Quote:August 17, 2005 - Nintendo's GC 2005 press conference entitled "Expand the Definition of Gaming" opened with a teaser trailer that cited its past home console accomplishments. The trailer flashed a series of slogan-esque claims that went as follows: "expanding the definition of mobile gaming" with the Game Boy, "power" with the SNES, "possibilities" with the N64, "gaming experience" with the N64 rumble pack, "gameplay" with the GameCube, "wireless" with the Wave Bird, "functionality" with the GBA, and "how to play games" with the DS. It ended with a question, "So what exactly is the definition of gaming?"
The answer, "Please don't ask us. Because we will always expand the definition of gaming." Finally Revolution appeared with only the numbers 2006 -- its release year -- painted over it.


Bernd Fakesch, spokesman and General Manager of Nintendo of Europe, opened with a speech that highlighted the company's commitment to innovating with games. Much like with the Revolution's unveiling at E3 this year, the enthusiasm for wi-fi gaming possibilities was echoed here too.

Fakesch said, "In the console market, beginning in 2006 our wi-fi capable flagship Revolution will set new landmarks. By 'expanding the definition of gaming' we don't only mean an advance towards new limits of gaming, but also to new potential players. We want to win over new people and inspire them, those who have never thought about taking a controller into their hands -- more girls, young women, adults, and also elderly players. Certainly in the process we won't neglect the fan community. Germany needs new kinds of games and Nintendo is certainly the company that is best-suited to supply them. We hold a unique position in the market. We are among the worldwide leading hardware manufacturers and at the same time we are among the leading software developers. And that's both for handhelds and home consoles. Additionally, we have decades of experience where we have focused our entire know-how on the content of games and gaming fun."

He finally added, "What are the new games of the future really going to look like? The titles of our innovative Nintendo DS give an idea of this."

What we discerned from this is that, indeed, the company wants to continue to offer fresh gaming experiences, much of which will involve wi-fi play but, additionally, gaming for really old people. This, admittedly, perplexes us. The elderly can, at times, barely feed themselves and this isn't the kind of gaming most, let's say, Smash Bros. or Zelda fans would really want. So, we are certainly very interested to see what Revolution has in store to provide such a wide range of gaming.

Later during the conference Nintendo brought up Revolution again, noting that it will be the next big thing and, again, very much wi-fi enabled. It seems the company can't not talk about wi-fi now that it's got the ball rolling. Interestingly, Fakesch said Revolution will have "a large number of novelties." The "novelties" translation, we speculate, may have actually referred to add-on services or peripherals. When asked for more information, he said, "The only thing I can tell you is that very soon there will be important news about Revolution."

Ending the Revolution topics he finished by saying, "We're all wondering what the Revolution controller will look like, but I think right now we should focus on discussing our current products."

Assuming Nintendo holds true to its promises, we'll be hearing more in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can spend your time daydreaming about Revolution's mystery, the controller, and fragging little girls and old people over wi-fi.