Nintendo ditches main E3 conference, still there with games, press events, N-Direct

I had a feeling Nintendo would do this. I said similar on GAF way back in January.

For me, it was pretty clear how little they valued E3 after they saved their "Namco working on Smash" and "3DS XL revealed" megatons for a Nintendo Direct two weeks after the event.

It isn't just Nintendo though. Look at their competitors - Sony unveiled the PS4 at the Playstation Meeting earlier this year. Microsoft are talking about the Xbox in May. E3 is increasingly irrelevant in an online world.

I think you are right.

As a fan of video games, I would love for Nintendo to host a big event. Nothing like E3 Nintendo hype/meltdowns etc. So as such, this sucks.

But once the rush of blood starts leaving people's heads, it's not so hard seing the logic behind this. Nintendo Directs are becoming their main stage for announcement, and creates lots of buzz, set at their own pace. Downplaying the importance of E3 by not having a grand conference I believe to be part of a strategy to diminish the value of a conference they are bound to "loose" with two new consoles being revealed anyway.

So: for me it sucks, for Nintendo it's a bold strategical move that no one knows how will work out.
 
You can't beat the live experience. Nothing beats the hype of all being together at the same time to experience something, whether it's a concert, football game or a press conference for video games.

How is Nintendo going to compete when there's no allocated "Nintendo only" time? What would a news outlet show for their story when there's no footage of the announcement being recorded as it happened?

This is yet another phase in Nintendo's catastrophic Wii U performance.
Did you miss the last Direct?
 
The way some are talking, you'd think they dropped out of E3 all together. They'll still be there. They just won't have the standard big conference.

It may work. It may not. But they will still be at E3.

And to be honest, did you really want to watch another powerpoint on sales and markets.
 
How is Nintendo going to compete when there's no allocated "Nintendo only" time? What would a news outlet show for their story when there's no footage of the announcement being recorded as it happened?

Are these questions for real? LOL

GAF can be so overdramatic. This thread reminds me of the "why hasn't Microsoft said anything about the new Xbox yet?" whining.
 
E3 to me is about cross pollination. Even if you don't own all the consoles you watch the press conferences to see 3rd party games and what things the other platform holders have to offer. If Nintendo doesn't have a press conference I will not know what they're working on. I'm not a huge Nintendo fan and I'm unlikely to seek out a video series aimed at core Nintendo fans. Even as someone who doesn't believe E3 reaction makes or breaks a product, I do believe awareness is very important. E3 is a unique opportunity to attract the attention of gamers who are currently using other game platforms. They're squandering an opportunity, but maybe things are that bad at Nintendo that they need to conserve money and take a year to retool. It will be very sad if we never get another Nintendo E3 again.

You're a NeoGAF user. You won't have to worry about that.

Every little thing Nintendo and its partners will reveal will be on blast on this forum.
 
The way some are talking, you'd think they dropped out of E3 all together. They'll still be there. They just won't have the standard big conference.

It may work. It may not. But they will still be at E3.

And to be honest, did you really want to watch another powerpoint on sales and markets.
But-but-but the big stage is what makes them important.
Without it, they are obsolete.

Right guys?
I'm going to wait and see what kind of information they'll have during the e3 period before I make any assumptions
 
The news about Nintendo Directs are a joke compare to the e3 news. The e3 reaches a much much broader audience.
They're a joke when they don't have big news.

At E3 they saved big things like the first showing of Smash/Mario. Why would that not reach many people when everyone, journalists and consumers, get to find out at E3 and online during E3 as always?

Ok, maybe you think they don't have big news. Then their E3 conference would suck anyway so the problem isn't with the change either way.

But seriously, the same sites that would report a sucky E3 will report a sucky E3 Direct. What's the difference to you and everyone else? That the embedded video will say Direct somewhere instead of conference? Lol?
 
The news about Nintendo Directs are a joke compare to the e3 news. The e3 reaches a much much broader audience.

You seem to be really confused about just how important E3 conferences are in general.

Outside of message boards (where news of a Nintendo Direct would spread any way) it really isn't that big of a deal.
 
Why? Now you can watch Nintendo Direct: E3 Press Conference Edition.

What difference does it make? Or will you actively not watch it because it's a Direct?

I won't watch it. I watched every Nintendo E3 press. Its about the event, experience. Like when people watch world cup in soccer even if they don't care about the soccer for most of the year(s), that makes it special. Personally I don't care about Nintendo, so I won't watch their direct crap.
 
The news about Nintendo Directs are a joke compare to the e3 news. The e3 reaches a much much broader audience.

All the same websites that report on E3 report on the details revealed in Nintendo Directs. It all reaches the same audience. And Nintendo will still have an E3 press event, so literally every base is covered in terms of dissemination of information.


I won't watch it. I watched every Nintendo E3 press. Its about the event, experience. Like when people watch world cup in soccer even if they don't care about the soccer for most of the year(s), that makes it special. Personally I don't care about Nintendo, so I won't watch their direct crap.

Ahhh, so you don't watch E3 conferences for the games or the hardware at all. That makes perfect and logical sense.
 
The news about Nintendo Directs are a joke compare to the e3 news. The e3 reaches a much much broader audience.

but won't they have press events and games being shown at e3 which would inturn be covered by mainstream media? i mean i understand the argument that e3 is a big event, i've watched the conferences for going on 10 years now, but any and almost everything that is shown at e3 whether it be from conferences or floor demos are still covered in the media
 
Neogaf hype meter:

Nintendo Direct 4/17/2013 - 2555 posts

Nintendo E3 Conference 2011 - 9225 posts (not comparing 2012 because of new console announcement)
 
I won't watch it. I watched every Nintendo E3 press. Its about the event, experience. Like when people watch world cup in soccer even if they don't care about the soccer for most of the year(s), that makes it special. Personally I don't care about Nintendo, so I won't watch their direct crap.

This!! My mom doesn't watch football, but she will watch the Super Bowl. It's the same way with a ton of moderate and casual gamers when it comes to E3 press conferences.
 
To be fair, logically there is reason. Their E3 presentation last year was upstaged by the vastly superior E3 Direct two days before. They are also still going to be there with press events and everything so they'll have a definite presence at E3, so a lot of people are over-reacting

Here they can focus their time better. No pointless on screen performances, no shoehorning in third party games into their personal presentation. Here they can focus on their games how they want, without the constraints of being live.

I'm not happy about this, I think it may be the worst idea since the Vitality Sensor, but they aren't ignoring E3 altogether like many are believing
 
All the same websites that report on E3 report on the details revealed in Nintendo Directs. It all reaches the same audience. And Nintendo will still have an E3 press event, so literally every base is covered in terms of dissemination of information.




Ahhh, so you don't watch E3 conferences for the games or the hardware at all. That makes perfect and logical sense.

lol i think we said the same thing in different ways
 
well, that was obvious.
There are no (positive) charts to show, no positive newspaper/magazine quotes. Not enough games. Not any news about expanding the market.
So how could they fill a 60-90minutes conference?
 
An E3 press conference can be a tremendous gift of almost free press. You have game journalists from all the big sites gathered in one spot and waiting to give the console manufacturers free coverage and Nintendo turns it down. Just unbelievable. Nintendo is going to be at E3 anyway, so the added cost of the press conference is not significant and doing the press conference makes sense economically given the potential positive coverage.

Nintendo under Iwata is a company that believes it can't compete and so it won't compete. It's just so stupid. You have to get out there and tell the world you have a product worth buying. You can't win if you don't show up.
 
The news about Nintendo Directs are a joke compare to the e3 news. The e3 reaches a much much broader audience.

Nintendo are doing the Directs for the people at home. They're doing press events for people at E3. They're just not doing a huge event. If anything, this increases reach
 
Neogaf hype meter:

Nintendo Direct 4/17/2013 - 2555 posts

Nintendo E3 Conference 2011 - 9225 posts (not comparing 2012 because of new console announcement)
Seems pretty close for a Direct that wasn't hyped as having 3D Mario and Smash Bros and whatever big announcements are saved for E3 Direct.

An E3 press conference can be a tremendous gift of almost free press. You have game journalists from all the big sites gathered in one spot and waiting to give the console manufacturers free coverage and Nintendo turns it down. Just unbelievable.
Sir, read the thread title.
 
Neogaf hype meter:

Nintendo Direct 4/17/2013 - 2555 posts

Nintendo E3 Conference 2011 - 9225 posts (not comparing 2012 because of new console announcement)

Knowing GAF, it was probably down for a portion of that E3 conference as well, so it would probably have been more
 
All the same websites that report on E3 report on the details revealed in Nintendo Directs. It all reaches the same audience. And Nintendo will still have an E3 press event, so literally every base is covered in terms of dissemination of information.

Not sure why people are missing this point. They're focusing on software coverage during E3 rather than revealing software. They will still have E3 presser for their games.
 
All the same websites that report on E3 report on the details revealed in Nintendo Directs. It all reaches the same audience. And Nintendo will still have an E3 press event, so literally every base is covered in terms of dissemination of information.




Ahhh, so you don't watch E3 conferences for the games or the hardware at all. That makes perfect and logical sense.

It would if you could read.
 
Funny reading people trying to spin this into something positive.

This is all downhill for Nintendo.

I agree, every year I looked forward to watch the conferences of the big 3 companies but it seems that won't happen anymore.

What I like about the normal E3 conferences is that the media, the fans and distributors don't know what a company will show and when they show it in the conference everyone is getting the same information at the same time, that way I do not have to read or watch videos from IGN, GT, Gamespot or others that already had formed an opinion about the content, I'm forming my own opinion at the same time as them.

And frankly people are trying to make it seem as if this change has nothing to do with how Nintendo is doing lately, but for example do you think Nintendo would have make this change years ago when they were selling Wiis like hotcakes? of course not.

Anyway I'm looking forward to see what they'll show even if I don't like the new way the are going to do it.
 
There will 99% sure be a "Nintendo Direct E3 Presentation" that Nintendo will hype up and people will watch.


But how many views do Nintendo directs get? The live streams I've watched have maybe a few thousand viewing - I guess YouTube and other channels like eshop adds a lot more.

But abandoning a big press event seems odd to me. They need to communicate more and show us more, yet they are planning closed events focusing on US releases?
 
well, that was obvious.
There are no (positive) charts to show, no positive newspaper/magazine quotes. Not enough games. Not any news about expanding the market.
So how could they fill a 60-90minutes conference?

Not enough games? Have you seen their lineup? Without the Wii U announcements they're making then (yes, they still are), they have a lineup that big already
 
There was crazy hype. Sure it wasnt met with a good press event, but there is always next year. Until now.

Never again a "Oh and one more thing..."

Its just a sad day for Nintengaf dorks.

I agree. Games info is always gonna get out one way or another, but a big press conference was only once a year and there's nothing that gets the hype going like it. Sad, sad.
 
You seem to be really confused about just how important E3 conferences are in general.

Outside of message boards (where news of a Nintendo Direct would spread any way) it really isn't that big of a deal.

No, i don´t think so. The e3 gets coverage not only in the video game but also mainstream media and is widely known among gamers. The NDs are basically are nintendo fans only event.
 
I won't watch it. I watched every Nintendo E3 press. Its about the event, experience. Like when people watch world cup in soccer even if they don't care about the soccer for most of the year(s), that makes it special. Personally I don't care about Nintendo, so I won't watch their direct crap.

So why have you been watching it in the past? Because it's live/audience? Not for the games or hardware?

These just really seem like incredibly asinine reasons to not watch what will probably amount to essentially the same thing minus canned applause.
 
But how many views do Nintendo directs get? The live streams I've watched have maybe a few thousand viewing - I guess YouTube and other channels like eshop adds a lot more.

But abandoning a big press event seems odd to me. They need to communicate more and show us more, yet they are planning closed events focusing on US releases?

They communicate and show us more than any other company. Near montly Nintendo Directs are unprecedented in the industry and they always come with announcements. They've stated there will be one then too

No, i don´t think so. The e3 gets coverage not only in the video game but also mainstream media and is widely known among gamers. The NDs are basically are nintendo fans only event.

Do note that they have said they will have events for the press there
 
But how many views do Nintendo directs get? The live streams I've watched have maybe a few thousand viewing - I guess YouTube and other channels like eshop adds a lot more.

But abandoning a big press event seems odd to me. They need to communicate more and show us more, yet they are planning closed events focusing on US releases?

The BIG Nintendo Direct a while ago only had 200k views on youtube.
 
so it seems to me that everyone is saying, "have a big conference or don't show up at all"

but i have to ask, what's the difference between a big conference and 3 separate events specifically targeted at 3 different audiences, meaning 1. for gamers 2. for investors/etc 3. press/journalists at the same convention center as everything else or even at an event beforehand?
 
But how many views do Nintendo directs get? The live streams I've watched have maybe a few thousand viewing - I guess YouTube and other channels like eshop adds a lot more.

But abandoning a big press event seems odd to me. They need to communicate more and show us more, yet they are planning closed events focusing on US releases?
There is a difference between a normal Direct and an E3 Direct.
 
So instead of boring sales speeches, we'll actually get Nintendo strictly
focusing on game announcements and reveals along with a chance to play
many of them for the first time? Sounds great!
 
I see no problem with this in theory, but it will all depend on the execution. If the Nintendo directs prove to be exciting, show surprises and prove a better way to focus on games it will end up being a brilliant move. If on top of that we get any type of demos from upcoming games e3 builds, I will be extatic. I will miss those reactions though. ...
 
Not enough games? Have you seen their lineup? Without the Wii U announcements they're making then (yes, they still are), they have a lineup that big already

what i only can see is the "3ds" lineup. there is no real WiiU lineup.
For the WiiU we only "knew" there are doing something, but i think they aren't ready with many games to show. Sure, we will see Mario Kart and something like Mario 3D. But that's all. I don't think, they will show a Zelda. (maybe a "there's something more...")
And they cannot show Pikmin AGAIN. There's still Wind Waker, but please: We know how the game plays/know the story. It's just a revamp. Everything else i think, is not ready. They are just slow.
 
What experience are people actually getting from these conferences? There boring as fuck. You have some developer come out who isn't good at a public speaking introduce his game and give commentary on it while another developer stands off to the side and plays the game while it's shown on a really big screen. My favorite part is when they show a split screen of the gameplay and a closeup of the guy pressing buttons. It's almost as if I can imagine myself playing the game! This happens how-many-ever times to games I have varying levels of enthusiasm for, with a sizzle reel here and a sizzle reel there. The worst thing I could ever imagine happening is getting rid of all the boring and awkward filler. That's the exciting part!
 
Im actually glad, I loved the conferences myself but EVERYONE (and I mean everyone) just complained about them saying they were disappointing. Why waste money when even hardcore gamers will never be satisfied.
 
But how many views do Nintendo directs get? The live streams I've watched have maybe a few thousand viewing - I guess YouTube and other channels like eshop adds a lot more.

But abandoning a big press event seems odd to me. They need to communicate more and show us more, yet they are planning closed events focusing on US releases?

On this roundtable they just revealed that the have been between 500k and 600k vews in the Nintendo e shop alone of the latest direct.
 
It's because they know they'll get blown away this year by MS and Sony. They've basically given up.
 
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