I know there are tons of threads about the keynote already, but I thought with all the negative threads people missed some things ...

Wii Microphone

There have been two major reasons why Nintendo hasn't been on the forefront of online gaming; they're worried about security and safety, and online gaming is not a particularly social experience. Now, with these concerns the standard voice communication system wouldn't work because the headset prevents parents from observing what is happening and a person wearing a headset is trapped in their own anti-social little world. It seems like Nintendo found an adequate compromise, and if they only had per-system friend codes I'm certain the complaints about their online service would disappear (or seem much more childish).

Wii MotionPlus

In a way, I am starting to get the impression that Nintendo sees the Wii as a platform of platforms and (as much as I disagreed with it) the statement that the Wii's sales were being driven by add-ons may have some truth to it. The Wii MotionPlus (much like the GBA-SP before it) seems to be Nintendo realizing that they have made a mistake and are attempting to correct it. What give me the impression that the Wii is a platform of platforms, is that they're holding off a full year before they release it in order to give third party publishers an opportunity to develop games for it (much like they did with Wii Fit).

Third Party Developers

Now, being that I only read the news and heard the complaints about the presentation being focused entirely on casual gamers I expected that there would be no games of interest to "Core" gamers on display. What I did see on display (or announced) was third party games from Ubisoft, Lucasarts and Activision which were directly targeting "Core" gamers. With how time limited these presentations are, and with the focus (for Nintendo) typically being first party games, it seemed unusual to see so much time devoted to third party projects. I could be grasping at straws, but I suspect that one of the main focuses of this presentation was to increase the profile of third party efforts; and it is possible that certain Nintendo games were not put on display so these games wouldn't be overshadowed.

I agree. Except, I don't consider RRRTV hardcore; it's no Boomblox.

This may sound mean but: Just because the Wii sells like PS2 doesn't mean that it is in fact the next PS2. The Wii has the same problems N64 and Gamecube had, with a revolutionary controller.

One other point -- if you read between the lines -- Spore Wii 2009.

Mike from Morgantown

Actually the 3rd party support is significantly greater than that of the n64 or gamecube, and its ever increasing. Oh and the japanese support is increasing the most, and I could see it surpassing the ps3 or 360s after TGS. So that statement is very Fallacious.

And they put the emphasis on games that will release this holiday season instead of vague trailers of first party title. They are doing a great service to 3rd party publishers and hopefully, it will drive up sales and make us get more good stuff in the end.

I agree. People just see the bad thing and ignore the good ones.

I was actually thinking of Shawn White Snowboarding ... Not exactly the "Hardest of the Hard-Core" games, but it is certainly a conventional game that takes advantage of new controlls.

I really think the third party support is a bit lacking. You should've seen the 3rd party support in the SNES days. You would never have wondered about that back then.

I agree, but did you notice how they manage to put a peripheral with good and appealing game (More appealing to the casuals I know) but with this approach the manage to sell a ton of wii-fits, and probably the MotionPlus will not be the exception... allowing a huge install base and avoiding the narrow and niche way of the peripherals...

About the casual approach, well, I'm disappointed because I wanted to know more about a Kid I. game, Pikmin 3, etc, but maybe you are right and at this point third parties have free path to cater the hardcore crowd