It would be hard to walk away from the first day of D.I.C.E. not feeling a sense of disappointment. Gone is Nintendo's opportunity to steal the headlines during the media drought that forms as we approach Game Developers Conference and E3 in the next few months. Reggie delivered a powerful speech titled "Expanding the Market for Interactive Entertainment," but left us knowing little of Nintendo's plans to expand beyond the handheld market.
What is unique about the speeches at D.I.C.E. is the audience is neither consumers nor investors; rather you speak with the people directly involved with development of games. Knowing that, Reggie still chose to open the speech with graphs of market growth and revenue change in the United States. He continued with sales figures for Nintendogs, moving right into demographics and buying habits. The slides were very familiar; in fact, many of the slides were used in previous presentations the company has given. At least we can't say it comes as a complete surprise. Only six days prior in an interview with Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences President Joseph Olin, online publication GameDaily asked:
"I've heard some people predict that Reggie's speech will be very similar to the same one that he's already given a few times at investor's conferences, like Blue Ocean strategies, etc. Do you know if it's something fresh or is it a rehash?"
The predictions were dead on the money. Much of the financial and demographic information had been seen in past Nintendo presentations, and Reggie didn't pass up the opportunity to reinvoke talk of Blue Ocean Strategy and The Innovator's Dilemma, the two books Nintendo references when discussing their new business strategies. Granted, the speech wasn't a complete rehash. Nintendo used it to expand on the Brain Train series and DS Lite coming to North America, and announce for the first time DS Download Stations and VoIP technology in Metroid Prime: Hunters.
Sadly, the speech ended without any new Revolution information, but I couldn't help but think it was a last minute decision. Included in the speech were five New Year's Resolutions that Reggie told CNET in an interview just a few weeks prior, without a doubt a late addition to the presentation. The Revolution information also seemed to be building for something more. Beginning with the goals of the system, changing to controller and the wide variety of possibilities using attachments like the nunchuk, it felt certain like Nintendo was ready to tell their secret to the world.
"Any questions?" asked Reggie. It was over. While I didn't expect major announcements to come from D.I.C.E., I was shocked to see Nintendo not reveal a Revolution teaser of some kind, just enough to capture headlines and continue the hype for Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month. Even Reggie knows he left fans disappointed. Later that night at the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Reggie went up to present the award for Children's Game of the Year and said, "I think this is payback for the presentation I made this morning."
With the announcement of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata returning to keynote GDC this year, I am left with the impression that some information was removed, in favor of GDC. Being an industry-oriented event, D.I.C.E. does not provide the opportunity for playable demos, or for other companies to make follow-on announcements showing support. While many fans may feel disappointed, the wait for GDC is only a little over a month away, and Reggie confirmed that Revolution would be playable at E3. The wait will be over soon enough.
