Nothing new on DS at Nintendo's E3 press conference
You celebrate the sales, Reggie, we want to play games
You'd have to say that after a couple of years practice, Reggie – Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime to you and me – is getting good at doing press conferences. Apart from the fact that he told today's audience that this year's effort at the Santa Monica Civic Center auditorium wasn't a press conference at all. Nope, it was a "celebration" of all things Nintendo.
Of course, Reggie is pretty happy. Thanks in the main to DS and Wii, the Japanese game market is up over 100 per cent, while DS alone accounts for around a quarter of all game consoles sold worldwide.
"The Nintendo DS may be the beacon lighting the way to the future of the entire games industry,"stated Reggie, highlighting its 40 million plus install base. As for demographics, Reggie reckons in the US, 23 per cent of gamers on Nintendo systems are over 25 years old, with 17 per cent between 18 to 24 years old, and the remaining 60 per cent younger than 18.
But what about the games?
Well, there are over 140 more titles due to be released globally before the end of the year. DS highlights from the conf– sorry, celebration – included The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, THQ's WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008, Temco's Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics.
No surprises there then...
Maybe that was the reason it wasn't a press conference after all – no news, at least if you were a DS owner (Wii fans got new controllers and more). Let's hope things get more interesting when we get to play some games in the various Santa Monica hotels where all the publishers are holed up.
