You know, as I sit back and reflect upon my life…I can't help but wonder as to what I ever did to wind up in this particular spot.
Let me backtrack. It's the middle of April, 2005. I'm staring two weeks of finals in the face instead of the typical one-week, because my professors apparently know I'm transferring to another school for next year, and they want me to pay the appropriate fine of blood, sweat, and tears. I get a message from our venerable boss, Mr. Matthew Silver, who says he wants me to do a preview. A big one. This is fine and dandy, as that's what I do around here. But no-no. Not a game. He wants me to preview this year's E3.
I thought long and hard about traveling to Riyadh and stealing something from a street vendor so I could beg off of this task. But, that's not how I operate. Plus, my passport expired about three years ago. So, here we go.
One of the trickiest things about writing on an E3 before it happens is weeding out the known from the unknown - especially when you're covering the event from a Nintendo-first point of view. Nintendo is renowned for holding facts back, and E3 has come to be like the climax of a mystery novel - the place where some secrets are fully revealed, while others are hinted at in order to get attention for next year. So, getting accurate information before the fact is a tough row to hoe. Let's just start with the basics - the lineup.
As it stands right now, there are over seventy games announced to be on the show floor ranging across all of Nintendo's products - the GameCube, the Game Boy Advance, and the DS. Nintendo itself is responsible for fifteen of those titles, but what's noteworthy is that most of them are DS games. This shows that Nintendo is serious about the new member of their family and wants to give it a real push. That they are doing this with all the next-generation talk bringing more attention to this E3 than in recent years only underscores how sincere they are.
Another comforting thing to see is nineteen other developers showing off products for Nintendo, with the biggest ones being Electronic Arts and THQ. Most of this third-party support is actually coming in the form of DS games, like EA's port of GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and Konami's Castlevania DS. To me, this reads as payoff of Nintendo trying to repair the bridges between itself and the third-party community, which should come as good news to any Nintendo fan, more so with the next generation on the way. Some good old-fashioned Cube love is getting thrown Nintendo's way, mostly from Electronic Arts with games like the latest Madden NFL game and the new Need For Speed title.
Now, with that out of the way, let's get down to the fun stuff. Every Nintendo fan is turning their eyes to Los Angeles this year for information on the new Zelda game, a new Mario title, potentially a new Game Boy, and the Revolution. Let's go through this one by one. The new Legend of Zelda title is, at the time of this article, still planned to be playable on the show floor. It goes without saying that attendees will not be able to fully explore the game's world, estimated to be a hundred times the size of Ocarina of Time and take up to seventy hours to complete. However, with the playable build and an all-but-certain new trailer put out during the pre-show press conference, Nintendo fans should have endless facts to gobble up by show's end.
Information on Mario 128 is subject to the tightest of Nintendo lips at the moment. I mean, we all understand that the company's execs play their cards close to their lungs, much less chest. But this is insane. While Zelda has been confirmed for GameCube, the new Mario title as yet does not have a publicly known home. It could be a Cube title, could be a Revolution game. According to Nintendo's VP of Sales and Marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, it's likely that we will see Mario 128 only in video form at E3. My own, solely personal view? This E3 is going to be huge, and whatever company comes out of the Los Angeles Convention Center with the biggest pop will run the table for months, if not the rest of the year. I've watched pro wrestling since I was two years old, folks - I know a swerve when I smell one.
Speculation has flown about after a report from analyst P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research was released stating that Nintendo was working on a new incarnation of their Game Boy line and could ship as early as 2005's holiday season. Nintendo's official position is that "There is always speculation on what the next Game Boy will be; however, at this time there are no announcements about a new Game Boy SP product…".
See, kids, this is where a dysfunctional childhood comes in handy - you learn to read between the lines. They word the statement "…there are no announcements about a new Game Boy SP product…". Now, just because there are no announcements to make, it does not mean that they are, in fact, not working on a product. It just means they have nothing to say right now. Nintendo has never been shy about denying actual false rumors, not that I've seen anyhow. Second, note the phrasing in the second part of that sentence: "Game Boy SP product". Now look back over the history of the product line: Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Advance/GBA SP. If Nintendo is serious about a new Game Boy, it's my personal opinion that it would not turn out to be a slight revision to the SP. In which case, it would not be an SP product at all, but something different and - suitably - differently named.
Of course, like the wise man said: "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong." All I know is that I have a - to my eyes - a very tricky-worded statement from a company known for secrecy going into the Main Event of E3s, where the element of surprise will make or break someone. The device most likely won't be going on sale this year, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear some kind of news about the successor to the SP this May.
And last, but not least: The Revolution. The next-generation console has spawned speculation, both idle and intense, all over the place for the last year. The known details about the system are as follows: It exists, it will be more powerful than the GameCube is, it is powered by an IBM processor and an ATI graphics chip, it will be backwards-compatible with the GameCube (i.e. Cube games will play on the Revolution), it will have wireless online capability, it can hook up to a television or computer monitor, and it will be present in LA this year. Everything else is up for grabs. Exactly how much power is in the game remains a speculative piece of information. A hard drive may or may not be included. 3D projection capability is just rumor at the moment. DS and GBA connectivity remain unknown.
Other unconnected puzzle pieces remain floating around the void of information, as people like me twist them this way and that, trying to get a better idea of how they fit. For example, the deal Nintendo has signed with a company called Gyration, a manufacturer of gyroscopes for PC controllers. This has led to wild speculation about the nature of the Revolution controller, the main question being will the Revolution will feature gyroscopic sensors as opposed to the current accelerometer tilt sensors the control sticks use now. This has in turn led to a virtual tearing-apart of the orthodox video game controller and rebuilding it into creations once thought of as taboo, insane, or tools of the damned. Of course, when Nintendo President Satoru Iwata comes out and says "We invented the current way a console is played - in front of a television and holding a controller - but maybe that image will change.", matters aren't helped much.
The ultimate letdown is that Fils-Aime has openly said that this year's E3 will not be Revolution's "coming-out party". This has thrown the once-certain playability of the Revolution on the show floor into question, leaving people suspecting that while Revolution will be present, it will only be shown through video demonstrations at the press conference.
Overall, this is it folks. This year, this E3, this is why I got into my job in the first place. If you can't make it in yourselves, I highly urge you to come to the Café for your news. We'll be covering the Nintendo Press Conference through a live blog as well as through streaming video, and we'll be filming our time on the show floor for our DVD to give you the full E3 experience.
mike@wiicafe.com
