SEPTEMBER 14TH THE MYSTERY DATE

Nintendo: "yeah here it is. play it or whatever"

Sony: *Kutaragi jumps around like Ballmer, holding the PS3 above his head* "WOOOOOOOOO 599 US DOLLARS!!!! WOOOOO YEAH!!"

RIIIIiiiiiIIIDGE RACER.

I think it'll take a bunch more press events and the actual release of the system, as well as seeing how well it sells and such, before Nintendo begins marketing more agressively for the Wii, which may or may not be a mistake.

While that may be true, I can't help but think that there are a fair amount of "hardcore" gamers skepticle and unconvinced of Nintendo's strategy.

Regardless of PAX being a "nerdgasm", it didn't stop Nintendo from showcasing a huge arsenal of software and hardware (the Gameboy Micro) at last year's show; I think it surprised almost everybody, hardcore or not who had attended the previous year, just because of the standards set so ridiculously high for Nintendo's booth; I personally rushed to Nintendo's booth myself, only to see several despondent journalists and camera men pass by me swearing in the name of the "Wiis not being at the booth.".

And even when I talked to one of the representatives, his justification for the Wii not appearing was that "the big guys at Nintendo of Japan personally declined the presence of the Wii at any open to the public exposition not sponsored by Nintendo due to the fact that they still want the DS to be North America's top fascination".

Which to me says that they're really trying to maintain that level of secrecy or at least developing some sort of hunger, and they're holding that on a pedestal above fan service. And that can be annoying, but they know that the best way to get to fans is through news outlets anyways (whereas if they waste resources making a showing at PAX they're not necessarily getting the huge reach they are with this press reported event).

Ah, I understand. So do you think actual fans will get no Wii outlet until interactive kiosks arrive in retailers or *shudder* the Nintendo Fusion Tour travels around the nation?

I really think that's the situation, which is a complete bummer for us. It seems like PAX might of been the best of both worlds, since after all it is in many ways becoming the "new E3". However, E3 stole PAX's thunder on the press coverage front at least, since I don't remember too many articles based around the happenings of that expo. I believe this will probably change since the press are most likely coming to a realization that PAX is the best E3 they can get aside from special conferences held at the discretion of large companies (meaning PAX will definitely be the only safe haven for smaller developers).

Here's some more slightly related good news for you in Australia:

Source