Tuesday, June 07, 2011

What Nintendo may show today


Microsoft's and Sony's presentations are over, Nintendo's is yet to come. It is time to sum up the first two and speculate a little on what Nintendo may have in store for us in just a few hours.

Microsoft: Kinect

In their E3 press conferences, Microsoft greatly emphasized Kinect. Most titles like ´Kinect Sports´, ´Kinect Disneyland Adventures´ or ´Fun Labs´ appear all too reminiscent of dozens of titles already available on Wii. However, with ´Kinect Star Wars´ and especially ´Ghost Recon: Future Soldier´, ´Mass Effect 3´ and ´Ryse´, Microsoft is finally showing us more mature Kinect titles. Voice activation, to be integrated into Kinect, sounds intriguing too.

Sony: 3D

Sony's press conference, however, came across as more appealing. Their emphasis was clearly on 3D, showing ´Resistance 3´, ´God of War: Origins´ and ´Uncharted 3´, as well as introducing a PlayStation-branded 3D screen for $500. As far as software is concerned, attracting the ´BioShock´ license to both the PS3 and the PSVita is a coup in its own right.

The PSVita, the PSP's successor, impressed me less. The games look solid. But the price point of $250 for the WiFi-only model and $300 for the 3G version was to be expected. Anything above and Sony would have priced itself out of the market. Remember that I still believe the 3DS is too expensive.

Nintendo: Project Café

So what may Nintendo be up to? We will know in just a few hours. A large touchscreen as part of the controller is pretty much confirmed by now. But will the controller simply be a tablet? I expect Nintendo to surprise the world with a completely new form factor once again, just like they did with the Wii. I cannot imagine what such a controller may look like, though. Yesterday, someone suggested that the touchscreen may not be held across, but lengthwise. And what if the screen were not rectangular but a different shape? What if the six inch screen is composed of two halves that can be folded shut like a laptop? This seems anyone's guess, really.

What I am more certain about is that the new cosole will feature a strong emphasis on augmented reality and tracking, just like ´Face Raiders´ on the 3DS. Now, imagine this type of gameplay coupled with a traditional screen. Here is an example of what this may enable.



Check around one minute, when the ball pops out of the tv screen and lands on the floor. Also, the interaction with another person later on might give you an idea of what gameplay Nintendo may be wanting to leverage with the new console.

Of course, the tracking seems a little awkward here. Tracking can, however, be perfectly done. See the following technology demo by a company called Invensense.



It all boils down to cost. I cannot imagine a tablet-like controller with truly original features which enable ground-breaking gameplay for less than $200. And such a scenario would only be possible if this new controller would work with the Wii, which is already in 90 million homes or so. You cannot ask consumers to shell out $400 for two controllers and then buy a new console, too. And will such a touchscreen controller, which must double as a standalone portable console, not cannibalise the 3DS market?

We know quite a bit about the Wii successor Project Café already. But once you try to put the pieces together, you realise that we just do not see the big picture yet. I am very excited about the press conference. Microsoft and Sony had good presentations, but Nintendo has a chance of stealing the show this year.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

the first video is kinda lame the second is great but dont think Wii 2 will feature this tech

Anonymous said...

the price for a wii 2 controller will be around 80 bucks I think maybe even 100

Raphael said...

Bist du in LA?

Falafelkid said...

Unfortunately, no. Since we went to GDC, we blew our yearly budget for US gaming events... We have a producer on the ground covering the E3 for us. And I am watching things closely from my end, rest assured of that ;)

RGB said...

In one hours time now?

Falafelkid said...

Yup. The press assets website is already active but reads "Nintendo's Online E3 2011 Press Kit will be available shortly after the Nintendo E3 Presentation concludes."

Anonymous said...

nintendo has a chance ARE YOU INSANE

they are going to totally own everyone a chance of winning seriously there going to rape sony and ms


ms showing was nothing short of a embarrassing joke

Raphael said...

I´m so happy Microsoft didn´t reveal a new console. Go for it NINTENDO!!!!!

Anonymous said...

NGP is a frigging frankinstine pile of sony wank

seriously all hype no trousers no 3d 1 screen loks frigging ugly sony seriously get out of gaming


epic games showing huge support for wii 2 i find that news sooooooo funny

RGB said...

FFS I dont care about Zelda, get on with it please

RGB said...

I must congratulate Nintendo on their live feed. Worked almost flawlessly.

And no kiddy shit was really showed except Lego and that looks kind of interesting anyway.

Graphically and conceptually this system is awesome.

Its hard to accept that Tekken, Assassins Creed and other mature titles are coming. Is it really happening etf.

but the system seller for me is Batman Arkham City, I cannot wait for that.

SomeGermanGuy said...

Hi Fal,
need a screenshot of the new console which was shown after the live stream?

SomeGermanGuy said...

Sorry, IGN was faster...bi

Anonymous said...

anyone thinking Sony and ms are even relevant is a insane fan-bitch Sony and ms are looking totally obsolete and out of date to state anything else would be lying........

take a look at ms and sony a open minded and honest look

THERE A JOKE

Anonymous said...

lol @ sony ms fans and there blindness to wiiu graphics zelda and a bird tech demo was out of this world

Raphael said...

"The second major tech demonstration featured live footage of Japan, with a camera moving down a crowded street, hovering above vehicles. Like the hawk demo, the tablet was also featuring the footage shown on the television. But as I moved the new controller, I was able to see more of the city around me, without altering what was being shown on the larger screen. I could move the tablet upward to see the sky, or downward to see the street moving under me. Even more impressive, I could start to rotate the controller or "aim" it behind me to see where I had been. Pressing a button would also flip the portable display behind me, allowing me to see backwards similar to a rearview mirror. The potential for racing games with this sort of technology is truly impressive."

http://wii.ign.com/articles/117/1173582p1.html

Anonymous said...

Rapheal ITS CALLED USING TECH TO BRING TO LIFE REAL GAMING INNOVATION SOMETHING MS AND SONY AND THERE FAN BASE SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND

AS wiiboy101 has tried to state for years THERES MORE TO GAMES THAN PRESSING A BUTTON

>>>>GAMING<<<<< INNOVATION is that sinking in sony fans

Anonymous said...

LOL @ sony and ms fan meltdowns at neogaf

denial not just a river in a far away land hahahahahahahahahahahah WANKERS

Anonymous said...

FROM WHAT I VE SEEN ALL I CAN SAY IS :

WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

excuse me but thats how I see it.

RGB said...

Did you even watch the entire thing?

At first I thought OK this is going to be lame but needed more info. I left impressed and seeing that core kinda games are coming made me believe Nintendo has won 3rd parties back with games that us here like to play as opposed to lame party games or kidy shit.

Assassins Creed, Batman Arkham City, Tekken you cannot deny that Nintendo is heading in the right direction with 3rd party support. Those games would not be there. EA boss even for first time was up there to brag about it. Not only that Nintendo wasnt even really bothered to show any kid shit, only a brief mention of Lego. The rest in the montage was all mature stuff.

Gadgets and Gizmos said...

Great Post! Very informative .I like a lot of what the Wii U is offering, but the "limited to one Wii U controller at a time" thing is really worrisome. Thanks for sharing this good topic.

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