Nintendo not hosting big E3 conference

[Kyle Hyde]

But they'll still show games, THAT'S what the audience is interested in. It's the trailers and announcements we look forward too. And according to Iwata that won't change this year, the rest will. Remember last years Nintendo Land presentation that was boringly long? Well it seems like we won't get that this year.

Why would they be intimidated by their competitors?? Sony's and MS conferences sucked, they were a pain to watch. I mean, some cringe worthy non gaming people. It was really embarrassing. My face hurt from cringing so much, I mean some e sports on stage thing, let's dance, Usher??? Ugh...
Same goes for some of Nintendo's previous years.
The reveals were usually only like 5% of the show. It's the reveals what makes E3 and none of that has changed.

Sorry, but you can't tell me that it is not possible to do a good show in a press conference. Did you see the PS4 reveal? That was actually a really good show (not perfect but still very good). Reception was amazing and, sadly for Nintendo, much better than the Wii U reveal. Microsoft is very much likely to do the same at May 21. They do these big shows and still they manage to do an E3 show. There are ways to make E3 the base for long-term success but Nintendo decided not to take the risk of an embarassment. Don't get me wrong, I do own a Wii U and I'm not planning to sell it but as a customer and a guy who got into gaming just because of Nintendo I feel very unsafe. I know there are loads of fanboys here but I would recommend to see things a bit more realistically (not saying you should have the same opinion as I do). I mean, I read some theories here that were plain ridiculous. Seeing this as a stroke of genius. A marketing strategy to get Nintendo back on top, while it obviously looks like an attempt to save some of the reputation Nintendo has this year.

 

[ElYubiYubi]

Why not make one big show that is actually good? If you have confidence in your product and your company, this little public show that lasts 90 minutes shouldn't be a problem at all. You can still do closed-door events at the same time.
What I see is that Nintendo knows it can't keep up with the presentations their competitors will show. Well, what you say could be true, sure. But it doesn't sound right to me. This is a critical time for Nintendo. This is the time they should show confidence. That is the reason the E3 conferences exist. Nintendo Direct is a nice thing. But only Nintendo fans watch it. How is Nintendo going to win more customers if they don't broaden up their reach? Sorry but I can't see this in a positive way.

THIS is what I was trying to say all this time.

 

[RedCoreZero]

So, what's better than to go and watch Iwata, Reggie, and Miamoto live and see them after the show right before they leave.

Just kidding. But honestly we always get hyped up for e3 for the big reveals, and that's the only reason why e3 is so special. You get teased for a sequel to your favorite games and other shit. More hype even than when the game releases.

 

[TheCasketMan]

 

[The Catboy]

Nintendo can now showcase using the Nintendo Direct, which is a lot cheaper than E3.
Plus E3 has really been going down here in recent years, remember how horrible last year's E3 was? Honestly I wouldn't want to be part of that again.

 

[Satangel]

It's always been known those E3 trailers/presentations take up a LOT of time/money, it's understandable they want to play it down a bit. I really enjoyed watching those 1-2 hour presentations, but it's not something that will stay forever, definitely not with all this streaming capabilities coming to the next-gen.

 

[Eerpow]

Sorry, but you can't tell me that it is not possible to do a good show in a press conference. Did you see the PS4 reveal? That was actually a really good show (not perfect but still very good). Reception was amazing and, sadly for Nintendo, much better than the Wii U reveal. Microsoft is very much likely to do the same at May 21. They do these big shows and still they manage to do an E3 show. There are ways to make E3 the base for long-term success but Nintendo decided not to take the risk of an embarassment. Don't get me wrong, I do own a Wii U and I'm not planning to sell it but as a customer and a guy who got into gaming just because of Nintendo I feel very unsafe. I know there are loads of fanboys here but I would recommend to see things a bit more realistically (not saying you should have the same opinion as I do). I mean, I read some theories here that were plain ridiculous. Seeing this as a stroke of genius. A marketing strategy to get Nintendo back on top, while it obviously looks like an attempt to save some of the reputation Nintendo has this year.

The PS4 was not an E3 reveal, we're talking E3 here. E3 conferences are 90% horrible and will likely continue to be so.
Seriously go watch the last 2 E3's and you'll see how badly all three of them performs. Nintendo had some good announcements but they took like 40 minutes for them to actually show anything. With Sony and MS, well their spokesmen are horrible, as well as their on stage guests.
The game trailers were the only thing we looked forward to and it has always been a pain having to sit through the bullshit. None of the three will have hardware to present this year, only games and all three should be able to deliver on that front.

Nintendo showed the Wii U before it was ready so that is what they did wrongly. Sony seemed to be a more structured in that aspect even if the PS4 was unfinished, I mean they didn't even show the system and used PC footage as the hardware wasn't completed. What they did right compared to Nintendo's Wii U reveal is that they showed more games, you know, what's actually important!

What Iwata said in the meeting was that they don't have hardware to show this E3 and that they'll keep their marketing talk as a separate thing. Games will be revealed as usual.

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. Many people are certainly very interested in learning more about the Wii U titles that we are going to announce. We will use E3 as an ideal opportunity to talk in detail mainly about the Wii U titles that we are going to launch this year, and we also plan to make it possible for visitors to try the games immediately. As a brand new challenge, we are working to establish a new presentation style for E3.

It's amazing how the editors behind the IGN article lack basic reading comprehension skills.

In any case E3 (if you skip the game reveals) is bad and you should feel bad for thinking otherwise.

 

[The Catboy]

IGN.

IGN? Withholding information to make a more spicy article or to make it out as though Nintendo was Doomed? They would never do that [/sarcasm]

 

[Kyle Hyde]

The PS4 was not an E3 reveal, we're talking E3 here. E3 conferences are 90% horrible and will likely continue to be so.
Seriously go watch the last 2 E3's and you'll see how badly all three of them performs. Nintendo had some good announcements but they took like 40 minutes for them to actually show anything. With Sony and MS, well their spokesmen are horrible, as well as their on stage guests.
The game trailers were the only thing we looked forward to and it has always been a pain having to sit through the bullshit. None of the three will have hardware to present this year, only games and all three should be able to deliver on that front.

Nintendo showed the Wii U before it was ready so that is what they did wrongly. Sony seemed to be a more structurized in that aspect even if the PS4 is unfinished, I mean they didn't even show the system and used PC footage as the hardware wasn't completed. What they did right compared to Nintendo's Wii U reveal is that they showed more games, you know, what's actually important!

What Iwata said in the meeting was that they don't have hardware to show this E3 and that they'll keep their marketing talk as a separate thing. Games will be revealed as usual.

It's amazing how the editors behind the IGN article lack basic reading comprehension skills.

In any case E3 (if you skip the game reveals) is bad and you should feel bad for thinking otherwise.

I don't think E3 conferences are generally bad. You just remember more bad ones than good ones. I don't want to go through hours of videos to prove my point here but I do remember a lot of good shows. Oh and also, if you agree the PS4 reveal was a good show, it shouldn't play a role whether it was E3 or not. What counts is that they can pull it off. E3 is the biggest gaming event in the world (publicity-wise) and just missing on that opportunity is not a good sign. The decision itself was probably right but that only shows the current state of the company.

 

[Eerpow]

I don't think E3 conferences are generally bad. You just remember more bad ones than good ones. I don't want to go through hours of videos to prove my point here but I do remember a lot of good shows. Oh and also, if you agree the PS4 reveal was a good show, it shouldn't play a role whether it was E3 or not. What counts is that they can pull it off. E3 is the biggest gaming event in the world (publicity-wise) and just missing on that opportunity is not a good sign. The decision itself was probably right but that only shows the current state of the company.

The fact that Sony didn't reveal the PS4 at E3 as well as MS should tell you something about how much they actually care for the show.
Nintendo is doing the same thing as Sony and Microsoft. They don't have hardware to announce and will unlike their competitors cut down their presentation to game reveals alone. That's no indication of the company's current state. For all we know they could have a really good or really bad line up.

 

[Kyle Hyde]

The fact that Sony didn't reveal the PS4 at E3 as well as MS should tell you something about how much they actually care for the show.
Nintendo is doing the same thing as Sony and Microsoft. They don't have hardware to announce and will unlike their competitors cut down their presentation to game reveals alone. That's no indication of the company's current state. For all we know they could have a really good or really bad line up.

You got a bit of a point there. However, they will still show off the new hardware there (we didn't see the actual consoles yet did we?). We here, in the online gaming communities obviously know a lot about the PS4 already. But the general public doesn't. That's where the E3 comes in handy. The reach there is much much wider. Even non-gamers will probably hear about it. I still think it is a sign of weakness. But I can agree that maybe (and just maybe) the E3 is losing importance. But I don't think that is likely.

 

[The Catboy]

I don't think E3 conferences are generally bad. You just remember more bad ones than good ones. I don't want to go through hours of videos to prove my point here but I do remember a lot of good shows. Oh and also, if you agree the PS4 reveal was a good show, it shouldn't play a role whether it was E3 or not. What counts is that they can pull it off. E3 is the biggest gaming event in the world (publicity-wise) and just missing on that opportunity is not a good sign. The decision itself was probably right but that only shows the current state of the company.

E3 has gone down hill drastically in the recent years. Last year's E3 barely showcased any games and most of the games shown were form Nintendo and a 30 minute video of Wonderbook from Sony.
Not to mention if no one is waiting for E3 to reveal their latest systems, that's a serious problem. E3 was made to reveal the latest hardware and video games, not showcase everything that has already been shown.

 

[Eerpow]

E3 has gone down hill drastically in the recent years. Last year's E3 barely showcased any games and most of the games shown were form Nintendo and a 30 minute video of Wonderbook from Sony.

And not surprising either as they rely on 3rd parties a lot more than Nintendo. 3rd parties reveal their games whenever they feel like it so once E3 hit we already knew about most of the stuff they showed. Ubisoft revealed their stuff beforehand as well as others.

E3 has been going in a down spiral the last few years and there's no reason to think this year will be any better, especially when you take the big three's dying interest into consideration.

The general public get their gaming news from gaming sites, what's revealed outside of E3 in small conferences will just as easily be heard by everyone but at a fraction of the cost and effort. Kyle Hyde mentions how Sony will use E3 to make the public aware of the PS4, the thing is that everyone already knows about it since there has been so much news coverage. It's the same with A Link to the Past 2, even people who didn't watch the Direct are aware of that title, not only Nintendo fans. Important information given out will always gain free media attention and publicity whether if that information comes from E3 or not.

 

[KingVamp]

You got to love the determination of people twisting this into a bad misinterpretation, especially when the other companies are basically doing the same thing.

 

[chavosaur]

The big thing is like everyone's been saying, with the mass of social media, you don't need big presentations like E3 anymore.
Facebook has BILLIONS of users, and anyone that was watching the Nintendo directs or Sony reveals, probably posted all about it on their Facebook or Twitter or whatever the hell try use.

The people who weren't watching, probably learned about it from the sharing of the info alone.

A couple of my friends had no idea the ps4 existed until I started freaking out about it on Facebook. Then they tell their friends, it all spreads and BAM. There's your hype.

 

[Jayro]

I wouldn't say they're doomed, I think it's great that the Eastern side is actually embracing the West a little bit. Smaller conferences for region-specific areas sounds about how it should be.

 

[ElYubiYubi]

Even If I hate to say it. But Kyle Hyde is right. How come Nintendo is missing the only opportunity to steal the PS4/Infinity's show? All the media, press, gamers will be At E3 or watching E3 because Sony and Microsoft will be showcasing their NEW consoles. Only Nintendo fans will be watching NDs during E3. E3 is the best play to advertise your console/handheld to the media/people outside of the Gaming Industry. All the Websites, News, Newspapers, journalist, etc will be covering the E3.

I'm not saying that Nintendo is less important than Sony & Microsoft. I'm saying that with this stupid decision Nintendo will lose their opportunity to turn all the attention to them.

And Sony & Microsoft both revealed their Hardware before E3 because E3 is more to get to those who are not active in Gaming interested. If they do reveal their console at E3 they would have to do all the conference explaining the hardware which is not what the E3 audience wanna hear/see.

 

[Eerpow]

Even If I hate to say it. But Kyle Hyde is right. How come Nintendo is missing the only opportunity to steal the PS4/Infinity's show? All the media, press, gamers will be At E3 or watching E3 because Sony and Microsoft will be showcasing their NEW consoles. Only Nintendo fans will be watching NDs during E3. E3 is the best play to advertise your console/handheld to the media/people outside of the Gaming Industry. All the Websites, News, Newspapers, journalist, etc will be covering the E3.

I'm not saying that Nintendo is less important than Sony & Microsoft. I'm saying that with this stupid decision Nintendo will lose their opportunity to turn all the attention to them.

And Sony & Microsoft both revealed their Hardware before E3 because E3 is more to get to those who are not active in Gaming interested. If they do reveal their console at E3 they would have to do all the conference explaining the hardware which is not what the E3 audience wanna hear/see.

You don't understand the situation huh?
Nintendo will be at E3 showcasing software to the public still! It's sad to see how these false news have spread so far that even the official E3 twitter has to clear up the confusion. They will show their games and get media attention. Directs are for other occasions before and after E3.

The things you've said about media coverage and E3 reveals factually statistically wrong. Holding a E3 conference is expensive compared to a relativly cheap Direct.
A title revealed at E3 and a title revealed in a Direct get just as much attention from media. Why do you think 3rd party developers almost never wait until E3 before they reveal their titles? Because they don't win anything by doing it. Like Ubisoft announced AC4 without any sort of event, but the game is still widely known and reported. Media like to spread gaming news that is important and relevant to gamers, those news doesn't necessarily have to come from a big conference to create buzz in the public.

People who don't like Nintendo won't watch their E3 conference. But even they are still aware of some of the content Nintendo is planning to release because of news sites. Like I said alttp 2 was just a small part of a Direct that could have been like any other regular Direct, but now the game is all over news sites. That's without having to spend money on a big E3 presentation.

Casual gamers who don't actively follow news sites get their news from social media like chavosaur said.

 

[mightymuffy]

I'm not saying that Nintendo is less important than Sony & Microsoft. I'm saying that with this stupid decision Nintendo will lose their opportunity to turn all the attention to them.

And Sony & Microsoft both revealed their Hardware before E3 because E3 is more to get to those who are not active in Gaming interested. If they do reveal their console at E3 they would have to do all the conference explaining the hardware which is not what the E3 audience wanna hear/see.

So, you reckon Ninty should do the 2 hour, all singing, all dancing cringe-a-thon, bringing, as they are, only a selection of new games to the fray... and that'll instantaneously turn all attention to them over Sony & MS and their new consoles?? Yeah, I'll have a bit of whatever you're smoking!
Then you say "If they do reveal their console at E3 they would have to do all the conference explaining the hardware which is not what the E3 audience wanna hear/see." - ?? - Bang on the mark there son, and what better way to show off the games than at a closed conference for gaming journalists... just like Ninty are doing!

I see no problem here either, the Directs have all been much better, more spread out ways for them to show off their new games - here's to Sony & Microsoft doing the same thing very soon! Don't forget, this time 5 years back all we had to talk about was whta we might see at e3, this year we've already seen a glimpse of the PS4, and from the big N's point of view, Link to the Past 2... Yoshi's Island 3.... Yoshi on U... Wind Waker HD, many more - slapping all these on us along with the new stuff at e3 and many games would slip through the net with little more than a couple of sentences by some jet-lagged, jaded journalist whos head's up his arse with all the new stuff on show....

 

[cdoty]

Yep. The days of E3 are numbered. They won't be doing big conferences like they have every year. Which I think, is great. Instead they'll be doing two smaller conferences, one for the investors, and one for people for the games.

They did the same thing 6 or 7 years ago. "E3 will become more focused on business, less on these million dollar displays." That lasted a year and then went back to the spectacle that it is.

As far a Nintendo goes, I think it got too used to the days where anything it threw out people were buying (well, except for the Virtual Boy). It's been unable to adapt to the new reality (online, high def, games played by older teens and adults, etc.)