Stay Tuned to this page (and refresh often) for constant updates from the briefing!
8:55 AM – Waiting for the conference to start. Lame music mixes abound. Mr. Bicep sitting to my left somewhat randomly helps to alleviate the pain of rejection as I sit in the overflow theater separated from my comrades.
8:57 AM – Also about Mr. Bicep… this whole sci-fi lighted exercise ball thing he’s fooling around with is blowing my mind.
8:59 AM – Briefing is about to begin. The audience is being emotionally massaged to help compensate for the insult of being relegated to the secondary theater even while our invites specifically mentioned access to Club Nokia.
9:02 AM – We’ve been told that post-conference we will have the option of playing some of the new software to be available today on the E3 show floor. Unfortunately, Sony’s briefing also begins directly after the Nintendo one is finished, so we probably will not have that luxury.
9:03 AM – Cammie Dunaway takes to the sta… er, screen in front of us.
9:05 AM – Ah, statistics. As we expected!
9:06 AM – Cammie begins with reference to Mario… what’s coming now?
9:08 AM – NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. for Wii – It’s real!
9:10 AM – So far looks just like it sounds, which is awesome! Two-dimensional goodness on the Wii, entirely co-op. New Propeller Suit which allows you to shake the Wii remote to shoot you into the sky and drift you back down. Find new levels via its use, or sail over pits.
9:11 AM – Did I mention four-player co-op? Flagpole mini-game where you have several seconds to reach it after the first player grabs on for bonus points. Each player receives a ranking post-level also.
9:12 AM – Holiday 2009 launch. Will be on show floor. Called “Mr. Miyamoto’s new masterpiece.”
9:13 AM – Wii Balance Board news coming next. Lots of stats. It sells, yep.
9:14 AM – Wii Fit Plus officially announced, as expected. Will feature locker room where you can become your own personal trainer. Six new strength and Yoga activities. Mix and match elements and combine in any order to produce a specialized workout. Omit interludes to make it more seamless. Seems like a minor but logical improvement.
9:15 AM – 15 new balance games, including juggling an d something called “perfect 10” which is like “brain age” for your body. Features a platforming-style game where you avoid obstacles and jump over things.
9:17 AM – Reggie takes to the stage.
9:19 AM – Wii MotionPlus stuff now. Probably going to talk more about Wii Sports Resort if I had to guess. We’ll see if I am right.
9:20 AM – Wii Sports Resort being shown… yep. All stuff we know already.
9:22 AM – Very tepid applause/response to the trailer and the Reggie segue.
9:23 AM – Jason, previously with Joystiq, is sitting behind me assisting with my verbiage.
9:24 AM – Skydiving being shown as “first activity” in Wii Sports Resort. Formations demonstrated and the ability to land safely by rotatig your body with the Wii-remote in 1:1 real time. This is how you parachute to the island. Pretty neat. Serves as an introduction to the controls.
9:25 AM – Archery is next. Hold it like a real bow.
9:27 AM – One more sport to show. Bringing Reggie out for competition. Feels a lot like last year’s show.
9:29 AM – Basketball is being shown. Though it’s just shooting, not actually running around or anything like that. You basically have to perform your usual basketball shot to try and get the shots to sink.
9:30 AM – Reggie just beat Bill Trinen with a last-second shot.
9:31 AM – Third-party announcements about Wii MotionPlus. Virtua Tennis 2009 announced to make use of the peripheral. No date specified. Actually, I take that back. “In a matter of weeks” he says,
9:32 AM – Red Steel 2 is being discussed now. But first, more stats. More third-party games were sold for Wii last year than any other console. PETZ!
9:33 AM – Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers trailer shown. Also bringing an exclusive version of Kingdom Hearts on Sept 29 to DS, of course.
9:35 AM – Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story shown. Reducing Mario + Luigi to micro-size. Checking out “Bowser’s Internal Pipes.” Gooooodnight everybody.
9:37 AM – One more RPG announcement: GOLDEN SUN DS, WOAH!
9:39 AM – LOL-fest for Women’s Murder Club. “Why join a book club, when you can join the Women’s MURDER CLUB?” ROFLOMGLOL Do you have what it takes to play Mahjong?
9:40 AM – C.O.P.: The Recruit announced for Nintendo DS. GTA-style sandbox look with third-person shooting elements it seems.
9:42 AM – Style Savvy announced for western shores on Nintendo DS. Customize your outfit!
9:43 AM – “DS = Diversity.” “The Internet’s gonna be awesome.” NOT big trucks; a series of tubes.
9:44 AM – Sales talk. Yippee.
9:45 AM – Flip Notes Studio for Nintendo DSi this summer.
9:46 AM – Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again for DSi (only) allows you to design your own levels and share them wirelessly and on Nintendo WFC. JUNE 8.
9:48 AM – WarioWare: DIY allows designing you own mini-games from scratch. Even design sprites and everything.
9:49 AM – Upload photos to Facebook from DSi this summer.
9:50 AM – The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Glossed over very quickly… but will be playable.
9:51 AM – Satoru Iwata takes the stage. Hard rock driving guitar introduces.
9:52 AM – Nintendo divides population into 3 groups: Those who actively play, those who never play, and those who MIGHT someday play.
9:56 AM – Mario Kart Wii last year succeeded in bridging the audiences according to Nintendo. Next, NSMB Wii and Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus will carry the torch forward this year.
9:58 AM – Wii Vitality Sensor. Finger drive thingie like we saw back at CompUSA like four years ago, then used to control a skiing game “via your miiiiiiind.”
9:59 AM – Eric says “Oh no.”
10:01 AM – SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2!
10:04 AM – WIND GARDEN BABY! Confirmed, the Gusty Garden Galaxy theme is indeed the Super Mario Galaxy official theme music. Also the best music in the game, and one of the best in gaming history.
10:05 AM – The Conduit being shown. Everyone thought Reggie was about to announce Zelda actually… but no go.
10:06 AM – RE: Darkside Chronicles trailer. We’ll have direct feed of all these trailers later.
10:07 AM – Dead Space: Extraction trailer shown.
10:09 AM – New game from Nintendo, “edgier”, invited a very talented development group to handle the game: Team Ninja working with Nintendo! “Project M” (M = Mature? Heh). Metroid: Other M. WOAH!!!! Third-person!
10:12 AM – 2010 for Project M. “Deeper into Samus’ story and further into Metroid’s story.”
10:12 AM – Briefing ends!
