Nintendo

At the last of the major conferences, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime started off with a series of statements outlining Nintendo's perception of who their market is, differentiating between "hardcore" players (such as those in attendance), and those who appreciate Mario and Pokémon (the "average" player.) Accompanying the remarks were a series of video clips of upcoming games such as the new Metroid Prime and Starfox sequels.

Next up were announcements of increased Game Boy Advance (GBA) functionality including a wireless link adapter and plans to roll out episodes of animated programs via GBA video. Before leaving the stage, Fils-Amie revealed the Nintendo DS, explaining that DS stands for "Developer's System."

Super Mario 64x4 (Nintendo DS)

Satoru Iwata then emerged to elaborate on the new handheld, explaining its touch-screen input via fingertip or stylus and embedded microphone for voice recognition. Local multiplayer will be wireless within a distance of 100 feet, and Wi-Fi capabilities will enable it to access the internet for nationwide multiplay.

Iwata then spoke on Nintendo's next home console, proclaiming it to be "revolutionary", also stating that "the time when horsepower alone made a difference was over." Closing the session was a brief video clip of Nintendo's next major Legend of Zelda game, accompanied by acclaimed game designer Shigeru Miyamoto brandishing a Link-style sword and shield. Looking darker and more realistic than last year's Wind Waker, the footage (reminiscent of the infamous Spaceworld clip) was greeted with roars from the crowd.

Brad: If you ask me, Nintendo's got their signals crossed. Their spokesman went to great lengths to explain that the hardcore crowd is not who they cater to, yet I'd say that's exactly who their base is, at least for the GameCube. The majority of regular people I talk to have either the PlayStation 2, the Xbox, or both. In my experience, it's pretty rare to run into a GameCube owner who's not "hardcore." Insisting that their biggest franchises (such as Mario) aren't for longtime Nintendo supporters is lunacy.

As far as the DS went, it was interesting and I was impressed with its Wi-Fi abilities for long-distance multiplayer, but I was more than a little surprised by their failure to show a killer app for it. I thought for sure there would be a Miyamoto-inspired DS masterpiece in the wings, but I was wrong. Maybe later. Besides the DS, I wasn't too excited about the games lineup. Lots of solid, entertaining things to be sure, but nothing that really sparked me up outside of Resident Evil 4.

The Legend of Zelda (GCN)

Scott: You have to admire Nintendo's bravery—releasing a dual-screen handheld is nothing short of a bold move on their part. Frankly, I'm still a little suspicious of the DS. It still seems kind of nutty to me. Brad's right about there being no killer-app for it. I can't help but think, If you didn't have a good idea for how to use the dual screens, then why make the machine at all?

I was glad to see a Cube version of Advance Wars, a real-time strategy game that has me keeping my fingers crossed (I was a fan of the Game Boy Advance titles). My biggest concern is that it looks a bit too much like those lousy Army Men games. And Geist was on display and, as always, it looks promising. Let's hope we actually see it sometime this year.

Pikmin 2 (GCN) (top), Resident Evil 4 (GCN) (bottom)

Finally, Nintendo was behaving in a way at that made me feel slightly embarrassed about being in their booth. They had a little stage area where a host, via a PA system, would try to get booth visitors to answer that question, "Who's the number one videogame maker?" Only a few weak cheers—"Nin-tendo!"—were heard around the booth. I'd rather Nintendo exuded a kind of quiet confidence rather than this sort of queasy grandstanding, but that's just me.

Matt: Despite actually not having as good a line-up overall as Microsoft, I somehow found myself spending more time at their booth. Maybe it was the utter stupefaction I felt trying to come to grips with the fact that Resident Evil 4 might well be the first actually good game of the series in over 8 years. Unfortunately, some of their newer franchises showed a lack of innovation. This is especially disappointing in the case of Metroid Prime 2 and Viewtiful Joe 2, which both looked like clones of their predecessors. As for the much touted DS, I dunno. Like all of Nintendo's hardware, it looks like Miyamoto designed it for himself, which means his games will be fantastic and everyone else will take two to three years to catch up.

Kyle: Despite a heavy focus on sequels to established franchises, Nintendo's booth also had a lot of innovation hidden inside. Games like Donkey Kong: King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, Pikmin 2 and Odama impressed with their ability to make old formulas new again by working in slight changes to the established gameplay.

I agree that the Nintendo DS didn't really have a must-have killer app yet but I felt the demos on hand were at least enough to prove the viability of touch-screen gaming for the masses. The demos for Pac-pix and Wario Ware DS were especially intriguing, if a bit simple. But who said such simplicity is a bad thing?

Got a thought or comment about the article? Feel free to discuss it in forums.