Nintendo not doing typical E3 conference this year

Looks like Nintendo will try out something new or they are just bailing out XD

Nintendo has several smaller scale events planned with the focus on titles for the NA market this E3. That is, instead of their one, large presentation they typically hold. Iwata will not appear at any of these events. Besides that, they're investigating a new means of transmitting this information directly to fans that can't attend the event.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/130425/04.html

They need to save their money to stop the bleeding from the disastrous WiiU. Soon they'll be burying the things in a pit next to E.T.

I'm actually liking the sound of this. The Nintendo Direct videos are basically miniature E3 presentations, and as bizarre as it might sound to have no E3 conference, it's only weird because everyone's gotten so used to the spectacle and one-upsmanship that generally happens there. Remember Cirque Du Soleil?

I'm looking forward to the possibility of a world where E3 is less about bullshit and more about games.

They did something like this last year with them splitting the WiiU and 3DS into their separate things. Interested to see where this goes.

Smaller conferences could mean a greater emphasis on games which is always a good thing to hear. The traditional E3 Conferrence was always more bombastic in its spectacle rather than the games, so I'm glad Nintendo is changing the formula up a bit.

With Sony and Microsoft sucking up all of the oxygen at E3, this lets Nintendo get their news out without being compared to the new systems. I think they want to do everything they can to not be compared - they'll inevitably be labeled the "loser" of E3.

Nintendo has loads of money in the bank from the Wii, and the 3DS is on track to sell better than the Nintendo DS, so I don't think they're exactly bleeding money.

Nintendo Directs have taken over what was the purpose of E3 press conferences. They have no need to put on a silly song and dance to tell us something that they can't put in an internet video at any other time of the year.

So really, let Microsoft and Sony have their slapfight.

I'm sure their investors love this idea.

They announced a crazy amount of stuff over the past couple nintendo directs. I can't imagine them having too too much left to show off at E3.

I'm a little sad to see it (since I enjoyed all the hooplah over E3), but with it being so easy to get all this information over the internet, E3 is quickly losing its purpose. Nintendo doesn't need E3 any more since they have their own thing going. Sony and Microsoft could easily do the same.

This is actually smart on Nintendo's end. Think about it. They can reduce costs by not having a giant press event (which they have to pay for in order to do), they can completely control their messaging in a way they might not have been able to before and they can directly target each mini-event to their intended audience. Nintendo is taking a page from Apple and doing things the way they want as opposed to the way that everyone wants.

I think at last count they have something like 10 - 15 billion dollars in cash. They could easily weather out sagging sales for many, many years.

E3 is a press event, not an investor gathering. Whether it's an E3 presentation or Nintendo Directs, both serve the same purpose, and both are just as accessible to shareholders.

Not with a bang, but with a whimper...

I think it's a smart move. They're going to be swallowed up by the hype around the PS4 and the next Xbox. Might as well take a knee on this one.

I wonder if this is better for them than having to do large stage presentations. Guess we'll have to find out.

Hmmmmmm...

Aww I always like to watch all the press conferences. But hopefully these smaller events will still lead to some interesting reveals.

Nintendo is still announcing games at E3. That's really all that matters, right? A fancy conference with Reggie acting like an ass and Miyamoto riding a go-kart throwing blue shells into the crowd isn't really necessary.

xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

And this is such a tragedy because their old press conferences were so memorable? I'm not sure what the big fuss is. It's seemed pointless for all three of the console manufacturers for years now.

Having people compare the WiiU to the new systems is definitely not in Nintendo's best interest, so keeping things low key this year is a good plan. Although the WiiU could use some hype after an absolute dearth of games at launch.

They ARE only a game company they control what they sell. The have a couple of billion in the bank so they are not really in trouble. Also 3rd party support is non existent.

I'd have no problem with Sony and Microsoft following this model. Since I can't go to E3, the press conferences were useless to me and seemed to only provide things for people to mock 90% of the time.

Suuure ... well maybe that way they'll talk about Wii U games right? like games for the Wii U.

The PlayStation Meeting earlier this year made me question the actual use of E3 in terms of big announcements. If companies want to hold their own individual events and announce their own things, they have more of the spotlight than the huge grouping of companies that is E3 and they have more freedom as a result.

I love E3 conferences for the reveals and the silliness, but if Sony and Microsoft were to take things into their own hands instead of waiting for E3 like Nintendo seems to be doing, I wouldn't mind.

New mario next year, new zelda two years from now. That's it. If LTTP2 can keep them afloat to the next mario game, then they might be around a little longer.

I'd be okay with a few smaller Nintendo press conferences plus a buttload of hilarious Nintendo Directs. Make it happen, Big N!

I assume that Ubisoft will still have their little sideshow, so there's pretty much all of your third party support on display. Release a Nintendo Direct and hold a few closed door meetings, and you've essentially achieved just as much as you would have with a big ridiculous stage show.

This also really helps Nintendo separate itself a bit from the inevitable Sony vs MS next-gen dogfight that is going to garner most of the attention. It's probably best to keep the Wii U from out of those next-gen discussions as much as possible.

If they manage to act out Super Smash onstage as part of the conference, I'm all for this.

The ESA, who runs E3, tried to tone down the show a few years back by heavily constricting who was invited. This lead to the show being split up all over LA with a ton of smaller conferences at hotels.

They opened it back up to what it was after a couple years of that. Television coverage became a bigger thing with G4 and Spike TV starting to show these press conferences live as they happened. This led to the conferences being a much more controlled event. The major announcements that got people excited seemed to have disappeared since these companies now had to stick to a 60-90 minute format to make the television stations happy.

G4 is now dead and that just leaves Spike. Nintendo most likely believes that they can send their message across better in a smaller setting. It we look at least year, the 3DS themed roundtable they held Tuesday night of E3 week had more bang and surprises than the huge press event.

I had some reservations about the future of E3 after last year, a sentiment that some of the long time gaming press seemed to echo. If one of the major console manufactures won't have a keynote, then that has to me a major sign of E3 becoming less of a major event.

Nintendo has done an amazing job at releasing information about their products through their Nintendo Directs. It is a model of information distribution that could thrive in this industry.

yeah, I don't see what they really gain by an awkward PR live stage show. I love the E3 spectacle but just as often as you get awesome moments you get super awkward, groan worthy awful moments.(ravi drums, batman arkham asylum armored, wonderbook, kinect disneyland, RIIIIDGE RACER, etc etc.)

Let them rehearse and record and edit it before presentation. Besides, the mainstream media will be focusing on PS4/xbox next stuff. Go direct to their fans with a more controlled message. I hope they focus on making more demos that are being shown on the show floor available via the eshop on WiiU and 3DS alongside the Direct style presentation.

Do we know if Microsoft is doing their presentation a day early like always or has that changed since Nintendo won't be having one?

It also gets a shit ton of coverage. How bad does it look that Nintendo just suddenly pulls out like a month out? The message I get from that is "we dun fucked". Investors can not possibly be pleased about a move like that. Shows no confidence.

This is just a confirmation that Nintendo realizes that the console market is a two horse race and that they need to carve out a successful niche to get through this generation without too much of a loss.

Fans of Nintendo should be happy. Desperate Nintendo isn't a financial success but it does bode well for first party quality output, like the N64 and GameCube era.

That's okay. I already know there's going to be another (insert any main line Nintendo IP). I'm in Nintendo.

This seems like it could get them no mainstream exposure. On the other hand, Nintendo's games are such a departure from the more typical shooters that take up most of the footage that E3 might not be such a great fit.

its actually pretty smart move for them, they would have gotten overshadowed to all hell by the other systems.

also slightly acknowledges them shifting their focus some more

They won't have much mainstream exposure because of this, but going against sony and msoft this year would have been a losing battle. So maybe this is for the best? It's nice to see that Nintendo is becoming self aware of their presence and limitations in the market, but at the same time its sad to see that Nintendo is officially becoming its own thing and not competing head on with PS and Xbox.

They're not pulling out. They're just not holding a press conference this year. Everything that they would have talked about at a press conference will be covered in other venues at and during E3. There is absolutely nothing necessary about holding a press conference, and it's not a sign of trouble that they chose to not hold one.

No idea what to make of this.

Perhaps it's a tacit acknowledgment that the shiny new boxes in the other conferences will steal most of the E3 buzz, regardless of what they do.

Weird feeling about this. On the other hand, feels like most of their Nintendo Directs have been better than the standard Nintendo E3 Press conference.

Is it really that much of an effort to just go the full length of it and just hold a proper press conference? Sure, it's not exactly necessary to do the traditional "hold our announcements until this day" thing, and the Nintendo Directs have been a great little way for coverage and buzz to be sprinkled throughout the year, but E3 coverage attracts millions of people all at one time, it makes no sense to be to just pull out of it almost entirely. It's totally something they can get away with, and Nintendo is doing fine overall, but I just don't see what they gain out of pulling a stunt like this.

1 down 2 to go, not long now.

"Look at all these things we don't have" is just not a good presentation.

Smart move by Nintendo. They know that whatever they show, they'll struggle to compete with both Microsoft and Sony showing off their new systems. Plus it seems their direct presentations seem to be doing okay for them press-wise.

But seriously, this is surely an indication that Nintendo aren't looking to reach out to the audience that aren't already Nintendo fans, surely?

i really don't understand this. How do they now not getting overshadowed? They hold 2 events or show separate trailers while the mainstream press is reporting all days long about the PS4 and nex Xbox. What mainstream press now will even care about what 'Nintendo will announce? It is not that core gamer will care about Nintendo games either.

They are definetely getting overshadowed, that's out of question. How iterative the games Sony and Microsoft are gonna be showing may be and how much we may complain (though I hope that's not the case of course) they are still for a new console generation. Nintentdo has their fans however and if they announce a new big title for the WiiU (just an example) it'll still get attention and buzz because there are still enough people that care and they don't need all the pomp of a big press conference for it. I'd agree that it's a pretty smart move on their end.

But not from the mainstream media (CNN, NBC, NEw York Tmes etc) They would not care about getting a new Zelda games announced or not. Gamers overall will get any kind of news but this is not Nintendo's audience anymore. They should try and get the Wii crowd or at at least whats left of it. Or did anyone of these even report once about a Nintendo Direct?

I think you're underestimating the name Nintendo a little bit. The mainstream media will focus on the new consoles but I still think something like a new Zelda would at least get mentioned. Besides, they already got the "Wii crowd". They are not going to convince them to buy the WiiU with anything because most of them already bought the Wii and probably enough games for it too. Nintendo won't be able to rely on those people any longer.