Going into their press conference Nintendo knew they had to do something to appeal to the core gamers. There were three major options that I could think of they could use to achieve this. These options are in order of my personal preference for it occurring.

1. Announce a new IP or another game for an old one, but make it clear it is not a casual game. Make it something that would appeal to core gamers, like a new Kid Icarus, Mario, Zelda or Metroid.

2. Announce a solution to the storage problem. I've been out of space on my Wii for over six months, this has prevented me from downloading any WiiWare, since I would have to delete several of my VC games, many of which I use for multiplayer fun, whereas most WiiWare titles I'm interested in are single-player.

3. Announce a voice-chat peripheral. This was my least favorite option, as I can truly not understand why people want this. Judging by the incredible immaturity on Xbox live I can only pray that Wii voicechat does not devolve to this level. When I want voice chat I just hop on my PC. Hopefully the more open nature of this mic stems some of the negativity that anonymity brings out in so many people.


Basically Nintendo threw the hard-core gamers a bone when I was hoping for a steak. With all the flak they've gotten for ignoring the hardcore gamer it really doesn't feel like they're doing much to rectify that situation.

Animal Crossing is a great franchise, and I love it to death but it's also one of the most casual of what I would consider the "core" franchises.

Oh, and with Guitar Hero games now on the DS as well as GTA and Chrono Trigger I don't think girl usage will be surpassing male this year.