E3 2006 Special | Nintendo E3 2006 Conference Analysis

E3 is here and one day ahead of the long awaited exhibition Nintendo invites us to a media briefing in one of the most famous theatres of the world, the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood; home of the Academy Awards, The Oscars.

The show starts promptly at 9.30am with 3000 or so developers and media representatives eagerly awaiting Nintendo's big announcements of the year.

The briefing starts with a montage of what this year's E3 will be full of, a variety of Wii games. All the games we have been looking forward to and some new-comers to the scene are to be shown at the briefing and we will get a chance to play them at E3.

Wii

This year Nintendo is all about playing = believing. They want to extend gaming to those who have never played a computer game in their life. That is the reason behind the Wii Remote and its unique setup.

Many people's first reactions when they saw the new controller was, how are you going to use a one-handed controller? As time passed we have learnt more and more about the way it which it is to be used and now we find out even more.

The Wii Remote not only has a motion sensor and can be use both one or two handed, it has now been exclusively revealed to us that is has a built in speaker. This speaker works with your TV's speakers in game to give a new completely unique feature, depth of sound. Taking the new Zelda game for example, it lets you hear Link's bow strings tighten before giveing the impression of arrows flying from your hand, to your target in the TV. Now that's cool.

Another neat feature is the low power consumption, stand-by mode. Exciting huh. As Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, explained, Wii will be more than just a console. As a games console serves no purpose when it is off, the Wii is designed to be kept in standby mode all the time. Having it in standby mode keeps the game running, even online, meaning that in games like Animal Crossing, friends could visit your village steal your fruit and then post letters gloating about it. I suppose they could do nice things as well...

Wii Games

We also had a first look at The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii console and the way in which the game used the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller. The two new controllers work hand in hand to create what is tipped to be the most intuitive game ever allowing gamers and non-gamers alike into the world of Zelda. Over the next few days at E3 we will get a chance to play it for ourselves so we will report back with exactly what you have to look forward to.

The Wii is aiming for a Q4 2006 launch and Zelda will be a launch title along with Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Sonic, Super Monkey Ball and a game from Japanese RPG masters, Square Enix, codenamed: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.

New franchises joining Nintendo on their latest venture are Excite Truck, Project H.A.M.M.E.R. and Disaster (Day of Crisis). Each of these titles looked great on screen but we'll get a better idea of what they are like when we get into the exhibition tomorrow.

They still have yet to announce an actual date, or price, but Nintendo promise that we will have more power for less money.

One game that Ubisoft have currently been working on for the Wii is Redsteel, a violent first person action game making the most of the new control system. Using both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk's motion sensors you can gun down the baddies, roll between cover and when it gets really nasty, grab a couple of swords to block and fight with both hands independently. We can't wait.

DS

Of course Nintendo doesn't want to forget its current consoles, so the second half of the briefing was devoted to the DS. Since it was released it has sold over 16 million units and there are 1.3 million WiFi users worldwide. Extending their vision of bringing gaming to everyone and following its success in Japan, Nintendo has recently released Brain Age in the USA and now the UK.

Before the year is out they have promised over 100 new games for the DS alone including Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam with VOIP (Or Voice over The Internet-thingamy, letting you talk to other skaters) ability and an exclusive Zelda game titled, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

E3's not even started yet, but it's already looking like 1up for Nintendo in the coolness factor.

Anna Sky Houlton