E3 was finally here and Nintendos press conference was about to start as countless people gathered in the conference hall, decorate with a statue of Mario on one side, a statue of Sonic on the other side and a light above the center of the stage saying “the Nintendo difference”. There were many questions about what was happening at Sega. Now that they were part of Nintendo, what would they contribute to Nintendo? What did Sega have that Nintendo wanted? Questions like these were burning in the heads of fans ever since news of the buyout hit late January. Finally these questions would hopefully be answered in less than a minute as Satoru Iwata went on stage to begin.
“Thank and Welcome everyone. All of us at Nintendo have been working the GameCube project over the last several years are excited to be able to share the magic with you today for the first time anywhere. Nintendo has strong views on how we should run our company. We consider ourselves above all a game based entertainment company. We believe other people who make videogame systems see themselves first as technology companies and this is an important distinction.” Satoru Iwata continued to talk about the progression of technology. “Today some game graphics are as realistic as television. “There is not much more designers can do to impress players only with pictures. So we have identified three clear trends. Too much focus on graphics over real entertainment, too many sequels from a few hit games, and almost every hit game playing on every console. As a result what lessons are we teaching our customers, our players? We think these often do not trust what you see, because a game which looks good on a TV ad or in a store may not entertain you for very long. The harder thing is to entertain. Next there doesn’t seem to be anything new, everything looks too familiar boredom sets in and finally it may not really matter which machines you choose. They all play the same games and if that happens console makers find themselves in a commodity business like TVs or VCRs. There is no reason for players to choose one over the other except for price. At Nintendo we feel an obligation to fight these trends and how do we do that? With what we call the Nintendo difference. In our minds the Nintendo difference has four legs or foundations. The first is innovation. Our goal is always to do something different, something no one has done before. In truth some of our inventions work better than others but we never stop trying to innovate. Mr. Yamauhci always tells me we should achieve something that will bring fresh, surprise, and joy. I like that. Next we demand the highest quality from our games. Normally Nintendo does not publish the most games but regularly we are responsible for the most popular games. Today Nintendos first and second party development staffs are by far the strongest and most accomplished of any manufacturer in the world. This includes private firms like Rare in England, Left Field in the United States, Silicon Knights in Canada, and Hal, Creatures, Game Freak, and Intelligent Systems in Japan. Just as importantly we expand the world’s most popular videogame characters and franchises. Mario and Zelda and Donkey Kong and yes Pokemon. Entertainment names known around the world. Here the Nintendo difference is obvious. If you want these stars, you simply cannot have them unless you own a Nintendo machine. The final leg is heritage. This year we are introducing our fourth Nintendo home console and every one of them has succeeded around the world and of course Gameboy has also been a huge success. I believe we know more about what makes great games than anyone else and this is why Nintendo succeeds. This is the Nintendo difference. Now I must address the hedgehog in the room. The crowd laughs as Iwata gestures to the statue of Sonic. Our purchase of the Sega Corporation is not one of hostile takeover but one of unity. At Nintendo we feel that Sega has the distinct qualities that fit Nintendos business model. I believe that Nintendo will benefit from Sega just as much as Sega will benefit from Nintendo. To explain more about the GameCube and Segas role at Nintendo is Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto and Mr. Yuji Naka from Sega.” The crowd roared with applause as Miyamoto holding a GameCube and GameCube controller and Yuji Naka entered the stage.
Miyamoto put the GameCube and controller down and began speaking “Let me introduce our new baby. Like all babies it is small.” The crowd laughs. “It will make a lot of noise.” Miyamoto joked as the crowd laughs harder. “Please allow me to introduce Mr. Bill Trinen from Nintendo of America.” Miyamoto finished his brief speech in English as Bill Trinen entered the stage and began to translate for Miyamoto. “Allow me to introduce my new friend from Sega Mr. Yuji Naka.” The crowd cheers as Yuji Naka begins talking with Bill Trinen translating. “Hello. I’m Mr. Yuji Naka from Sega. For those who may not know who I am, I’m the father of Sonic the Hedgehog. I’m proud of how famous Sonic has become throughout the years and I’m honored that our old rival Nintendo recognizes that fame. At last year’s E3 Sega announced Sonic Adventure 2 for the Dreamcast. This is going to be our big finale for the Dreamcast. That being said, Sonic Adventure 2 will also be a launch title for the Nintendo GameCube.” The crowd erupts into applause. “I know that for many Nintendo fans this will be their first time playing a Sonic game so I want to give a good first impression. We’re also going to be releasing Sonic Advance for the Gameboy Advance later this year in Japan so you can experience Sonic in both 3D and 2D. We also have some other Dreamcast games that are coming to the GameCube, take a look.” A trailer starts on a black screen with small text on the bottom that says “All gameplay from Sega Dreamcast version”. Gameplay from various games were shown with some generic rock music playing over them. The games shown were Sonic Adventure 2, NBA 2K1, Shenmue, NFL 2K1, Bomberman Online, Jet Set Radio, Quake III Arena, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Half - Life, and Phantasy Star Online. The crowd roars in applause. “We will be releasing these Dreamcast games on the GameCube throughout this and next year. I’m very excited for the possibilities of Sega and Nintendo collaborating together and one of these collaborations is SegaNet. At Sega we’re hard at work making SegaNet compatible with the GameCube and some of the games you just saw like Phantasy Star will have online play. We’ll have more information for you at Nintendo Space World later this year. I’ve had many meetings with Mr. Miyamoto and in these past months we’ve really gotten to know each other pretty well. I like to think that Sonic and Mario have buried the hatchet and are both relaxing together on a beach somewhere before their next big adventures.” Miyamoto and the crowd laughed “Mario is definitely on a beach.” Miyamoto added as the laughter got louder. “Thank you for having me Mr. Miyamoto.” Yuji Naka thanked Miyamoto. “You’re Welcome, Mr. Naka.” Miyamoto said as Yuji Naka left the stage. Miyamoto continues “At Nintendo we’ve been discussing which of our popular characters would be featured on the Nintendo GameCube. We’ve got a pretty good answer. Take a look.” A video starts up. A white hand grabs a statue of Mario and throws it into the air. Nintendos All-Stars in. The Mario Statue comes to life and from the distance a sword, it’s Link and Pikachu, and Kirby! Super Smash Brother Melee, the crowd goes nuts as the trailer continues showcasing various characters like Mario, Bowser, Peach, Link, Sheik, Captain Falcon, Fox, Ness, and Ice Climbers. The trailer ends and Miyamoto continues talking. “Just about all of Nintendos popular characters have been brought to life on Nintendo GameCube as you see in Super Smash Brothers. Tomorrow you can actually play it on the showfloor. Now for show our next game, the next in the Mario series.” The crowd cheers as another video begins playing. The camera zooms in on a dark and spooky mansion. Luigi screams with a large exaggerated face making the crowd laugh. Luigi’s Mansion. The trailer continues with Luigi exploring various rooms while occasionally fighting a ghost . The trailer ends and the crowd applause. “There’s a story behind this.” Miyamoto began speaking. “Luigi won this mansion in a contest. When he went to see this mansion he found out it was haunted. And Mario who should have gotten there first is nowhere to be found. What’s worse, there’s a suspicious looking doctor telling Luigi he needs to get rid of the all the ghosts to save Mario. So using this game as an example, I’m going to demonstrate the controls. Miyamoto goes on to explain the buttons of the GameCube for a while. After his explanation Miyamoto takes out a small plastic case from his jacket pocket and opens it showing the contents to the audience. “This is a hot off the press Luigi’s Mansion Gamedisc. So we’re going to put this into the GameCube here.” Miyamoto puts the disc in and grabs the controller. The GameCube starts up and the audience applauds. The game quickly starts up to the title screen. “See, virtually no load time at all.” Miyamoto comments as he selects Skip Intro on the title screen, Luigi is in a small room talking to a doctor character. “So first we’re going to get some advice from the doctor here.” Miyamoto selects the advice option. “Remember Luigi. Your vacuum will overheat if you use it for too long.” The doctor tells Luigi. “Alright so were going to head off into the mansion now.” Miyamoto picks the Go to Mansion option. A short cinematic plays of Luigi slowly walking up to the mansion and going inside. “Alright we’re in. It’s very dark inside so Luigi needs a flashlight.” Miyamoto begins to explain how the game controls in the mansions entrance. “Ok let’s go into this hallway right here.” Luigi opens a door into a hallway. A ghost shows up behind Luigi who turns around and sucks it up. “So ghosts are going to appear behind Luigi and you’re going to use your light to stun them and then suck them in with your vacuum and this is the basic idea of the game.” As Miyamoto continues to explore showing how the vacuum interacts with the environment he goes into a bathroom, a shadow reveals someone is using the shower. “You can even move the curtain.” Luigi uses the vacuum to open the shower curtain revealing nothing. “Well we opened it but there’s nobody. So I hope you enjoy these kind of creepy lighting and shadow effects we’ve created.” Miyamoto turns the GameCube off. “Well I think I hear Luigi in the back. It sounds like he needs my help. I’ll be back later but I’m going to go back for now. Thank You.” Miyamoto thanks the crowd as he leaves.
This is part 1 of E3. I would of had this up sooner but I wanted to make sure E3 was evenly divided and I've been much busier this month than I expected. E3 Part 2 WILL be up by the end of the week, I don't have much left. Once E3 is finished there will be a small chapter about Sonic's 10th Anniversary Party & Sonic Adventure 2s launch on the Dreamcast.
