Revolution revealed. GameBoy Micro shown for the first time.

After talking about Nintendo’s success for a few minutes and wooing the easy to please crowd with a few jokes, the information we wanted to hear started to be revealed.

The first game to be featured was Electroplankton on the Nintendo DS. Despite the game already being released in Japan, we were treated to a DJ telling us about his experiences with the “game.” He then came on stage and demoed some tracks he had created using the game. This was impressive, despite the rather embarrassing dancing, but it wasn’t exactly what people at the conference were there to see.

Next came Nintendo’s online service. Nintendo WiFi Connection is the service that is being built in conjunction with Gamespy. Users will be able to use the service via hotspots as well as their home connections. The service will have no charge, even for the hotspots. The experience is said to be as “welcoming as sitting around the living room with a bunch of your friends.” Animal Crossing DS and Mario Kart DS will be online using the service by the end of the year. Activision’s Tony Hawk series will also be online via the DS by the end of the year.

Sticking to the Nintendo DS, another game that is already out in Japan was featured. Nintendogs has been a huge success in Japan and helped make the Nintendo DS the best selling handheld in Japan. Tina Wood from G4 videogame TV came on stage to talk about the game. She demonstrated the game’s voice control and despite mixed success, the game proved to be popular with the crowd – possibly a little worrying given that the conference was mainly being watched by male journalists. The game seems to be another Nintendo game that will get non-gamers buying and playing Nintendo games. Shigeru Miyamoto also came on the stage to show his dog which appeared to make improper advances towards Tina’s dog.

Then came the first big announcement. The GameBoy Micro. Barely bigger than an Ipod mini, the device will play all current GBA games. It will also be customisable by a number of unique face plates. It will also feature an improved screen. The GameBoy mini will go on sale late this year. A number of new GBA and DS games were then shown including Mario and Luigi DS and a new Super Mario Bros for the DS.

The Revolution was then shown. As was known, the console is tiny. It really is similar in size to three DVD cases, features a slot loading disc tray and will be released in 2006. The unit shown was tiny, but the final design is said to be even smaller. The device will use 12cm optical discs and will play existing GameCube games. An optional attachment will allow the system to play movies. 512 MB of onboard flash memory will be included and Nintendo. IBM and ATI are working with Nintendo to make sure the system will produce great looking games.

WiFi capability will be built into every console and the way the console interacts with the TV, internet and controller is said to be the main difference between the Revolution and other next-gen consoles. All controllers will be wireless and they are said to be very unique. A number of WiFi enabled games will be ready for launch, including the next Smash Brothers game.

The Revolution will debut with Shigeru Miyamoto’s latest game and all the best Nintendo franchises will have games on the new platform. These include Mario, Zelda and Metroid. Key second party developers will also provide exclusive games for the console and third-party developers like Square-Enix will be supporting the console. They are already working on a WiFi enabled version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the console.

Speaking on development for the console, the Revolution was said to be simpler, more cost effective and easier to develop for than other next generation consoles. Nintendo think this will be a key reason why Revolution will see new innovative games. The machine will also be able to download over 20 years of Nintendo games, from NES, Super NES and Nintendo 64.

A number of new games were then shown. Battalion Wars, a third-person action strategy game for the GameCube. This seems to be the new name for the GameCube version of Advance Wars. Pokemon XD is a full fledged RPG for the GameCube and players will be able to connect GBA Pokemon games to the GameCube game. Mario will also appear in four new games: Mario Baseball, Super Mario Strikers, Mario Party 7 and Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

As expected Nintendo demonstrated The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The new trailer highlighted Link’s new look and the game’s dark feel. During the trailer Link turned into a wolf with devastating attack moves. Visually the game looked to be quite a departure from previous games in the series.

Overall the show lacked the “wow” factor of the Sony conference and lacked the games of the Microsoft conference. The DS online service will obviously be a big selling point, with some of the best Nintendo franchises going online, but only a few games were mentioned. The Revolution certainly sounds interesting, but we will have to wait a while until we know what gives it its name. Zelda is clearly Nintendo’s big game and it got a great reception from the crowd. At the end of the day, that will probably be more than enough for GameCube fans.