Nintendo E3 2008 press conference DS and Wii details: GTA Chinatown Wars, Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, Animal Crossing Wii, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Music

Nintendo E3 2008 Logo
The Nintendo E3 2008 press conference was held today and showed off a ton of new footage and some new game announcements on the Wii console and DS handheld.

E3 LogoHere’s a list of the keynotes:

* Shaun White Snowboarding will support the Wii Balance Board when it’s released by year-end.

* Nintendo success story:
1. Nintendo is selling games that can sell steadily for a long period of time. In the past it was impossible to expect software to sell for 2 or 3 years. Titles like Nintendogs, Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros. Mario Kart DS are doing that.
2. Gamers aren’t just looking for better graphics and more sophistication. Nintendo understands this. Both Zelda & Mario teams are hard at work in bringing new titles to Wii.
3. Small teams with small budgets can capture wide audience with a great idea, both challenge & opportunity for WiiWare.
4. The user-base has expanded suddenly. Intuitive interface can help attract those that never considered video games before. It has changed the seasonal nature of video game hardware sales.
5. Video game systems were more of a gift item for the holidays, now they are more likely purchased for people themselves at anytime of the year.
6. 200,000 DS a week in Europe as if every week was a holiday. In America, players have bought an average of 700,000 Wii systems over the last 3 months, usually not seen outside of November and December. $5 billion revenue at retail just in the US.
7. Nintendo said they’d like to destroy the wall between gamers and non-gamers. Mario Kart Wii & Wii Fit created more conversations, cross overs. Strongest evidence from Guitar Hero 3. Wii version outsells all others.
8. Progress being made in destroying psychological barrier between non-gamers and gamers. Even if it is revolutionary people will become tired of the new form of entertainment. So what’s next? Happens faster when other companies start to mimic.
9. Engaged, Enriched, Enthused. Nintendo always challenge themselves to be pioneers in forming new paradigms. They seek fresh surprises. New social trend, consumers acting as creators, and sharing their work. Nintendo believes they can add something new to these players in new ways

* Nintendo creator Katsuya Eguchi announced Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii for a 2008 release. Write letters with pictures to other player’s Wii, cell phones and computers. WiiSpeak community microphone adds multiplayer online chat to Wii games.

* Lifetime sales of the US for Wii hardware reached 10 millions systems. DS surpassed 20 million, sales of two alone combine to represent more than $5 billion at retail just in the U.S. No closer to being satisfied. Still millions of players out there and new people.

* Marketplace perspective. End of current fiscal year DS worldwide sales to grow to almost 100 million systems. In America, annual sales have gone up each year. Some people still cling to previous console lifetime perceptions. Two out of every three in US is DS. In 2008 DS is running 12% ahead of last years record. Hardware always driven by key software franchises. This spring it was Pokemon, 600,000 in six weeks Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Pokemon 180 million for series sales. Total DS software 29% ahead of last year in US.

* 19 third-party games have exceeded 400,000 sales on Wii. Examples:
— Star Wars: The Clone Wars features head-to-head lightsaber duels on Wii.
— Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Parts lets you surf the skies on the Wii Balance Board.
— Call of Duty: World at War features a co-op mode and lets you use the Wii Zapper for full effect.
— Guitar Hero: On Tour sold 300,000 copies in its first week on DS. Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades announced for DS that allows for song exchanging. First time players can share songs between the two versions.
— Spore Creatures for DS allows player creativity and sharing them with your friends, which in turn show up in-game.
Pokemon Rangers 2: Shadows of Alma coming to DS on November 10th, 2008.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was announced for DS in winter 2008. Custom game engine and characters are included.
Cooking Navi (known as Cooking Guide in Europe) is coming to DS in November 2008 in America.

* Wii MotionPlus is a Wii Remote accessory for more precise, responsive and intense control. It registers every twist of your pulse. Launches worldwide in spring 2009. Wii Sports Resort is the sequel to Wii Sports that comes with a Wii MotionPlus accessory and extended Wii Remote protective jacket packaged in. Included games are: 1. A frisbee throwing game where a dog needs to catch it; 2. Powercruiser is like Waverace; 3. A Swordfighting game has a wood chopping single player mode or pits two players against each other in lightsaber-like battles with 1 on 1 direct controls.

* Wii Music‘s drum game uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuck for drumsticks and the Wii Balance Board for the drum kick pedals, allowing anyone to learn to play the drums within a few weeks as a separate mode that makes it a complete drum simulator. The mode also includes lessons so you can learn to play drums in a few weeks.. Saxophone, piano, violin, guitar, bongo, orchestra, handbell are other instrument. One of the titles they began designing along wii play, sports and fit. Music can be enjoyed by everyone. Wii Music is different than past music games. No need to closely follow rhythm notes or guides to play songs. All you have to do is hold the Wii Remote and move it like you would to play a real instrument, remote detects and does the corresponding sound. You can play over 50 instruments just by moving your body. Violin, bigness of notion adjusts volume of notes. guitar you play like real guitar. You can pluck and strum. Piano also shown. Variety of percussion instruments as well (shows big drum). It records videos of your performances too. One player can play and record each part in a song and create a unique music video. Can play with up to four player. On the show Miyamoto played cowbell as Nintendo employees played the Super Mario theme song together.

At the start of the conference Nintendo said they only wanted to focus on a few key titles. Maybe Nintendo will have some unannounced games on the showfloor at E3 later today?