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How is Nintendo hurt by not doing an E3 press conference?

E3 is absolutely not the most important source of gaming marketing, it's actually a very enthusiast-ish thing compared to actual mass marketing like commercials and product placement. Also, the audience will still get a Nintendo presentation, just not a conference.

Do you really think that the success or failure of E3 marketing has nothing to do with the media and ad deals that the console makers get later?
 
Conferences are PART of Marketing and PR
I know. If you took what Nintendo had in their Direct last year and put it in a stage do you really think Nintendo would be turned around right now? It didn't matter that it wasn't on a stage, what mattered is they've been burying a hole with the system for years, with branding confusion amongst many other marketing blunders. It was never in a good position and a lack of support has been slowly killing it. Putting themselves on a stage last year and trotting out what they had wouldn't have changed any of that. It won't change it this year, because Nintendo hasn't done much to help themselves improve since last E3.
 

Nickle

Cool Facts: Game of War has been a hit since July 2013
Image and Perception is a large part of Marketing. First Impressions do count (the reveal trailer is the most important commercial for the game).

I doesn't matter if you think that the press should cover the Nintendo Direct just like they would a regular press conference, and it doesn't matter if you think that regular people should pay as much attention to the Direct as a press conference. The reality is that Nintendo Direct's get less attention, and a lack of attention is why the Wii U is doing so poorly.
 

schaft0620

Member
They show off Smash Bros, 3D World, Mario Kart, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and DK Tropical Freeze at an E3 Direct, but Console Zelda, the lesser-selling of Nintendo's major franchises is too good for an E3 Direct?

I don't know...

They are absolutely going to show HW Zelda game and fuck that
 

?oe?oe

Member
All I remember from E3 last year were Villager and Wii Fit Trainer memes. Last year's E3 wasn't memorable at all. I don't even remember what happened in Sony and Microsoft's conferences haha.
 
But can you prove that it was because they didn't hold a conference at E3? That's all I'm asking. If you're saying there's a connection, prove it. Otherwise you're just pulling crap out of thin air.

Sure, it's hard to prove any correlation. But look at it this way: having a conference can't hurt, but skipping it might. In the biggest media spotlight the industry has, Nintendo chooses to reinforce the perception that they're an afterthought.

"Sony and Microsoft are blah blah blah...oh yeah, and Nintendo is over there."
 

Riki

Member
Sure, it's hard to prove any correlation. But look at it this way: having a conference can't hurt, but skipping it might. In the biggest media spotlight the industry has, Nintendo chooses to reinforce the perception that they're an afterthought.

"Sony and Microsoft are blah blah blah...oh yeah, and Nintendo is over there."

Which says a lot about gaming journalists and less about Nintendo.
Nintendo is still delivering the same news to the same people. Just in a different way.
Last year, besides the E3 Direct, they also took an hour before the floor opened to announce all the games and show off everything for every Journalist that would otherwise be at the conference. They even showed off a new Smash Bros character exclusively to them.
They also held a conference just for retailers.

But did the journalists that were at the press conference say that Nintendo was at E3? Nope. Because they didn't have their Direct on a stage. Oh no. The horror.
 
Where did you get that from what he/she posted?

By saying "E3 is not important, but those mass media spots are," that seems to imply that media outlets don't care about the pre-existing popularity of the products that they give favorable ad spots. (And how, pray tell, would you measure that with upcoming video games?)

It's the opposite. Media outlets don't want to show ads for/waste air time on products no one cares about. So the early buzz generated by those products is actually the most important thing, as it plays a big role in the access those products get to more buzz later on.
 
I think one problem here is people are lumping the "average console gamer" into a single thing when there are actually more than one group. And out of that, Nintendo's main target isn't the dudebro Call of Duty fan, it's young kids. The dudebro might be aware of e3 and think about it even though they don't follow it closely. The young kid is unlikely to even know e3 is a thing yet (Unless they're the gaming enthusiast type of young kid, but that goes outside the realm of average gamer). Marketing isn't just about how much you spend, it's about where you spend it. A marketing campaign that appeals to a group who is fundamentally outside of your target demographic is a waste of time no matter how much money you throw into it. And Nintendo's core franchises have two main targets: Gaming enthusiasts (who will follow closely enough to know about this stuff regardless) and kids. Microsoft and Sony have a much bigger stake in the type of gamer's that follow E3 than Nintendo does. So yeah, it might mean something to one group of "average gamers", but you have to consider if that group was ever going to care about what Nintendo was bringing anyways
 
I think Nintendo realised some time ago that they don't have a chance to become successful again in the home console market.
They won't make a comeback.

I don't think the WiiU is a priority for them anymore.
I could very well imagine that we won't see a new Zelda, at least not one in the style of that tech-demo, maybe something much smaller in scale, maybe nothing at all.
I don't think Nintendo has big plans for WiiUs future. They're lucky when they reach 15 mil units over all. I don't think Nintendo started any new big projects for WiiU in the recent months or has the plans to do so in the future.
 

Bgamer90

Banned
No Nintendo E3 conference does nothing to help the Wii U's further irrelevancy.

The Nintendo Directs are really nothing more than "preaching to the choir".
 

one_kill

Member
Sure, it's hard to prove any correlation. But look at it this way: having a conference can't hurt, but skipping it might. In the biggest media spotlight the industry has, Nintendo chooses to reinforce the perception that they're an afterthought.

"Sony and Microsoft are blah blah blah...oh yeah, and Nintendo is over there."
Having a conference costs money

It can also show some embarassing moments that stick around for a while
 

RM8

Member
Do you really think that the success or failure of E3 marketing has nothing to do with the media and ad deals that the console makers get later?
Nintendo could have a good E3 without a conference, or a bad E3 with a conference (like when WiiU was revealed). The audience thinks a Direct is bad and a conference is good, how?

Attach rate is insane and indies seem to consider worth while to do ports to the system. This goes in line with the great focus in indies games in the past conference.
I think Vita (and WiiU) are relying on indies out of necessity, this is not a desired scenario for Sony. I'm pretty sure they would choose to have another PSP on their hands instead of what Vita is doing with the really low hardware numbers.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Wait.........Nintendo isn't having a presser this year?
 

Riki

Member
I think Nintendo realised some time ago that they don't have a chance to become successful again in the home console market.
They won't make a comeback.

I don't think the WiiU is a priority for them anymore.
I could very well imagine that we won't see a new Zelda, at least not one in the style of that tech-demo, maybe something much smaller in scale, maybe nothing at all.
I don't think Nintendo has big plans for WiiUs future. They're lucky when they reach 15 mil units over all. I don't think Nintendo started any new big projects for WiiU in the recent months or has the plans to do so in the future.

Nintendo just announced a new Fatal Frame and you can bet Zelda will be at E3 considering they've said so multiple times.
Where do people even get this crap...
 
I just find it laughable people think they'll be hurt by not doing a press conference. 95% of us stream E3 content anyway so this is no different. Game sites will still cover all the stuff they reveal too, and casual fans of video games will see no difference. All that's happening is we're being spared of awkward presentations and crowd reactions from people who will cheer at anything.
 

213372bu

Banned
Second, most of your claims are not factual information. Game and Wario was released previous to NIntendo not having a press conference in 2013.
... and? Sony and Microsoft advertise recently released products in events to help boost their sales. Why can't Nintendo?


Leaving the launch window sales of november and december 2012 because it was the launch of the new console, the period between february and september, the device was selling between 30k to 50k units, iirc. This period has more months previous to E3 than post E3. Sales started going up with the release of key games like Zelda, Sonic and Mario, as it should.
Of course with big games comes a boost in sales, that is an obvious give-me. But why isn't it that this is being marketed out to a wider audience of people.

So no, there are no correlation between what type of press conference NIntendo had and their sales performance. At least not with the proof you are sharing here.

"Bold text means I'm right." Obviously conferences are the only issue that Nintendo is facing, so sales are going down. But conferences could help, it takes a quick look at business in general, (automotive,mobile,CES,etc.) to know conferences are good for impressions, and impressions lead to sales.

And that's withouth pointing out that your claims leave out the hole 3DS situation XD
Obviously I left out the 3DS. The 3DS saw much marketing, through TV/magazine ads, word-of-mouth, and third and first-part support. Like *shock* Nintendo should be doing today with attempting to increase marketing as they did with the 3DS. Conferences are a part marketing.

Mario Kart comes before the E3 event.

DreamCast had the best E3 back in 99 and 2000
Nope.
because their amazing game catalogue, performance advantage over the period competition and the online prospect which wasnt available in any other platfrom.
Sure they were widely held in regard, and as a result had a huge surge of sales until the point where consumers turned to other consoles because of many other reasons.

Also in 2000 E3 Sony didn't even had many interesting games to show.
But Nintendo, who we are talking about did, and in turn had high sales. Also, the presentation of MGS 2 at the conference blew everybody and their mother's mind and actually pushed sales of ZoE.

Do some research here please.
 

RM8

Member
I just find it laughable people think they'll be hurt by not doing a press conference. 95% of us stream E3 content anyway so this is no different. Game sites will still cover all the stuff they reveal too, and casual fans of video games will see no difference. All that's happening is we're being spared of awkward presentations and crowd reactions from people who will cheer at anything.
This. Why on earth would the audience care? Nintendo -is- presenting stuff at E3. It's the media being bitter and angry about it, not the audience who doesn't get affected in any way. Gaming sites will still report about the Direct, so this is quite silly IMO.
 
But can you prove that it was because they didn't hold a conference at E3? That's all I'm asking. If you're saying there's a connection, prove it. Otherwise you're just pulling crap out of thin air.

I don't think anyone is trying to say the sole reason for their current situation is from not holding live E3 conferences. It's not. But I think it is reflective of the attitude that has put Nintendo in this position and their inability to correct it. Same old Nintendo isn't working anymore if the Wii U is anything to go by. The bubble they think they're living in isn't real.
 

RagnarokX

Member
No Nintendo E3 conference does nothing to help the Wii U's further irrelevancy.

The Nintendo Directs are really nothing more than "preaching to the choir".

How is a prerecorded conference any more "preaching to the choir" than live conferences? People watch them streamed online. Those same people can watch any stream. If Nintendo had a live conference anyone that didn't want to watch it could not watch it just the same as if it were pre-recorded.
 

Riki

Member
I don't think anyone is trying to say the sole reason for their current situation is from not holding live E3 conferences. It's not. But I think it is reflective of the attitude that has put Nintendo in this position and their inability to correct it. Same old Nintendo isn't working anymore if the Wii U is anything to go by.

But this isn't "same old Nintendo".
They're trying new things and even giving gamers more of what they want at E3.
 
I still don't get why everyone is ignoring demographics. The biggest demographics for stuff like Mario and Zelda probably don't even know what e3 is because they're kids. To top this off, the other people who'd matter when you're targeting kids are parents and they're also not watching e3. The majority of the e3 crowd is going to be teenagers through young adults, but the more casual console gamers in that age group aren't part of Nintendo's target demographics. Marketing is important, but you can't ignore who they're marketing too. Marketing through an e3 press conference won't help Nintendo anywhere near as much as marketing through advertisements and endorsements through kids TV stations even if you throw more money into the e3 thing because the demographic is wrong
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
What was Sony's Press Conference like last year?
What was Microsofts Press Conference like last year?

I bet you have a clear idea of what happened and what was shown at both in your head, even a year later.

What happened at the E3 Nintendo Direct? No one has any idea. It wasnt special.

That is the problem.

Off the top of my head I remember banana pondering iwata and by extension DKCTF and all the hate it got that it's Retro's next game, I think that was also the debut of Megaman and Animal Crossing guy in Smash.

Was there anything else at that conference worth remembering?
 
Public perception. People will think that Nintendo has given up on competing with Sony and Microsoft.

They're competing more efficiently by eliminating the chance of live on-stage problems like the Skyward demo and embarrassments like Ravi drums.

By controlling the space where they broadcast to the internet, they control the post-show, they give links to related videos, you see exactly what they want you to see. It's a better way to compete.
 
Public perception. People will think that Nintendo has given up on competing with Sony and Microsoft.

The public isn't one homogeneous group though. The people who gain negative perception due to this are by and large not people who are likely to care about Nintendo in the first place- they're not part of Nintendo's core demographic
 
I seem to remember a lot of game journalists just focusing on everything that was wrong with Nintendo's presentation than actually focusing on what they presented.

If I remember correctly some of the outlets completely dismissed X in favor of a narrative saying Nintendo showed nothing new and only Mario titles.

I don't really care what they do, I'm not honestly sure why anyone cares.

I wish they did an E3 show to be honest, but I also know all that information is accessible online. If there is something truly bonkers that makes people go crazy it will work its way around the internet.
 

213372bu

Banned
This is the most contrived bullshit, trying so hard to correlate conferences with sales.

Banjo-Tooie
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Paper Mario
Mario Tennis
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Silver
Resident Evil 0
and another tease of the GBA


Sony then out promoted the Dreamcast to the PS2 due to price and great tech, along with great games such as Tekken and MGS 2.
 
Banjo-Tooie
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Paper Mario
Mario Tennis
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Silver
Resident Evil 0
and another tease of the GBA


Sony then out promoted the Dreamcast to the PS2 due to price and great tech, along with great games such as Tekken and MGS 2.

But this is completely meaningless. You might as well talk about how that was also the year the Y2K bug turned out not to be a big deal and correlate a general sense of public relief with higher sales.
 
Isn't Nintendo doing the smash bros tournament in the same theater where they used to do their conference? And will this be live?
 
... and? Sony and Microsoft advertise recently released products in events to help boost their sales. Why can't Nintendo?



Of course with big games comes a boost in sales, that is an obvious give-me. But why isn't it that this is being marketed out to a wider audience of people.


"Bold text means I'm right." Obviously conferences are the only issue that Nintendo is facing, so sales are going down. But conferences could help, it takes a quick look at business in general, (automotive,mobile,CES,etc.) to know conferences are good for impressions, and impressions lead to sales.


Obviously I left out the 3DS. The 3DS saw much marketing, through TV/magazine ads, word-of-mouth, and third and first-part support. Like *shock* Nintendo should be doing today with attempting to increase marketing as they did with the 3DS. Conferences are a part marketing.

Mario Kart comes before the E3 event.


Nope.

Sure they were widely held in regard, and as a result had a huge surge of sales until the point where consumers turned to other consoles because of many other reasons.


But Nintendo, who we are talking about did, and in turn had high sales. Also, the presentation of MGS 2 at the conference blew everybody and their mother's mind and actually pushed sales of ZoE.
My sincere apologies for wasting your time.
 

Prine

Banned
I feel they're not even taken seriously as the other 2 anymore, seems like a general reluctance to stand anywhere near the two that a perception is forming of being "the other" company but not within the same league as Sony/MS. This is completely down to Iwata passive uncompetitive philosophy. He's awful.
 

Taker666

Member
How is a prerecorded conference any more "preaching to the choir" than live conferences? People watch them streamed online. Those same people can watch any stream. If Nintendo had a live conference anyone that didn't want to watch it could not watch it just the same as if it were pre-recorded.

A pre-recorded event is actually far more inclusive than a live conference...

..as a live conference can only be fully enjoyed and understood if you speak English..

...Nintendo's pre-recorded content is available at the same time worldwide in a multitude of languages..be it English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian..and a host of others.
 
Nintendo just announced a new Fatal Frame and you can bet Zelda will be at E3 considering they've said so multiple times.
Where do people even get this crap...

Not saying they won't annouce new stuff. I'm just saying the don't have big plans for the WiiUs future and I really can't imagine that they are investing big in new games for the system.
Their hardware is to weak, they don't have 3rd party support and their 1st party titles didn't set the world on fire.
They're lucky if they can sell 15 mil units to fans and I guess thats their goal right now, but I don't think they'll reach 15mil.
Nintendo doesn't need to appeal to the average gamer anymore, they lost on that front a long time ago. Nintendo fans are the only ones they can still possibly convince to buy a WiiU and these guys are watching their stuff anyways, so why wasting money on a conference to reach people who aren't interested in a console without 3rd party support anyways?
 

Riki

Member
Public Perception:
smash3dfh5.png
 

one_kill

Member
I feel they're not even taken seriously as the other 2 anymore, seems like a general reluctance to stand anywhere near the two that a perception is forming of being "the other" company but not within the same league as Sony/MS. This is completely down to Iwata passive uncompetitive philosophy. He's awful.
Damn you Iwata! Everything is your fault!
I blame you for everything!

Let's ignore all the other higher-ups because right now YOU ARE THE ONLY FACE I CAN BLAME!
 

213372bu

Banned
But this is completely meaningless. You might as well talk about how that was also the year the Y2K bug turned out not to be a big deal and correlate a general sense of public relief with higher sales.

So you're saying that the Dreamcast not only had the best conference and discounted the fact that others had much more/better to show, but insisted that the conference had little/nothing to do with sales and didn't actually boost hype for the console which led it to early high-sales.

Ok.

My sincere apologies for wasting your time.
Enough with the sarcasm.

I'm talking about videogames on a forum on the internet while talking about a company I'm passionate about. Arguing with someone on a forum is hardly wasting my time.

If you want to respond feel free to.
 
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