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Nintendo's Satoru Iwata GDC 2011 keynote

A brand new Super Mario 3DS!

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Mushroom-haired Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has delivered his top-billed keynote at the Game Developers Conference.

He waffled affably about his many years making games and how things used to be different, cheap, disorganised.

He also revealed a brand new Super Mario 3DS game.

The full reveal will happen at E3 this summer. The the first screenshots revealed a bright and sumptuous 3D world similar to that of Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.

Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime joined Iwata to reveal region-specific 3DS Wi-Fi connectivity support. He also told us a a worldwide 3DS update will arrive in late May, adding features like DSiWare, eShop and a web browser.

Iwata concluded by revealing a June release date for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on 3DS and by showing sparkly new footage of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Wii - from which various gameplay clues could be deduced.

Our full coverage of Satoru Iwata's GDC 2011 keynote can be found below, oldest entries presented first.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

We're half an hour away. What has Nintendo not said yet about the 3DS?

Robert Purchese

Tom Phillips

The eternal promise of a Wii price drop looms, of course.

Robert Purchese

Hello from San Francisco! Welcome to the Game Developers Conference 2011 keynote speech.

Ellie Gibson

All right, it hasn't actually started yet. But we're here, we're sat near the front, the GDC logo is spinning on the big screen and they're playing some contemporary popular music, that's the point.

Ellie Gibson

This year's keynote will be delivered by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Which you probably knew if you bothered to read what you were clicking on before you arrived at this page.

Ellie Gibson

This year's live text will be delivered by me, Eurogamer deputy editor Ellie Gibson. By popular demand, I promise not to mention Women's Murder Club unless Iwata does.

Ellie Gibson

Get your scoresheets ready for KEYNOTE BINGO! Every time Iwata shows a graph - 1 point Every time we see a picture of a hot woman / old granny / black person enjoying a Wii game - 1 point (5 points for all three in the same photo)

Ellie Gibson

Every time Iwata mentions his wife - 2 points 1 point for any of these phrases - "Broadening the demographic", "Taking gaming into the living room", "New era of home entertainment"

Ellie Gibson

"We're very sorry about everything. Here's a new Mario and a console which is basically a SNES with a hard drive to make up for it." - 50,000 points

Ellie Gibson

Haven't spotted any familiar faces so far. No sign of Reggie, for example, or Laurent George Clooney Fischer. We can but dream.

Ellie Gibson

The atmosphere in the conference hall is electric. Well, as electric as any atmosphere can be when the soundtrack is Muse.

Ellie Gibson

An announcer just said the keynote will begin in a few minutes. True fact.

Ellie Gibson

So what can we expect from today's keynote, apart from graphs? Don't know about you, but I'm hoping it's finally time to reveal the full power of the Vitality Sensor.

Ellie Gibson

What do you reckon, GamesIndustry.biz editor Matt Martin? "I really don't know what to expect." Fired.

Ellie Gibson

"It's genuinely exciting because I really don't know. There's likely to be a big focus on 3DS, and they're unlikely to talk about any new hardware with that just out, but there could be some surprises." What, like no graphs?

Ellie Gibson

E3 may have the booth babes, but GDC has the beards. There really are some fantastic ones on show this year.

Ellie Gibson

GDC director Meggan Scavio is coming on the stage. Go Meggan! Nice dress!

Ellie Gibson

Meggan is wearing a mic headset just like Janet Jackson. Here's hoping Iwata will also be a part of the rhythm nation.

Ellie Gibson

She is talking about Iwata's previous appearances at GDC. This isn't his first keynote here, you know.

Ellie Gibson

And Satoru Iwata is on the stage. People are whooping. He is wearing a nice suit and has gone for a sort of nineties curtains look with his hair.

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

"This year we have a lot to talk about." Let's hope so.

Ellie Gibson

Nintendo has been listening to devs who feel vulnerable and scared. "Maybe the three little words we need to remember most - content is king."

Ellie Gibson

"The primary need is still content. Without quality content and the imagination of everyone in this room today," except me presumably, "There is nothing... You are the centre of the videogame universe."

Ellie Gibson

Iwata's going to talk about the last 25 years of industry history. Probably for the next 25 years.

Ellie Gibson

He's talking about how he started out at HAL Laboratory. Accompanied by a nice historical pic - great mullet and a thumbs up. 10/10.

Ellie Gibson

"Even after starting to work with Nintendo, I had confidence I was better than anyone there when it came to programming experience." He also felt he was superior to Miyamoto, as would be proved when people went out to buy his games.

Ellie Gibson

But Miyamoto "taught me a painful lesson - content really is king. His games outsold mine by a huge margin. I found out that engineering isn't quite as important as imagination. To be honest, I was ashamed"

Ellie Gibson

Back in the old days, says Grandpa Iwata, there was no games industry. Gaming wasn't even a hobby. No one had a proper job, they just sat about doing what needed to be done. Something about hats.

Ellie Gibson

"I realise this might sound like an old days lecture you would hear from your grandfather." Too right Iwata, pass the Werther's.

Ellie Gibson

"Today, everything is bigger." Graphics have got better, there's more memory, cost has gone up and teams are much bigger. I cannot believe this has been going on for ten minutes and not a single graph.

Ellie Gibson

"Today many gamers demand titles that cost 50m or more. It's still fun, but there's a lot more to worry about now than just paying the rent." The tories closing all the libraries, for example. Oh maybe that's not what he meant.

Ellie Gibson

Lifestyle photographs! Old people! Black people! Adorable Asian children!

Ellie Gibson

Middle-aged women on Wii Fit boards! This is gold.

Ellie Gibson

They've been doing surveys in the US... YES! IT'S A CRAPH!

Ellie Gibson

Sorry about the typo. But actually craph works quite well.

Ellie Gibson

This graph has a pink arrow saying FEMALE and a blue one saying MALE. This is vintage stuff.

Ellie Gibson

There are just under 160m active gamers in te US, according to research. IT'S A BAR CHART NOW PEOPLE

Ellie Gibson

And it's another craph. In Europe, Nintendo measured data from Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. So far active user ration is much lower than in the US, "But this means even more opportunity for us." Always look on the bright side.

Ellie Gibson

"Today, people often talk about social network games" oh please don't join them

Ellie Gibson

"Videogaming of a social nature goes back about 50 years." In 1962 Space War was the first to offer head to head competition. It existed only in a lavatory.

Ellie Gibson

Laboratory, sorry.

Ellie Gibson

Images of the Atari 2600 and TV Game thingies on the screen now. And now the NES.

Ellie Gibson

N64, Mario Kart, Goldeneye, Smash Bros. Brings a tear to the eye.

Ellie Gibson

The Wii now. Are we just skipping the GameCube then? Oh and now the Tetris. Pokemon. All over the shop.

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

"To be sure, in recent years, Call of Duty has become an online phenomena... Microsoft should be recognised for its considerable investment in Xbox Live." PROPS.

Ellie Gibson

He's talking about must-have titles now. Women's... Never mind.

Ellie Gibson

He's namecheckiing Sonic, Zelda, Angry Birds and "The Grand Theft Auto" now - all must-have titles.

Ellie Gibson

LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY ALERT - women, cute black children

Ellie Gibson

Mario now. "It's hard to believe, but during his debut he was considered something brand new. Excitement for Mario and Donkey Kong grew through word of mouth."

Ellie Gibson

But Mario has remained popular because he changed and evolved. Pokemon now.

Ellie Gibson

And Tetris. "Tetris was perhaps the first videogame to attract a female audience in a meaningful way." Go on, mention your wife.

Ellie Gibson

Now: The Sims. "I know many of you remember criticism that this wasn't even a game because there was no way to win or lose. Many predicted it could never find an audience. It has sold 125 million copies around the world."

Ellie Gibson

So is Iwata about to announce a new must-have game? Come on grandad! Hurry up before you have to go back to the day room for lunchtime pills and Loose Women!

Ellie Gibson

He's having another flashback episode. Kirby this time. "The original name translated into English sounded like this - Tinkle Popo." Quite like that.

Ellie Gibson

He's talking about the colour change from pink to white for the Euro box - "Maybe they thought I wouldn't notice. I did."

Ellie Gibson

More than 5 million Kirby games show. That's a lot of Tinkle Popo.

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

"The process of game development is the same for everyone. At Nintendo, it's just as stressful and frustrating and there never seems to be enough time, manpower or solutions. If there's a way to make it easy, we haven't discovered it yet."

Ellie Gibson

Oho! It's Reggie Fils-Aime! Surprise special guest!

Ellie Gibson

"The primary function of Nintendo 3DS is to play games." What about 3D porn?

Ellie Gibson

"Content can be captured, downloaded and displayed all in 3D - that's something you won't find anywhere else." We all know what you're talking about.

Ellie Gibson

"What we're providing consumers are varied entertainments." Varied entertainments! That's going on the next bingo sheet

Ellie Gibson

"All content on Nitnendo 3DS is going to look like no Nintendo handheld before, even if you're watching in 2D. This is particularly true if you're streaming anything with Netflix, a partnership which goes live this summer." Gosh.

Ellie Gibson

So yes, you can watch a Netflix movie on the 3DS, then get home and pick up the movie where you left off on the big screen, via the net.

Ellie Gibson

You can also give your kid the 3DS to watch Spongebob on while you confiscate the big TV. Let's hope that's true if you live in Europe, of course...

Ellie Gibson

3D Hollywood movie trailers are promised, starting with Green Lantern. Reggie is on FIRE.

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

"You can also look forward to our exclusive short form video service - a wireless Nintendo channel available only on 3DS." Comedy, music videos, presumably Shaun the Sheep.

Ellie Gibson

They're going to push the content at you, or something. Mind out.

Ellie Gibson

"From initial reactions, we know people are extremely enthused about the 3D photo capability." Here we go. "But Iwata has hinted at the ability to record video in 3D... It could mean a birthday party, a vacation or a night on the town with you as your own director or producer, working in 3D. Stay tuned for an update, but let's just say we're enthused too."

Ellie Gibson

Some blather about local connectivity now. Street Fighter and all that.

Ellie Gibson

He's talking about experiments in Japan with free downloadable wifi. They offered free demos and retail sales were as much as six times higher at nearby stores.

Ellie Gibson

In late May, there will be 10,000 AT&T wi-fi hotspots available for 3DS users. Well, American 3DS users, presumably.

Ellie Gibson

"So, in all, three new aspects of 3DS will maximise your distribution opportunity." I do hope so cos mine's ****ed.

Ellie Gibson

"So, in all, three new aspects of 3DS will maximise your distribution opportunity." I do hope so cos mine's ****ed.

Ellie Gibson

Reggie's talking about the Nintendo eShop now. It includes the DSiWare service. You'll also get access to olden days Game Boy nonsense, yes we know. But that will include Game Gear and Turbo Grafx games.

Ellie Gibson

So will 3D classics - remakes of old hits. And trailers, screenshots, background info, links to your own websites. Eurogamer.net full stops in 3D!

Ellie Gibson

Not every feature will be available out of the box - many of them will come with the update in late May, including the DSiWare service and the ability to transfer your existing DSiWare games to 3DS, plus the browser and eShop.

Ellie Gibson

"I think that spells win-win for everything." SPELLCASTING, W-I-N...

Ellie Gibson

Iwata is back now. Bye Reggie. 15 minutes to go - Wii hard drive? New Mario? 4DS? Vitality Sensors for all?

Ellie Gibson

He's going to talk about "new games". Ooh.

Ellie Gibson

"Since 1996, when Mario appeared in 3D in Super Mario 64, it's always been hard for players to judge how to jump and hit a block floating in a 3D space."

Ellie Gibson

Miyamoto has found a solution. "Game developers are now able to invent any world we imagine. This leads to a new Super Mario to debut on the 3DS."

Ellie Gibson

The Galaxy team are working on a brand new Super Mario for 3DS. A classic-style logo is on the screen but "it's temporary".

Ellie Gibson

There's a tail on the O. "You may wonder what this indicates - we will reveal this at E3 this year."

Ellie Gibson

Moving on to Ocarina 3D now. "Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Super Mario, this year it's the 25th of Legend of Zelda." So there's a plan for all Zelda lovers to celebrate together. Sounds messy.

Ellie Gibson

Moving on to Ocarina 3D now. "Last year marked the 25th anniversary of Super Mario, this year it's the 25th of Legend of Zelda." So there's a plan for all Zelda lovers to celebrate together. Sounds messy.

Ellie Gibson

Skyward Sword now. Video time!

Ellie Gibson

Link is bashing a spider and a totem pole. Lava lake. All looks a bit familiar, this vid.

Ellie Gibson

Lizard men! Turtle thingies! Twisty switches! Skellingtons!

Ellie Gibson

Iwata's back. "I would like to finish with some thoughts about the future." Here we go. My pulse is racing. If only I had some way to check how fast.

Ellie Gibson

"Over the past 25 years, we developers have gained a lot but also lost something... Craftsmanship."

Ellie Gibson

It's about the circumstances people are working in now. "No matter how much money, manpower or talent is involved, the needed flexibility may not be available."

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

"This era of specialisation makes it much more difficult for a single individual to assess the entire nature or personality of a game."

Ellie Gibson

Oli Welsh

Mobile downloads and social networks now. Get ready to tick off Twitter and Facebook on your bingo card.

Ellie Gibson

CRAPH ATTACK. There are more than 500 games available for PS3, 750 for Xbox, 1000 for Wii and 1259 for DS.

Ellie Gibson

The big app sites offer tens of thousands of games, though. They're less expensive to create than retail ones.

Ellie Gibson

"At Nintendo, we see hardware as something consumers reluctantly purchase to play the games they want to play."

Ellie Gibson

"We're a game creator first and a manufacturer second. We want our consumers to appreciate the premium value of software."

Ellie Gibson

"The fact is, what we produce is valuable, and we shoudl protect that." Radical new DRM system?

Ellie Gibson

He's talking about how games get noticed now. If you hope a player will stay engaged for more than ten minutes to understand what you offer, it may be too late.

Ellie Gibson

It must be quick and easy for people to describe the nature of your game to others. Your idea must be simply understood. Plumber jumps on mushroom and collects coins to rescue princess from hostage-taking dinosaur, for example?

Ellie Gibson

He's banging on about different screens now. These chairs are hard.

Ellie Gibson

"If the job of GDC is to learn from each other, I believe we can all learn from this: trust your passion, believe in your dream." He's like the Japanese Martin Luther King of games.

Ellie Gibson

"Why would we stop now?" And it's over. Clapping.

Ellie Gibson

Iwata disappears through the little door at the back of the stage, ready to begin the long journey home through the tunnel to Japan.

Ellie Gibson

Well, that was the GDC 2011 keynote. Iwata! Reggie! Exciting new networked services that probably won't come to Europe!

Ellie Gibson

Thanks for tuning in. Byeee!

Ellie Gibson

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