In the 10 minute break between speeches, I moved quickly to ensure I was ready. DV tapes switched? Check. Notepad out and ready to go? Check. Enough battery and memory for my camera? Check. I can hold off on a bathroom break until after? right? Check. The lights dimmed again, only this time, the translator's words flowed through the earpiece without pause since Iwata's speech was entirely in Japanese. I tried my best to listen to the Japanese in hopes of picking up on info seconds ahead of assisted translation. My goal was to avoid being the last person in the room to understand the grand news that was sure to come.
The press area has filled in fully by now
(minus the cameramen, those above represent about 1/4 of the press in attendance)Despite having a lackluster start and the sheer boringness of Nintendo's black and white slides, Iwata's keynote speech finally picked up after he was done assuring everyone in attendance that Nintendo's financials were okay and its games were selling. In fact, Iwata himself joked halfway through the speech that he had just finished the preview portion of the speech. This was an acknowledgment of what everyone there was actually waiting to see: the "interface". The crowd repaid the joke with a laugh, if only to cut the intensity that was building in anticipation.
Iwata gives his speech alongside black and white slidesMy own worries about what info may or may not have been released, the ones that had run rampant through my head for hours, were finally pacified around 11:30 A.M. Japan time when Iwata revealed the Revolution's interface. For a long time now, Nintendo has continuously offered the word "interface" to describe what others have continued to call a controller. On the first day of TGS, we all finally saw why this device actually is an interface. With its non-standard design, and its ability to link up with any number of varying attachments in the future, the gyroscope-enabled, remote device certainly allows for a plethora of control options not available through controllers, as the console world knows them.
Many Nintendo fans out there will no doubt remember Nintendo's famous E3 2004 presentation during which the sea of press in attendance cheered and screamed at the sight of the new Zelda. The unveiling of the controller couldn't have been more opposite. In fact, to say a mouse made a peep during or after the controller video would be a lie. The silence was astounding. Perhaps it was the fact that this was a Japanese press event, and maybe things work differently here. On the other hand, maybe people were so entrenched in the act of listening for any controller detail that speaking wasn't even an option. I can imagine most people just didn't know what to say. At best, someone could have shouted, "Wwooooww?" with a rise in intonation at the end to signify that they weren't quite sure. I was sure I wanted gyroscopes and the like in my Revolution controller well before TGS, and even I wasn't sure how to take it all.
As the video wound down and Iwata continued to explain the new controller, the remainder of the presentation was a continuous flash of camera bulbs, all wanting a piece of the action. Camera men would race up and down the central and side aisles, trying desperately to get a good close up shot of Iwata and the controller. As for me, I was too burdened by my camcorder hovering above my head to participate in the games, but perhaps in another year with a teammate by my side, I too can join the ranks of the runners.
Iwata explains the controller to the pressThe keynote finished as quickly as it had started, and after a few, quick, on-stage poses with the new controller, Iwata vanished. The press packed up and moved on at an equally hurried pace. Though I lagged a bit, I had survived. I was almost happy just to have been able to say so. I'd gotten some pics, I'd taken my video, I'd seen the new controller first-hand, and my opinions on what had happened were all starting to come together. Hmm? now if only I knew a place where I could voice my opinions and others would hear.
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