8:48 - Getting ready for the briefing to begin. The Kodak Theater is defeating the power of wireless technology. That's less than ideal.
8:52 - The crowd is hyped, the expectations high. Making some progress with the wireless connection. Bozon looks scared.
9:02 - Things are about to get started. Everyone's getting settled in, turning their attention to the stage.
9:06 - A collage of photos plays across the screen. People are cheering in the pictures. We hope to join their excitement soon.
9:08 - Here we go.
9:09 - A montage video of people playing and enjoying the Wii. Chobot's in the video, for whatever reason.
9:11 - "We promise to keep the world smiling..." the videos says. Cammy Dunaway takes the stage.
9:12 - Cammy talks about being a mom. Shows pictures of her snowboarding vacation. What in the world.
9:13 - Shaun White appears, demonstrates his snowboarding game on Wii that uses the Balance Board.
9:14 - "The Flying Tomato" is smiling and happy. He looks a lot like Carrot Top.
9:16 - Shaun and Cammy exchange pleasantries, and are now playing Shaun White Snowboarding together. Cammy's happy to have not injured herself - though her jaw muscles are certainly getting strained.
9:17 - Iwata arrives.
9:17 - Iwata-san rememebers E3's past. Gets nostalgic.
9:19 - He remarks that he never could have guessed, five years ago, that the company would have sold so many bathroom scales by now. (Wii Fit.) The DS big sellers are featured, including Nintendogs and New Super Mario Bros.
9:21 - The user base has expanded, changed. Discusses the differences between more mainstream titles like Mario and Zelda, and the casual games like Wii Sports.
9:22 - Numbers, sales. Tons of hardware is being moved.
9:23 - Guitar Hero III is helping to "destroy the psychological barrier" with gamers. But what is next? Sooner or later, people will get tired. He takes a jab at Microsoft, mentioning that other companies are copying innovations.
9:24 - "Personally, I believe we must find new ways for players to be engaged." Players must be enriched, given increased enthusiasm.
9:26 - New Animal Crossing announced. "Animal Crossing: City Folk" for Wii, coming in 2008.
9:28 - Animal Crossing's director explains the new City environment in AC Wii. There's an auction house, and a Happy Room Academy where you can find out what other players are doing. You can visit Gracie at her fashion store, and get your hair did. Masks are introduced, and your character can look like your Mii. Messages can be sent from the game to friend's real world cell phone.
9:30 - The new "WiiSpeak" microphone peripheral is announced - finally, a Voice Chat solution for the Wii. Will be utilized in Animal Crossing for player gatherings.
9:31 - "Looking ahead, I want players to have the freedom to be able to create their own world."
9:32 - Reggie arrives on stage. He's ready to rock.
9:32 - "We're pleased with Animal Crossing and WiiSpeak, and even more pleased with our marketplace data." 10 million Wii, 20 million DS, over 5 billion retail dollars earned in hardware sales just in the US.
9:33 - Lifetime Global Hardware Unit Sales for all the last generation systems - the biggest bar belongs to DS. Expected DS sales to grow to over 100 million DS systems.
9:33 - So far in 2008, DS sales are running another 12% ahead of last year's record. Pokemon pushed sales with over 600,000 copies of the most recent Mystery Dungeon titles. Over 180 million Pokemon games sold now.
9:35 - Talks about the new celebrity endorsement female-focused ad series that began in May. Sales more than doubled as a result.
9:36 - Reggie anticipates that Thursday's June NPD numbers will declare Wii #1 in America.
9:36 - "No system has ever sold more games in its first 19 months of availibility."
9:37 - Established mascots were leveraged early on to reassure veteran gamers. Then joined by new titles, like Wii Sports and Fit. Over 400,000 units sold for 19 different third party games.
9:38 - The Wii library is growing faster than the other systems.
9:39 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels is featured in a video presentation. Head-to-head lightsaber duels, footage interspliced with players using the Wiimore and Nunchuck.
9:40 - Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party is next, utilizing the balance board. Young girls sit on the floor, on the Board.
9:41 - Call of Duty: World at War represents the first-person shooter genre, the players in this video are using the Wii Zapper peripheral.
9:42 - "As you can see, Wii creativity is mushrooming." Cammy Dunaway is back on stage, and is transitioning the talk to the DS.
9:43 - Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades is announced, the DS follow-up to On Tour, which sold over 300,000 units in its first week.
9:44 - Spore Creatures for the DS. Emphasizes player creativity and sharing.
9:45 - Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is coming on November 10. This is the Pokemon Ranger sequel, localized for the US.
9:47 - A DS-exclusive Grand Theft Auto installment is announced. Set in a modern-day Liberty City, with the same free-ranging gameplay that GTA gamers have come to expect.
9:49 - Cammy discovers some of the expanded functionality of the DS, talking about using the system in airports and at baseball games for non-gaming applications. Cooking Navi in Japan is coming to America in an English version, in November. It's a cooking assistant application that has been pretty popular in Japan.
9:50 - Reggie is back, and talks about the Wii MotionPlus accessory. Announced first yesterday, it makes the Wii Remote "more responsive, more precise, more intense." It renders every slight shift in your arm into the gameplay. Shows how it works with ... Wii Sports Resort! The Wii Sports sequel, featuring beach-themed games.
9:51 - Wii Sports Resort will be packaged with the MotionPlus accessory, and an Extended Jacket for the Wii Remote. Cammy is back to play Disc Dog, one of the Sports Resort included games.
9:53 - Disc Dog is a frisbee-tossing fetch game, and Cammy has a bit of trouble doing it well. But Reggie wants to show a Wave Race-esque game.
9:54 -Sword Dueling has Reggie and Cammy facing off against each other. The 1:1 is looking pretty sweet with the sword action on-screen.
9:55 - Reggie easily destroys Cammy, then takes her name. But wait! Cammy strikes back and knocks Reggie out too.
9:56 - We've just seen the birth of the Camminator.
9:57 - Third parties are already considering how to utilize this new standard in 1:1 motion control. Wii Sports Resort will launch globally next Spring. But available this holiday will be...
9:58 - Wii Music! A drummer goes crazy on stage, demonstrating the virtual drumkit in the game.
9:59 - Miyamoto appears, and is playing a virtual saxophone with a Wii Remote held in front of his mouth. The drummer guy is still going, playing backup rhythm for Shiggy's sax.
10:00 - "Hello! This year I'd like to introduce you to Wii Music." This title fits in with Sports, Fit and Play as part of the original vision of the Wii brand.
10:01 - Wii Music is different from typical music games. It allows everyone to experience the joy of performing music. There's no need to follow closely any rhythm guides or notes to play these songs. All you have to do is hold the Wii Remote and move your body like you're really playing an instrument. The Wii picks up on your movements and interprets a note for you.
10:03 - Wii Music includes over 50 different instruments, and features themes from Nintendo classics like F-Zero. Miyamoto shows off the piano and violin.
10:05 - He then gets into the electric guitar, and a giant Taiko-esque drum. Ravi Drums, the drummer guy, takes a bow. He's playing a separate mode that also uses the Wii Balance Board, which simulates the virtual drum pedals. The mode will teach you how to play the drums in just a few weeks.
10:06 - The orchestra mode, seen at past E3 events, is included, along with handbells. The game will record your performances, and in that way you can create your own unique music videos. Bozon is frothing at the mouth.
10:08 - A full-on band of Nintendo execs is now on-stage, playing the Super Mario Bros. theme all together.
10:10 - The performance concludes, the band takes a bow and exits the stage. Reggie reappears.
10:11 - Recapping the announcements. Animal Crossing, Wii Sports Resort, MotionPlus, WiiSpeak, Wii Music. It's inevitable that when the paradigm shifts, imitation will follow.
10:13 - It's done. Reggie has left the building.
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8:52 - The crowd is hyped, the expectations high. Making some progress with the wireless connection. Bozon looks scared.
9:02 - Things are about to get started. Everyone's getting settled in, turning their attention to the stage.
9:06 - A collage of photos plays across the screen. People are cheering in the pictures. We hope to join their excitement soon.
9:08 - Here we go.
9:09 - A montage video of people playing and enjoying the Wii. Chobot's in the video, for whatever reason.
9:11 - "We promise to keep the world smiling..." the videos says. Cammy Dunaway takes the stage.
9:12 - Cammy talks about being a mom. Shows pictures of her snowboarding vacation. What in the world.
9:13 - Shaun White appears, demonstrates his snowboarding game on Wii that uses the Balance Board.
9:14 - "The Flying Tomato" is smiling and happy. He looks a lot like Carrot Top.
9:16 - Shaun and Cammy exchange pleasantries, and are now playing Shaun White Snowboarding together. Cammy's happy to have not injured herself - though her jaw muscles are certainly getting strained.
9:17 - Iwata arrives.
9:17 - Iwata-san rememebers E3's past. Gets nostalgic.
9:19 - He remarks that he never could have guessed, five years ago, that the company would have sold so many bathroom scales by now. (Wii Fit.) The DS big sellers are featured, including Nintendogs and New Super Mario Bros.
9:21 - The user base has expanded, changed. Discusses the differences between more mainstream titles like Mario and Zelda, and the casual games like Wii Sports.
9:22 - Numbers, sales. Tons of hardware is being moved.
9:23 - Guitar Hero III is helping to "destroy the psychological barrier" with gamers. But what is next? Sooner or later, people will get tired. He takes a jab at Microsoft, mentioning that other companies are copying innovations.
9:24 - "Personally, I believe we must find new ways for players to be engaged." Players must be enriched, given increased enthusiasm.
9:26 - New Animal Crossing announced. "Animal Crossing: City Folk" for Wii, coming in 2008.
9:28 - Animal Crossing's director explains the new City environment in AC Wii. There's an auction house, and a Happy Room Academy where you can find out what other players are doing. You can visit Gracie at her fashion store, and get your hair did. Masks are introduced, and your character can look like your Mii. Messages can be sent from the game to friend's real world cell phone.
9:30 - The new "WiiSpeak" microphone peripheral is announced - finally, a Voice Chat solution for the Wii. Will be utilized in Animal Crossing for player gatherings.
9:31 - "Looking ahead, I want players to have the freedom to be able to create their own world."
9:32 - Reggie arrives on stage. He's ready to rock.
9:32 - "We're pleased with Animal Crossing and WiiSpeak, and even more pleased with our marketplace data." 10 million Wii, 20 million DS, over 5 billion retail dollars earned in hardware sales just in the US.
9:33 - Lifetime Global Hardware Unit Sales for all the last generation systems - the biggest bar belongs to DS. Expected DS sales to grow to over 100 million DS systems.
9:33 - So far in 2008, DS sales are running another 12% ahead of last year's record. Pokemon pushed sales with over 600,000 copies of the most recent Mystery Dungeon titles. Over 180 million Pokemon games sold now.
9:35 - Talks about the new celebrity endorsement female-focused ad series that began in May. Sales more than doubled as a result.
9:36 - Reggie anticipates that Thursday's June NPD numbers will declare Wii #1 in America.
9:36 - "No system has ever sold more games in its first 19 months of availibility."
9:37 - Established mascots were leveraged early on to reassure veteran gamers. Then joined by new titles, like Wii Sports and Fit. Over 400,000 units sold for 19 different third party games.
9:38 - The Wii library is growing faster than the other systems.
9:39 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels is featured in a video presentation. Head-to-head lightsaber duels, footage interspliced with players using the Wiimore and Nunchuck.
9:40 - Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party is next, utilizing the balance board. Young girls sit on the floor, on the Board.
9:41 - Call of Duty: World at War represents the first-person shooter genre, the players in this video are using the Wii Zapper peripheral.
9:42 - "As you can see, Wii creativity is mushrooming." Cammy Dunaway is back on stage, and is transitioning the talk to the DS.
9:43 - Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades is announced, the DS follow-up to On Tour, which sold over 300,000 units in its first week.
9:44 - Spore Creatures for the DS. Emphasizes player creativity and sharing.
9:45 - Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia is coming on November 10. This is the Pokemon Ranger sequel, localized for the US.
9:47 - A DS-exclusive Grand Theft Auto installment is announced. Set in a modern-day Liberty City, with the same free-ranging gameplay that GTA gamers have come to expect.
9:49 - Cammy discovers some of the expanded functionality of the DS, talking about using the system in airports and at baseball games for non-gaming applications. Cooking Navi in Japan is coming to America in an English version, in November. It's a cooking assistant application that has been pretty popular in Japan.
9:50 - Reggie is back, and talks about the Wii MotionPlus accessory. Announced first yesterday, it makes the Wii Remote "more responsive, more precise, more intense." It renders every slight shift in your arm into the gameplay. Shows how it works with ... Wii Sports Resort! The Wii Sports sequel, featuring beach-themed games.
9:51 - Wii Sports Resort will be packaged with the MotionPlus accessory, and an Extended Jacket for the Wii Remote. Cammy is back to play Disc Dog, one of the Sports Resort included games.
9:53 - Disc Dog is a frisbee-tossing fetch game, and Cammy has a bit of trouble doing it well. But Reggie wants to show a Wave Race-esque game.
9:54 -Sword Dueling has Reggie and Cammy facing off against each other. The 1:1 is looking pretty sweet with the sword action on-screen.
9:55 - Reggie easily destroys Cammy, then takes her name. But wait! Cammy strikes back and knocks Reggie out too.
9:56 - We've just seen the birth of the Camminator.
9:57 - Third parties are already considering how to utilize this new standard in 1:1 motion control. Wii Sports Resort will launch globally next Spring. But available this holiday will be...
9:58 - Wii Music! A drummer goes crazy on stage, demonstrating the virtual drumkit in the game.
9:59 - Miyamoto appears, and is playing a virtual saxophone with a Wii Remote held in front of his mouth. The drummer guy is still going, playing backup rhythm for Shiggy's sax.
10:00 - "Hello! This year I'd like to introduce you to Wii Music." This title fits in with Sports, Fit and Play as part of the original vision of the Wii brand.
10:01 - Wii Music is different from typical music games. It allows everyone to experience the joy of performing music. There's no need to follow closely any rhythm guides or notes to play these songs. All you have to do is hold the Wii Remote and move your body like you're really playing an instrument. The Wii picks up on your movements and interprets a note for you.
10:03 - Wii Music includes over 50 different instruments, and features themes from Nintendo classics like F-Zero. Miyamoto shows off the piano and violin.
10:05 - He then gets into the electric guitar, and a giant Taiko-esque drum. Ravi Drums, the drummer guy, takes a bow. He's playing a separate mode that also uses the Wii Balance Board, which simulates the virtual drum pedals. The mode will teach you how to play the drums in just a few weeks.
10:06 - The orchestra mode, seen at past E3 events, is included, along with handbells. The game will record your performances, and in that way you can create your own unique music videos. Bozon is frothing at the mouth.
10:08 - A full-on band of Nintendo execs is now on-stage, playing the Super Mario Bros. theme all together.
10:10 - The performance concludes, the band takes a bow and exits the stage. Reggie reappears.
10:11 - Recapping the announcements. Animal Crossing, Wii Sports Resort, MotionPlus, WiiSpeak, Wii Music. It's inevitable that when the paradigm shifts, imitation will follow.
10:13 - It's done. Reggie has left the building.
more here