossing to a much more expanded audience with a lot of its messaging.

Chats about Wii Fit. NOA invited a celebrity trainer to train attendees in Wii Fit.

Talks about Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party. (IGN has been in possession of a playable version of the title for a few weeks. Pretty fun so far.)

Sin & Punishment 2. Available 2009. The original game never made its way to North America -- only became available as a download through Virtual Console.

\"After we saw how many people downloaded it on the Virtual Console, we got the message that North America wants Sin & Punishment as well. In 2009 you\'re going to be playing... and you\'re not going to have to import it,\" says Cammie. We are happy.

Talking about Personal Trainer games for DS. Personal Trainer Cooking, available in America November 24. More Personal Trainer titles coming in 2009.

Rhythm Heaven coming to North America for DS in the first half of 2009. Game has sold really well in Japan. Two months after launch, still doing 50,000 units per week.

Four hardcore DS titles: Age of Empires: Mythologies, set for a November 2008 release. Tecmo Bowl, available November 2008. (Can draw your own plays.) Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, available October 21. And Chrono Trigger, available \"Thanksgiving week\" 2008.

Last live demo of the day. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon for DS. Available first half of 2009. \"For the first time, we\'re going to have it in North America for the DS. It\'s also the first-ever in the series to offer multiplayer online play.\"

Demo follows. Entire game uses stylus controls. Button controls are still available for players who prefer them. New portraits. New battle animations. New spell animations. Big facelift from an aesthetic point. New to this version of the title are four prologue chapters not featured in the original game. Six different selectable difficulty levels, from beginner to merciless. New Wi-Fi Battle. Play against friends via local wireless or over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Features full voice-chat when you are playing over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection with a friend. Loan units -- loan out one unit that you\'ve trained, or borrow a unit from a friend, and incorporate them into a single-player campaign. If you loan out a unit to a friend, it is not lost from your game. Shop online feature. Through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, you connect to an online version of the armory, which is where you buy weapons and items. This allows for a dynamic shop.

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Alma, available November 10 in America.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure from EA. IGN has previewed this title previously -- it\'s a lot of fun. Check our in-depth preview for more. <> Mario & Luigi RPG 3, available 2009 in America for DS. This time, the Italian brothers are joined by Bowser.

Introducing a new way to communicate with friends and family. WiiSpeak Channel. Arrives November 16. You can use the microphone up to four groups of people at once. When you buy WiiSpeak, you will receive a ticker which allows you to download the channel at no charge.

Announcing Club.Nintendo for America!

This program allows Nintendo consumers to gather points and trade them in for a wide variety of exclusive Nintendo rewards. Will debut in North America by the end of the year.

( Edited 02.10.2008 17:31 by Modplan Man )

I don't know if this has been mentioned but you can play your own songs during games on the DSi. Kinda like the 360 and Excite Truck.

And I've not seen this mentioned yet:

"Battery life: Depending on the screen brightness gamers can expect anywhere between 3 hours and 14 hours on the DSi versus 5 hours to 19 hours on the DS Lite."

Less battery? Lame.

I know but I guess that's the price to pay for better features.

Anything less than five hours isn't acceptable for a handheld system -- surely Nintendo knows this!

You wouldn't need it on Full brightness though surely?

Good to see the US will get Club Nintendo, wonder whether their selection will be closer to Japans than ours.

You wouldn't need it on Full brightness though surely? Smilie

You do when you are out (in ambient or direct sunlight). And when do you need longer battery life? When you are out.

Car charger would do the trick for that! Or multiple DS', which most here will end up with.

Also I can play my NORMAL DS almost completely fine when I'm out. so it won't be too much of a hinderance that you have to play on the brightest setting.

It's really only there to make your friends go "whoah!!" and for when you're high.

Wii Speak Channel on Nov. 16. Talk up to 4 groups of people at once. Buy WiiSpeak, get a ticket to download the channel for free. Send voice messages to friends, as well as a photo.

Club Nintendo announced for North America! Debuts in North America by the end of the year.

0.3 megapixel camera? Am I reading that right?

Surely you need to have 1 megapixel for it to be called a megapixel camera? Not a third of one. What are sub-1 megapixel cameras called? Do they even make those anymore? I think the one in my phone is 7. I guess having a camera any bigger would be pointless because the screen couldn't display the detail anyway.

Is it safe to assume that the lack of GB port means they'll be starting up a download service so they can charge a tenner-a-pop for GB roms?

Wow, what a mediocre attempt at a revision. And what's with these extra features? I thought Nintendo were all about games? They wern't supposed to be the ones expanding themselves into different markets, it was about expanding their own existing market. The battery life is also becoming unacceptable.

At least the DSLite will finally fall in price, which Nintendo never bothered to do, despite the proposterus returns they must make on every unit with it's fucking ancient hardware. I think it's disgraceful.

Well the charge time is 30 mins quicker, which is pretty big considering the DSL was only 3 hours anyway.

I mean at least it's no PSP. IMO the PSP is a good console, and even the DSi will still last much longer and charge much quicker.

And I get the feeling the possibly awesome dlc is going completely ignored. o.0; I mean I would be "annoyed" too if the only new features were the camera and the bigger screen, but they're not!

Indeed, the dlc is the big thing imo. Though I am looking forward to the camera, I reckon it's the dlc that's gonna make this sell. Easily the most exciting thing about the DSi.

The art style is akin to the SNES game.

King Hippo

( Edited 02.10.2008 22:30 by Linkyshinks )

artmonkey said:
0.3 megapixel camera? Am I reading that right?

Surely you need to have 1 megapixel for it to be called a megapixel camera? Not a third of one. What are sub-1 megapixel cameras called? Do they even make those anymore? I think the one in my phone is 7. I guess having a camera any bigger would be pointless because the screen couldn\'t display the detail anyway.

Is it safe to assume that the lack of GB port means they\'ll be starting up a download service so they can charge a tenner-a-pop for GB roms?

A 0.3 megapixel camera is a VGA camera, they were the orignal resolutions of a camera phone, now they\'re thankfully much more.

Punch out looks like it\'s gonna be great like in the arcades

( Edited 02.10.2008 22:25 by Stulaw )

PunchOut does look intruiging.... but will it be a budget title? It looks like it could easily be a remake of the original NES game.

And do you play as the same character in Sin & Punishment 2 with a different outfit?

"Wow, what a mediocre attempt at a revision. And what's with these extra features? I thought Nintendo were all about games? They wern't supposed to be the ones expanding themselves into different markets, it was about expanding their own existing market. The battery life is also becoming unacceptable."

Yeah but remember that Nintendo fanboys will buy into anything Nintendo does, even if it's totally hypocritical!

Innovation!? PFFT!!! Let's release a bunch of Gamecube games! Nintendo fanboys rejoice.

lolz

I don\'t care if it\'s hypocritical. Everyone(company) is the business is a big fat hypocrite anyway.

I\'m the gamer. As long as I\'m happy I don\'t give a crap about what Nintendo say Especially since they\'re wrong/they lie about it a lot of the time.

( Edited 02.10.2008 23:06 by SuperLink )

It just annoys me how I non-stop hear people saying "lol, the 360/ps3 are teh saem as last gen lolololzozlozlolo" and the same people praise ACTUAL PORTS.

I don\'t understand the complaining about the cameras. The resolution of the pictures will be 640 x 480. The DS resolution is 256 x 192. You wouldn\'t be able to tell the difference if it was a 12,000 megapixel camera.

The big losses here:

Battery Life - We\'re approaching PSP territory here and its not a disc based system. I don\'t care if the recharge time is faster, that doesn\'t do me any good if I\'m on a bus.

Aesthetics - Okay, this isn\'t a huge loss, but it does have to be mentioned that they took an elegant design (DS lite) and managed to make it unattractive.

No MP3? - So we technically *gained* by getting a music player, but it might as well not be there in the first place if MP3 isn\'t supported. Who has their music collection in AAC? Honestly?

Screen Size - Makes absolutely no sense to raise the size considering the weak resolution. But whatever.

GBA slot - I personally see this as being more than made up for by the DLC. In addition, the only GBA game I still play is Fire Emblem, and the DS version will be here by the time this launches.

Gains:

Slimmer - always better

Camera - on the DS screens, resolution is irrelevant. The cameras will serve their purpose fine. If you want to take massive poster sized pictures of the English countryside get a real camera.

Downloadable Content - yes, Nintendo will charge too much for it, but its a massive step forward for Nintendo in the handheld area. This is going to be awesome in my opinion - just awesome. Nintendo really seem to be pushing extra software for this, so I see this mode as increasing the systems lifespan and relevancy in the coming years.

Overall, I think its a worthy upgrade that finally pushes Nintendo into the next generation. However it has crippling problems too - the battery life. And its ugly (I know that should be irrelevant, but I can\'t seem to get over how unappealing it looks). In the end there are more losses than gains, but at the same time the DLC has the potential to be worth an upgrade by itself. My purchase hinges on this.

( Edited 03.10.2008 00:59 by Jacob4000 )

The Wii Speak channel is interesting.

Consumers that purchase the $30 Wii Speak microphone peripheral for the Wii will be able to immediately use it for more than Animal Crossing, according to Nintendo.

The microphone comes with a code that unlocks the Wii Speak Channel, a chat system for the Nintendo Wii.

Up to four players can chat together on the Wii Speak Channel at no charge.

The user\'s selected Mii appears in the channel, mimicking the user\'s mouth to make it appear as if the avatar is speaking.

The channel also allows user to leave audio messages to other users, as well as make audio captions for their stored photos.

The Wii Speak Channel launches November 16.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/915/915632p1.html

Certainly a little different approach. E: Oops, didn\'t see it mentioned.

http://www.irwebcasting.com/081002/34/36e60ea959/d4c5000436_hi.html

Full conference video.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/reggie-confirms-dsi-is-a-blue-ocean-product/

9:15: The Nintendo DSi has not one but two different cameras. How you use these two cameras creates the difference. One will face forward from the hardware, the other points back at the user. A different range of photo functionality. Combined with onboard, real-time imaging software. Combine pictures. Distort faces. Graffiti.

9:16: The DSi can also serve as your music player � but again, with differences. The DSi will use the AAC format, so you can move songs from computer to SD card. The DSi has built in software that allows the user to control pitch, speed of AAC files. You can put in an audio filter � �You may have a piece of music where you want to listen to only the vocals, not the instrumentals.� You can fast-forward through a podcast. Play different features sped up or slowed down. Record your voice in the microphone and change the playback speed/pitch of that. All of these options are available on DSi right out of the box.

Many are saying, �This was Nintendo\'s real E3!� E3 2008 is still massively misunderstood by people. E3 2008 was a Declaration of War by Nintendo who very aggressively circled their wagons to protect their Expanded Market from competitors who, according to rumors, were going to release a motion controller of their own. If Nintendo lets Microsoft and Sony out of their box and into the Expanded market, Nintendo\'s disruption fails.

While many will mistakenly believe that Nintendo �heard\' the cries of the hardcore and sought to �redeem themselves\' (let me barf over this casting the hardcore as some religious authority companies must �redeem\' themselves toward). What happened is that the urgency of the counterattack has faded away due to non-responses from Microsoft and Sony. Microsoft declared war on Sony, and sought no moves towards Nintendo\'s market (Microsoft\'s so called �casual games\' were equivalents of Sony\'s Singstar). Now that the Expanded Audience is not threatened, Nintendo can go ahead to focus on more Core titles. Should the Expanded Audience be threatened again, watch Nintendo drop the focus of attention on the Core like a drop of the hat.

This conference was a more relaxed event. E3 2008 was a pre-emptive strike against a counterattack that never came.

Wii Speak channel:

( Edited 03.10.2008 02:57 by Modplan Man )