E3 2011: Nintendo Press Conference Digest

So let's get the big news out of the way - What was known as "Project Cafe" is officially the Wii U. Nintendo has created a high definition, online enabled home console with yet another innovation in terms of how the player controls the system. The Wii U uses an almost tablet style controller with a 16:9 high def touch screen square in the middle (surrounded by classic style controls). As was rumored, Wii U is fully backwards compatible with all existing Wii software and peripherals (Wiimotes, Wii Balance Board, etc).

Now aside from the very pleasing HD graphics, the Wii U will actually allow you to play games via the Wii U tablet controller - thus allowing you to enjoy your gaming anywhere in your home with or without a TV. The example Nintendo gave of one person wanting to game while the other wants to watch a baseball game really hit home for me in particular. As anyone with a significant other can attest, sometimes you just gotta let them watch American Idol - but with the Wii U there will be no reason to fall back on a portable gaming system to get your gaming fix. I mean seriously - you're at home, why should you "settle" for a portable system?

The tech and graphical demos that were shown were impressive for such early code. To the casual outsider, this first pass may not look any more impressive than any current PS3 or 360 game, but one must remember that the developers are just now learning to code for this system. As time goes on I expect the Wii U to easily surpass the 360 and the PS3 graphically (it's also rumored that the Wii U has 1.5gigs of RAM on board, compared to the 512 in the 360 and PS3 - so that's a clear edge). The Wii U will hit retail in 2012.

In any case, let's talk about the rest of Nintendo's press event!

To kick things off, Nintendo presented a Legend of Zelda retrospective to celebrate the game's 25th Anniversary. Clips of every Zelda title were shown (except those terrible CDi games thank goodness...) leading up to some new footage of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii. To celebrate the 25th Anniversary, Nintendo announced there would be Zelda titles for each platform, starting off with Link's Awakening DX being immediately available for purchase on the 3DS eShop. We were then reminded (as if we needed to be!) that Zelda: OoT 3D would hit retail next week for the 3DS. Nintendo also announced a free DSiWare version of Zelda: Four Swords to be released in September. Skyward Sword is set for release This holiday season, and a gold Wiimote will be available alongside Skyward Sword.

Nintendo also announced that there would be 25th Anniversary symphonic concerts in each reagon to celebrate. The final bit of Zelda news was that the OoT soundtrack would be given as a gift to Club Nintendo members who register their purchase early.

At this point, Nintendo shifted into 3DS mode, giving us a montage of titles along with short descriptions. For the most part, the 3DS titles were nothing surprising, except one - Luigi's Mansion 2! Mario Kart, Super Mario, Kid Icarus and Star Fox were also shown in detail.

Mario Kart will hit retail this Holiday season, while Star Fox 64 3D is set for release in September. Nintendo got a bit vague with the release dates for Super Mario and Kid Icarus (end of/later this year).

Nintendo went on to announced Ace Combat 3D, Tetris, Resident Evil Revelations, and Driver Renegade for the 3DS, along with reminding us about Cave Story 3D and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D.

Demos for 3DS software will be coming to the eShop (horray!)

Nintendo then shifted gears, and focused on Wii U and it's software. It was announced that a Super Smash Bros title was in the works for both Wii U and the 3DS, and that both titles would somehow work together. New Super Mario Bros. Mii was also demonstrated (Think New Super Mario Bros Wii, with the ability to use your Mii as characters).

Some other titles shown and mentioned include:

- Lego City Stories
- Darksiders 2
- Batman: Arkham City
- Ghost Recon Online
- Assassin's Creed
- EA Sports titles
- Aliens: Colonial Marines(!!!!!!!!)
- Tekken(!!!!)
- Ninja Gaiden 3(!!!!!!!)

...and this is "just the first pass"

Anyone else on nerd overdrive yet?!

It's E3 week!

Excited yet?! I know I am.

Please do not be surprised at an influx of posts regarding the latest news from E3. We've got Microsoft and Sony press conferences today (and the 3DS eShop update tonight), and Nintendo's press conference tomorrow.

It's like video game christmas!

PROJECT CAFE RUMORS: Controler to include front-facing camera?

Well this is an interesting tidbit - there's a rumor going around that Project Cafe's controller will feature a DSi/3DS style front facing camera for in-game images.

An insider said the Wii 2 pad features a front-facing camera that can be used for in-game images. The person also corroborated a number of well-referenced rumors, such as the controller features a six-inch touch-screen, “possibly with a stylus”, as well as a standard button layout.

One more time... E3 can't get here fast enough!

E3 Wishlist/Predictions

With E3 just under a month away, I figured it might be fun to make up a sort of wishlist of things I'd like to see there. I have no actual insider knowledge, so please treat this like the fanboy speculation that it is.

First up, let's talk about Sony (we are going to ignore the current issues with PSN for this write-up):

I imagine the NGP will take center stage at Sony's keynote. I'd really like to hear a solid release date and retail price for this next-gen handheld (not to mention expected retail price of the software). In terms of games, I'd like to see the progress with the Uncharted and Resistance NGP builds. Also, it might be a perfect time to tease a God of War title for the both the NGP (this would undoubtedly create a ton of hype) and PS3 (c'mon, you don't REALLY think God of War 3 was the end, do you?! This AAA franchise isn't going anywhere).

Oh and Warhawk 2/Starhawk/whatever you want to call it - This will be a Day 1 purchase for me and some of my gamer pals. Make this happen Sony! You have no idea how much I miss playing Warhawk on the ps3....

Isn't it about time we start hearing about Grand Theft Auto 5?

I'm also really hoping that this will be the year Sony really starts to flood the US with classic PS1 games via PSN - Japan seems to get all the love.

Onto Microsoft!

I'm really starting to think MS may end up at the least - teasing a next generation Xbox. Maybe in the form of pre-recorded/rendered video - all in an effort to take a little wind out of Nintendo's sails.

Kinect may take up quite a bit of MS' Keynote (with any luck this year, Kinect will *ahem* connect with hard core gamers. Yeah, sorry about that), but I doubt it'll dominate the event like last year.

I'd really love to see a new Left 4 Dead title. I also will not be shocked if a little game called Modern Warfare 3 gets initially teased by MS due to the existing DLC agreement between MS and Activision. I wonder if we'll get any hints about the OTHER Call of Duty games Activision has in the works.

I'll be shocked if there isn't something Halo related at E3. Be it the rumored remake of Halo: CE or a proper Halo 4... E3 would be the time to let that cat out of the bag.

Oh and can we please get 5.1 audio support for the Netflix app on the 360? Please?

Anyway, On to Nintendo!

This is kind of the whole reason I started writing this piece, but as we all know by now, Nintendo is unveiling their next-generation system "Project Cafe" at E3.

From what I've gathered, this system is set to launch in 2012 and will be playable on the floor of E3.

The #1 item on my Nintendo wish list? Strong 3rd party support for Project Cafe. I want to see Epic on board with it's Unreal Engine - this will be huge and would serve to attract even more 3rd parties.

I want to see strong support for a more classic style of controls (Not that I'm wanting Nintendo to ditch the Wii style motion control, I just don't want developers to be discouraged from using a classic control scheme).

I want to see Project Cafe using a system for online game play that is at least on par with the 3DS. 3DS/Project Cafe interoperability is a must.

I'd also really love to see Project Cafe come with an on-board Ethernet port in addition to the assumed WiFi.

In terms of software - I'd like to see the usual gang at least teased - Mario, Zelda, Metroid. Smash Brothers and Mario Kart would also be really really cool.
I'm also crossing my fingers that a 3DS Advance Wars is in the works... PLEASE let this be so. More details regarding Super Mario 3DS would also be wonderful.

So there you have it, my E3 Wishlist. I'm sure I'll think of about one hundred other things just as soon as i publish this...

(One more time - this post is 100% pure fanboy speculation. I have no inside sources and do not wish to lead anyone on into thinking I do.)

PSN Outage - Sony subpoenaed by New York State over attack

Bloomberg is reporting that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has subpoenaed Sony's PlayStation and SOE divisions regarding the recent theft of customer data.

Schneiderman is seeking information on what Sony told customers about the security of their networks, as part of a consumer protection inquiry, said the person familiar with the matter, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

When all is said and done, I really feel this entire fiasco will end up costing Sony dearly - both in terms of money as well as customer trust. E3 is right around the corner, and I am confident Sony is planning to really show off the NGP - but I have to wonder how receptive the gaming world as a whole will be to it at this point. I'm also starting to fear that Sony may attempt to rush out the PS4 (or whatever they end up calling it) in an attempt to counter Nintendo's Project Cafe. This would be a fairly unwise move - a rushed console helps no one (early Xbox 360 units anyone?).

New Project Cafe details

Kotaku just posted an update on Nintendo's Project Cafe system.

Here are the important bits:

The console, codenamed Project Café, will include 8 gigabytes of on-board flash-based memory, presumably for game storage.

Nintendo's disc format for the new console will hold 25GB of data

This certainly should help to make the new system very attractive to 3rd party developers. I am somewhat troubled by only having 8gigs of storage within the system, but I imagine this is an attempt to keep costs reasonable.

Thankfully however,

The system will also support saving to SD cards.

...I'd guess Nintendo will make the SD card useable much like it eventually became on the Wii, so that should make it fairly simple (and cheap) to get past the initial 8gig storage limit.

I also find it interesting that Kotaku doesn't actually say what the new Nintendo disk format is based off - this leads me to think Nintendo is again forging it's own path to limit piracy. If I were in Nintendo's shoes, I'd be looking to licensed Toshiba's HD-DVD format (good luck finding HD-DVD burners and blanks today!). I bet Toshiba would set that deal up for a song.

Anyway - again - E3 cannot get here fast enough!

Next-gen Nintendo system to take "new approach" to video game consoles

From Bloomberg:

“We would like to propose a new approach to home video game consoles” with the Wii successor, Iwata said, without elaborating. “It’s difficult to make 3-D images a key feature, because 3-D televisions haven’t obtained wide acceptance yet.”

So basically - don't expect 3D functionality to be the focus of the new system. I'm ok with that, mostly because I'm not too keen on buying a new 3D tv at the moment.

CONFIRMED: Wii Successor to be released in 2012

In a rather refreshing move, Nintendo has confirmed it's next-generation home console will be unveiled at this years E3.

Today in Japan, Nintendo confirmed the upcoming release of the Wii's successor. The still-unnamed console will be revealed at this year's E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles in June.

The new console will go on sale in 2012, said Nintendo in an official statement.

Well isn't this a bold move on Nintendo's part? I can't recall a time when a new bit of gaming hardware was pre-announced like this, but with new rumors popping out every day (or so it seems), I can't see any reason NOT to feed us this little tidbit. While this does make the wait for E3 harder, I expect more rumors (and more solid rumors) to come trickling out between now and then.

RUMOR: Wii successor specs leaked

Well the crazy people over at IGN are claiming they've got a source who knows all about the next-gen Nintendo home console. Here is what they've got to say:

Additionally, IGN has learned that the system will be based on a revamped version of AMD's R700 GPU architecture, not AMD's Fusion technology as previously believed, which will, as previously reported, out perform the PlayStation 3's NVIDIA 7800GTX-based processor. Like the Xbox 360, the system's CPU will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, but the clocking speeds will be faster. The system will support 1080p output with the potential for stereoscopic 3D as well, though it has not been determined whether that will be a staple feature.

They are also claiming the system will retail for "anywhere between $350 and $400 based on manufacturing costs" - "will ship from Taiwanese manufacturer, Foxconn, this October, putting the earliest possible retail release anywhere between mid-October and early November."

That's quite a bit to take in, but it sounds like it'll be slightly more powerful than the Xbox 360 & PS3 - and I think that's going to be a pretty kick ass prospect. If the prior rumors of full Wii backwards compatibility are true, then this could be a massive hit. Personally, I really do hope that Nintendo goes out of it's way to court the 3rd party developers - they are going to be key if Nintendo wants to be seen as a real player in the hardcore market again. The addition and total support for a classic style controller is also very key in my opinion. I'm not saying to do away with the Wii Mote and that set up, I'm just asking that Nintendo allow the developers to pick a control scheme that fits the title (and not to fit the title around the control scheme). I'm also asking for a classic style controller "out of the box", and an on board Ethernet port would be a very nice addition as i don't care to use WiFi for gaming.

Allow me to move my existing VC and WiiWare titles to this new system - and keep the VC idea going, it's brilliant.

E3 is going to be a hell of a show this year folks. Let's hope those Mayans were full of shit, because 2012 is going to be a crazy year for gaming...