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Nintendo officials: “We are serious about what we do”
Press conference prior to E3 also reveals more details about the DS handheld system
LOS ANGELES – When Nintendo of America Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime took centerstage at the Nintendo Pre-E3 press event at the Hollywood-Highland Center, on the day before E3 launched, it was apparent that he did so with intensity.
Fils-Aime spoke with fire in his eyes when he introduced himself and stated that Nintendo liked games that “kick ass ...”
The screens behind him fired to life and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes flared to life. The color and flash of the game elicited scattered cheers from the packed crowd of media, publishers and developers as it sent its action-packed message throughout the venue.
The gameplay on the giant screens halted, and the lights came up again on Fils-Aime.
“We like games with big stars and big explosions …”
Again the screens came to life and the images were of the latest StarFox adventure. And when that ended, the spotlight found Fils-Aime once again.
“And we like games so scary they keep you up at night …”
And yet again the screens came to life, this time with images taken from Resident Evil 4.
“It’s a new date for me, a new date for Nintendo,” Fils-Aime said. “Maybe what you’ve seen makes you understand we are serious about what we do.”
Fils-Aime’s address was not without taking a few simple shots at Nintendo’s competitors – Sony and Microsoft. But he did not dwell on diminishing them. Instead he trotted out numbers that demonstrated Nintendo’s strong standing in the industry and how the GameBoy Advance as a significantly higher market share than the PlayStation2. He also noted that when Sony’s PSP launches, in direct competition to the GBA, Nintendo will already have a unit in 25 million households.
“GameBoy does not lead the handheld market – it owns it,” said George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing.
More figures followed which showed the growth of GameCube sales, while he said that both Sony and Microsoft sales were down in relationship to sales in the same time frame from a year ago.
“Without Nintendo, there will be no growth,” he said. “Right now industry growth is being driven by Nintendo, only Nintendo.”
Harrison attributed a lot of the growth to the lower price of the GameCube and said that “the value advantage in a value-conscious market clearly favors Nintendo.”
Like his counterparts with Sony and Microsoft, Fils-Aime was quick to point out that “he with the best games wins; always did, always will.” But “while others are talking, we are acting.”
“In the end,” Harrison said, “it’s all about the games.”
That was the queue to fire up the big screens and show off an array of titles which Nintendo will be demonstrating at E3 this year: Legend Zelda: Four Swords Adventure, Paper Mario 2, Pikmin 2, Geist, Advance Wars: Under Fire, Tales of Symphonia, Donkey Konga, Viewtiful Joe 2, Mario Pinball, and Mario versus Donkey Kong, to name but a few.
One
of the big focuses of attention was for the Nintendo DS, the next generation
handheld console system that boasts dual screens, each programmable in 2D and
3D, voice control, tap-screen controls, Wi-Fi, and wireless compatability for up
to 16 players.
“The machine is truly transformative,” said Fils-Aime.
“The combination of two screens and the touch screen will redefine the industry.”
Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo talked about the long line of successes in the Nintendo history, of hardware and peripherals of which the company was proud. But he said that “I think we are most proud of –“ and held up the DS.
“With Nintendo DS, videogames will be changed.”
As for a next-generation console system, Iwata stated that “Nintendo is working on our next system and that system will create a gaming revolution.
“The time when horsepower alone made the difference is over.”
“We are giving players what they want for both the GameCube and the GameBoy,” said Fils-Aime.
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