And in any case, I wouldn't put too much stock in something as vague as "the next few months" from Nintendo. We're still waiting on a lot of WiiU games that were supposed to have been released during the launch window.
You really don't think those games will hit before the other consoles come out? That's a ton of leeway, much more than "the next few months." That's me, totally not putting stock into that.
I think expecting a 3D Mario & a Mario Kart to arrive before the PS4 comes out isn't the safest bet. I think there's a better chance that the PS4 comes out this year than there is of seeing either of those before 2014.
3D Mario is fully debatable. It's on the list above, but of course it could mean the Luigi DLC.
I was referring in general to the list of things they said would come in the next few months, and I am saying it is probably a safe bet that whatever they are referring to will come out before the other consoles launch. That's far more than a few months. Nintendo is well known for saying "hey it's June, here's a game we've never shown before, it's coming in September."
full briefing in English. Some highlights include even more partnerships to bring out Japanese third party 3DS games by Nintendo and the aforementioned E3 shakeup.
3DS CODE: 3093-7068-3576
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
So not focusing on the Nintendo doom per se... how does this make E3's organizers feel? I mean.. a couple years ago they tried re-tooling the thing and almost killed it off, and people demanded its return. Then we've seen the rise of PAX, and now we have one of the world's largest video game organizers saying "Nope. gonna host a conference." Now granted, the conferences and keynotes were technically not part of E3, instead being held at other venues. But it definitely brings in money and journalists to see what these guys do.
Look at how things have gone. Sony hosted their own event. Microsoft is hosting their own event. PAX has even had games announced at it. Suddenly... E3 is losing a lot of its "bombs," so to speak. Those kind of product announcements are what draw attendance. So. What's this mean for E3?
Their last three major ND's have been better than anyone's e3 conference since before the last e3 crash in 2006 because they are short and sweet and about upcoming games and consoles.
They're still going to do a western press event but if last year's pre 3 ND is anything to go on they'll just do one major Nintendo Direct that very day for all regions.
Basically it means two big console reveals are happening and Nintendo knows they shouldn't try to go toe to toe with that.
Also I'm sure they've noticed that people respond far better to their directs than the conference itself. Hasn't it been just about every year they get made fun of for demoing something too long or making dumb comments as they try to ad lib on stage or fluffing it with concert announcements? Hasn't it also been just about every year, everybody goes "they announced what" when they drop the quiet bombs on the second or third day?
Basically it means two big console reveals are happening and Nintendo knows they shouldn't try to go toe to toe with that.
Also I'm sure they've noticed that people respond far better to their directs than the conference itself. Hasn't it been just about every year they get made fun of for demoing something too long or making dumb comments as they try to ad lib on stage or fluffing it with concert announcements? Hasn't it also been just about every year, everybody goes "they announced what" when they drop the quiet bombs on the second or third day?
The best thing Nintendo has ever done, conference wise, was unveil one of the Smash Brothers games by not saying a word at their conference, then inviting journalists over at 7 PM to an after-show event and just dropping the fucking bomb on them.
Nintendo Direct feels like a public version of that. Just look at how this thread, the Wii U thread, and the 3DS thread responded to the ND from last week - the places all erupted. Now consider that they're giving a dedicated journalist version of that, and... Yeah. Nintendo's learning this internet thing pretty quickly.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
edited April 2013
I should also point out that Reggie IS the guy who managed to make the Bigfoot pizza a thing. Man knows how to market, when he's given a product that can be marketed. I think they need that pairing - Iwata as the idea man, Miyamoto to translate those ideas into product, and Reggie to sell the product.
I think they need more magic-makers. Or more specifically, someone to step in and replace Miyamoto as the magic maker.
So not focusing on the Nintendo doom per se... how does this make E3's organizers feel? I mean.. a couple years ago they tried re-tooling the thing and almost killed it off, and people demanded its return. Then we've seen the rise of PAX, and now we have one of the world's largest video game organizers saying "Nope. gonna host a conference." Now granted, the conferences and keynotes were technically not part of E3, instead being held at other venues. But it definitely brings in money and journalists to see what these guys do.
Look at how things have gone. Sony hosted their own event. Microsoft is hosting their own event. PAX has even had games announced at it. Suddenly... E3 is losing a lot of its "bombs," so to speak. Those kind of product announcements are what draw attendance. So. What's this mean for E3?
E3 becomes one of many software-focused events during the year. E3, PAX, Gamescom.
Basically it means two big console reveals are happening and Nintendo knows they shouldn't try to go toe to toe with that.
Also I'm sure they've noticed that people respond far better to their directs than the conference itself. Hasn't it been just about every year they get made fun of for demoing something too long or making dumb comments as they try to ad lib on stage or fluffing it with concert announcements? Hasn't it also been just about every year, everybody goes "they announced what" when they drop the quiet bombs on the second or third day?
The two console reveals will be done before E3. Sony's already outed the PS4 and Microsoft's next Xbox will be revealed on May 21.
This E3 will be all down to software. A knock-down, drag-our software fight.
The Internet-connection ratio forms the basis for deploying a digital business. In the case of Nintendo 3DS, it has been the highest among all the handheld video game systems Nintendo has launched. In the Japanese market where the ratio is particularly high, it has reached 87%. It is no less than about 83% in the U.S. The ratios in these markets are still on the rise. The ratio in Europe leaves much to be improved, approximately 57%, but is higher than before.
they made a profit only when you take into account currency fluctuations
so they still made a profit, but it was due to factors outside of their control, so they could easily have made a loss.
... but it's okay, because in the past they would've made more money / not made a loss, but did so due to currency fluctuations, so it all balances out in the end. More-or-less-ish.
EDIT: Wow - way late to the party. That's what I get for opening windows and reading them throughout the day.
I think Nintendo is making a big mistake missing E3. Ask any of your friends who just casually follow games if they know of E3. Then ask them about Nintendo Direct. Dropping out of the conference that more people know about, the people that need to buy your product, doesn't strike me as a great idea.
On the contrary conferences in general are becoming less and less important. Web only stuff like Nintendo Direct still has a lot to prove but doing your own dedicated events is definitely the direction other technology companies are taking.
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This actually seems like a good idea. I'm not sure if this is the wrong year or the perfect year to try out this approach to E3 though.
Either it will basically allow Microsoft and Sony to steal the show completely and create hype for the other systems that the Wii U could really use right now...
Or it will save them the trouble of not being able to compete with the announcement of the other two consoles, instead being able to focus the E3 budget to more frequent NDs, higher dev budgets/shorter time tables, or dedicated Nintendo events, allowing them to create the hype they need right now.
Also conferences are aimed at the hardcore audience. Causal players are aware of E3 but I bet they wont know when it happens, or follow the feverish antics of that conference. These days it seems that the causal demographic gets its information from a wide variety of tangential sources, as opposed to dedicated ones.
Per Gaf...Nintendo isn't holding a conference this year.
They will be doing things differently.
But...but...my body was ready!
Seriously though, I'm okay with this. As a gamer, I've come out of the last few Nintendo Direct presentations a lot more happy than I've come out of Nintendo conferences at E3.
Yeah, it got casually announced in that Nintendo Direct last January. But it got overshadowed by Wind Waker HD, Bayonetta 2 and that new game from the Xenoblade team.
I think Nintendo is making a big mistake missing E3. Ask any of your friends who just casually follow games if they know of E3. Then ask them about Nintendo Direct. Dropping out of the conference that more people know about, the people that need to buy your product, doesn't strike me as a great idea.
If I ask any of my friends who casually follow games about E3 the response will be almost universally "...huh?"
E3 just isn't really much of a thing for people who don't already follow games fairly close. If anything "E3" is something that got mentioned in passing in an article they skimmed on Kotaku/IGN/etc
+1
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited April 2013
I'm really fed up with the attitudes people express regarding E3. It's the penultimate of video game enthusiasts bemoaning their chosen medium reaching out beyond them as consumers. I hate to do the "video games are a business" thing, but they are! And when you're a business you have to throw something to every demographic during the big events. Even in the last few years, there have been things in the E3 presentations for 'us' (enthusiasts). And there's stuff in there for any other type of demographic or type of consumer. And it's okay. Some of the stuff for 'us' may not be on the stage, but it's on the show floor. And maybe it's not at E3 at all, maybe it shows up as its own announcements. The same happens for products for the people who aren't enthusiasts. And that's OK.
Not participating in E3 does not automatically come with having a better presentation or content. That's an absurd thing to apply. Nintendo stepping away from it is not smart, outside of having to deal with the logistics of a live audience. Their presentation content in their isolated event is going to be the same stuff that would've been on the E3 stage. The difference is that people have to look for Nintendo's event, rather than go to E3 news outlets and just get it as a part of that. It's actually a disadvantage to their PR. Even if they provide the content and reminders for it through Nintendo devices, you have to own those devices to get those notifications. How will the reach new customers or fans?
As for the 'win' thing, I think people (here on the forum at least) generally use it as a shorthand for "these guys had the overall most intriguing presentation." The concept of "nobody winning" just means you're expecting things to be all about you. It's a selfish notion. If people are going to participate in the discussion of the business side of the industry, you have to set aside your favoritism to look at things strictly from a business angle. There's what you want, and then there's what other people who aren't you want. Some people are bored by Kinect presentations. And that's fine, you don't have to be interested in it. I am fascinated with them - not as a person interested in getting one, but I like to see where that hardware is going and how well it is playing to the intended audience (or how well any piece of software is doing so).
There is some truth to what Nintendo was talking about. Gamers don't give a damn about sales figures and shit...just look at chat feeds during the show. All they want to see is games, games, games and some big surprise at the end. Anything else becomes useless info or gets made into horriblegifs or youtubevideos.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
There is some truth to what Nintendo was talking about. Gamers don't give a damn about sales figures and shit...just look at chat feeds during the show. All they want to see is games, games, games and some big surprise at the end. Anything else becomes useless info or gets made into horriblegifs or youtubevideos.
At the same time, Nintendo's earlier E3's post Wii release were exactly the thing they're saying is bad now.
0
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
EA Partners is to close down, it seems. Which seems fairly huge news if it proves to be accurate. The publisher, a portion of EA that was designed to publish games with a more hands-off approach than the mothercorp from developers not owned by themselves, is reported by some American magazine to be done.
This was the label that brought us Crysis, The Secret World, and Valve’s games in boxes, and also the rather calamitous failure of Kingdoms Of Amalur, despite the game being really brilliant. That, and other recent issues with disappointing performances, alongside EA’s own recent poor performance, seem to have put that all-too familiar writing on the wall for the publisher.
However, the two games currently in development to be released on the label – Fuse from Insomniac and an unrevealed FPS from Respawn Entertainment – should still get a release. Clearly this is all still at the “rumours” stage, with the information getting to some magazine or other via a number of unrevealed sources. It seems likely more will be learned at the always-interesting-if-you-don’t-actually-listen-to-it EA financial call on the 7th May.
I think Nintendo's move to not do a big keynote was smart. Let MS and Sony punch the shit out of each other, and talk about your games directly for this summer in settings where you have everyone's full attention.
Or in other words, not having a conference is better than having one then coming out with the worst one and hurting yourself more. Just show the games to press, it's what people want to actually see anyway.
There is some truth to what Nintendo was talking about. Gamers don't give a damn about sales figures and shit...just look at chat feeds during the show. All they want to see is games, games, games and some big surprise at the end. Anything else becomes useless info or gets made into horriblegifs or youtubevideos.
At the same time, Nintendo's earlier E3's post Wii release were exactly the thing they're saying is bad now.
Nintendo E3 conferences pre-Reggie were pretty terrible. They were just.. kind of there
I think Nintendo is making a big mistake missing E3. Ask any of your friends who just casually follow games if they know of E3. Then ask them about Nintendo Direct. Dropping out of the conference that more people know about, the people that need to buy your product, doesn't strike me as a great idea.
If I ask any of my friends who casually follow games about E3 the response will be almost universally "...huh?"
E3 just isn't really much of a thing for people who don't already follow games fairly close. If anything "E3" is something that got mentioned in passing in an article they skimmed on Kotaku/IGN/etc
It's still more coverage than something like Nintendo Direct is going to give them.
This actually seems like a good idea. I'm not sure if this is the wrong year or the perfect year to try out this approach to E3 though.
Either it will basically allow Microsoft and Sony to steal the show completely and create hype for the other systems that the Wii U could really use right now...
Or it will save them the trouble of not being able to compete with the announcement of the other two consoles, instead being able to focus the E3 budget to more frequent NDs, higher dev budgets/shorter time tables, or dedicated Nintendo events, allowing them to create the hype they need right now.
I think it's the bolded thing. A good showing at a big conference could potentially net more money in sales than not going would save.
I think Nintendo is making a big mistake missing E3. Ask any of your friends who just casually follow games if they know of E3. Then ask them about Nintendo Direct. Dropping out of the conference that more people know about, the people that need to buy your product, doesn't strike me as a great idea.
This is basically my opinion, though I'd put more emphasis on the wider groups that pay attention to E3 than actual gamers (mainstream media, investors, etc). It's certainly possible to come up with a wide reaching event outside of E3 but if their plan is for Nintendo Direct's to take that place, they've got a long way to go. Right now they're great at getting Nintendo's fanbase excited but that's about it.
Instead of sulking in the corner, why can't Nintendo just look at their E3 2010 conference and figure out where they've gone wrong over the last couple of years? I'll even give them a hint: Showing off Batman: Arkham City and pretending it's a new game isn't the message you want to attach to your brand new system.
HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
My last word (I hope I hold to this this time) on Nintendo stepping back from E3: Last year when they had the additional event (video), that additional thing was actually lacking in any substance. Nothing was new or different.
Basically it means two big console reveals are happening and Nintendo knows they shouldn't try to go toe to toe with that.
Also I'm sure they've noticed that people respond far better to their directs than the conference itself. Hasn't it been just about every year they get made fun of for demoing something too long or making dumb comments as they try to ad lib on stage or fluffing it with concert announcements? Hasn't it also been just about every year, everybody goes "they announced what" when they drop the quiet bombs on the second or third day?
The two console reveals will be done before E3. Sony's already outed the PS4 and Microsoft's next Xbox will be revealed on May 21.
This E3 will be all down to software. A knock-down, drag-our software fight.
That's what I meant, they're still very much reveals featuring the new console, and every game announcement could potentially reveal new things about what the system can do. You don't try to go up against that, that's where everybody's attention is. Instead, you do things a little differently.
I think Nintendo is making a big mistake missing E3. Ask any of your friends who just casually follow games if they know of E3. Then ask them about Nintendo Direct. Dropping out of the conference that more people know about, the people that need to buy your product, doesn't strike me as a great idea.
They're not missing E3, they're going to have the usual presence there on the show floor. To us at home, it's all just videos. You watch what's available when it's available. Major sites with recaps will include it. A lineup of videos of each major presentation will include it.
They just don't need to waste time and money on the huge song and dance that they get slammed for every year.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
You are talking like Nintendo is skipping E3 altogether, Henroid. They're still going to be there with a presence on the show floor. All the conference is, is a 1 hour infodump to the journalists who don't stick around and instead jet off to whatever their next event is. It's incumbent on the journalists to get the message to the people.
Let's see where I can find the 4.17 Nintendo direct:
And the videos from the Nintendo Direct can theoretically show up on their internet-equipped demo kiosks.
So what we have here is the enthusiast media reporting on a Nintendo Direct as if it were a full press conference. And they've done this for EVERY Nintendo Direct, because so far Nintendo's announced something new at each one.
So.. what do they gain by still having a presence at E3 but not holding a conference? Easy... they don't have to fight with Microsoft, Sony, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Sega, Konami, and who knows what else for a journalist's time is divided with in the 2-3 days before E3 starts. And considering they're retooling how they present things at E3 itself too.. There really isn't a downside to this plan, and I kind of expect the other companies to follow suit in a year or two.
EA is reportedly shuttering its third-party co-publishing Partners label, responsible for bringing out the likes of the Crysis series, Shadows of the Damned, Alice: Madness Returns, Bulletstorm, Brutal Legend, and the Rock Band series among many others.
According to Game Informer, who note "multiple anonymous sources close to the matter," the Partners label will be terminated "soon." Game Informer's sources say the purported closure shouldn't affect Insomniac's Fuse and Respawn Entertainment's unannounced project being released, despite both games being tied to the label.
The report follows news of widespread layoffs at EA earlier this month, as well as the apparent retirement of its Playfish line. There are also reports of the EA Mobile Brazil and BioWare Social studios closing, as well as one in based in London, UK.
We've reached out to EA for comment.
Doom.
I predict that Nintendo will go right back to having E3 press conferences after the smaller ones fail to kick up nearly the hype that a larger one can.
+1
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
EA is reportedly shuttering its third-party co-publishing Partners label, responsible for bringing out the likes of the Crysis series, Shadows of the Damned, Alice: Madness Returns, Bulletstorm, Brutal Legend, and the Rock Band series among many others.
According to Game Informer, who note "multiple anonymous sources close to the matter," the Partners label will be terminated "soon." Game Informer's sources say the purported closure shouldn't affect Insomniac's Fuse and Respawn Entertainment's unannounced project being released, despite both games being tied to the label.
The report follows news of widespread layoffs at EA earlier this month, as well as the apparent retirement of its Playfish line. There are also reports of the EA Mobile Brazil and BioWare Social studios closing, as well as one in based in London, UK.
We've reached out to EA for comment.
Doom.
I predict that Nintendo will go right back to having E3 press conferences after the smaller ones fail to kick up nearly the hype that a larger one can.
1 point of hype is horrible for the metabolism of hype compared to 12 points of hype. As long as things keep coming out at the same time Nintendo makes announcements, they'll be fine. My wallet is still recovering from March.
I predict that Nintendo will go right back to having E3 press conferences after the smaller ones fail to kick up nearly the hype that a larger one can.
I predict that they might go right back to having E3 press conferences when they aren't competing for time and hearts with two brand new consoles.
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Just wait till we start getting sales numbers for Sony and MS's next gen consoles.
There will be blood.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
3D Mario is fully debatable. It's on the list above, but of course it could mean the Luigi DLC.
I was referring in general to the list of things they said would come in the next few months, and I am saying it is probably a safe bet that whatever they are referring to will come out before the other consoles launch. That's far more than a few months. Nintendo is well known for saying "hey it's June, here's a game we've never shown before, it's coming in September."
The wii u is positively anemic..
full briefing in English. Some highlights include even more partnerships to bring out Japanese third party 3DS games by Nintendo and the aforementioned E3 shakeup.
Look at how things have gone. Sony hosted their own event. Microsoft is hosting their own event. PAX has even had games announced at it. Suddenly... E3 is losing a lot of its "bombs," so to speak. Those kind of product announcements are what draw attendance. So. What's this mean for E3?
They're still going to do a western press event but if last year's pre 3 ND is anything to go on they'll just do one major Nintendo Direct that very day for all regions.
Also I'm sure they've noticed that people respond far better to their directs than the conference itself. Hasn't it been just about every year they get made fun of for demoing something too long or making dumb comments as they try to ad lib on stage or fluffing it with concert announcements? Hasn't it also been just about every year, everybody goes "they announced what" when they drop the quiet bombs on the second or third day?
The best thing Nintendo has ever done, conference wise, was unveil one of the Smash Brothers games by not saying a word at their conference, then inviting journalists over at 7 PM to an after-show event and just dropping the fucking bomb on them.
Nintendo Direct feels like a public version of that. Just look at how this thread, the Wii U thread, and the 3DS thread responded to the ND from last week - the places all erupted. Now consider that they're giving a dedicated journalist version of that, and... Yeah. Nintendo's learning this internet thing pretty quickly.
I think they need more magic-makers. Or more specifically, someone to step in and replace Miyamoto as the magic maker.
E3 becomes one of many software-focused events during the year. E3, PAX, Gamescom.
The two console reveals will be done before E3. Sony's already outed the PS4 and Microsoft's next Xbox will be revealed on May 21.
This E3 will be all down to software. A knock-down, drag-our software fight.
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... but it's okay, because in the past they would've made more money / not made a loss, but did so due to currency fluctuations, so it all balances out in the end. More-or-less-ish.
EDIT: Wow - way late to the party.
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Either it will basically allow Microsoft and Sony to steal the show completely and create hype for the other systems that the Wii U could really use right now...
Or it will save them the trouble of not being able to compete with the announcement of the other two consoles, instead being able to focus the E3 budget to more frequent NDs, higher dev budgets/shorter time tables, or dedicated Nintendo events, allowing them to create the hype they need right now.
They aren't, really. They're aimed at retailers and journalists from the New York Times and other similar publications.
But...but...my body was ready!
Seriously though, I'm okay with this. As a gamer, I've come out of the last few Nintendo Direct presentations a lot more happy than I've come out of Nintendo conferences at E3.
Yeah, it got casually announced in that Nintendo Direct last January. But it got overshadowed by Wind Waker HD, Bayonetta 2 and that new game from the Xenoblade team.
The trailer wasn't that great either.
Even our PS4 reveal thread had fairly negative commentary.
Nintendo's probably smart to get away from it, though their timing seems a bit odd. I wonder if something got delayed.
other than presidential elections the E3 thread is my favorite all year. It's like a holiday.
I even order pizza and have beers during it!
They're robbing me of Ravi Drums!!!
If I ask any of my friends who casually follow games about E3 the response will be almost universally "...huh?"
E3 just isn't really much of a thing for people who don't already follow games fairly close. If anything "E3" is something that got mentioned in passing in an article they skimmed on Kotaku/IGN/etc
Not participating in E3 does not automatically come with having a better presentation or content. That's an absurd thing to apply. Nintendo stepping away from it is not smart, outside of having to deal with the logistics of a live audience. Their presentation content in their isolated event is going to be the same stuff that would've been on the E3 stage. The difference is that people have to look for Nintendo's event, rather than go to E3 news outlets and just get it as a part of that. It's actually a disadvantage to their PR. Even if they provide the content and reminders for it through Nintendo devices, you have to own those devices to get those notifications. How will the reach new customers or fans?
As for the 'win' thing, I think people (here on the forum at least) generally use it as a shorthand for "these guys had the overall most intriguing presentation." The concept of "nobody winning" just means you're expecting things to be all about you. It's a selfish notion. If people are going to participate in the discussion of the business side of the industry, you have to set aside your favoritism to look at things strictly from a business angle. There's what you want, and then there's what other people who aren't you want. Some people are bored by Kinect presentations. And that's fine, you don't have to be interested in it. I am fascinated with them - not as a person interested in getting one, but I like to see where that hardware is going and how well it is playing to the intended audience (or how well any piece of software is doing so).
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At the same time, Nintendo's earlier E3's post Wii release were exactly the thing they're saying is bad now.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/04/25/ea-partners-rumoured-to-be-breaking-up/
Or in other words, not having a conference is better than having one then coming out with the worst one and hurting yourself more. Just show the games to press, it's what people want to actually see anyway.
Nintendo E3 conferences pre-Reggie were pretty terrible. They were just.. kind of there
It's still more coverage than something like Nintendo Direct is going to give them.
I think it's the bolded thing. A good showing at a big conference could potentially net more money in sales than not going would save.
This is basically my opinion, though I'd put more emphasis on the wider groups that pay attention to E3 than actual gamers (mainstream media, investors, etc). It's certainly possible to come up with a wide reaching event outside of E3 but if their plan is for Nintendo Direct's to take that place, they've got a long way to go. Right now they're great at getting Nintendo's fanbase excited but that's about it.
Instead of sulking in the corner, why can't Nintendo just look at their E3 2010 conference and figure out where they've gone wrong over the last couple of years? I'll even give them a hint: Showing off Batman: Arkham City and pretending it's a new game isn't the message you want to attach to your brand new system.
That's what I meant, they're still very much reveals featuring the new console, and every game announcement could potentially reveal new things about what the system can do. You don't try to go up against that, that's where everybody's attention is. Instead, you do things a little differently.
They're not missing E3, they're going to have the usual presence there on the show floor. To us at home, it's all just videos. You watch what's available when it's available. Major sites with recaps will include it. A lineup of videos of each major presentation will include it.
They just don't need to waste time and money on the huge song and dance that they get slammed for every year.
Let's see where I can find the 4.17 Nintendo direct:
IGN (Edited video, but a different news story for each announcement)
Gamespot (unedited video)
Giant Bomb (summary from a site that doesn't cover Nintendo)
Kotaku (full video)
Joystiq (full video)
Polygon (full video and full breakdown)
Engadget (small summary)
Youtube
Nintendo themselves
Nintendo's 3DS eShop
Nintendo's WiiU eShop
And the videos from the Nintendo Direct can theoretically show up on their internet-equipped demo kiosks.
So what we have here is the enthusiast media reporting on a Nintendo Direct as if it were a full press conference. And they've done this for EVERY Nintendo Direct, because so far Nintendo's announced something new at each one.
So.. what do they gain by still having a presence at E3 but not holding a conference? Easy... they don't have to fight with Microsoft, Sony, EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Sega, Konami, and who knows what else for a journalist's time is divided with in the 2-3 days before E3 starts. And considering they're retooling how they present things at E3 itself too.. There really isn't a downside to this plan, and I kind of expect the other companies to follow suit in a year or two.
I predict that Nintendo will go right back to having E3 press conferences after the smaller ones fail to kick up nearly the hype that a larger one can.
1 point of hype is horrible for the metabolism of hype compared to 12 points of hype. As long as things keep coming out at the same time Nintendo makes announcements, they'll be fine. My wallet is still recovering from March.
I predict that they might go right back to having E3 press conferences when they aren't competing for time and hearts with two brand new consoles.