Play Nintendo - Announcing Nintendo @ E3 2014

[JezMM]

I still don't really get the difference between announcing something in a conference or not.

 

"Did you hear, the Wii U is having a proper overhaul/re-launch, they announced it in this online video."  "Oh cool."

 

"Did you hear, the Wii U is having a proper overhaul/re-launch, they announced it with a person on a stage with big TV screens".  "GRAB MY WALLET."

 

 

I don't see that happening as it's a North American thing, but even at Gamescom I don't see them doing it, sadly. I think it's a bit complicated, since we don't have one retailer across all regions, besides maybe Game Stop, but they usually have small stores). At least I've never seen Best Buy over here. We have Saturn, Media Markt and MediMax and I'm sure you in England have other things.

 

If I'm wrong about anything, gladly correct me, though.

 

Yeah, I appreciate the probable complexities behind it.  Here in the UK pretty much every Nintendo event with playable demos is in a GAME in London and London only.

[Willsy]

When they said 'treehouse', this came to mind;

I'm hoping that they announce some more Wii U titles for this year. There doesn't seem to be much due out at the moment.

[Sami]

Demos are unstable and often compiled days before release. Many of them can only run on devkits and run a risk of bricking consoles.It's not as clean cut as it sounds. If a demo breaks at a demo station, a representative will be there to sort out the issues. If you get an unstable demo at home that breaks your console, the only one who gets anything out of it is Nintendo, and that's a fast track towards a lawsuit. Hardly an appealing compromise. Kinect has sold 24 million units. What about it, in terms of financial success, is a backfire?

Ah, I had thought of releasing a relatively unstable demo with a disclaimer, but hadn't considered the possibility of bricking hardware. Fair point.

[Carbo]

Give me 500 million to market something I suspect I'll be able to flog it.

 

Also how is this the same thing? Kinect looked pretty good when it was originally announced, in fact the topic about it should still be on here and people were going on about how it looked really good. It was only the following E3 that the presentation looked naff, but people still had those memories of when they showed it and it looked really good along with the belief it was this amazing thing.

 

Nintendo doesn't have that at all, Brand confusion, belief of a lack of games and support, belief of a poor online network. It's crying out for a re-launch and E3 would have been a key place to do it,

 

Nintendo is in crisis right now with their console, a big conference/re-launch would have helped turn this around. This kind of setup isn't going to do that, they needed a huge stage show to do this which would have gotten news to both the gaming and non gaming media.

 

This setup just isn't going to appeal to people who are already invested or those who are heavily invested in gaming news.

It's been crying out for "re-launches" since it's initial reveal, each one of them being a standard press conference. None of them did anything to improve Wii U's word of mouth and it is hardly bound to change anytime soon. Even then, a change of viewing platform doesn't necessitate that when the only real loss it perpetuates is the lack of any exclusive media coverage. Things like GameTrailers exclusively revealing The Wonderful 101 is a thing of the past in this scenario (incidentally, something which ended up harming that game's visibility). Nintendo are still reliant on media though, and this has never changed - press releases, press packages, interviews and so forth are still conducted through mutual courtesy and goodwill, and regular outlets still report on the ongoings. It shouldn't have to be an issue. The only reason you didn't hear that last year was because there were overwhelmingly bigger fish to fry as Microsoft and Sony had new consoles on speed dial, and even then Nintendo managed to maintain the biggest booth of the show, with Smash Bros being the highest rated game according to the GameTrailers live surveying during their coverage. Now with a tournament of the most hyped game from Nintendo this year being hosted in a 7000 capacity auditorium to support the community and forward visibility through word of mouth, that's some incredible progress.

Most of the problems that were facilitated by the Direct were down to unreliable viewing options back when Nintendo were still relying on UStream, which had exceeded 1.5 million viewers and ended up vindicating many of the detractors. Lately they've opened up more options, and with six weeks of buildup of an event that is marketed in a more general sense than "Direct", with a digestible marketing approach seems to be an exact tailoring towards press perceptions while still supporting the idea that gamers are on the forefront this time around.

Or to put it in other terms;

 

You really should listen to me a bit more on this.

I mean, granted, it's just my opinion... but of course gaming press is going to be negative about it, because they are being cut out of the conversation. When you start promoting and talking through 'owned channels,' then you get the traffic. You're basically taking traffic away from press outlets, and letting consumers participate without their lens.

The press hasn't been kind to them for awhile, so this let's the main messaging get out to potential purchases through Nintendo's rose-tinted view. The sad part is, it works, but it mostly has to happen because of the vitriol the media is giving them in the first place. It's a cycle, just look at all the negativity today in what should be a big win for 'core fans,' since they are actively being called to take part in experiencing something that was typically reserved for elite access press.

I may be wrong about this but compared to last year I don't think this spells out the be-all end-all worst case scenario.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

WOAH, now THAT was ninties style advertising! Cant wait, and chances of me catching the demo are good, I am in the third largest city in Arizona, or an hour and an half from pheonix is a good chance I can actualy catch it

 

And what did I say about them amping up the advertising! Also Mecha-Reggie rocks

[VO.SUPER]

I don't think coverage and word of mouth is going to be damaged by this being a digital only direct, especially with the way Nintendo handled the recent Smash Direct. I didn't hear even one story about that Direct crashing on people and look at the response it garnered. I think that Nintendo is more prepared for the traffic this year.

[goku262002]

I still don't really get the difference between announcing something in a conference or not.

 

"Did you hear, the Wii U is having a proper overhaul/re-launch, they announced it in this online video."  "Oh cool."

 

"Did you hear, the Wii U is having a proper overhaul/re-launch, they announced it with a person on a stage with big TV screens".  "GRAB MY WALLET."

Its more of a sense of disconnect really, more like your watching a fancy youtube video then an actual live show it doesn't give you the. same thrill. at the end of the day all this is going to be is just a more expanded but still pre-recorded direct.

If you never liked E3 then this is fine for you, but I happen to like the excitement of live shows and the whole murmurs of what E3 brings and it kind of bums me out that Nintendo has chosen to bow out of E3 again for these "live" streams.

[JezMM]

I was talking purely in regards to the concept that a press conference is somehow necessary to shift Wii U consoles.

[Nintendoga]

I just hope the direct this year isn't complete ass to watch. Took me around 10-15 minutes just to find a good stream of the damn thing that was actually working. Missed out on Mario 3D World and Pokemon reveals. If Smash was shown at the beginning I would've been pissed.

I'm a bit more surprised they didn't try to make a deal with some major game stores in the UK to put Smash Bros and their other game demos at. Considering E3 is just as big there as it is here [citation needed]

[Autosaver]

I'm honestly interested in the new platform that's going to be announced at E3.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I'm honestly interested in the new platform that's going to be announced at E3.

Dude, look at the code, its metadata, it doesn MEAN anything, it also mentions the wii, does that mean we should be expecting them to bring back the wii?

[Detective Shadzter]

That video was awesome. Even my wife liked it

 

Sucks Nintendo's not doing a live stage press conference again. I love the buzz and excitement of the stage shows, so the fact they're doing a digital show again saddens me. Also, it looks I won't be able to watch it live with you guys, because it's on at 5pm on my wife's Birthday, so we'll be out celebrating. I hope they announce some big games. Star Fox, please. 

[Autosaver]

Apparently Serebii uncovered it and found out it was data that has been sitting there for years. Meh.

[VO.SUPER]

Ah, well that solves that mystery at least.

[JaidynReiman]

Apparently Serebii uncovered it and found out it was data that has been sitting there for years. Meh.

Doesn't surprise me, really. They probably just keep it there because they occasionally announce a new Nintendo system at E3. Heck, they may have put it up there before Wii U was announced and just left it.

[Sami]

I was talking purely in regards to the concept that a press conference is somehow necessary to shift Wii U consoles.

The system has sunk too far in its sales trajectory to ever have a chance of "turning around", in my opinion, but I don't think this current direction of alienating themselves from the press and the industry as a whole is good for the company at all. It will only continue to decrease their relevance in the industry.

I've just grown cynical and tired of Iwata's vision for "silly special snowflake" Nintendo. As long as they continue to operate under the mantra of "Nintendo will do whatever it does and will ignore the expectations and realities of the gaming industry forever"... I don't know. It had the potential to pay off well, as the Wii showed, but it's also an extremely risky game to play. I don't think word of mouth alone will be strong enough to forgo involvement with the press.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

On the Other hand Nintendo is trying to seriously up the hype for SSB4, AND trying to make it the ultimate home compeition version, I mean look at how valued, and wanted Melee after more than a decade, If they could get the same demand and want with the wii-u and the wii-u version they WOULD be able to turn things around a bit on the sheer demand alone

[VO.SUPER]

The system has sunk too far in its sales trajectory to ever have a chance of "turning around", in my opinion, but I don't think this current direction of alienating themselves from the press and the industry as a whole is good for the company at all. It will only continue to decrease their relevance in the industry.

I've just grown cynical and tired of Iwata's vision for "silly special snowflake" Nintendo. As long as they continue to operate under the mantra of "Nintendo will do whatever it does and will ignore the expectations and realities of the gaming industry forever"... I don't know. It had the potential to pay off well, as the Wii showed, but it's also an extremely risky game to play. I don't think word of mouth alone will be strong enough to forgo involvement with the press.

 

It handled pretty well when Smash Bros was trending for two days on multiple sites. And that was just one game.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Also which sounds better: A conference with a couple of reveals, but lots of boring polititcs, and very little upcoming hands on 

 

or A Video with tons of direct information on upcoming games, A Massive Nintendo hosted Super Smash Bros tournament on the Brand New in Development version in front of hundreds of people, AND an open booth where people can have question sections, and play the newest games, Not to mention playable demos of a game that isnt out for months at locations that are relatively excessible to gamers aroun the county

[Jolt_TH]

from what it sounds like, the auditorium that they are doing the Smash Tournament in, is that the same room as the live conferences for the other two possibly? if so that is a VEERRRRYYYY interesting choice, practically having their "stage show" being the smash tourney. I also want to know more about this treehouse thing, it says there will be footage from the booth...but wouldnt that be the actual nintendo E3 booth? rather than the development area?

[Jix Hedgehog]

Good stuff I work right next to a Best Buy so fingers crossed for a Smash Bros sneak peak

 

As for skipping E3 again, I'm fine with that.. on one hand it takes away from the charm E3 provides for several days but on the other I don't think it did them any harm when they didnt attend last year.. on top of that they're not only doing a Direct but are doing all those other things for fans this year I believe Nintendo will continue to host Directs long after E3 is dead and gone.

 

They'll probably with-hold any new console info because Smash Bros will sell a ton of Wii U's and hopefully they'll take advantage of it with more Wii U owners than ever before.

[Sami]

It handled pretty well when Smash Bros was trending for two days on multiple sites. And that was just one game.

 

The Smash Bros. Direct was delivered by that game's director, and delved into the inner mechanics of the game, as well as its features. I absolutely loved it and want them to continue doing these kinds of videos, but an E3 Direct is fundamentally different in its presentation - while Charizard and the new modes featured were great surprises for the audience (Smash fans who came in knowing exactly what they wanted to see) that got the game trending at a time when there was nothing else to compete with for audience attention, expectations will be vastly different at E3.

 

Nintendo can't dwell on the features of any particular game for an extended period of time during an E3 presentation because they have to focus on making headlines and appealing to as many people as possible. All attempts to give this kind of presentation via Direct in the past have been rather lackluster and unfortunately not drawn much attention, and as such I'm not sure it's a good medium for them to get a substantial amount of attention. 

 

It's easy to get a big game trending on a random week in April, but doing so during E3, alongside tons of other games from dozens of developers, is a completely different task. Furthermore, as much as people hate the "boring politics" of E3... it's a press show at heart, and always has been. E3 isn't PAX or Comic Con. It's not an open convention focused directly on us. It's a closed event for the press that allows these companies to deliver their vision product pitches to the world - very similar to the conventions Apple and Google do for their own products. Playing the game so differently is detrimental to Nintendo's image because it gives the impression that they don't care to compete. They're the odd one out, and as such, are easy to brush off and brand irrelevant. 

 

There's a time and place for everything, and while I think the Smash Direct was nothing short of brilliant (in fact I'd love for Sony and Microsoft to follow suit with their games), I don't believe E3 is the time for it. They need to be confident and take their competitors head on to really raise investor and consumer confidence in them as a company, but they see themselves as above that. Their loss if it doesn't pay off, but I guess we'll see how it works out soon.

 

Edit - If you want an example of what people want and expect from a great show - Nintendo E3 2010. 

[goku262002]

Also which sounds better: A conference with a couple of reveals, but lots of boring politics, and very little upcoming hands on 

 

or A Video with tons of direct information on upcoming games, A Massive Nintendo hosted Super Smash Bros tournament on the Brand New in Development version in front of hundreds of people, AND an open booth where people can have question sections, and play the newest games, Not to mention playable demos of a game that isnt out for months at locations that are relatively accessible to gamers around the county

Excuse me? since when does politics have to do with E3 and its stage presentations?

So a direct, an EVO tournament, a typical E3 show floor, and a demo your probably not even gonna get to try due to long lines is what your excited for?

[Salamander]

I'm enjoying Nintendo's recent willingness to let their marketing be absolutely crackers.  It worked with Tomodachi Life Direct, and it worked here.  Good on them.

 

As for E3, in all honesty, I don't think there's that big a difference between streaming a precorded promotional video, and streaming a live promotional video.  Either way, I'm not going to physically be there.  Also, if it's prerecorded I don't have to put up with any second-hand embarrassment from gaffes or jokes that fall flat.  A digital-only conference might have some drawbacks, but on balance I think I'll slightly prefer it.

 

They're really putting all their chips on Smash Bros., huh.  I wonder just how much else they have to announce?

[Conando]

Honestly I can't be bothered about now Conference, I've taken a liking to the Directs. Now what I really like is that they're continuing the act of letting people who don't get to go to E3 actually try their games, and this time it's Smash. What's not to like about that?