Live from the European House of Mario
Minute-by-minute coverage of Nintendo's European Wii press conference, kicking off at 12pm GMT today.
UK, September 15, 2006 - Welcome, Wii fans! No doubt you've been wading through the avalanche of excitement that's hit the web over the last few days, with Nintendo finally revealing as-good-as-all details on its previously secrecy-enshrouded Wii console. Now though, with information already divulged regarding the console's Japanese and US launch, we're poised and primed for the last piece of the puzzle - as Nintendo prepares to unveil European price and release date details at its London-based press conference, kicking off at 12pm GMT today.
We'll be updating with minute-by-minute coverage of Nintendo's conference on this very page, so get your refreshing fingers at the ready and check back here from 12pm.
12:26 - Hello everyone! Well, we're here - things are a bit late kicking off, but we've all had a nice bacon sandwich so everything's good here. Currently, we're sat in the auditorium enshrouded in a rather pleasing purple glow. There's still a swathe of slightly irate European journalists outside still waiting to get in so we're not sure when the event itself will start. We'll be back with more, just as soon as something interesting happens.
12:28 - Oh, as an aside, my seat smells a bit funny. In more Wii-related news, there's currently a big screen playing a whole bunch of black and white Wii footage in front of us on the stage. So far, we're spotted Sonic with his magic rings. In fact, it's pretty much all just Sonic at the moment. Oh and some Wii Tennis now. Hooray!
12: 34 - A nice man on the tannoy just announced that the conference is set to start in a few minutes. The tension is almost too much to bear.
12:41 - Right, well. Still nothing. Although we've had more assurances we'll be starting soon. Just so you can all breathe easy, in the event of some devastating technical hitch, we've got contingency plans!
12:44 - By the way, if you like house music, you'd love it here. Apparently the DJ only has one CD though. We don't like house music
12:49 - Hey rumour fans! We've just heard that Tim Henmnan is going to here. Presumably in yet another Wii Tennis demonstration from Nintendo. Either that or... oh, I don't know... some really funny joke about playing his balls.
12:53 - It's started! WE're kicking off with that Wii trailer featuring those exuberant ii's. Okay, so we've got a fact video thing going on now with some peeps prancing with the remote and some lovely quotes about the Wii. Also the Scissor Sisters are on the soundtrack. We HEART the Scissor Sisters.
12:55 - An old lady just announced that it's "A lot easier, if you haven't got any balls". She might have said, "because it doesn't have any buttons". But, hey. Scissor Sisters, right?
12:56 - Bloody hell. This video's going on a bit. Oh... it's done! Gabby Logan has just appeared on the stage. "Many of you here are BIG gaming fans!" - but she's not apparently. Anyway, "She's not alone" and apparently loads of non-gamers are here. Who'dathought?
12:57 - Laurent Fischer, European marketing director is talking about how much of a challenge it is to reach out to non-gamers. Logan is badgering him quite aggressively about why she should care about the Wii. And they're talking about sports - are we about to see Wii Tennis?
12:58 - Logan has gone and Fischer is talking about traditional audiences. Apparently Nintendo is steadily drawing closer to a 50/50 gender split in Europe - redefining gaming audiences, you see?
12:59 - The catalyst for this change is the Nintendo DS, he says. It's a massive leap in gaming because - it's easy to use, 'cos it doesn't have too many buttons, yeah? This is all very fascinating but where's the Wii price and release date?!!!
13:01 - Aha! Satoru Shibata, president of Nintendo Europe has just jumped on stage. Not literally. He's talking about the DS and expansion still. Just in case we hadn't already got the message. WII WII WII WII. Please.
13:02 - We're still on the subject of the DS, just in case you thought something might have changed in the last minute. Brain Training, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing - all expanding and redefining audiences. Do you even need me to keep typing about this? I might put my feet up for a bit. Or make up something about the Wii price and date. Actually no, I'd be lynched.
13:05 - We're now onto the subject of sales. How Nintendo is going again the norm with game launches with games like Brain Training showing incredible logetivity on shelves, rather than peaking at launch. Something blah blah blah, Brain Training. I wish I hadn't drunk so much juice before this thing started.
13:08 - Apparently Nitnendo DS now accounts for 70% of all handheld sales in Europe - it's the "undisputed heavyweight of handhelds, apparently. Over 6 million people have a DS in Europe too. New titles on the way: Sudoku, Club Classics, English Training, Starfox and something else. Not that we didn't already know that.
13:10 - Aha! We're onto the Wii now! Oh, well I thought we were. Shibata just left the stage. Ah! Logan is back and we're about to see Wii Boxing in Wii Sport for the first time. Literally, my knickers just went damp. Apparently, Shibata is going to take on Iwata! One round in the ring!
Oooh this is quite good. You punch and jab with the Wiimote and guard by holding the nunchuck and remote close to you. AAAAAND Satoru Iwata has just come on stage to tell Shibata off - it was all big comedy ruse!
13:11 - Iwata is talking about how, since the introduction of games in 1983, the market has been thinking about how they can improve our experiences. Generally, the consensus has been to improve technology, but NO! Not Nintendo! Yes, it's is 'disruptive technologies' speech again.
Iwata says there've been four significant moments when Nintendo introduced new products to the market: DS - with its unique interface. Milestone two - the Touch Generations product line, "An entire different form of gameplay with alternate appeal". Traditionally, games were based on a form of escape - Touch Generations don't replace real-life, they go along with it. I'm just writing what he says, incidentally. Something to do before that OMFG WII ANNOUNCEMMENENENTTT!!1
Oh, thing three: Nintendo Wi-fi Connection then four: people playing Wii at E3.
13:16 - Today, says Iwata, it's time to introduce the fifth mileston in Nintendo's strategy - the Wii Channel. And the offers a much tougher sell for Nintendo. Games consoles don't travel see! So generally, they're only seen by the people who live under that roof. Iwata says, to expand console audience, Nintendo started by increasing the number of gamers playing in one household.
When the Wii is first turned on, they'll see the Wii channel page. First up is the Disc Channel, used to access either Wii or GameCube titles. Now he's going through things like the photo software designed to offer "simple organisation and manipulation of photos".
13:20 - Onto the Mii Channel - and idea that came about after the E3 Wii Tennis demo where everyone wanted to know of they'd be able to put their own faces into the game, as with Iwata's character.
Now onto the message board system, calender, weather channels and of course, the Internet Channel. Provided by Opera. Virtual Console now. Offering an "instant library" of games - 15 VC games available during launch period. Roughly 5-10 titles will be added per month. When purchased, always accessible and will become a new channel on the main screen.
WiiConnect 24 - constantly updated information while we sleep.
13:24 - Iwata's stating again that Wii is for everyone, not just gamers. Wii will have its own range of Touch Generation software too. Although he's just buggered off the stage, so who knows what they'll be.
13:25 - Ah! Logan's back and she's showing us Tennis. She's bandying around the names 'Tim Henman' and 'Greg Rezetski' - a name I've never needed to spell before. Logan's just spend a good five minutes hunting around for a bunch of avatars bearing likenesses to them. And now the curtains have just whizzed open and there's a fake tennis court on stage! Guess who's there! Yup, REAL LIVE TENNIS STARS!
13:29 - My fingers are starting to hurt now. ANYWAY, there's a game of - ohmygodyou'dneverhaveguessed - Wii Tennis going on now against Tim and Greg and Fischer and Shibata. It's all a RIGHT LARK. Incidentally, hilARIous incident earlier - one of Tim Henman's balls flew off the stage and nearly gave the person behind me concussion just after I posted the last update. Back to the game though: Tim and Greg are losing with 30-15. 30-30 now. Tell you what, I'll just post again when we have a clear winner.
13:35 - Somewhat embarrassingly, I was just staring at the ceiling so I have no idea who won. Sorry. AH! European launch specifics. Launch games first! Wii Sports, Wii Play - which enables novices to get the hang of the controller. It'll be bundled with a second controller. Just like the Japanese 'My First Wii' package in fact. Zelda too, obviously Wario Ware will arrive 'just after launch'.
13:38 - Tony Hawk, Rayman, Red Steel, Monkey Ball coming from thirdparties amongst other things.
13:39 - WII LAUNCH DETAILS: European launch date December 8 2006, priced at £179 (249 Euros). Package will include console, Wiimote, nunchuck, cables and all that jazz. Oh and Wii Sports. Er, games will cost £35 - £39 in the UK and 49-59 Euros elsewhere. Europe, for example. Sorry about the slight delay there. I was updating in two places at once.
13:44 - Right, with that bit of frenzied excitement out the way, we've moved onto that Wii games trailer that was doing the rounds on the Japanese website yesterday. Incidentally, it looks a bit more impressive when it's blown up slightly bigger than the size of a postage stamp.
12:47 - And with one last crescendo of music, Iwata has reappeared on stage. The words "Wii move you" are dangling provocatively over his head. He's inviting us to go try the damn thing out for ourselves. And - gasp - a huge gaping chasm has opened in the wall behind him and everyone's being sucked through, like huge electronically-obsessed sheep. Or something. You know, if we'd thought about it, we would have said 'Iwata is inviting us to play with his Wii'. AHAHAHAHAHahhahahahaha. God, I kill me sometimes.
And on that note, we're off to play some games. Cheerio from London! We love you, we really, really do!
