Nintendo's E3: Disaster Hardcore in Crisis?

"After Nintendo's relatively uneventful 2007 E3, which saw the unveiling of Wii Fit with the Balance Board, and Mario Kart with the Wii Wheel, the Nintendo faithful were ready for a decidedly more hardcore event this year. Whisperings of Pikmin, Kid Icarus and even a potential new Zelda were rife, so expectations were as usual sky high. The unveiling of MotionPlus a day before the conference seemed to give even more creedence to the theory that a new Zelda would be demoed at the conference demonstrating 1:1 sword play. July 15th dawned, Cammie Dunaway threw her virtual dog a frisbee, Miyamoto flailed ineffectually, and rest as they say is history…"

More after the jump

[ChickeyCantor]

He makes 2 good points:
1: Some part of the Media belong to the hardcore so that could have been a wrong move from Nintendo.
2: There are games coming, its just Nintendo not opening their mouths.
However i do remember Iwata say in an interview that if they announce stuff to early you get really tired of it eventually.( thats whay they believe )So they never say much about their future projects.

But i honestly dont think they are being any different.( with delivering the games we all know)

[solsub]

I hope you're right. I have a lot of respect for Nintendo but I can say that this year's E3 was a disaster for them.

Well, that may not be saying much since E3 '08 sucked some major balls.

[CViper]

agreed that the E3 showing had absolutely no effect on sales, both hardware and software. Hardcore gamers that only play the wii by themselves disagree of course.

NPD is even further evidence of that FACT.

People love to hate the wii, its utterly retarded. "HARDCORE" gaming doesn't exist as a demographic. Therre is no set age group, habits, sex, no traits what so ever that separate a hardcore gamer, from a soccer mom. People can pretend there are, but then those same people pretend that Nintendogs didn't sell over 15 million copies.

Why would a company persue "Hardcore" gamers, when the G-General audience brings in way more money than the dudes that love the same shooter over and over ever will?

Lets guess who comes in #1 at the end of this year. It wont be Microsoft, and it wont be Sony.

I don't even own a Wii. But I get why they are successful, you can't help but admire Nintendo as well for bringing GAMING to all generations of people. Thats the f`ing point. Not which games are "hardcore." Hell, all of the "hardcore" games are outsold be Nintendo wii or ds titles. And we don't even have to talk about hardware do we?

Nintendo is the only console this gen that is strictly about FUN and GAMES, not animosity towards other companies, or malicious comments or campaigns. All of their games reviewed could be called flops. Yet they sell more than jesus. Shows you how important reviews really are don't it?

[TruthbeTold]

...it all comes back to the Nintendo approach, which grows more and more bold each year. Focus on the new people whom they don't already have hooks in their mouths. Tell the die hards what to think. (Animal Crossing is the hardcore game they've been waiting for). And finally, America gets the crap announcements. Save the good stuff for the TGS. I love Nintendo, and have been with them through thick and thin, but alot of the time it really feels like they are telling me to go F*ck off.

[ChickeyCantor]

@Cviper
Even though if it does not affect Sales, im talking about Nintendo's "idea" behind it.

If Nintendo really wants to use this E3 because of the Media they should consider the fact that some media people are also "core" gamers.

And even if it does not affect sales at least the word gets out.

@truthbetold
But they did say that E3 is not the E3 we used to know.
E3 was disapointing but what do you expect if they are not going to use E3 for "core" gamers.
Hope they use other Expo's for "core" games.
Else its really a "f*ck off" sign( but i doubt that...)

[xplosneer]

Wow. Do you have stock invested in Nintendo or something? Then disregard this. Because I don't really care how many copies of a game are sold. Are you enjoying it? That's all that matters. And I might add, I'm not.

[Smacktard]

hurr durr the amount of copies a game sells is obviously indicative of it's quality. carnival games sold more than okami, so it's obviously better. durrrrr

[MasterOne]

Folks,

The people at Nintendo only care about seeing a whole bunch of hardware and their own first party games to casual gamers. That is their market. They can not compete with Sony or MS in the Hard Core Market. Face it.

They got away with selling Gamecubes with a new controller. They went after the market that did not know any better.

[Allowen]

I preaty much liked the Nintendo Ds even when the PSP is uberer hardware but the Nintendo Wii I disliked it from the botton of my Soul.

The problem of the Nintendo Wii is the lack of games and realy innovations in terms of high end tecnology.it is the qoest vidego game I ever bought in thers mof good games and I play vgs since original Nes and Master System.

Nintendo can launch now new Zelda,Metroid or what ever , I will not change my mind but will also not sell my wii for the price of a banana.For every one uber Nintendo wii I have fifhteen on PS3.

Even my nieces and her cousins, all kids bettewn 8-15, preffered Sony PS3 or even Xbox360 over the Wii.This happened because these wii games are way too easy and the replay value of the most games is horrible.

Since Nintendo more or less announced the new Zelda that will be "easier" then I am done with this company.

Once again I say, it is not about graphics, it is about challenge ,fun and replay value and for me the Xbox360 and Ps3 are way,way much,much better.

[ChickeyCantor]

"accessible" =/= "EASY"

Although zelda is not getting any harder for i know most logic they used in the Zelda franchise, I'm sure of it its not going to be easier on the Gameplay part but more easier on the Interface.

For example it was easier to shoot Arrows with the IR functionality then with a controller stick.

[Mayle]

nintendo has to release more games that appeal to the "hardcore" fan base unless they plan to make more and more casual systems in the upcoming generations(which would suck)

I was just disappointed because I really felt after they showed the motion plus with that god awful wii sports presentation they would show zelda or something using the device

[Allowen]

It is cool that Nintendo found a new piece of the market to win tons of cash since for now Sony and Microsoft are not a treat.

But to make dump games in graphics and challenge and replay value ANY ONE CAN MAKE, so I belive that sooner or later they will have to make a VG that makes games similar to Xbox360 at least. Sony and MS already started to make silly games and rpgs for non hardcore players and for new comers.

BEWARE NINTENDO @ You will get smashed by Microsoft and Sony in the future if you keep thinking that players hardcore or not, want to play games that requires a QI of 10.Averege people are more smart then that !

[solidworm]

Keep telling yourselfs the games are coming the truth is nintendo signed theyre souls to the devil 2 years ago and hes not about to let them have it back anytime soon. Nintendo are the Simon Cowell of gaming. Hardcore Ninti fans have to look in the mirror and admit the price of financial success is the dumbing down and abolishment of everything they loved the Japanese company for. So while the mainstream buy it and fawn over it in droves all the games that actual gamers talk,play, and look forward to are on the ps3 and 360.If i want a conversation about the next game i will be buying i can talk to my brother or mates at work.If youve got a wii you,l have to talk your nan.

[ChickeyCantor]

"If i want a conversation about the next game i will be buying i can talk to my brother or mates at work.If youve got a wii you,l have to talk your nan.
"

.....WTF are you on about =/ thats one of the most lamest thing i've ever read XD.

If Nintendo did not showed up at all at E3, you guys would not even be so extreme about this.

As long the developers of the Nintendo franchise are there at nintendo you can expect the traditional games they make.
Also Nintendo is not the only one developing games.

[Odiah]

Whatever happened to Day of Crisis? =|

[Allowen]

It is not about what Nintendo showed or not at the E3 but how it is right now and will continue to be. Around 1 in 50 games they launch that are ok hardcore that really makes old age nintendo fan to smile.

Microsoft= dont have much 1st and 2nd party support but has UBER 3rd party POWA.

Nintendo = Really have a strong 1st party and moderate power on 2nd party but their 3rd party is really really bad. I mean, BADDDDDDDDD ,they make games with amazing loq quality compared to games such Medtroid, Mario and Zelda.

I am just comparing MS and Nintendo, their strategy are the oposite of the other but Nintendo to make things wort, the low quality of most games on the console qhen compared to 1st and 2nd party that is.

Nintendo needs to knockout these third party companies and demand they boost the quality on their games.
So you see, I am disappointed with nintendo on this generation expecialy because of lack of stuff for hardcore games AND lack of good quality games.
But I guess it is ok for some one to pay 50 dolars for a game that they will play once a month.And then they think nintendo Wii is "cheaper" then Xbox360 or Ps3.

[solidworm]

i wont be going online with mgo with my nan and her mate the hairdreser anytime soon tho.

[pcz]

nintendo said that mario galaxy was a game that could cater for both casual and 'hardcore' gamers, and that game is solid. so if they do the same to zelda (make it accessible to everybody) then i'm not worried. i just hope they dont beat it to death with the casual stick.

[pcz]

as the article pointed out, the potential for full motion control is great. but nintendo didn't exactly showcase it with wii sport resort. i hope it isn't a missed opportunity

[PJF_Josh]

Nintendo (like Sony and MS) is all about making money. They have a money maker on the market and don't see much need to mess with it. They're going to push first party games that are 'accessible' to a wide range of people with the occasional game for the fanboy/hardcore base. This is what they need to do in order to continue their success.

They're making money on the hardware but really how much software is being sold? I personally know 4 people that own a Wii (other than myself) and three of them don't touch it anymore. It'll sell like crazy because it's the cheapest of the new game systems, it's seen as family friendly and it has the Nintendo name attached - meaning all those parents that bought the DS for their kids, and there were obviously a lot of them, will have no problem buying the Wii as well. I just wonder how long the software sales will hold up. Boom Blox was very highly touted, had Steven Spielberg's name attached, was well reviewed and still didn't sell all that well. Will that be a slow burner, long term, lifetime sales type of title? Maybe, maybe not.

I do see a disturbing parallel here with the Atari 2600 though. That was also a runaway success which dominated the market and saw stores flooded with (mostly) shovelware titles. They had a number of add-ons with different controllers, etc. and eventually the bottom dropped out from under them.

I just hope they can keep in touch with what _all_ their customers want and don't just pander to the little kiddies and grandmas demographics because the rest of us would miss out on some potentially innovative titles.

Oh, by the way Nintendo, I'm still waiting for that storage solution.......