Nintendo Direct and E3

If there's one thing Nintendo defenders have been stating for the past couple of months more than anything from what I've seen (myself included at times), it's for those clamoring for more Wii U software to hold their tongues until after E3. And in one way or another, we have been right about that. Nintendo has opted to wait until E3 to give us true reveals on several games that were merely announced in a previous Nintendo Direct conference early in the year. Just for consistency's sake, here is the list of reveals without actual game footage.

-3D Mario
-Mario Kart
-Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
-Zelda Wii U

Now these are just what have been announced. Smash Bros. was revealed much earlier but we are expected to at least see screenshots of the game and Nintendo has stated that there are unannounced projects for both 3DS and Wii U, some even falling into the third party category.

The announcements of these games spread like wildfire and reinvigorated fans of Nintendo and kept a few others somewhat interested. Nintendo Directs that have revealed new games tend to fill me up with an element of excitement. It's really cool for me to see new games that I know I would want to play. And I would argue Nintendo recognizes how much more positively received these Direct shows are than many of their recent E3 shows.

I'll be the first to say it, last year Nintendo royally dropped the bomb at E3, making several bad decisions and few good ones. At first I was sitting there wondering what the hell had gone through their heads. But then I had a moment of clarity; E3 is as much about investors as it is about WOWing people. In this respect, the company showing their stuff on stage have to blend elements together to impress not only us gamers but backers and owners of their company's stock. In this regard, I think Nintendo has lost sight of who to please and how to please them.

So I don't particularly think E3 was very good for Nintendo to begin with at that point. Tell me honestly, did YOU enjoy their previous conference? Because I can almost guarantee that most of the people reading this blog right now jumped up and cried foul the moment that conference was over. The ones before that have been very hit or miss depending on whether or not Nintendo decided to focus more heavily on casual or traditional software.

And just to further my point about last year's E3, Nintendo actually held a smell Direct conference prior to their E3 conference which had MORE new/exciting information about the console. They not only revealed the redesign of the gamepad, now sporting dual analogue sticks that were clickable, but the Pro controller as well which brought some relief to those who did not want to use the gamepad. At the time it was extremely disappointing that this conference wound up so much more exhilarating than the E3 (though to be honest it doesn't take much to do that). Part of the problem is most of the conference was spent by the public waiting for some huge announcement for Wii U that simply never came.

Now we have E3 2013. Nintendo has only new software to show and they will be going up against not one, but two brand new systems that are shrouded in mystery (particularly in the case of the Nextbox). Whether or not those conferences will dazzle the public (which they most certainly will) those are what the public are looking for and will pay most of their attention to and Nintendo has, for once, taken the time to become more aware of the industry and recognize that going head to head with such hardware reveals with nothing but software for a console that's been out for over half a year is probably not going to turn that many heads.

Do I personally believe that? Not particularly. But it would be pretty strange to get more details on the PS4, go to the Nintendo conference and just get game reveals, then go to another conference and see the new Nextbox. This newer approach is not something I totally agree with, but it still makes some sense. There is a slew of factors that seem to have driven Nintendo to this decision. Whether or not it works out for them, we'll see.

But I think there needs to be some clarification as well. I see many people now saying "They're not going to be at E3," or "They're doomed for not having an E3 conference!"

This reaction is understandable. This move is extremely unorthodox on Nintendo's part, but I don't see it as a bad thing necessarily. First of all, they WILL be at E3, but their presentation model is going to be on a smaller scale.Rather than having one big show, they're going to have several smaller ones. That makes sense to me; have multiple shows to expand your audience. Have a show for the fans with Mario and Zelda. Then another for your casual audience, then another for the investors. That way they don't have to cram everything into a single hour block that winds up being awkward and disappointing.

Furthermore, I'd hardly say Nintendo is doomed (just like every other time I've heard it). Nintendo Direct has been a great way for them to spread information about their products and doubt there is anyone on this website who hasn't heard news (good or bad in their eyes) from said shows.

So to sum up, not having a large E3 could prove to beneficial or detrimental, and I'm not going to pretend I know for certain how it will go. I don't feel saying it's the end all be all for Nintendo is all that accurate, but I don't know how it can go without their major presence in the usual show roster. E3 is a couple of months away... I say let's wait and see what happens.

[krazykombatant]

Lol I keep reading these blogs and the comment right above me it makes me go just wow.

Everyone is eating the E3 thing up, yum yum Nintendo, n4gs whipping boy. Christ, wait till the conference and lets see.

Its not like the previous E3s were revolutionary from anything from the big 3. MS blew big time last year.

[chadboban]

Microsoft has been blowing E3 big time since 2010. Ever since they started focusing on Kinect they're conferences have been extremely boring. Their last 3 conferences were not good at all and most people would agree.

Nintendo hasn't had a mind blowing conference since E3 2010 which was incredible. E3 2011 for Nintendo was good but not too spectacular which it should have been since they were revealing a brand new console. And their E3 2012 was even worse.

[PopRocks359]

Yeah, I agree. E3 was not particularly great last year. I remember Ubisoft having the best show and they really made me raise an eyebrow. Not that it's difficult to beat EA at an E3 show but... Ubisoft having a better show than all of the big three?

I think this alternative, if handled well, can prove to be much more beneficial to Nintendo and its fans.

[specialagent4532]

So you do remember Ashton Kutcher performance at Microsoft E3 conference. Yeah despite Microsoft having a terrible E3 conference last year it still having one this year. I respect Nintendo but come on why would it not show up at E3 preventing a larger audience to see what the wii u is about.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I wanted to point out that we do, in fact, have gameplay footage of both Zelda U and Xenoblade X, unless I misunderstood your first paragraph.

Xenoblade X
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Zelda Wii U
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[chadboban]

I think that Zelda Wii U was just a tech demo back in 2011 to show of what the Wii U was capable of so it's not really representative of what the final Wii U Zelda game will be like. The other games he is talking about have only been announced in name with no actual gameplay shown.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Fair enough about Zelda. It may have just been a tech demo. HOwever, like I said, we do have footage of Xenoblade X.

[chadboban]

He never mentioned Xenoblade X. Unless he made an edit or something before I got a chance to read. You should read over that part where you saw it, I really don't see it mentioned there.

[PopRocks359]

Yeah, I don't believe that Zelda U will look like the tech demo, so I put it onto the list. I also omitted X on account of we've already seen some preliminary footage of the game, though like with the first Xenoblade, I think it will look even better when we see a trailer closer to release.

[Automatic79]

Nintendo not having a huge E3 is a bit of a letdown especially since E3 is one of the largest gaming events of the year. The nintendo direct shows are fantastic because they bring awareness and continue to showcase that nintendo is devoloping games for there system as well as giving gamers something to look forward to.

[BeZdaBest]

i wanna see if nintendo is going to showcase dual gamepad games....

i would love to see zelda..but would love it even more if they showed off a new starfox assault type game.(but with better controls)..

maybe they should reboot starfox with a little grittier atmosphere..the story is pretty dark already..pig betrays fox.. monkey kills fox.. young fox quest for revenge (NON SPOILER VERSION)..

make krystal his friend from the academy or something...

and please lets not mention any dinos plz.

[SilentNegotiator]

"So I don't particularly think E3 was very good for Nintendo to begin with at that point. Tell me honestly, did YOU enjoy their previous conference?"

That's not a good reason for them to avoid E3, though. They need to start planning BETTER conferences. They need to go all out to make their software seem more exciting than others' hardware.

Like you said, E3 is a lot about investors. As soon as E3 swings around and Forbes starts hosting articles about Nintendo's weak presence, stocks will probably take a dive for a while.

Not to mention, Nintendo Directs are lightyears away from being as watched as E3 conferences. As exciting new hardware gets shown with shiny new software, people will put a lot of attention towards Ps4/NextBox. And Wii U hasn't exactly been selling too much as it is; getting itself out from under the hype of the other new systems would be tough to say the least.

[Ignacho]

Sweet! I got Wii points card code and it was valid! If you need a code check out freewiipointsforever<3com

[specialagent4532]

Look nothing wrong with Nintendo direct and while Nintendo direct is more to the point and straightforward. An E3 conference is televised via spike tv, G4, and MTV which means you will as a viewer see E3 commercials. The other caveat is the ability to let your viewers (gamers) were the company is heading, what are the new gaming features, how is the company doing financially , game announcements, etc. Now this can be done via a direct conference again is not televised meaning last year a portion of gamers didn't know about the pro controller until the E3 conference. Is about marketing and reaching or obtaining as many customers as possible. E3 does this since these people that are on the fence whether to buy or not buy a wii u would end up not buying one due to the lack of a E3 presentation. That whole of Nintendo having bad E3 conferences is a cop out due to Microsoft and one time or another Sony doing badly as well; yet, these corporations are doing their conferences. So much for the fanboys telling us gamers over and over for the past couple of months "wait till E3 Nintendo will step it's game up" or just simply wait for E3. Only fanboys are happy or defending Nintendo for not having an E3 conference not the fans or gamers.