-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Nintendo ditches main E3 conference, still there with games, press events, N-Direct
- Thread starter Hobby
- Start date
Do you think that, considerint the speech translated in the OP, we will miss Nintendo Direct (for Wii U specifically) also in MAY?
Are they really trying to kill the console? Because if even May will see no Direct, considering how third party support is weak (no wiiu versions for a lot of games, and few wiiu details for the games that are hitting the system), we would have 4 months of absolute SILENCE even from Nintendo (after the January Direct), and almost 6 months of no new releases (for the West, with just Game&Wario for Japan) from first/second party team (if Pikmin in July/August as it is, with no sudden release for W101 or Fit U)
Are they really trying to kill the console? Because if even May will see no Direct, considering how third party support is weak (no wiiu versions for a lot of games, and few wiiu details for the games that are hitting the system), we would have 4 months of absolute SILENCE even from Nintendo (after the January Direct), and almost 6 months of no new releases (for the West, with just Game&Wario for Japan) from first/second party team (if Pikmin in July/August as it is, with no sudden release for W101 or Fit U)
StreetsAhead
Member
There's always Xbox Online announcement week. They've been talking about announcing things prior to E3 itself.
We just learned about Pikmin 3's release date & new Pikmin, New Super Luigi, and the VC in the last Direct.
Ignoring Sing Party in Europe and Lego in the US. Still a poor effort, but nevertheless.
New Super Luigi DLC is slated for June in Japan and 'Summer' in the US.
If we go through June and there's nothing revealed for the Wii U, then yes they're trying to kill it. May? God no. We know they're going to be blowing their Wii U load in June with E3, it's ridiculous to think they'll show it beforehand in May and that they're killing the console if they don't
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Well Iwata is heavly invested in some sort of games blitz for Wii U so Im not surprised. They are banking on that instead of telling us now and we get the game in 5 months..
StoppedInTracks
Member
No Madden, no E3.
Nintendo better man up and do something :/
Nintendo better man up and do something :/
But if they are somehow "ditching" the E3, and pushing Directs as new media for communication, wouldn't be crucial to push out info on the "normal" March Direct and, having lost that, exploit May?
I mean: they are decreasing E3 importance and increasing "other way of direct communicate to consumer houses directly (I think NDirects, right?), so why skip the March Wii U Direct and not announce a May Direct?
Plus: are we sure that they really have so much contents to be "blown out" in June? Considering their declared issues in terms of HD development, the lack of third party support even worst than on the GC (Look at EA) and so on, do you think that they'll be able to "heal" the scar traced on Wii U perception with 4-6 months of absolute silence on the console, just with a Direct around the E3?
I think that they are not only having problems in the developing, but also (especially) in the communication. I think that a steady flow of updates (with monthly Directs as they were before the "infamous March shame" plus constant weekly release of screenshots and videos of the announced games) would be way better than a unique "huge" and over-hyped "E3 conf-a-like"...
I mean: they are decreasing E3 importance and increasing "other way of direct communicate to consumer houses directly (I think NDirects, right?), so why skip the March Wii U Direct and not announce a May Direct?
Plus: are we sure that they really have so much contents to be "blown out" in June? Considering their declared issues in terms of HD development, the lack of third party support even worst than on the GC (Look at EA) and so on, do you think that they'll be able to "heal" the scar traced on Wii U perception with 4-6 months of absolute silence on the console, just with a Direct around the E3?
I think that they are not only having problems in the developing, but also (especially) in the communication. I think that a steady flow of updates (with monthly Directs as they were before the "infamous March shame" plus constant weekly release of screenshots and videos of the announced games) would be way better than a unique "huge" and over-hyped "E3 conf-a-like"...
Ninendo ARE at E3. They're just not doing a big conference. They're doing smaller one for the press there about US marketing, and they're doing Directs for the people elsewhere. All games will be playable there as well.
They haven't ditched E3
Just to clarify: I know, and I'm not even against this approach. Having press conferences, Directs for "forums" and showfloor for the visitors to play the games could be even better than a big over-hyped conference where they try to hit too many and different targets of audience (failing)
I'm just saying that I think that they should exploit the Directs better, alongside a better spread of screens and videos of the announced projects, because if they concentrate "ALL" at a E3-Direct, they are destined to disappoint and fail.
Don't worry, they're going third party any second now. Any second.
StreetsAhead
Member
They're not ditching E3. They'll be there in the same capacity as every other year. The pre-E3 conference, an un-official part of E3, is being skipped in favor of direct communication with 3 key groups (Retailers, Consumers, and the Media).
What exactly is a regular March Direct? Regular implies something done...regularly, but Nintendo Directs have existed only in two Marchs.
Nintendo Directs are just one example they list of "direct" ways they could convey software information to consumers at home, who couldn't attned E3 anyway.
They will have a plethora of first party content to discuss (they have ~25 games and apps announced across both their systems), and probably a reasonable amount of 3rd party stuff too. Whether or not Batman Origins, a new Scribblenauts/Sonic (rumored), Lego Marvel, Disney Infinity, and all the Ubisoft games appeal is a different matter. They will probably not be able to 'heal' perception of the console with one E3/Nintendo Direct E3 Presentation, but being successful could begin the process.
A 60 to 90 minute long conference with the first footage of 3D Mario, Mario Kart 8, Smash 4, Retro's game, X, SMT X FE, Wii Fit, Wii Party, Pikmin 3, Mario Party 3DS, the first in-game footage of WWHD and possibly Bayonetta 2, TW101, Yarn Yoshi, (possibly) information on Pokemon, LttP2, Yoshi's Island 3DS and whatever other surprises they can muster coupled with the release of video, images, and so on would, in my opinion, be more effective than spreading it out. Whether they do that is up in the air, but they could.
Dave Meltzer
Banned
Always-honest
Banned
They ARE at E3........................................................................
perfectchaos007
Member
To be fair, that was going to happen anyway this year, but now even more so.
Regular following the previous pattern of Directs. We all were expecting a March Direct after the january one for the Wii U, with focus on third parties or updates on the announced and expected titles.
The fact that they did just 3DS directs after the January one is clearly due to their struggles in the development, with all the delays. But I still think that avoiding silence and secrecy, giving out info, dates, screens and videos would have been better.
Now we are approaching the E3 period: we will not have the big conf, but directs. I think that doing so (concentrate all the info into a unique event, and not even a "big" event) after 6 months of silence and no releases will seriously hurt them, unless they have someting really HUGE (in terms of surprise, commercial importance, forum-buzz relevance) to show us, because Nintendo fans, Wii U owners and "possible Wii U owners" are REALLY hungry for news, games and updates. They are expecting a shitload of news after all this silence, and I'm not sure that, having limited weapons as they have (considering the lack of third parties) rising the hype bar is not the right strategy.
StreetsAhead
Member
Last year is not a 'pattern' and we've seen them use Directs very differently this year (more for announcing software).
We may have been, but we were wrong. It does not mean anything other than titles got delayed so they had less to talk about.
This is, ostensibly, the reason they are doing it in a different format. To cut the 'fluff' that media/retailers require when talking with gamers. Maybe they will have a surprise or two to share. Those groups you mentioned are likely invested enough in the console or the idea of maybe buying one, that they will still watch the conference regardless of whether it takes the form of a 'Nintendo Direct' or not.
There are still about 12 games & projects* Nintendo itself has for Wii U to be released following E3. There will be a shit ton of news to share just on those, ignoring 3rd parties. Ubisoft and Warner, and maybe Activision, are still supporting them, and Capcom has told us that there will be more so, while there may not be any huge exclusives (but nowadays, which platform does?), it's not as though they have no 3rd party support to talk about.
*These are (for those not paying attention):
- Mario Kart 8
- Mario 3D
- Pikmin 3 (July JP)
- TW101 (Summer)
- Bayonetta 2
- X by Monolith
- New Super Luigi (DLC, June JP)
- Wii Party U (Summer)
- Wii Fit U (Summer)
- Smash 4
- LoZ: Wind Waker HD (Fall)
- Yarn Yoshi
- Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
- Pokemon Rumble U (not announced for the West yet, but could be)
That was going to happen anyway. We know a lot of what they will show and it's just the next iteration of their franchises. Even if they show Retro's game I will be surprised if it's big news capable of coverage domination over the beasts that are coming.
Nintendo are not a company to have moneyhatted something big, especially when they need to be profitable this year and they really don't have competitive hardware.
Basically I think putting their info out ahead of E3 will give them a bit of attention for a while until they are essentially silenced for a couple of weeks.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Like you I want the same thing, honestly I think Nintendo should lve been having directs and updated information in Wii U games yet to be released all the way until E3 to keep the hype up. All this quiteness sucked. But for Nintendo they just want to do so when they could do it consistently. Releasing games and such montb after month after july will bring forth many directs those months. The way directs are now I doubt they just release a game with no direct detailing it but really I think these E3 directs will be doing this.
Actually, Nintendo had a chance to steal their thunder by showing an incredible exclusive Holiday line-up for a console you can buy right now, rather than two expensive machines with likely mediocre launch line-ups in comparison. A bit like Microsoft did with the 360 vs PS3 at E3 2006. Bit mistake not taking that opportunity IMO, they need to get investor confidence back too and E3 was the big platform for them to do it.
Exactly. My guess is that what they have to show just isn't enough to actually steal any thunder.
blitzwolf215
Member
They can still show off an incredible holiday launch line-up for the Wii U in the E3 Nintendo Direct. It's not like it being a Direct instead of a press conference means there are no game announcements. The past few directs have actually had some pretty awesome announcements that most would assume they would save for E3.
perfectchaos007
Member
Many people, including myself, also believe that may be the case. I hope I'm wrong because if Nintendo truly doesn't have enough AAA titles in the pipeline to make an impression, then the system would essentially be a lame duck.
StreetsAhead
Member
Microsoft must feel the same way, announcing the Xbox at a separate event so close to E3.
Even their AAA titles are going to pale in comparison to whatever the other two are showing. Unless there's a dramatic shift in art style, we pretty much know what Mario, etc. look like. The jump to HD isn't going to benefit Nintendo's franchises as much as it does more realistic, grounded games.
Don't know, I still think that:
Not having a March Direct for the Wii U was a big mistake.
Not having a May Direct for the Wii U would be a mistake.
Concentrating all the aformentioned info on a unique E3-Direct would be a huge mistake.
That list would be ok if they would have been able to spread info on those games through the semester, keeping crucial updates and few surprises for the E3 period. They'll not be able to counterpair the depression due to this silence with that list at all.
StreetsAhead
Member
We may have to agree to disagree, but maintaining interest over these months with few releases wouldn't have been easy even trickling out more information on these games than they already did. Certainly not more than saving everything for E3 to make everything seem better overall when it's concentrated together. I'm not saying E3 is going to fix all their problems, but I'm less certain that your scenario would have been any more effective.
I think that has to be the case. If not then I think a lot of people that are giving Nintendo the benefit of the doubt and still feel strongly about them are going to lose it at worse or start to become very concerned at best. It sucks that so many have so much riding on what Retro is working on but Nintendo themselves caused that situation.
Hopefully they announce the date and time really soon, they got to make sure people know about this.
Edit: Agree with Father_Brain, I think this is thread worthy.
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
It's (almost) happening gif.
Father_Brain
Banned
Disagree; I think it's threadworthy.
So, a mega-Nintendo Direct prior to E3. Not too far off from what I expected, though I thought they might split it into two.
I expect this'll be sometime the week before the show, but I suppose it could be earlier or even later (the Saturday or Sunday prior).
Vampirolol
Member
Mr.Squirrel
Tom
I get hyped for ND's all the time. Mostly I'm disappointed, but that's just like every E3 conference.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
It needs its own thread of course
I was sarcastic
But the link is dead now. So I guess they weren't suppose to share this info just yet.
They might as well put it up and for Nintendo to announce the date and time, we've seen it already
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
I was sarcastic
But the link is dead now. So I guess they weren't suppose to share this info just yet.
I hope Trinen didn't leak it...
Skiesofwonder
Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
It seems really odd to me that Iwata will not be present for this E3 conference/Nintendo Direct or at E3 in general.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Did they remove the article? This is all I'm seeing.
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
Flawed English and all, nothing gets me more pumped than Iwata showing big games.
yeah, it got taken down for whatever reason. the information quoted by the op of the news was all that was in it though.