Nintendo Wii E3 Preview Extravaganza - Surprises

Probably the greatest thing about the E3 conference is the the unexpected surprises that pop up. Last year the balance board announcement was probably the biggest surprise I’ve seen come out of E3, and at the time it pissed a lot of people off. Of course in the end Nintendo did know what they were doing, so I’ll try not to doubt them again.

It’s always hard to guess what a surprise is, hence it being a surprise but it’s always fun to speculate and dream of what could be in store. Here’s a list of some crazy and not-so crazy things that might pop up next week.

Voice-Chat - Nintendo’s soire’ into the world of online multiplayer has reminded me of a kid who’s afraid to get into a swimming pool. They stick their toe in to see if it’s warm enough, and still are a bit skeptical. One aspect of multiplayer that Nintendo is hesitant about getting involved in is voice chat. Mario Kart: Wii would be such a more gratifying experience if I could yell at the Baby Bowser suckers I pass on Moonview Highway. While I can see why Nintendo hasn’t implemented voice chat (keeping it friendly), it really does add to the online multiplayer experience.

Chances of A Voice Chat Announcement - Slim, but not beyond the realm of possibility.

Kid Icarus - An announcement of a Kid Icarus wouldn’t even really be considered a surprise really. Although Nintendo hasn’t “officially” announced the title, the consensus is that it will be at E3. Could this possibly be the big surprise Reggie was talking about? I hope not as I want to see another game coincide with this one. Maybe I’m just too greedy.

Chances Of A Kid Icarus Announcement - It’s a lock.

Miyamoto Announces Production Of A Zelda Movie - We all remember the IGN prank back in April, which might not be the greatest prank ever, but definitely the most expensive. They pretty much spent months trying to create a realistic trailer for a non-existent Legend of Zelda movie. It turned out great, because for awhile there were a lot of unsuspecting people who bought into it. Some were skeptical, but even the elaborate movie fooled them in the end. The thing was, is that the trailer really caught on and became an April Fools sensation.

Due to this it might not be a huge stretch for Nintendo to want to send their boy in green to the big screen. Ok, so it’s a pretty big stretch seeing as though Nintendo hasn’t allowed one of their properties to be put into movie form since The Super Mario Bros. Movie (maybe for good reason). Times have changed now though, and it’s easier to pull off game-movie adaptations than in years past. So, maybe a Zelda movie might not be as ridiculous as it sounds.

Chances Of A Zelda Movie Announcement - If there were Vegas Odds On This, A $100 might make you a millionaire.


Nintendo Hard Drive - Nintendo’s download service has grown by leaps and bounds since the Wii’s debut back in 2006. There are some people who have downloaded enough games to fill up their Wii menu slots, if they had the space. Unfortunately if you’ve really been getting into downloading from the Virtual Console or Wiiware channel then you might notice your space shrinking up. 512 MB is a quite a bit of space if you’re just using it for game saves, but if you’re into the download business it can disappear pretty quick.

Nintendo has somewhat acknowledged gamers’ need for more space. A Nintendo exec mentioned it a few months back that they were aware of the problem and were looking into it. He didn’t give very many details, and he actually dismissed it by saying there were very few people who needed more space. While that might be true now, how long will it be before even the most casual gamers are running out of space. It might be best to address the issue before it becomes to big.

Chances Of A Nintendo Hard Drive Announcement - Not As Slim As Voice Chat, But I Still Wouldn’t Bet On It.

Nintendo Announces Nintendo DS 2 And Functionality With The Wii- There’s a lot of people on the internet who believe that a new Nintendo handheld might be in the works and that E3 might be where it’s announced. It’s impossible to guess what the name would be, Nintendo DS 2 being the most obvious. What isn’t impossible is to guess what features the new handheld might have.

For Wii owners, the greatest news would be to hear about the handheld interacting with the Wii. Nintendo has always had interaction between consoles and handhelds (Super Nintendo - GameBoy; Gamecube - Gameboy Advance). So it’s not a huge stretch to think that their next handheld will have some kind of functionality with the Nintendo Wii. The current DS already has some functionality with the Wii, as you can download demos onto your DS through the Nintendo Channel.

Chances Of A Nintendo DS 2 And Wii Interaction Being Announced - There aren’t great odds that a new handheld will be announced, but it’s not unlikely that when a new handheld is announced that it will interact with the Nintendo Wii.

So there you have it, some surprises you might be in store for when E3 kicks off July 14th. Although I wouldn’t get too excited about most of these, as they are mostly things I want to see happen. But who knows, maybe I’m onto something with some of these calls.

I hope everyone comes back next week as I’ll be providing the fastest E3 coverage as humanly possible. The minute that Miyamoto utters a word about something, it will be typed onto WiiBlog, I can gurantee that.