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E3 2002: Nintendo's Press Conference

A big part of E3 is the press conference. None more so than with Nintendo, where Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, admired by nearly everyone in the video game industry appears annually to layout the razzle-dazzle that Nintendo has in store. It was the same this year. Mr. Miyamoto arrived on stage to show some video of what’s coming for Gameboy Advance and GameCube, and demonstrate use of the WaveBird controller. There was a big response from a clip Mario Sunshine and Zelda for GameCube. (So much so, our own Doug Flowe commented the experience “made me want to cry.” In a good way, I'm thinking.) Samus’ outing on the GBA, Metroid Fusion – based on her NES and SNES games – got a big round of applause as well. Overall the showing was well received, but I wasn’t around for any of it – I was a couple thousand miles away – so I relied on second-hand reports and the information gleaned from the post-press conference conference call.

Conference calls are interesting things. When GameCube launched in Canada I got to participate in the official conference call, which went horribly wrong. For whatever reason, only three people managed to get on the line and instead of queuing up it turned into a free-for-all because everyone started talking at once. Even so, I managed to ask inane questions about the “Flipper” chip and sound like the Swedish Chef. Nintendo demands high standards so this time around everything went smoothly – although it doesn’t explain why I got invited again.

Ron Bertram (heading up Nintendo’s Canadian arm) was center stage. He began the call by presenting a number of stats in regards to the growth of the video game industry, and Nintendo in particular. He wanted to dispel the perception that GameCube was somehow a poor seller. GameCube sales are at 98% of what PS2 sales were six months from launch. It stacks up very well in the numbers, but he also wanted to make clear that they certainly aren’t going to rest on past success (no matter that one of Nintendo’s Four Pillars is “Heritage”). By Christmas there should be 150 games available for GameCube and more interconnectivity with Gameboy Advance. Gameboy Advance itself is also getting attention with a raft of new games and hardware peripherals, including E-reader technology, which allows gamers to scan information into their GBA from specially designed playing cards, and Tilt & Tumble Technology. Broadband technology is coming for GC but don’t expect Nintendo to develop any multiplayer games yet – third party interest is high though, which is why they’re bringing the adapter to the masses. (And of course, the Wavebird controller with 100+ hours of battery life!) He also mentioned the Tri-Force, between Namco, Sega, and Nintendo. While some may feel the alliance is the Seventh Sign, what it really means is arcade game development.

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Things shifted smoothly into the Q&A portion. There were several people on the line and the questions ran from Nintendo’s marketing strategies to math questions about the true relative percentage of the price drop compared to Xbox and PS2. There was one other game question regarding release dates of Zelda, Mario (not soon enough – right around Christmas) and Resident Evil Zero (October 2002), which Ron answered very handily. Then it was my turn.

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Suppressing my sudden urge to mimic the Swedish chef, I plunged on with my brain-twisting question.

Omni: Hi there, Ron. I have a games question about the Tri-Force, the alliance between Namco, Sega, and Nintendo. What games are in the works and what kind of hardware will these arcade games use?

Ron Bertram: Second part of that question first. The hardware architecture is basically GameCube. I’m not an engineer, but the motherboard comes from GameCube. In terms of the first game they’re working on, the one that we showed today, is F-Zero. And it’s looking really, really sweet.

Omni: It will be a multiplayer game?

Ron Bertram: Yes. [Four or more racers]

Omni: So, when a game developed by Tri-Force is ported from the arcade to Gamecube, will gamers be able to upload and download information, like modified cars, stats, etc. between the two units? *I was obviously thinking about Neo Geo’s attempt at the same idea which never really caught on.*

Ron Bertram: You know what? That is a fantastic question… that I do not have the answer to.

Omni: Ah, nuts.

There you go – I stumped Mr. Bertram just like that. But I have no doubt he’ll get back to me when he does have the answer. (If anything, he’s relentless.) [Added May 25, 2002: "Players will be able to their Nintendo GameCube Memory Cards to share data between platforms."]

So after this deluge of information, sights, and sounds, what’s the verdict? Is Nintendo poised to crush the competition? I don’t think anyone has the answer – but what Nintendo has lined up for the coming months should have fans – young and old alike – clamoring for each new release.

- Omni (with files from Doug Flowe and Tolkiemingway)

(May 23, 2002)


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