To say Nintendo puts on these media summits only once in a blue moon would be something of an exaggeration, but not much, as the last one was held back with the launch of the Wii. Rather than showing off the hardware, this time around, though, the show seemed to have a much different theme, seeming to ask “What game slump?” But, if that was the main idea, a close second was “boy it’s good to be Nintendo right now.”

After an exciting parking experience, little ol’ me, with just my jacket, notebook, and a heart full of dreams, bounded up to the Hotel 1000, a swanky joint that probably wouldn’t let me make reservations. Fancy, fancy. As in, I hope one day I’ll have an apartment as nice as their lobby bathroom. Not too intimidated, I found my way up to the fourth floor, collected my press pass and a cup of coffee from the eternally chipper Nintendo PR folks hosting the show—most notably the lovely and friendly Ms. Stacy Cail—and looked around to see who was there. By in large, people with bigger cameras than me were there, The New York Times, U.S.A. Today, Games Daily, Game Spot, Kotaku, GTV, Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade, and a bunch of others. Mostly the older than 25, younger than 40, goatee wearing guys. Weird.

Only slightly emasculated, I took a seat toward the back of the presentation hall for a few opening remarks.

While my choice in seating didn’t help me get any pictures of the show going on up front, it did let me unintentionally eavesdrop on the Nintendo folks chatting behind me… including Reggie. This was the first time I’d even seen Mr. Fils-Aime in person and, up until this point, I’d always been baffled by our own Tiny Dancer’s endless professions of love, cupcakes, and all that school-yard crush stuff. But damn if Reggie Fils-Aime is not a charismatic man. A tall guy with a measured voice that echoes confidence, no wonder he’s Nintendo’s man up front. Unfortunately, no super-spy gossip to report, but I did hear Reggie quash the rumor that you’re automatically better at Wii Sports bowling if you make a Mii that looks like him (meaning that those ten identical Miis on Tiny’s Wii are—sadly—just for fun).

As soon as the room was suitably packed, the presentation started with Reggie welcoming everybody in a voice that really didn’t need a microphone. Promising to be brief, he went into a few details about the Wii and DS and, in general, how money grows on trees for Nintendo these days. Actually, more aptly, how money grows in the wallets of your mom, dad, grand mom, grand dad, little sister, her girl friends, and the whole cheerleading team. Yeah, Nintendo knows they’ve got us, but now they wan our families, and from the sound of it, they’ve done a pretty good job. A few big numbers got bandied about, like how particular products—aka Nintendogs, Wii Sports, Brain Age—have altered the demographics of who’s playing Nintendo games, stating a +42% rise in the number of female players, +127% rise in folks over age 30, and a +212% rise in players over the age of 35. A few other numbers and facts, a sales chart of 2007 hardware sales showed the DS at the top, followed by the Wii, then the PlayStation 2. Down at the bottom, just over the Game Boy Advance was the PlayStation 3. There was also some talk about how sales are staying high for DS games especially—again, like Brain Age and Nintendogs—despite the trend for most game sales to be made in the first few weeks. And, that more DSs sold in the first quarter of this year than in the 2004 holiday season (maybe, in part, because it doesn’t look like a 5 lb. tricorder now).

Overall, the gist was that, for the first time since the 80s with Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo produces the best selling console (Wii), hand-held system (DS), and game (Pokemon Diamond & Pearl). Oh, and that it’s good to be the king.With that, Reggie handed it over to the developers for the first-party software demonstrations of Brain Age 2, Big Brain Academy Wii Degree, and Mario Strikers: Charged. While Strikers I'll go into a bit more depth later, Brain Age and Big Brain were pretty much exactly what you'd expect: the game's you already love, with a few new features.

In brief, Brain Age had some neat-looking new DS brain-breakers, but those have never been enough to strike my fancy. What did almost make me yipe out loud, though, was the bonus game. If you complete a day's worth of brain training you unlock a familiar puzzle minigame. One that features pills and viruses. One that used to feature Mario. Oh, yeah, Brain Age 2 has some vintage Dr. Mario action. Scoot over dumpy disembodied Professor dude, let a real doctor in.

As for Big Brain Academy Wii Degree, the transition from DS to Wii game doesn't seem like a big jump. While utilizing Miis in game is a neat little feature, the Wii controller rarely seems to be used in a way that your DS's stylus wasn't. Aside from all the personal and team brain-building exercises, the game keeps track of players' general abilities and skill levels at certain types of puzzles. Thus, rather than just challenging the computer, you can take on friends who have played the game on your system without them actually being there. This struck me as being the game's coolest innovation... as long as I don't think about it and its The Matrix-brand implications to much.

But all this was just the start of the show. Little did I expect the familiar faces I'd run into by its end. Check back a bit later for more!