Nintendo kicked off its presentation with the emphasis that they are a gaming company. They wanted to reassure us that they had the momentum; a momentum that began since the last quarter of 2004. The price cut to $99 US really pushed volume of sales for Nintendo. Nintendo is pricing itself as a hardware provider for value gaming, appealing to the teen market.

Part of the value strategy includes introducing retro NES titles to the Game Boy platform. Retro gaming is getting a second wind. The introduction of slower paced simpler titles should delight the mass market crowd wanting to rekindle nostalgia at an affordable $19.99 US price.

There’s no mistake that this was another event where handhelds dominated. Nintendo highlighted its Nintendo DS device. Slated for release at the end of 2004, the DS is going to get a name change (DS being a codename) and also a slew of first and third party titles. The double screen is, of course, a bit strange. Nintendo believes its best strategy is to make games more immersive. The DS will support touch screen access, something enjoyed commonly by users of PDAs. The other thing the DS will support is speech recognition through a built in microphone. Their goal is to make games more immersive by changing how you interface with the game.

Nintendo prides itself in not being an electronics or operating system company. But it is not all about games since the mobile strategy involves features like Wi-Fi chatting. The Game Boy will also turn into a video platform. Recently, more and more Game Boy Advance titles have been featuring full motion video sequences. Titles like Britney Spears Dance Beat illustrate the full capability of the device. Nintendo promises to harness this hidden power and put multiple episodes into packs for distribution in cartridges. All of the titles being introduced are geared towards a youth audience with titles like Sponge Bob and Pokemon.

While Nintendo displayed interviews with many software developers, the most common use for the second screen is to display an auto map or some sort of collaborative function (chat, for example). Nintendo is leaving it up to the developer to imagine what should happen for the two screens. Some titles, like Metroid Prime: Hunters, will be using the stylus in lieu of the traditional Nintendo buttons. This more than drew a few gasps from the audience. But Nintendo then submitted that they were proud of always bucking the trend, introducing gamepads at a time when trackballs and joysticks dominated the gaming industry.

The handheld space is one that Nintendo does not worry about. The DS will come to the market sooner than the PSP. The competing product was mentioned by name during the Nintendo presentation. Nintendo believes they own the handheld market, one that is greater than the Playstation 2 console itself.

In terms of software, Nintendo showed off a few standby Gamecube titles that should make owners of the system happy. Zelda gets two mentions with The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, a multiplayer action game. The other Legend of Zelda is more grown up. It is an action adventure that Shigeru Miyamoto promised would tread new water. There will also be a Resident Evil 4, which is always a treat on the Nintendo platform. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes will continue the success its namesake; a first person shooter that had tremendous success on the system last year.

There’s no denying that Nintendo has been given the sick man of the industry label for awhile. However, saying that would be discounting the phenomenal success they have had in the handheld space. Further, no other manufacturer has toyed with combining the handheld and the bigger console together more than Nintendo has in the past few years. Nintendo is also focusing on the mass market appeal generated by the tail end of a product lifecycle. The majority of the sales will come now rather than earlier and Nintendo is positioning itself into a come from behind win.