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The moment the doors were opened to the exhibits at the
Los Angeles Convention Center, a flood of gamers rushed to the
Nintendo booth. Ever since, Nintendo's extravagant booth has
remained thoroughly occupied. Of the many attractions, a few
including the booth's design, the games on display, the number of
executives and helpful representatives, and
the bonuses, stand out as the primary crowd draws.
Nintendo Booth
Design:
Nintendo's booth was, without
question, the best designed and most spectacular of the entire show.
Closed off from the rest of the South Hall by large walls bearing
Nintendo images, the booth held a treasure of game kiosks, private
viewing booths, and light spectacles. At the entrance of the
Nintendo area was a sleek piece of architecture that squirted water
into the air from one hole to the next. Inside, the Nintendo floor
was dark - illuminated by spectacular light shows. Nintendo provided
a large number of high definition kiosks for gamers to go hands on
with all of the finest Nintendo GameCube titles – not to mention
cute floor girls. Private viewing areas lined one wall of the booth
where, behind a black curtain in a dark open area, gamers could try
out titles on huge television monitors.
Incredible
Games:
Inevitably, the games are what please the crowds - and please they
did. Though some had to wait up to twenty minutes to get their hands
on a controller, many were pleased just to watch GCN games in
action. Rogue Squadron, Luigi's Mansion, and Wave Race appeared to
be the most popular titles and had massive crowds surrounding their
kiosks. Other very popular titles included Eternal Darkness, Smash
Bros. Melee, Star Fox Adventures, Pikmin, Courtside, and Kameo. The
GBA section was also very busy but unlike the GameCube area, could
be navigated.
Representatives:
For those like myself interested in discussing Nintendo's industry
position and games with executives and representatives, Nintendo
provided. During the first hour that the Nintendo booth was open, I
met with NOA Vice President, Peter Main, on the floor and discussed
Nintendo's future. In the viewing booths described above, Nintendo
representatives were available to discuss each title in a one on one
and group setting. Though much of what I learned is "off the
record," I will go through my notes and see what I can share
later on the boards.
Bonus Areas:
An animatronic Mario stood over a bonus area of Nintendo's booth
where participants sat around a spinning display for a chance to win
one of many Game Boy Advances being given away. To get a seat at
this bonus area, gamers had to have a card stamped at three Nintendo
kiosk areas. Just about anyone could walk up to this area during day
one with a stamped card and play. However, by day two, an impressive
line to this area had stretched out the Nintendo booth entrance and
continued along side of Nintendo’s booth wall. While this giveaway
was an attraction, it wasn’t the only thing keeping gamers
situated at Nintendo’s booth.
Lackluster
Competition:
Lackluster competition from both Sony and Microsoft was noticeable
– especially by day two. Microsoft’s floor was dedicated more to
the exclusive merchandising section than the games. Kiosks with XBOX
software appeared few and far between. Waits for Halo and Munch’s
Oddysee were ridiculous. Not because they were incredible games but
because they represented the only two major Microsoft titles at the
show yet had very few kiosks. On a personal note, while I loved some
of the XBOX titles, I feel strongly that the XBOX controller is just
horribly bulky and unintuitive. Moving on (not without partiality),
Sony’s broad floor space seemed to be a lot of… well, space.
Admittedly coming from someone who strongly dislikes the company, I
for one was not attracted to a single PS2 demonstration. The Sony
globe (a very large ball displaying projected game videos) was well
done, as was the raised area containing a few extra PS2 kiosks.
However, if a tired Sony area on day two was any indication, games
still lead the show. Nintendo had it… the others did not.
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