Annual Nintendo Conference 2007 Reveals Much

Nintendo's annual press briefing recently took place, and IGN and Ge-maga magazine have all the juicy info. While there are a ton of awesome announcements that came out of the briefing, I'm going to mention the ones that really stood out in my mind, and deliver a few words expressing what I feel about them.

- DS finally getting a Fire Emblem game: About time. I'm not really all that excited about the one on Wii, and a portable Fire Emblem sounds excellent.

- Wii has a 51% female user base: Holy shit. That really is quite an achievement. Not just because of the whole "more female gamers" thing, but also because it shows that people other than your average 28-year old male gamer are indeed getting into gaming.

- Upcoming DS download station allows for demo downloads at home: Again, about time. I wonder how they're going to deal with storage issues on the DS though. Frankly, this is quite exciting. DS software, especially, would benefit a lot from user feedback.

- Monster Hunter 3 being developed for Wii: Hooooly shit. Considering this was initially a PS3 exclusive, and is now on the Wii, it's safe to assume that Capcom is the first in a line of developers starting to see extremely viable opportunities for bigger franchises on the system. Seeing as how PSP sales of all things spiked due to Monster Hunter, I'd love to see what it does for the Wii.

- Square Enix developing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Land for Wii Ware: OK, 1) That is a huge name. Write a freaking novel, why don't you? 2. About time you announced that hard drive, Nintendo. It does exist, right? Right?

- Nintendo making big plans to increase online usage of the Wii: I'll see it when I believe it.

An excellent set of announcements overall. I am so relieved that the Wii Ware channel isn't just going to be digital warehouse of casual/indie software. Don't get me wrong ... the indie aspect of Wii Ware is what excites me most about it, but it's excellent news that big-name developers will also be taking advantage of it. Take into account this story from a couple weeks ago, and you get the impression that Wii Ware might actually be pretty popular with several developers, especially considering that the need for a publisher is offset. This, of course, means far more creative freedom.

Check out the full blog coverage of the event over at IGN and Ge-maga at the links at the start of this post. Some very interesting stats concerning the Wii and DS were reported, and Wii Fit was demoed at the event as well. Now, if only they would demo that hard drive...