Gamertell

Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 9:00 a.m. PST

9:00 a.m. - We’re starting with a talking NES, then a montage of the media coverage the Wii and DS have received.

9:05 - Reggie takes the stage “My name is Reggie” yearly growth up 114%.

9:10 - More talk of the expanding market, especially older players, female players “this is where potential lives.”

9:12 - In Japan expansion of older and female players even more pronounced. More stats regarding Nintendo’s wild expansion into the nontraditional markets.

9:15 - DS is past the 40 million mark worldwide – sold out worldwide for all 33 weeks since lite release. “Nintendo is not a fad.”

9:18 - Montage – Donkey Kong, people playing Wii, more mainstream media clips about Wii/DS, YouTube videos from fans

9:20 - New controller – the Wii zapper! Uses both the wii remote controller and the Nunchuck attachment. Will work with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Also Ghost Squad and Medal of Honor games in development taking advantage of the new zapper.
9:21 - Wii Zapper will be packaged with software, priced at $19.99.

9:23 - Soul Caliber Legends, World Wrestling Smackdown vs. Raw, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for DS

9:26 - Smash Brothers Brawl detail – launch will be December 3rd of this year.

9:28 - Video of two Hylia webmasters, discussing hardcore gaming on the Wii. Demoing Phantom Hourglass for DS, Game has been well received in Japan – big surprise.

9:30 - Demo of Metroid Prime 3 – Wii-mote control. Demonstration of visor switching on the fly by holding minus button and gesturing. Looks relatively intuitive.

9:33 - Reggie’s back onstage, discussing online strategy – another “media” montage about DS wi-fi, Wii channels.

9:35 - Virtual console 5.6 million downloads from the 112 available titles. Mentioned WiiWare again. New channel announcement – “check Mii out” a sort of voting/swapping channel for Miis.

9:38 - Mario Strikers Charged online, Madden 08 and FIFA 08 will be fully online, with leagues and a new “party mode” Dragon Quest Monsters will feature online battles,  Guitar Hero 3 as well.

9:40 Mario Kart for Wii announced – will be online 1st Quarter next year. Online multiplayer battle mode and racing. Fanboys/fangirls just collectively wet themselves.

9:41 - Custom Wii-Wheel will make its debut with Mario Kart for Wii. Will come packed in with the game.

9:43 - Montage about older players – the elderly enjoying Wii bowling and brain age DS. Nintendo is courting toddlers, moms, students, etc. They’re really hawking this “all demographics” idea this year.

9:44 - Nintendo president Iwata is onstage now, discussing the nontraditional titles like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Wii Sports and DS cookbook software in Japan.

9:47 - According to Iwata, the next immediate challenge for Nintendo is destroying the barrier between non-traditional and veteran gamers. “Games are for everyone.”

9:49 - Goal is to design games that allow players of all skill levels to play together. Miyamoto coming onstage soon to demo a new title that shows off this quality. That’s a tease.

9:50 - Video montage of couples/families who play together – featuring Super Mario Galaxy, Brain Age 2.

9:55 Brain Age 2 will launch August 20, 2007. Now featuring Super Mario Galaxy – discussion of new mechanics, changing gravity and direction to explore the levels. Release date announced: November 12th of this year.

9:57 - More peeks at new titles; Mysims and High School Musical both for DS and Wii. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. Discussion of “improvement” titles like Flash Focus a vision training title, MyWord Coach for improving vocabulary and MyLife Coach.

9:59 - Yet another media montage, this time the focus is on wii sports and the new “improvement” phase.

10:02 - Miyamoto takes the stage, along with trainers demonstrating the exercises from WiiFit.

10:06 - The game works with a floor pad, features several exercises and activities, with sports, dancing, stretching, and mii integration. There are four categories - Aerobics, muscle conditioning, balance exercises, and yoga positions. The floor pad is the “wii balance board” it measures weight and balance shifts.

10:10 - Doing a “body check” on Reggie. Most halarious. The board measures center of gravity, Body Mass Index, etc. and tracks it over time.

10:13 - Miyamoto and Reggie are Competing in the soccer goalie game – Reggie is definitely winning. He must’ve practiced. Gets smacked in the face by a shoe in the game - everyone laughs.

10:16 - Reggie’s wrapping up the conference with, “This is Nintendo’s time to lead”, more comments about market expansion, citing newer modes of entertainment (YouTube, Flickr, etc.).

10:18 - One final media montage and we’re done.

Thanks for being here and enjoy the rest of E3!