Nintendo fans hoping to hear word of a new Zelda or Mario game at E3 this year will be disappointed to learn that the Japanese video game colossus delivered no such announcement at their pre-show press event in Los Angeles on Tuesday. In speaking with Nintendo of Canada's Matt Ryan shortly after the event, I learned that the company instead outlined its plans to continue deepening the world's pool of gamers by delivering more accessible software.
Like Wii Music, a new title better described as an activity than a game. Mr. Ryan called it "an interactive experience that's all about user creativity and innovation." The application will apparently let users "play" more than 60 virtual instruments using the Wii remote and nunchuk attachment to pantomime the motions involved in playing real world instruments. There is no point system involved and no winning per se; just the freedom to pretend you are playing the instrument of your choice in more than 50 lyric-less tracks (both public domain and licensed) that Mr. Ryan says have "global appeal"-meaning that the music should be recognizable regardless of the land from which the player hails. Wii Music is slated for holiday release.
Another major first-party software announcement at the event was Animal Crossing: City Folk, the latest in Nintendo's popular series of virtual world games targeted at younger players. The Wii edition will let "people choose to do what they want to do on any given day at any given time," said Mr. Ryan. They can go for a haircut, watch a movie, or attend an auction, all in a city in which time flows in accordance with the real world (which is to say, if you log in at night the sky will be dark, during the winter and there will be snow on the ground).
And when Animal Crossing: City Folk releases this holiday it will be the first title compatible with Nintendo's new Wii Speak microphone attachment. Used in Animal Crossing, the mic will apparently allow up to four virtual "rooms" to join up, at which point the players in these rooms can engage in group activities within the game and communicate with one another while doing so.
Another hardware announcement to come from Nintendo's event was for the Wii Motion Plus attachment, a small cube with a tiny gyroscope inside meant to enhance the Wii remote's motion sensitivity. Mr. Ryan described its effect as "bringing the player closer to the game, making it feel more intense." The Motion Plus will launch in spring 2009 alongside another new Nintendo game called Wii Sports Resort, which will be specifically designed to make use of the new device. Motion Plus will not be backwards compatible with other Wii games, and third-party developers can choose whether to design their games so that they make use of the enhanced motion sensitivity functionality.
On the subject of third-party games, Mr. Ryan noted-but had few details to spare about-a couple of games developed by external studios that were unveiled at Nintendo's event, including the DS title Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars from controversial studio Rockstar, and Call of Duty: World at War, which is being designed for use with Nintendo's Wii Zapper peripheral.
Sony's pre-show event is next. I'll be back with a report this evening.