Big Three Part 2: Nintendo
Press Conference: 9 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Nintendo will likely focus on expanding the Wii and its services, particularly online play and accessories. The highest expectation, at least for retro gaming fans, will be the release of the long-awaited Zapper attachment for the WiiMote and classic screen-shooting games for the Virtual Console. More details of WiiWare will likely be announced as well as a new channel or two. Let's also hope for a hard drive announcement - or, even better, a Wii2 (or WiiToo?) console with a hard drive - so we finally have somewhere to store our many, many downloads without swapping cards or redownloading games.

I don't suspect a WiiMote redesign will be in Nintendo's near future, especially since they've already spent so much promotion money focusing on the controller's unique profile. How about more color options or even a mini monitor?

I highly doubt there will be a significant DS hardware announcement (as in a new DS system) either. More likely are more groovy DS attachments - mini keyboards? - and, we hope, more games with better online modes or Wii compatibilities.

Hey, isn't it about time for a big GameBoy announcement? After all, the DS was not a GameBoy replacement (at least that is what Nintendo put on all of its press releases).

As for games, the usual names will pop up - Mario (Super Mario Something or Two and Mario Kart), Donkey Kong, Wario (as in Ware) and maybe another first-class shooter in addition to Metroid Prime 3. The biggest two we assume we'll see in full or semi-full action are Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii, primarily because of the online multiplayer, and Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, also for the Wii. Coming across for handhelds will be Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day for the DS which will continue to make the oldest and youngest gamers feel smarter.

The lineup of Wii games with online options for 2008 should also be a bit deeper than the 2 or 3 games coming out this year.