While it's true, you do get some negative press leading up to it. You could also argue that the fringe, mainstream outlets that would go to a big press conference won't pay attention to this.
But none of that stuff is really proven to have an effect. Nothing shown off last year was big enough to really really energize anyone, so it's tough to say that going with a direct was an issue.
The narrative just isn't one a lot of people here want. And I don't blame them for that. We're used to winners and losers and "who had the most applause". Those are all valid metrics for fan excitement an engagement. Getting people talking about that stuff *does* work, and I think both the Wii and the PS4 are huge indicators of that. But then you have stuff where the 3DS had a huge buzz coming out of E3 but then had a flat launch.