Interest in Nintendo's Wii, at E3 2006, has reached overwhelming proportions and waiting time on Thursday, for some hands-on Wii fun, was over four hours. Nintendo asked gamers to feel the experience rather than wait for the company to describe it and they have responded in numbers.
Even before E3 2006 opened its doors, most industry insiders and the public agreed that the real hot topic this year would be Nintendo and its Wii console. The innovative design of the Wiimote and the new information Nintendo was expected to reveal during its pre-E3 media event increased excitement even further. The media event did fall short of what many had predicted; no additional innovative functionality announcements, no pricing information and no specific release date made for a media event that fell well below expectations. Nintendo managed to recover however, by asking attendees to experience the games rather than wait for fact sheets, the event included numerous demonstrations using the new controller and people just had to try it for themselves. The fact that 'Ninty' did not reveal a secret however, does not mean there isn't one; in a recent interview with IGN Konami's Shingo Mukaitoge and Akihiro Ishihara stated that the console includes, ...built in physics simulation. It is not clear how that will manifest itself but rumors of a dedicated Physics Processing Unit (PPU) are already doing the E3 rounds.
What we do know however, is that by asking users to wait for the experience rather than stick to details the company's PR department delivered a master stroke and diverted attention from the fact that no working Wii consoles are present on the show floor, which uses Dev kits only, while the only 12 working units are available to VIP visitors of the company's E3 booth. The PR success of Nintendo is no surprise as the company has handled the entire Wii system extremely skillfully. First we had the Nintendo secret controller, with a developer surfacing every now and then to let us know how wonderful the device is. Then, in September 2005, as Microsoft hype was reaching its peak for the XBox 360 launch, we found out what the Wiimote could do. On the run up to 2006 Nintendo used every chance to tell us that something special will come our way at E3 and one week before the show the company had everyone talking about the console by announcing one of the Wiirdest names around (last Wii wordplay I promise).
Did the strategy work? Thursday saw an average queue waiting time for the Wii of over four hours while those wanting some hands-on action with the PS3 were faced with a 30 minute wait. The waiting time problem was so dramatic that after 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time they had to stop allowing people into the line because there was no way they would be able to see the console before the convention center closed three hours later. Don't believe us? Take a look at an E3 video which proves the point. The video demonstrates the, now, infamous Nintendo Snake which wrapped the entire convention center. A security guard estimated that at any one time 1500 to 2000 people made up the Snake.
Nintendo does not promise a multimedia hub or an HD machine, which according to Mr. Kutaragi justify a USD 599 price tag, the Japanese company promises a video games console with a new type of controller. Yet with that simple promise the company has moved from underdog to serious contender, so much so that Microsoft is now trying to use the company's success by claiming that for the price of a PS3 you can buy, …an XBox 360 and a Wii. Nintendo also had assistance from the most unexpected source; Sony. By choosing to include a tilt feature on its redesigned controller, Sony gave Nintendo's device even more credibility and gave the impression that its PS3 device may be struggling for innovation.
Reports, from the show floor at E3, suggest that most gamers will buy the Wii and one of the next generation monsters (PS3, XBox 360). Nintendo's biggest bet however, remains the non-gamer; if the Japanese gaming giant manages to create a new market for itself, the future of gaming also stands to gain.
