I would say that this E3 is by far the most critical one in Nintendo's history. They've essentially lost everyone but the Nintendo fanboys at this point, so they need to do something amazing to rebuild faith in the company. Seeing a new Zelda or Metroid would be great, but they need something more. They need an Uncharted/Gears of War/Infamous. They need to show they're going to expand beyond their safe, family-friendly franchises. They need to show some innovative uses of the gamepad that can't be replicated elsewhere and they need to show they're serious about getting 3rd parties on board. The Wii U is essentially a first-party machine at this point, so if it's your only console you're going to miss out on most of what the rest of the gaming world is experiencing.
I'm a huge Nintendo fan, but it's hard to watch them be so oblivious to the realities of modern gaming. The casual market you built with the Wii has completely moved on to tablets and phones. You're not getting them back -- you have to focus on getting gamers rather than grandmas to invest in your brand. That's going to take you breaking away from the blue ocean strategy that worked for you once.
Here's some of what I would do to 'fix' Nintendo:
- More exclusivity. The Wii U needs more games like X and Bayonetta 2. These games will encourage gamers to pick up Wii U as a second console.
- More 2nd party devs. Nintendo desperately needs games, so they should offload this task to companies that can branch out and deliver something different.
- Bring some surprises. Unveil a new Fatal Frame, or if they can get the rights to it -- Eternal Darkness. A new ED would be a huge deal.
- New franchises. Nintendo needs some new IPs. Pikmin is pretty much the last new core franchise they've introduced and that was a decade ago.
- Stop chasing casuals. That market is gone.
