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After a fifty minute delay, the Nintendo Press Conference
kicked off with a tangible sense of tension, yet little flair. As
the industry representatives entered the hall we were treated to a
video demonstrating many Wii exclusives – all of which we’ve
previously seen. To the backing of Scissor  Sisters, Gabby
Logan – yes, the girl who shot to fame by being a female presenter
on a UK Saturday football programme – declaring that many of us
maybe gaming fans, but she’s not. And apparently, she’s not
alone.
Laurent Fischer, European Marketing Director, enters the
stage and begins to talk about attracting non-gamers. A traditional
Nintendo speech about “disruptive technology” ensues, while
Logan
continuously beefs about why she should be interested in Wii –
surprisingly, a discussion about sports develops. Before getting too
involved in Wii Sports, the attention quickly turns to the
NintendoDS, but that’s not why you’re here…
After playing the newest addition to the Wii Sports
line-up, Wii Boxing – in which players use both the Wii
Remote and Analogue Attachment as the left and right hands, pulling
towards themselves in order to block – and revealing both Tim
Henman and Greg Rusedski playing in doubles matches in Wii Tennis,
a handful of European Launch Releases were confirmed; Wii Sports,
The
Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Play – a
software package to help players familiarise themselves with the Wii
Remote, that’ll come bundled with each additional Wii Remote – Tony
Hawk’s Downhill Jam, RayMan: Raving Rabbids, Red
Steel,  Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and WarioWare:
Smooth Moves arriving “just after launch”.
A few other details were revealed, but little that hasn’t
been discussed prior to the event. The big news however; that
faithful day has been confirmed. And yes, it’s still 2006 (phew!).
Nintendo’s Wii console will launch on December 8th,
2006, with a suggested retail price of £179.99. The package will
include the console, the Sensor Bar, the Sensor Bar Stand, one Wii
Remote, one Analogue Attachment, an A/V Cable, an AC Adapter, and Wii
Sports. First-Party games will retail at the suggested price of
£39.99, with Third-Parties not restricted, but asked to keep
in-line with Nintendo’s own products.
As the event draws to a close, the walls part at the back of
the auditorium, and Satoru Iwata invites us to play Wii. With all
the traditional showings, there’s little more news to offer you,
but I’m sure that you’ll all be satisfied knowing that we’ll
all have our grubby little mitts on that pretty white box come
Christmas. Enough to put a smile on any gamers face.
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