March 23rd, 2006 (1:47pm) - Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has given a keynote speech at the GDC today, and the details are given to you below.
The keynote speech was originally scheduled for 10:30, but was delayed until 10:45. At this point the conference director took the state to introduce Iwata.
Iwata spoke on Nintendo’s positioning in the gaming market, likening them to Pepsi, who became the number one product in their field through a disruptive campaign. He then said that all developers knew the three basic food groups are Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos, which garnered some laughter.
He then said that the gaming industry is ready for disruption, and pointed to the success of the DS thus far. He brought up Brain Training, a game that has already moved a surprising amount of units in Japan and is on it’s way to the US.
Iwata told a story about how when the prototype was demoed, they hooked up a brain scanning device on to testers to measure it’s impact. He also said that retailers and sales representatives questioned the title’s legitimacy as a game.
Iwata then introduced Bill Trinen from Nintendo of America. He showed off a DS with Brain Age running, a similar game to Brain Training. He showed off "Quick Play," which is played with the DS turned sideways.
Brain Age includes such challenges as counting, math, ability to read text out loud, among others. Trinen showed that the program randomly generated which challenges showed up so players can’t cheat the game and be ready for the next challenge. Graphs show the player how well they’ve performed, and how much they’ve been improving.
Trinen also stressed the DS’ unique capabilities, such as handwriting and voice support to push this games interactivity.
Trinen then invites Jamil Moledina- director of the GDC, Geoff Keighley- host of G4TV.com, and Will Wright- world famous developer onto the stage. The four of them compete in two seperate arithmetic challenges, with Trinen winning the first, and Wright winning the second.
Iwata is given the microphone again, and talks about how the Brain games have a simple yet addictive appeal, calling the title one of the biggest successes. He said the idea came from people who said they wanted something new.
Iwata said that the appeal of the games can only be demonstrated properly if people are given a chance to try them out. He said that consumers without interest in games that played the Brain games were hooked after trying them.
Iwata then encouraged the audience to show their families and friends the game, and promised that everyone in attendence would receive a free copy of the game to share.
Iwata then began to speak on the Nintendo Wi-Fi service. He said that network gaming has been around since 1998, but Nintendo will now be opening it up to new audiences. He then talked about the challenges of making it easy to use. Some people want to play strangers, others want to play friends. He mentioned that reaching one million users and 29 million play sessions in only eighteen weeks is impressive, and that it took competitors far longer to reach those goals.
Iwata then brings up Metroid Prime: Hunters, and brings up how it has Wi-Fi modes. Trinen takes the stage again, and competes with the developers of the game in a Morph Ball themed game.
Iwata then said he had another adventure planned for the audience, and he revealed The Legend of Zelda: the Phantom Hourglass for the DS. The short clip showcased cel-shaded graphics. Most action will be on the bottom screen, maps will mostly inhabit the top, though there will be interaction between the two. The touch-screen can be used to draw things, though no details were revealed. The game is being devloped by the Wind Waker team.
Iwata said he is asked all the time about how they came up with the idea for the Revolution controller, and said that people are afraid to touch regular controllers. He said that Nintendo created a lot of different prototypes with this in mind before arriving at the current design.
Iwata stressed backward compatability, and said that the remote-style controller fit the needs of that along with the rest of the controller’s intended functions best.
Iwata then said that the Virtual Console would be home to many Sega Genesis and Turbo Grafix games. Not all of them, but definitely the best of the bunch.
Iwata then said that the most important story was still to be told. Huge amounts of money are needed to make games now, and he mentioned the cost of graphics. He touched on Nintendo’s desire to do something different and provide solutions for people with good ideas.
Iwata said he understands the importance of graphics, and that Zelda, Mario, and Metroid will all look fantastic, but those won’t be the only types of games on the console. He said innovation would be essential to reach a new audience: younger and older people.
Iwata said Nintendo is committed to creating an environment where developers can expand, and express themselves. He said that in a few weeks people would be able tp play and understand the philosophy.
Iwata then said video games are meant to be one thing: Fun. He then thanked everyone for inviting him, and the conference ended.
