No Big E3 Event for Nintendo

[htimreimer]

nintendo will not have be having a big event at E3 this year all because of the success of nintendo direct.
nintendo will instead have one or two smaller event's at E3 that will focused on software and nothing else


i like this nintendo direct strategy but what do you guys think of it?

[jobocan]

That's.... interesting. I figure they'll just have a bunch of mini-presentations just before E3, and have all the announced stuff playable there.

Still quite an odd thing to do, it's gonna be interesting to see how this turns out. Maybe it will usher in a new way for game companies to handle the event.

[htimreimer]

 satoru iwata talks about it here


 

[scott]

I haven't put much stock in E3 in years. I'm thinking that Nintendo also believes this and is showing it by deciding to forgo a big E3 presentation.

[insektmute]

I'm a cynic at heart, so I'm inclined to interpret this as Nintendo simply not having enough new stuff to show to make it worthwhile, and so they're trying the same one-on-one approach they did with trying to attract 3rd party developers to the Wii U. Which has clearly worked out really well for them. o.O

Maybe they'll have more to show by the time TGS rolls around?

[sin2beta]

Am I misreading the Iwata announcement? It seemed pretty standard. He basically just wrote 'don't expect new hardware or something as big as last years' Here is the quote: "At E3 this year, we are not planning to launch new hardware, and our main activity at E3 will be to announce and have people experience our software. " This doesn't seem small, but exactly as expected. He also mentioned splitting up announcements to have some specific for fans and some for business. This makes sense to me.

I did not see that Nintendo is planning a small showing. However, it will hopefully (For Sony and Microsoft's sake) be a lot smaller than the companies debuting new hardware.

What Nintendo needs to do is show a Mario Kart/Smash Bros. or the like and be done. Sounds like this is happening.

[burningdoom]

I just read an update on Facebook straight from E3 denying this, and saying that Nintendo will indeed have a presence at E3:

Hey, everyone! To avoid confusion, yes, Nintendo is still at E3 and we’re looking forward to their news and games. You can’t tear us away from Mario Kart!

[jobocan]

Yeah they'll still be AT E3 and will have closed keynotes and the usual demo stations for upcoming games, they just won't have that usual big presentation, choosing instead to do more Nintendo Directs, it seems.

[scott]

I think the Nintendo Direct thing seems to be a good idea. I've actually watched a bunch of them and been hyped about most everything I've seen. Plus it makes it feel like they are reaching out to the consumer, much more than a huge convention speech does.

[desocietas]

He also mentioned splitting up announcements to have some specific for fans and some for business. This makes sense to me.

As crappy as the Wii U event for fans was, the DSi event I went to ages ago was *awesome*.  I'm down for more fan events - it's nice to see other videogame fans in person...

[htimreimer]

Yeah they'll still be AT E3 and will have closed keynotes and the usual demo stations for upcoming games, they just won't have that usual big presentation, choosing instead to do more Nintendo Directs, it seems.

and i think this is a vary good move for nintendo

[burningdoom]

I don't think it's a good decision at all. Nintendo is floundering with the Wii U. And it cost them a lot to develop it.

They need to build up a fanbase around it. And to do that, they need a big presence at E3 to drive the hype. And they really need some must-have first-party titles to sell the system.

[sin2beta]

I don't think that E3 is needed. It's an industry conference. As a fang hype machine, E3 meant something years ago. It's not that important anymore.

[htimreimer]

I don't think it's a good decision at all. Nintendo is floundering with the Wii U. And it cost them a lot to develop it.

They need to build up a fanbase around it. And to do that, they need a big presence at E3 to drive the hype. And they really need some must-have first-party titles to sell the system.

i have two things to say

(1) if nintendo did do the big event at E3 they they would unfortunately be over shadowed by the PS4 and next box announcements and there's is no point of doing a big event if your just gonna be over shadowed plus it just a hype machine anyway

(2) the biggest problem with the wii u is not a lack of fan base but marketing, i have only seen commercials for the wii u once or twice on tv and both commercials were just awful and didn't say what product was , they need better marketing for sales to go up but they just don't have it as of now

[jobocan]

I don't think it's a good decision at all. Nintendo is floundering with the Wii U. And it cost them a lot to develop it.

They need to build up a fanbase around it. And to do that, they need a big presence at E3 to drive the hype. And they really need some must-have first-party titles to sell the system.

They will have a big presence at E3 though. No conference, sure, but they'll probably have multiple Nintendo Direct events right around that time (before and during E3), some closed presentations/roundtables and they'll have tons of stuff to play on the floor, which I'd argue is more important than the conference.