During its financial results briefing this week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the company would not be holding a traditional press conference at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.
According to Iwata, Nintendo will be forgoing a large-scale presentation for a series of smaller events that are tailored to a specific audience. He went on to specify that the company plans to hold a separate closed showing for American distributors and one for the Western gaming media, which will allow games journalists to go hands-on with the company’s upcoming software:
“At the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media. Also, I did not speak at last year’s presentation, and I am not planning to speak at these events at the E3 show this year either. Apart from these exclusive events for visitors, we are continuing to investigate ways to deliver information about our games directly to our home audience around the time of E3. We will share more information about them once they have officially been decided.”
Given the success of the company’s Nintendo Direct broadcasts, which themselves almost seem like mini-E3 presentations, the importance of a large-scale press conference at E3 has been greatly diminished. Still, I’m sure many long-time Nintendo fans will be a little disappointed that the company won’t be holding a presentation this year, as that is where most legends are born.
What do you think about Nintendo not hosting a traditional press conference at this year’s E3? Which of the company’s E3 presentations was your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Source: Nintendo
There goes my hope of them rebranding and getting out a clear message of what the wiiu is at E3 for 80% of the population that thinks the wii u is an addon.
Just give me my hd nintendo games and do what you will with your image
Tolja this was coming. Meh, who needs E3 anyway? I’m tired of waiting around each year to see who can put on the best show. It’s the post-E3 press and N-Directs that have the good stuff!
Probably a wise choice. This years news will be dominated by PS4 and Microsoft’s next console. They might be back at the presentations next year, but if the mini shows go well then maybe they will never return!
I always enjoyed watching Nintendo press conferences, so part of me hopes they are not gone for good!
Whatever game that Retro Studios is making is not going to get the right stage that the game deserves.
I think this is a very strong move by Nintendo, going by last year’s conference (that Katharine and I actively covered) the big razzle-dazzle has become synonymous with disappoint rather than shock in recent times. Even in the rare instances when something amazing does come out of it, we’ve come to *expect* it and so its overall amazingness is diminished.
Nintendo may have made quite a few errors in recent years with marketing and overall strategy but their Nintendo Directs broadcasts have definitely been a PR highlight for me and fans more generally. After beating their E3 conference to the punch last year, Nintendo realised the power of the broadcasts and has instead chosen to disseminate information at the time of their choosing in focussed bursts that don’t have to go through quite the same editorial mangle as E3 coverage.
This year is a great example of all that, the last two NDs have been really positive and key with their bursts of game announcements, incentives and demonstrations to the extent that Nintendo is currently in a surprisingly strong position for the rest of the year, both culturally and probably financially. Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Fire Emblem: Awakening are both doing really well, the VC for Wii U is rolling out this week and people are shitting themselves in anticipation for Earthbound and we know that we have Pikmin 3, Wii Fit U, two Zelda games and a lot more in the pipeline as well. And all of this is in April, months before the traditional E3 explosion of information we’d be used to.
I think this will be a positive change for fans and for Nintendo journalism as a whole (spreading out the excitement certainly does our traffic no damage as opposed to having an hour and a half of must-read info followed by a year of nothingness.)
I’m actually really happy about it. E3 in the last few years it’s always been frustrating for me. 90% of the critics hating on Nintendo and myself trying to explain some of the great eShop titles or the less popular franchises. I think E3 is a bit too American for Nintendo. I’m not trying to offend anyone but American Marketing is really aggressive compare with Japanese and even European Marketing. I always felt like Nintendo was out of place in this event. Yeah, I know that Sony is a Japanese company too but I think they can adapt better to an American audience because they also sell Tvs, blu rays, movies and other electronics. Nintendo is the only company in the last 10 years that never had a unfriendly or (excuse my expression) bitchy comment directed towards the competition. I still remember that comment from Sony saying that the 3DS was a silly toy for kids a few years ago. Americans love that fanboy trash talk (just check any forum) but the average Japanese finds those comments extremely disrespectful. Now, less stress for me, I can ignore critics all along and enjoy my Nintendo Direct and my Nintendo Life updates!! Have an awesome day everyone!
Sorry English is not my first language, I think the right way to write the last sentence was “Nintendo monthly updates”.
It will be fine. I just want to hear about new Wii U games with concrete release dates. The 3DS already has a stellar line up!