Nintendo's Mascot = Quality

Nintendo’s ‘seal of quality’ has traditionally been a badge, which reassured customers that software for their platform wouldn’t crash or damage their console. It was never meant to be a badge to guarantee the quality of the software. Yet, over the years, due to the large volume of quality titles that were released on Nintendo systems, it developed a following for meaning just that. The issue Nintendo currently faces is that aside from their first party titles and a minority of third party games, the majority of content being released for the Wii and DS is awful. This at a time when you can get plenty of awful software for free on the Iphone platform or quality high end content on other consoles. This software consumes the shelf space allocated for the Wii at retail and is skewing the public’s perception of what the Wii and DS stand for.

I am proposing that Nintendo take the ‘seal of quality’ and make it mean something again. They need to allow the seal to mean more to the consumer than a security badge saying ‘it’s safe to run’. Nintendo needs to offer confidence to the consumer in their marketplace. The challenge, of course, is how can Nintendo make its seal of quality mean something again, without shutting out small developers (no that large developers are always producing constantly great games)? It’s a pertinent question as the Wii is a console with an image and perception problem, which should not be allowed to carry through into its next, HD iteration.

The Wii software market is clearly being weakened by the glut of low quality third party games, which often reach out to the lowest common denominator in terms of gameplay experience, graphics and volume of content available to those who have purchased the game. Perhaps, though, before we work out how Nintendo can improve matters, we should first understand how the company ended up in this situation. History is not just there to sell books (or fill web pages), but can guide us to avoid the mistakes of yesterday recurring in the problems of tomorrow.

I have one, I love it, but not enough other people did.

Nintendo’s previous system, the GameCube, was starved of quality third party content from about a third of the way into its live span. Excluding EA bringing out its yearly sport franchises and the mainstream multi platform blockbuster (eventually even these were excluded from the GameCube) the console became a first party only platform along with the timed exclusive games from Capcom (most famously Resident Evil 4). No other console could have survived and still seemed relevant in this situation, but Nintendo’s own first party publishing and developing support is truly amazing.

Nintendo knew that for the Wii to be a success it had to break out of just being a ‘Mario and friends’ device, and luckily with the DS Nintendo had managed to build a lot of trust with developers who had previously abandoned working with the company. Hence with the launch of the Wii we saw a third party developer friendly approach to the console. As a technology platform it was already attractive due to the much lower development cost of building software for it in comparison to the Xbox 360 and PS3. Additionally as soon as it had become apparent (which it did very quickly) that this was going to be the main console for some time, the Wii was suddenly extremely attractive to develop for. The head of EA was apologising for having not seen the Wii ‘coming’ and promised to refocus internal studios on the platform.

There has been some great third party success stories such as the Wii version of Guitar Hero, UbiSoft’s Shaun White snowboarding game, Sega products in general and additional ‘mop up sales’ of Call of Duty related games. There have also been some third party games which have had good to amazing reviews but failed to sell copies such as Little Kingdom, No More Heroes, The Conduit, and similar products.

Following on from these though have been a bucketload (it’s a big bucket I have in mind) of shoddy, cheap to make (but not always cheap to buy) games which have wrecked the market. They have been games designed to ride the draft behind the march of great titles such as Wario Smooth Moves, Brain Training, Wii Fit and the Wii Sports concept. The fact they are often poorly made is not  the biggest issue as their greatest crimes are that they have taken up shelf space, confused the consumer, and in some cases resulted in the consumer feeling ripped off and taken for a ride.

Nintendo, as with its history of the Gamecube, have found that they once again have to commit serious amounts of software development time and investment in bringing new and major first party titles to the Wii market. Consequently almost all of the games the Wii is looking forward to over the next 9-18 months are first party, and it is clear that it is these titles which will sustain the platform until the Wii2 is released.

A great machine, with some great software, let down by the fact it's home to tons of not so good software, which sells £10+

Regarding the DS platform it’s clear what Nintendo’s plan is; to abandon it and move onto the 3DS as soon as possible. This platform is designed to create as much ‘clear blue water’ between itself and the Apple market as possible. The increased graphical punch of the device along with the consumer expectation of a 3D experience will, they hope, result in ‘meatier’, hardcore related software titles for the platform. Nintendo itself is clearly focusing a lot of its own time on releases for the platform based on the huge list of third party games being developed for it. However, one wonders what will happen post release? The games being released on launch will be of a high enough quality that they can set the standard, and will hopefully force third party developers not to pitch their quality lower with the games that come in the second wave. However, one wonders if there is not more Nintendo could do to protect consumers.

One way would be to make the Nintendo seal mean something. The first thing to say is that the seal doesn’t have to be a barrier to a game being released. However not all games have to carry the seal, or perhaps we could have different versions of the seal. This would mean, in effect, that Nintendo was rating and reviewing their competitors’ games and result in a clear example of being in a situation where they could skew the market for their own sake. Perhaps this could be given over to an independent body funded out of the licence companies pay to publish their games on the Nintendo systems, and Nintendo themselves would have to submit their games ahead of release to the same body.

I can’t see the above happening. There is one simple way though of resolving this issue (well it’s easy from my perspective), and that is by Nintendo whole-heartedly adopting the Apple online market. All boxed games have to carry a Nintendo seal and Nintendo would perhaps control which games are released as a AAA experience in a much stricter fashion than they have with the Wii. However, to get the other titles on the system open up their download store so that it has thousands of games, and not just tens of games. Make the development kit for downloadable only titles cheap, and allow pricing to be in a real currency and not points. Heck even allow free titles, ad funded titles and more.

Apart from allowing Nintendo to offer the same core experience as the Itouch, and hence eat into Apple’s territory (taking the fight back to them), they can still offer that AAA experience via cartridges or a separate AAA download area should they wish to also offer downloadable versions of their boxed games.

The consumer, thanks to Apple, already understands that the app market has a huge variety of experiences on its platform, and they won’t need a Nintendo seal on the downloads. Additionally Nintendo does not need to worry about someone bringing out a full-featured game for £2 and undermining the main 3DS market. They can protect it by having memory constraints on the games released through their app store and perhaps limiting the application of some other technologies. However, the main protection will be the reality that for any company to justify the investment in a AAA title for the 3DS, as unlike the original DS top games will require large teams and long development times to get the best out of them, they will have to release it for at least £15 upwards.

Will Mario lead the third party market to the promised land of sustained quality?

I have no problems having rubbish or small games on the 3DS or the Wii2. However let’s keep them apart from the AAA products. XBL and PSN have so far managed to do this well, whilst the Apple Store has failed. Nintendo has been late to the online party, but can now sit back learn everyone’s lessons and use them to solve its own problem; how to save Nintendo’s Seal of Quality and make it mean something again.

Last week, I wrote an article regarding the connection between videogame consoles and computers, and the war in the Congo – more specifically, people’s reactions to an article in Kotaku on the subject. Now, I am able to offer you a chance to show that you care.

I chose to treat the subject of ‘conflict minerals’ – in this case, minerals mined to fund the widespread rape and murder in the Congo – as more than something to update the site with one day. I contacted the international charity Oxfam with a view to supporting an existing online petition on the subject, and they kindly pointed me in the direction of Raise Hope For Congo. As part of their campaigning, RHFC have set up an online form where you can, with just one click of a mouse button, tell Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo that you want them to ensure their machines contain no minerals from conflict zones.

It needs no more than thirty seconds of your time, if that – though you can personalise the message sent in the e mail if you wish. All you have to do is give your name and address, and click a button. That’s it.

The form is currently US-centric, but I live in the UK and I’ve filled it out. Simply mark ‘State/Province’ as ‘Other’. RHFC have told me that “We’re working to fix the functionality of the webform to make it more accessible for activists outside of the U.S.”.

Conflict minerals are not unique to videogame products, and RHFC are well aware of this. This is why your message will be sent to the 21 biggest electronics companies, the list of which includes Apple, Nokia, Samsung, IBM, and LG (as well as, of course, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, and Nintendo).This is the link you need; if the link doesn’t work on your browser/device, then please copy and paste it into your browser:

http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1684/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265

It’s not your fault that you own devices which have, in part, funded the horrors in the Congo – and believe me, the sad truth is that you do own such devices. But wouldn’t you rather be part of the solution than part of the problem?

To find out more about who Raise Hope For Congo are, what they do and why they do it, visit http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/.

Remember the Nintendo Wii? Of course you do, everyone and your dog owns one. It is the little white (or now black) box that couldn’t satisfy you if you had the nerve to consider yourself “proper hardcore.”

That’s a half-truism. Every now and then a more mature game with a different target audience than what the Wii generally caters to is released, such as No More Heroes, Madworld, or House of the Dead Overkill. Unfortunately, these games usually tank on the charts because the audience these games are aimed at probably doesn’t own a Wii, or if they do, they’ve long since forgotten about it. Why? Games that target the traditional fan base took a little too long getting to the machine, or are so few and far between that they can often slip by the public unnoticed.

The Conduit, released in the summer of 2009, was one of those games that slipped by the radar. There was a lot of hype leading up to its release, but once it hit store shelves the game received mixed reviews from industry leading critics, and worse than that, it had box art that screamed “bargain bin.”

Okay. Honestly, that was a larger introduction than I’m used to writing, and chances are that you, the reader, have stopped doing your job. That is, uh, reading.

Conduit 2 (the developers dropped the “The” from the title) is coming out in the fall of this year, and if all goes according to plan, it’ll blow the pants off of not only the original, but what you expect from a Wii shooter.

First off, let’s be clear: developer High Voltage Software (HVS) is smart. Many people consider the original Conduit to be a technological marvel on the Wii console. The Quantom3 engine has been refined once again and the effects are immediately noticeable. Conduit 2 looks phenomenal. Wii release or not, the game looks good. It’d be mind blowing in full 1080p. HVS knows what they are doing with visuals.

But what really makes HVS so intelligent is that they listen to the gamers. They listen to the critics. Yes, most companies say they do, but these guys really are. In this day and age you have to. There is so much competition in the market that you can’t afford to ignore what the users online are talking about. You have to compete for the love. You have to compete for the money.

One of the complaints critics made was about boss battles. In the original, there wasn’t so much bosses as there were regular, powered up regular enemies. Gameplay design flaw number 1. In the sequel, there are full on bosses with full on battles. Early levels on display showcased a canned fight scene versus a rather hefty leviathan.

Working around Nintendo’s Friend Code policy, HVS has developed their own in-game Rivals List. This will allow you to bookmark friends and enemies in a quick and easy manner, rather than using the clunky Friends Code option delivered to you by Nintendo in most system releases.

Wii Motion Plus? Well, of course. It’d be absolutely juvenile for High Voltage to release a game catering to this particular market without accessories for the hardcore. Interestingly enough, however, HVS isn’t going to use Motion Plus for your traditional 1-for-1 movement tracking, and instead will use the optional add-on for recalibration of the controller. Essentially, when you move your Wii remote cursor off screen, the device will help recognize it quicker.

There are improvements to be mentioned for sure but to be frank, Conduit 2 looks strikingly similar to The Conduit. If you’re a Wii gamer looking for a more traditional first person shooting experience, check out this game. If by chance you are regular, run of the mill Nintendo Wii user (there are 70+ million of you), you will probably walk right by HVS’s newest offering, looking for a friendly family title.

I’m not going to elaborate on the link between gaming and the Congo conflict here. I was reminded of it by an article from Brian Crecente, editor at Kotaku, and I advise you to read it too. The article links out to further information which is well worth investigating. In fact if you don’t already know much about the issue, I would urge you to read Crecente’s article before continuing with mine.

I’m approaching this issue from a completely different angle. When I started reading the comments Crecente’s article attracted, I became more and more furious until I had to stop reading them. I was so angry, I could just as easily have screamed as cried. Whilst the comments posted on Kotaku itself are generally calm in tone, those posted on N4G featured predictably naked insecurity and vitriol.

First thing’s first: Nobody is saying that you are knowingly supporting the war in the Congo. Nobody’s saying you knew where the components came from when you bought your PS3/PC/360/Wii/whatever. Nobody’s saying you are directly responsible for the pain and suffering, nobody’s saying the war would stop if nobody played videogames, and nobody’s saying there aren’t a hundred thousand other products that contribute to the conflict (and many others).

Let’s look this ugly issue right in the face, shall we? Most of the ‘why should I care’ comments mask an attitude of ‘This is happening to a bunch of black kids in a far away place, not me or my neighbours, so why should I give a shit? I’m not giving up my games for anybody’. If you found that a percentage (however small) from the sale of your favourite games machine went to fund violence and rape on your doorstep, you’d care then, wouldn’t you? I hope for the sake of us all that you would.

Photo: AP

Saying ‘other products and hobbies fund war atrocities too’ isn’t an argument – it’s a cowardly get – out clause. If you discovered people on your street were kidnapping and raping children, would you report them – or would you shrug your shoulders and join in?

Oh I’m sorry, was that last paragraph shocking? Unnecessary? The sad truth is that proposing an extreme theoretical situation like that is going to connect with you emotionally much more than detailing the real life suffering happening right now to human beings you’ll never meet. The point is, you should have left the ‘well they’re doing it’ argument at nursery school.

It’s important to remember that comments – both positive and negative – are only left on websites by a vocal minority, so it’s difficult to gauge just how many readers of that article took such a callous view of the situation. Nonetheless some certainly did, and some even take the issue lightly enough to make poor jokes about it. Why? Well I’ve already hinted at the possibility that some simply hate the idea of being told to stop playing their games, and that others wrongly assumed they were being accused of knowingly contributing to the conflict. The bottom line is however, many people (to one degree or another) find it difficult to empathise with people unless they’re standing in front of them.

“So what do you expect me to do?” I hear you cry. A fair question. I’m not going to tell you to destroy your consoles – I don’t want to do that either. In theory, what I want you to do is simple; tell Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft (incidentally, the only company to indicate they try to avoid sourcing materials from conflict zones) that you do not want to buy machines made with conflict minerals. The best way of doing this will probably be an online petition, so I ask you: do you know of an already established one we can help to promote? If so then please leave a link, along with any other ideas, via a comment below.

If you don’t think complaining or protesting will make a difference, you’re wrong. If the big three see that the issue is widely known – and most importantly of all, that people care about it – they will issue public statements. If they officially declare that they will do their best to ensure that no conflict minerals are used in their machines then no, you and I have no way of checking this; but there are official bodies who can and will. That’s how the issue was discovered in the first place.

• Format: Wii
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo
• Players: 1 or 2
• Site: http://supermariogalaxy.com/

The original Super Mario Galaxy was by far the best game on the Wii, and is also one of the greatest games of all time. Nintendo haven’t released a numbered sequel to a Mario game since Super Mario Land 2 on the GameBoy in 1992, so can this new entry hope to capture some of the original Galaxy’s magic stardust, or does it fall tragically into the black hole of identikit sequel?

The original Galaxy hit you with so many new ideas in each level, that it seemed impossible for Nintendo to create a Mario game that could raise the bar any further. The good news is this sequel does manage the impossible, and deserves its place amongst gaming’s greatest. With the release of Wii Fit, Wii Music etc, naysayers thought Nintendo had lost their magic, and it’s so gratifying to see them pull off such an amazing feat. This game re-affirms the belief that when on their game, no one can come close to Nintendo’s creative flair.

The new spaceship is a lot easier to navigate around than the previous game's Observatory

The first thing that will hit you when you start playing is the graphics. They are simply breathtaking for the Wii, with a colourful palette, and some insanely creative worlds to explore. The characters are all well animated, and with some huge boss characters to fight, the game amazes at every turn. Just how Nintendo manage to create fur so convincingly when even the HD consoles struggle we’ll never know!

Now the one thing that Nintendo lack, even with all these marvellous worlds to explore, is the ability to change the formulaic plot of Princess Peach being kidnapped..again! But who cares when you encounter levels with such ingenuity and variety. The aim of the game is to rescue the Princess, by collecting stars from each of the galaxy’s levels to power your spaceship towards the final battle with Bowser. If you’ve played the original Super Mario Galaxy you’ll be instantly at home here. The main hub this time is a much more compact ‘Mario’ spaceship, and you don’t need to go to different areas of the ship to navigate to a new galaxy. It’s a much simpler affair, with you simply taking the captain’s wheel and plotting your next move on a simple map, much like previous Mario games. This saves a lot of aimless wandering and is a welcome addition. Probably our favourite new feature though is the return of Yoshi, the loveable sticky tongued dinosaur. His return really adds a lot more variety to the levels. The ability to play through some levels as Luigi, Mario’s brother, is also welcome; but he doesn’t really bring anything different to the game, and at the end of the day his addition ends up feeling like a wasted opportunity.

Dodgy caption competition!

Each of the game’s levels has its own theme, from lava and water to the obligatory ice level. On some levels Mario can gain powers for a limited time. There are a few that return from the previous Galaxy including the Fire, Bee and Ghost suits, which enable you to shoot fireballs, fly like a bee, or float through walls ghost style respectively. New additions include the Rock suit which turns you into a boulder that you roll around in, there is also the Drill that enables you to drill through planets, which is well implemented in some of the levels. Another addition is the Cloud Mario outfit that lets your character create cloud platforms to help you reach distant areas. You can also pick up a balloon that inflates Yoshi to let you float around the levels, or in one instance use him as a torch to illuminate the platforms in front of you, by collecting ‘Light Yoshi’ power ups to traverse the pitch black level. Each of these powers is never overused and are expertly crafted into the gameplay in the well designed levels.

When it comes to the levels they seem even more outrageous than before, with the game taking you from a 2D perspective to 3D and then to an overhead view all in one level. One of our favourite levels started in a 2D perspective, before the angle changed and the level bent over in front of you like the scene in the new Christopher Nolan film, Inception, where the buildings fold over. Then towards the end of level we reached a flat platform with a button that when pushed made the floor rise up, much like a kids pop-up book, creating new platforms. There are also levels where there are buzz-saws that not only kill you, but are sawing apart the level that you are trying to traverse! Some of the levels are reminiscent of LittleBigPlanet, with gravity playing a part in your race to find the Star. If you are struggling to get past an area, Rosalina from the original Galaxy appears, and you can let her take you past the offending obstacle – the only downside being that the star you collect is bronze instead of polished gold, making you feel like an inadequate gamer. Hardcore players looking for a challenge can collect Comet Coins which unlock extra levels, with a much higher difficulty than the initial playthrough; so collecting all 120 stars can be a daunting prospect.

Some of the bosses are huge, and the graphics are top notch on the Wii

Now the only thing we can mark this game down on is the lack of originality of the plot, and the fact that some people may get motion sickness with some of the topsy turvy worlds that you encounter. The re-use of some of Mario’s powers may bring a sense of deja vu to some of the levels, but they never outstay their welcome, and the addition of the new powers takes the game in new refreshing directions.

It can never hope to recreate the original’s initial wow factor, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 is so full of ingenuity and creativity, that you are wowed just by playing it. With each level being a tour de force of different ideas that are never overused, and are fun-filled and challenging. This is arguably the greatest Mario game of them all, if not one of the best games of all time. The question is where can Mario go from here? But then we thought that the last time too!

10/10

If I wasn’t certain about it before E3 there isn’t any room left for doubt; the 3DS will be the most successful handheld of all time. Barring worldwide sterility, extraterrestrial invasion or all-out nuclear warfare (which may happen if North Korea are eliminated from the World Cup), the 3DS looks well placed to become an unqualified success. If it isn’t I will eat the hats of every homeless person in the northern hemisphere, and that’s a lot of tick infested items of clothing. So why would anyone risk contracting every disease know to man with such a pointless showboating wager? In my opinion failure for the 3DS is nigh on impossible.

I am always somewhat amused by the contempt with which the term gimmick is thrown around, especially as it had been before E3 in relation to the 3DS. It implies the notion that by finding appeal in something which doesn’t fundamentally change the nature of the product, the consumer is somehow being deceived. But the beauty of most of Nintendo’s platforms is that their unique features are completely optional and to be used at the discretion of the developer. New Super Mario Brothers Wii doesn’t require motion control, Mario Kart DS found no use for touch capabilities, and the 3D slider on the 3DS means that for the most ardent haters of 3D, and those suffering from visual impairment, there is little to complain about. Seeing as the majority of those who have managed to get hands-on time with the portable have approved, it is reasonable to assume that the 3D integration has been well implemented.

The genius of the 3DS is in its gimmicky appeal. 3D is a notoriously difficult experience to describe as although the technology is hardly new, it hasn’t been mainstream enough for the language used to describe a 3D experience to mature effectively. That will change in time, and once we have become accustomed to 3DS games we will be better equipped to interpret screenshots and streaming footage, and imagine how they would look when played on the 3DS.

Until then the way in which we will tell our friends and relatives about the 3DS is by showing it to them. Nothing is more effective than a hands-on experience with an appealing gimmick, and it has a massive potential for sales through word of mouth and demonstrations alone. In the case of the DS, touch screen technology was a known quantity, and whilst interesting to the general public, was far from novel. They needed to play games like Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training to understand why the technology would appeal to them. In the case of the 3DS a cursory glance at the screen is enough to intrigue most people. The ‘Oooooooooo I want one’ factor (as it is known by behavioral psychologists) is a powerful marketing force and one which the 3DS taps into perfectly. The real coup de grace though is the ability for the 3DS to take 3D photos. Honestly, this feature is going to sell an awful lot more pieces of hardware and might just prove to be a real stroke of genius. Everyone will want to take photos of their friends, their families and their pets and to show them to other people using the 3DS. When they do so, they will be showing that person why they too need to buy a 3DS.

After all of that, the quality of the actual games seems less important, but this looks like the strongest launch period line-up Nintendo have ever produced. Even if they don’t all get released in the launch window, they show that the 3DS has the ability to appeal to everyone. Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs and cats, Layton and plenty of others are perfect titles to ensnare the casual market, while the promise of games like Metal Gear, Resident Evil and Kid Icarus mean that to play some of your favorite franchises you can’t afford to miss the 3DS.

I previously believed that the 3DS would kick start another reissue of SNES games, such as the Mario platformers, in 3D and I still believe they will be coming. But the fact that Mario 64, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 have all been displayed as 3D demonstrations on the device gives a clear indication that Nintendo is going to be tapping up its N64 generation of games. With a lot of classic titles that could be converted to 3DSware, a robust downloadable service for Nintendo’s handheld is a must. Despite the complex ownership issues I for one would love to see games such as Blast Corps in glorious 3D.

Although they have been available to play, there are still some questions about the 3DS that need answering. The specifics haven’t been spelled out yet, but the games look good. Most have compared them to Gamecube level, and on a portable device you don’t need much better than that. Suffice to say that we won’t be seeing the Lego block style of 3D that we saw on the DS. It looks good enough to do franchises like Metal Gear and Resident Evil justice, and it looks good enough that people who have never played games on an HDTV will be suitably impressed.

It is also a very good looking device in of itself. And with a very similar appearance to the DS Lite and DSi, of course it should be. But thinking back on the original Gameboy, the GBA and the DS, first iterations of handheld Nintendo devices have always been ugly as sin and uncomfortable to hold. As such the 3DS is a huge step up in terms of a first attempt from Nintendo and will appeal even more to the general public at launch, as opposed to several years and several redesigns later. But Nintendo makes a lot of money from those redesigns so you can expect to find a new 3DS in a few years. They will no doubt make improvements in the clarity of the screen, the effectiveness of the 3D itself and shrink or expand the size, but the point is that this time you are actually getting something that feels more like a finished piece of hardware, rather than a clunky prototype.

There are only three possible reasons I can think of which might lead me to feasting on the moist headwear of more unfortunate people.

The first is a massive hardware failure, and by massive I mean on a grander scale than the RROD. 360 owners, as dedicated gamers, were angered by the failure rate, but there was little doubt that they would pick up a replacement. Casual gamers might not be so forgiving. Seeing as Nintendo always produces quality and durable hardware this seems very unlikely.

The second is that it could be priced too high. 200 dollars would be the most I can see people being comfortable with considering that consoles cost little more than that, so if they went to 250 it could slow the early adoption rate. With that said, Nintendo doesn’t usually make the mistake of launching at too high a price, and even though the Wii started at 250 it did include a pack-in.

Lastly, and the most unlikely of the three, is that Sony could pull something incredible out of the hat for a successor to the PSP. At this stage I can’t really see what they could possibly do to outmaneuver Nintendo and convince me not to buy a 3DS. Better graphics isn’t going to cut it this time. If they do decide to dip back into the handheld market (and considering they did sell plenty of PSPs it seems probable) then besides a tweaked PSP, the only way I can see them going is forward is with a cell phone gaming device hybrid. Then at that point they are taking on the iPhone; not the smartest thing to do.

With the 3DS destined for greatness I just have to wait to get my hands on one. Several million others are probably thinking the same thing.

Nintendo Conference: June 15^th 5:00pm GMT

Here we are in time for the big one. Why is this the big one? Well the 3DS is going to be shown for sure and as for other predictions: another Zelda game has already been strongly hinted at and the Goldeneye remake. I just have my fingers crossed they don’t fall back on yet another new Mario game. It’ll be hard to do worse than last year’s Wii Vitality Sensor either way.

• From the looks of it the audience were entertained with multiple choice trivia questions on the huge screen taking centre stage like last year. A missed opportunity to have an epic game of ‘Who’s That Pokemon’.
• Music playing; “Are you satisfied?” No, Nintendo. I am not.
• Here we go, starting for real now. Good old Reggie takes the stage and he’s as smiley as ever. They must put something in this man’s water to be that lively so early in the morning.
• “As usual, that buzz begins with technology” starting off with the big one are we, Reg? “Technology is only a tool.” Yeah? So is a pencil. “Let’s begin with details on an experience you’ve been waiting for…”
• A trailer plays, revealing the new Zelda game to lots of applause. Link in his various guises over the years, then it focused on a few N64 type design Link followed by gameplay. Skyward Sword, it seems to bridge the gap between the visuals of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
• Miyamoto appears on screen talking with two voices at once about how to use a sword and shield (at least he isn’t on stage with them this year…). The answer he’s come to this year is…the Wii remote and the Motion Plus. Must remember I’m not allowed to swear, but think of a saying that ends in ‘…Sherlock’.
• Back and fourth between a demo guy on stage and the pre-recorded video of Miyamoto. Live demo follows showing the remote being used…poorly. Then Miyamoto bursts through onto the stage to show him how its done. “I’m going to explain it myself” Miyamoto declares (in broken English), “I think that’s a good idea” his partner on stage says. I don’t think it is. Thankfully he’s translating for him.
• To be honest, looks very fidgety to play and Link isn’t reacting very well to Miyamoto’s swipes with the remote (but that could be down to the conditions of the room more than anything else). He confuses an eye on a door that follows his sword movements by swinging it around in big circles.
• Slingshot is demoed by Miyamoto’s inability to aim with it, then he blows himself up with a bomb by accident while trying to demo how to throw and on the second attempt the Wii remote doesn’t react to the throwing action or rolling action. The bow is next and he seems to have trouble with aiming only at the floor. Miyamoto blames people in the audience using wireless devices since it “was fine in rehearsals”.
• A new item, a beetle which is launcher and is then controlled is then shown, this is cut short because of the interference as well. The new whip item is next. You whip with it. Were you expecting something else?
• Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be out next year. The same gameplay trailer that opened also ends this part of the presentation after an over-long explanation about the interference once again and that it’ll be on the show floor to prove it’s really fine to control.
• Reggie is back on the floor. I notice that while last year it opened to a five minute boasting session about how well they’ve been doing, this year has been very much more subdued.
• The focus here seems to be the sports games coming to Wii, eventually getting to…ugh, Mario. Mario Sports Mix. Basketball, football, hockey and a bunch of other sports given the Mario twist. Released next year.
• Switching topic again, Reggie is now talking about last year people saying Wii momentum is on the wane and now he’s boasting that they aren’t. I take back what I just said above, seems they still feel the need to defend themselves. Basically what he’s getting at here is that Wii consoles are still being used and aren’t just touched for a while and left alone – which contradicts the actions of everyone I know who owns one, but there you go. He’s got facts, so he must be right.
• Wii Party, for your Wii Mii needs. In other words it’s Mario Party without that Mario twist. Innovation at its best, Nintendo.
• Now a new Just Dance game from Ubisoft by the sounds of it. Remember during the Microsoft console I mentioned the game where you just dance? Well this is exactly like that except you need to hold the Wii remote. Which is better by that comparison? Just Dance 2 exclusive for Wii, out later this year.
• Reggie mentions that last year a lot of people “got jazzed” with the news of a new Golden Sun. It’s now got the subtitle Dark Dawn. A trailer for it plays, very…colourful gameplay, I guess. Turn based battles and dungeon exploration shown, fairly good looking for a DS game. Various summons (?) are shown filling both DS screens. The game will be out at the end of this year.
• A new trailer plays. Can already tell that this is about Goldeneye. A group of people having a forced conversation around a table now. As was leaked the other day by numerous websites (including ours) exclusively for the Wii, Goldeneye is making a return. For some reason Bond is Daniel Craig in it now. It’ll also be out the end of this year.
• Changing tracks quickly here. Mickey Mouse, in other words Disney: Epic Mickey. Warren Spector takes the stage with some other staff behind the game. The game is out at the end of this year (recurring theme, it seems).
• “Welcome to Wasteland” Warren announces. The on-stage demo takes place in Ventureland. Mickey is talking to Smee. Paint and thinner are Mickey’s weapons to “dynamically change the game world to save it”. “Play style matters.”
• The location changes to an ‘action zone’. This is a side scrolling platform section inspired by Steamboat Willie and is mostly in black and white.
• That’s it for Epic Mickey and Reggie is back. “Keeping popular franchises fresh takes a lot of imagination”. I know it does, Nintendo, but it’s too late to worry about it now.
• It seems there is a return to Kirby. A trailer plays on the big screen showing off Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Actually looks quite amusing to play, with bits of the stages being unzipped or crumpled to open new passages and things like that. Everything has a hand-stitched visual style and co-op play is also shown. It’ll be out later this year.
• Topic shifts to how popular Dragon Quest XI is in Japan. Reggie goes over the various quest numbers and things like that, but points out that it’s the community of players that make it so good thanks to up to three people playing together. The top player has clocked in around 140hrs. Fear my 350+hrs Disgaea 3 file, lady.
• Metroid Other M is next up with a gameplay trailer showing lots of ball rolling and Samus staring. Typical Metroid without the focus so strongly on first person. Trailer abruptly cuts off. The game is out on 31^st August.
• “If you listen, you can hear it coming.” I know that music…! Yup, a new Donkey Kong game. Gameplay trailer is shown, classic gameplay to match the classic music. Looks fun. Donkey Kong Country Returns – again this year.
• Here we go, 3DS. Finally. This better be good. Mr Iwata takes the stage.
• “Man, those glasses…that kind of fashion statement doesn’t come cheap, don’t be surprised to pay a hefty amount for those types of glasses.” So is it going to have them built into the screen or something… Reggie states no glasses.
• A trailer plays. Shows the growth of 3D and the glasses and then…
• The new DS is sitting on a glowing white cube. It looks quite small, the camera is panning in. It’s got a glowing bottom/middle and what looks like two camera lenses on the front casing.
• One large upper widescreen, smaller (by comparison) lower square screen and a very obvious analogue stick on the left. It has a ’3D Depth Slider’. The bottom screen is a touch panel but the top one isn’t.
• Improved graphic capability and control. ‘Slide pad’ rather than analogue, my bad. Camera on the front and two lenses on the outside. The reason for two on the outside is to take 3D pictures. It can also play 3D movies.
• Project Sora was meant to design a game specifically for 3DS, starring a familiar character. Kid Icarus Uprising gameplay trailer as the first 3DS game – very impressive though perhaps not quite as up to scratch as the PSP.
• “It’s not just the 3D graphics that make the 3DS 3D”…okay. It constantly scans for Wi-Fi and other 3DS nearby without you needing to do anything. Meaning ghost data, new maps and such like are on your system without you knowing it. Is that really a good thing? Hope it has a lot of space. Really wish they’d be specific about the specifications for it as well. Stated that there is no monthly fee for the access.
• Talking about releasing hardware and third party support. Where’s this going…?
• Oh, Nintendogs now with cats. Astonishing. But then he moves on to a list of publishers working on 3DS games. Some games being worked on include; Kingdom Hearts 3D, Saint’s Row, Professor Layton, Resident Evil and possibly most shocking of all; Metal Gear Solid.
• He leaves the stage saying that there will be a Kingdom Hearts 3D demo and then a trailer plays with various huge names of the industry talking about their reactions to hands-on time with the 3DS and what it means for them.
• Important information still missing: specific release date, price and so on. Reggie is back, so perhaps we’ll hear that now. He’s talking about “A new dimension” and so on.
• Since 3D can’t be displayed on a normal screen they struggled with how to demo it, so they’re trying something different. Let’s see where this is going. Yeah, this isn’t exactly a realistic advert for the hand held, but it’s a bit of fun nevertheless. Ends with Bowser burning Reggie’s face off.
• Back on stage, he removes his jacket…for some reason. At least his shirt is tucked in. “We’re going to let everyone here travel to that third dimension, right here, right now,” he says as music kicks in. A bunch of women with 3DS’ chained to their belts start pouring out the stage – by the looks of things to show the thing up close to the press in the room. This is where I can’t really comment sadly. Hundreds of women chained to 3DS’ flood into the crowd.
• For those who don’t get the chance to see the 3DS up close, some Wii consoles came out the floor to show off and allow people to play the new Zelda game.
• Reggie says his goodbyes and walks off.

Pity about the lack of information regarding the 3DS but hopefully that will all be revealed before the event is fully over. I’m quite impressed by it, but it’ll all depend on price and release date how well it fairs and if Sony has something new for the hand held market up its sleeve for later today.

Update – At the time of writing the trailer was taken down due to a copyright claim by Activision Games. I guess that pretty much confirms that this is legit. Excited?

After 13 years, numerous disappointing Bond titles and the foaming screams of fans world wide, the immortal words ‘Bond will be back’ may finally apply to the N64 classic, GoldenEye.

A trailer for the game has snuck out of Activision HQ onto the internet, and it looks like an incredible remake that has taken Rare’s masterpiece and cranked it up so much they have broken the dial. It features action packed gameplay that is set in explosively familiar surroundings, looking like it has taken a few leaves from the Call of Duty book of FPS rules.

A major difference for the remake however is the omission of Brosnan’s Bond, being replaced by new boy Daniel Craig.

The real bombshell that may upset or delight many is that the title will be a Wii exclusive if the trailer is anything to go by. The legal spiders web of who owns what with this game would even make deep blue wince, so it’s great news that it may have been cracked to allow this game to see a 2010 makeover.

None of this has been officially revealed mind, but the trailer looks very well polished and non-fake. Our money would be on Activision properly unveiling this sometime in the near future, after all, E3 is (or should be) where the trouser wetting game announcements happen.

Nintendo’s eventual transition from the silent genre to the ‘talkies’ is a sign that games are finally leaving behind their text-based past. Telling a story through written words will remain in the realm of handheld games and traditional RPGs, but for the majority of games we can expect to have our narratives spoon-fed to us. The problem doesn’t necessarily lie in the quality of the voice acting as that has improved considerably this generation, but rather in the ability of developers to tell their tale effectively without the clarity of text. With developers like Nintendo not yet being well versed in telling their tales through voices rather than text, is it premature to abandon the soon to be forgotten art of reading?

The full potential of text remains unexplored by the majority of games that still use it. In my opinion there are few games that take advantage of text to the extent that the Ace Attorney series has. If the dialogue was spoken, even in the unlikely circumstance that the voices of the beloved characters weren’t so appalling they would make you want to tear your ears off, the use of text is so masterful that its absence would harm the game immeasurably.

What might be surprising to those who aren’t fans of the series is the way in which the characters manage to emote so effectively without voice – and only using a few different pose frames. In fact, the pictures of the characters aren’t even the most expressive aspect; they are simply framing devices for the text. When a character adopts his shocked/angry/forlorn/confident pose, it is merely providing a context for the text and is an effective influence for us to interpret the way in which the character is speaking. When Edgeworth gives his cocky grin and shrugs his shoulders languidly, arms held aloft, the way in which he is delivering the lines is made absolutely clear, without the need to hear an irritating smug voiceover. Even the pace at which the text is given to the player provides an indication of their personality. Famously obnoxious old woman, Wendy Oldbag, delivers her most heated ramblings about the youth of today with the next lines of dialogue appearing before you have the chance to read the previous ones, and you can’t help but get a good sense of her character. A character like Cammy on the other hand often drifts off into slumber, and the text stops completely as you are forced to wait for her to go through her lengthy frames of animation as she stirs from her sleep. In both cases the text isn’t simply giving a deeper look at the character’s personality, it is also causing the player to feel an emotion towards that character. Irritation in both of these cases.

In much the same way, the music is incredibly effectively in conjuring the emotion of a scene and providing that context for the text to be better understood. Through repetition of certain songs and different musical arrangements, these MIDI miracles evoke atmospheres that would only be sullied by the intervention of voices. The theme song of the Faye sisters is particularly memorable and has been used to describe a wide range of emotions, from tragedy and reflection to relief and triumph. And while each game has a unique courtroom theme, the score changes in order to represent the twists and turns of unfurling events and emphasises in what direction the course of the trial has shifted. The sheer volume at which some of the more dramatic themes play (as a means of accentuating the panic of a situation) is another key part of the experience.

Finally, the use of text sidesteps what would prove to be some of the most obviously problematic points of a voiced game. As the series focuses on carefully picking apart witness testimony, you are often forced to go back and forth, rereading text. This reevaluating of statements and examination of held information is one of the biggest appeals of the game to certain people; but if we were forced to hear the same dialogue repeated over and over again it is clear that it would lose its lustre. And whilst the sly parodies and pop culture references in the games are enjoyable for those that spot them, would we really want to hear Moe the Clown do his own version of the opening theme of the show that made Will Smith famous? Altogether now, “In West Clownadelphia born and raised…”

It is strange that despite the number of years many developers were restricted to text rather than character acting, few games really attempted to do something beyond providing the player with paragraphs presented in a uniform manner. Whilst the Ace Attorney series doesn’t really do anything unique or innovative, it has honed its craft to the point where familiarity with its style of storytelling improves the experience rather than denigrates from it. We can only hope that Nintendo will be fast learners when some of their long muted characters finally turn up the volume.

You cannot deny how important to the industry E3 has become. I will be hooked to the press conferences and post conference follow ups (otherwise known as the details), and I expect many industry gazers, fans and whatnot to be doing much the same.

A couple of years ago there was an argument that due to the new casual market being dominant over the hardcore market that the relevance of E3 was diminishing. Some were citing the fact that Apple (now a huge player in casual portable gaming) and Facebook are not present, and so feel that this is evidence that E3 is not so relevant looking ahead. Well just because Apple is not there does not mean E3 is not relevant. E3 is, for the traditional players in the videogame industry, their equivalent of the WWDC or the autumn Apple update. It’s that one time when the world’s press is focused, all at the same time, on their industry.

Nintendo have been 'happy' to expose their marketing team to some awkward moments in the cause of conquering the mass market.

Nintendo, as always, have taken a slightly different approach over the last three years. It would seem that they value the massive pulling power an E3 press conference has, realising that those reporting on it now include the mainstream media and not just websites, blogs and magazines focused on hardcore gaming. Hence they used it as a platform to push their non hardcore products such as Wii Fit, Wii Music and most recently the heartbeat testing thing (I’m half expecting the British NHS to start using Wiis and this heart rate thing as a way of saving money). In some ways this strategy has worked, as whilst the hardcore press slammed them, the mainstream press reported these products and carried Nintendo’s message of accessibility onto the masses.

Hence with Microsoft and Sony about to release their casual gaming hardware (perhaps Sony’s has the potential to be more hardcore), will we find that they too will allow their conferences to become dominated by the mass market, leaving core gamers in the dark? I don’t think so, as their core gaming pedigree is too strong; but I do think that more and more of the big gaming releases will be relegated to fast paced trailers, and less walkthroughs. The ‘walk and talk throughs’ will be dominated by the new technologies and other non gaming announcements, to do with online services and possible OS updates.

Sony used E3 to announce their PSPGO. Here you can see the one other owner besides me.

So does this mean there won’t be new games announced? Of course there will be, but many will be shown on the show floor and it will be for the hardcore, specialist press to highlight without the help or assistance of PR departments of the Xbox, Sony or Nintendo teams. Some commentators are already saying that most of the headlines will be taken by Nintendo, due to the 3DS. Certainly, this has the potential to make Nintendo’s launch get the same degree of coverage as Apple’s recent Ipad launch, however there is no certainty that the feedback from the press will be positive. If the hardware offering does not tick enough boxes then all of that mass media attention could be something Nintendo could have done without, i.e. they might have preferred to show it off at a core industry event only.

For me the highlight of the show is clear. It's the debate and analysis.

One thing is for sure – none of the companies individually are yet able to reach the mass media press as well as Apple, when it comes to announcing new technologies and software. The launch of the Ipad and Iphone 4 with the associated buzz by the masses demonstrates how much the videogames industry needs E3 to collectively allow them to achieve a similar result. It seems though that the hardcore gamer will probably be served best by getting the information they seek about the next 6-9 months away from the glitz and noise of the E3 presentations.