Posts Tagged ‘Nintendo’

GTTV Extended Cut: Reggie Fils-AimeNo Comments

We’ve posted a longer 15 minute version of my interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. Conducted a few weeks ago at the Nintendo world store, we discuss the 3DS, 3d movies, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and the future of augmented reality.

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E3: Nintendo, A Love Letter to the Hardcore?7 Comments

nintendo-e32009Despite record sales for the Wii in 2008, last year’s Nintendo E3 briefing didn’t exactly fire up the masses with Wii Music and Animal Crossing. This year Nintendo was determined to please the hard-core and appeal to its expanded audience. That’s not an easy balance to strike, and I’ve publicly wondered if Nintendo even needs to focus on E3. I mean let’s face it: Most Wii owners who pick up Wii Fit don’t even know or care about the trade show.

So how did Nintendo do? There’s no question there was much more for the hardcore Nintendo gamer at E3 2009, including the shock announcement of Metroid: Other M — probably the best kept secret in any of the first party briefings. Add in Mario Galaxy 2, the first hints at a new Wii Zelda (which was mentioned the next day at a Miyamoto roundtable), and a 2D Super Mario Bros for Wii, and Nintendo certainly has a lot of games in the pipeline.

Here are my thoughts on the briefing:

STAGECRAFT: The cramped Club Nokia stage combined with high-placed teleprompters made it look like the Nintendo executives were talking to the heavens for most of the briefing. Still, Nintendo always delivers the quickest (75 minutes) and most polished E3 briefing. This year’s show was no exception.

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT: For most of the briefing hardcore Nintendo fans were up in arms. Half way through the presentation I was getting Tweets like “This is worst than last year!” But then, in the final 10 minutes, Reggie saved the show with Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M. Before I knew it, the positive Tweets were flowing, such as “Give Reggie a bear hug for us hardcore guys!”

CHECK YOUR FACTS: When discussing Wii Fit, Cammie Dunaway said that with 15 million sold, the Balance Board now ranks alongside other home systems in terms of worldwide installed base. What system is she referring to? While the Wii Fit numbers are impressive, both the PS3 and 360 are beyond 15M sales worldwide.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: You have to give props to Reggie and Cammie for actually playing games during their briefing. Rival execs just read prompters, but the two Nintendo figureheads actually picked up controllers and played their products.

STRANGEST SEGUE: From Cammie Dunaway: “We admit we haven’t quite figured out how to move [Mario] into a fourth dimension. But that number, 4, that’s the key to Mario’s next surprise.” Is this a hint that the next Wii will include a water sprayer to add 4D effects to your Mario experience?

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: Nintendo spent ample time hyping up the multiplayer in New Super Mario Bros. for Wii….but conveniently forgot to mention that there is no online multiplayer support.

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, PART 2: Reggie said, “”Third party publishers are drawn to opportunity. And right now there’s no opportunity larger than Nintendo.” The only problem? Third parties can’t seem to crack the opportunity and make non-Nintendo games a blockbuster hit on the Wii or DS.

BIGGEST OMISSION, PART 2: When Iwata revealed the Wii Vitality sensor he only showedphotos. But apparently there is a video of a Vitality Sensor demo, which Iwata showed to some European press behind closed doors. He edited the video himself on the plane trip over from Japan.

MOST OVERSHADOWED GAMES: Nintendo is getting into user-created content in a big way. Both Minis March Again: Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Warioware: DIY encourage user creativity, but the message seemed to be lost during the briefing.

BEST LINE: “I’ll be honest, I read the blogs too.” — Reggie, as he began to introduce the “hardcore” section of Nintendo’s briefing with Dead Space, The Conduit, and Metroid: Other M.

WHAT NINTENDO DOESN’T WANT YOU TO CALCULATE: Sure there are some big first party Wii games in the pipeline, but the vast majority are coming in 2010 like Sin and Punishment 2, Endless Ocean, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Metroid: Other M. The second half of 09 looks very light for hardcore first-party games.

MOST QUESTIONABLE GREENLIGHT: C.O.P THE RECRUIT from Ubisoft for the DS. With GTA: Chinatown Wars off to a slow start, does Ubisoft really think it can be successful with a new original GTA knock-off on the DS?

ONLY IN JAPAN: Where’s the news on new Wii Channels for the US? Japan has been rolling out new content like the Wii No Ma video channel and even a channel to order Pizza online. But Reggie didn’t even mention Nintendo Channels during the briefing.

BEST REVEAL OF E3: The setup for the Metroid: Other M trailer was brilliant. Reggie didn’t give up the surprise with his introduction, and it took a good 10-15 seconds of the trailer before it was clear a new Metroid game was afoot. Bravo!

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  • Face it nintendo forgot the hardcore. Its good to see another mario,Zelda,and Metroid but were still missing most of the … More»
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Extended Cut from E3: Reggie and Nintendo2 Comments

Here’s an extended version of my GTTV interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime from E3 2009. Enjoy.

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  • wow...that's just rude man...suffer like the rest of us hitting refresh 459083458 times... Thanks for the video Geoff. I like Reggie...I … More»
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Watch GTTV’s E3 Episode Now1 Comment

This week at E3 we filmed a special GTTV episode, featuring interviews with Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime, Microsoft’s John Schappert, and Sony’s Jack Tretton. Plus: In his only TV interview, Avatar director James Cameron fills us in on the new game. The good news is that you can now embed the show for viewing on other webpages, so check it out below:

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  • fBZxe5 I'm not eiasly impressed. . . but that's impressing me! :) More»
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Bonus Round E3 Recap3 Comments

On the last day of E3 we filmed a special Bonus Round episode to recap the presentations from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Guests were Michael Pachter from Wedbush Morgan Securities and Dan Shoe from BitMob. You can watch part 1 below, and stay tuned for the other parts to go online this weekend.

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Bioshock 2 World Exclusive This Thursday on GTTV2 Comments

This week GTTV moves to a new premiere time, Thursday nights at 12:30. (Although the show will still air on Friday nights as well). And this is a show you don’t want to miss – it’s one of our best yet! First, you’ll see the world premiere of BioShock 2. This isn’t a CG trailer or a teaser — it’s real gameplay, and it’s not just a quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse. You’ll see the Big Sister in action and get a sense of how it will feel to play as the Big Daddy! Don’t miss it.

If that’s not enough, we also have some other great things planned. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime joins me to discuss the state of Nintendo and brings along a world exclusive trailer for Punch-Out!! that showcases new content. Reggie also tells us what he thinks about President Obama playing the Wii, updates us on what to expect at E3 from Nintendo, and gives us his take on how Microsoft and Sony are doing in the console war.

Also, you’ll get breaking news on what’s next for Killzone 2 and exclusive footage. And, game design legend Peter Molyneux joins us to tease what he has up his sleeve for E3 and beyond.

Watch the promo below and make sure not to miss this week’s show.

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  • This is BS! Why air a new episode on 12:30 on thursday I waited the usual 1am on Friday and … More»
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