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Posted: March 8, 2007 at 1:41pm EST

Bad news for those of us waiting for the next installment of Nintendo's popular fighting franchise: the wait will be longer than originally expected.  Recent reports out of the 2007 Game Developers Conference currently taking place in San Francisco practically assures Smash Brothers Brawl will not be released until at least July of this year. 

Yesterday at the conference, to much fanfare, Nintendo revealed its second quarter (Q2, generally spring into early summer) game release schedule.  Included in the schedule were such Wii heavy hitters as Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8, and Pokemon Battle Revolution.  Brawl was not included in Nintendo's Q2 release list and, as of this article, has not even been mentioned at the Conference.  This caused many gamers to assume Brawl would not be released until Q3 or Q4 (fall and winter respectively).  Some optimists, however, retained hope that the game would still make it into their hands by June 1, the release date given by BestBuy.com in its preorder program.

Well, even these eternal optimists could not fool themselves in the face of Nintendo's next announcement: the release of Pokemon Battle Revolution will mark the beginning of online Wii gaming in North America.  It has consistently been the Nintendo party line that a serious and significant attempt is being made to incorporate online elements into Brawl.  As a result, if Brawl indeed does incorporate online functionality, it will not be released before Battle Revolution which is formally slated for release on June 25.

The end result is that Smash Brothers fans will be left to continue sifting through an endless sea of internet rumors (Ridley have NOT been confirmed as new characters Cell-shaded Link) for, at a minimum, another three more months.  At least we will all have some extra time to dig up a couple extra Game Cube controllers.

Posted: March 8, 2007 at 2:20

More delays for one of Nintendo's most popular franchises

The Game Developers Conference is currently underway at San Francisco’s Moscone Center and continues through tomorrow.  Where the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is designed to attract and inform media and retail representatives, the Game Developers Conference is instead geared towards industry insiders and investors.  As a result, despite its incredible significance to the video game industry, the Conference does not tend to get the coverage or hype of E3.

This year’s conference is exceptionally important as it heralds the arrival of the new console generation and gives the big three (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo) a chance to describe the software bedrock they plan to lay for their new hardware in the coming year.  The Conference’s keynote speakers are also sure to get the gaming year off to an exciting start.  Phil Harrison, the brains behind Microsoft’s Halo franchise, and Shigeru Myamoto, the father of Mario, Link, and countless other Nintendo staples, will both take the podium to address their peers and share their thoughts on the state of the video game industry.

For up to the minute live coverage of the event, be sure to check out the GDC Central at IGN.com.

Posted: March 8, 2007 at 3:02pm

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