Hope and coming to grips with reality

Nintendo opened their conference with strong numbers and equally strong talk. The DS still enjoys it's spot on the top, and the Wii continues its strong push past the HD era. But many gamers who were early adopters of the system, came from the last generation. A time when Nintendo was still focusing on its core market, pushing a variety of AAA first-party titles to keep the Gamecube afloat.




Though many felt like Nintendo's conference was full of left-overs, there were still announcements that alluded to upcoming releases. First of all there was the WiiMotion Plus, a peripheral that allowed the Wiimote to accurately portray players actions in 3-D space. In other words, it allows for 1:1 ratio, a necessity for the ideal light saber game fans have been craving. While we were subjected to Reggie jet-skiing, I'm sure many minds pictured the ability of finally wielding a sword in real-time.

There was the announcement of a new Grand Theft Auto title, which would be coming out for the DS. Could this have been the game Franklin was alluding to when talking to Gamepro?

Then came the inevitable announcement of Animal Crossing:City Folk, which is planned for the Wii. With it came the revealing of Wii-speak!, the peripheral would allow for cross-talk with other players on Animal Crossing Wii and possibly other titles.

Was this it?

Of course there was the third-party titles, including Call of Duty: World at War and Spider man: Web of Shadows. But many Nintendo fans were left gawking, where exactly was their AAA first-party title?




The Wii has been doing absolutely fine without its core market, and that is the truth. Of the top 10 selling games for June, six of them were for Nintendo hardware. Most of those six are geared towards a causal market, Wiifit (No. 4) being one of them. Using their "Blue Ocean" model, Nintendo has struck a gold mine. To think that they would turn their back to such a success is foolish, but abandoning their fanbase is just as ludicrous.

In their defense(as small as it may be), not showing stellar first-party titles does not mean they have left the core market in the dust. The Wiimotion plus holds a great deal of potential for developers interested in creating fine-tuned controls. If third-party developers step up to the plate, the Wiii could offer more than just a handful of titles for the core market.

A small glimmer of hope could be seen with the release of Okami, and the promise of a Dead Rising game from Capcom. Then there is this:


The Conduit, a highly anticipated FPS targeted for the hungry core market. These small gems are glimmers of hope, but can only be appreciated if we all just accept one thing.

Nintendo is not changing strategy.

I'm not defending the Nintendo's conference, it was the worst thing I have seen in years. But what I am saying is there will be third-party titles that appeal to this lost demographic, and there will be bargain-bin titles, puppy games, Horse grooming games, and pana-miming music games to counter it.

Either we get used to this new reality, or we shape it by choosing the console that appeals to our needs. I don't own a Wii, but I cringed when there was no sign of Zelda, Samus, or Mario. Hopefully, Nintendo fans haven't seen the last of them, or their beloved first party titles, but I have a feeling that their in-house developers are seeing the cash in the casual.