• 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 seemingly has no regular booth at GDC 2017

R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
floorplannorthhall_smotur5.png

GDC 2017 does not begin until February 27 next year, but the floor plans for the expo appear to have been made available as early as now. There are many small booths currently available, but most of the large exhibitors seem to be set with Sony and Oculus right at the entrance of South Hall, just for example.

Anyhow, last year I wrote a thread titled No booth for Nintendo at GDC 2016 - Relation to NX reveal?. There I brought up the subject of Nintendo not booking a regular booth at GDC 2016 and what it could mean for NX. Now we know from the Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2016, Apr. 28, 2016 that Nintendo "will take another opportunity prior to the release to discuss the features and price of the NX, as well as the software lineup for launch", so that thread is no longer relevant in that context. However, it points to Nintendo skipping a regular booth at GDC becoming a trend. This is what it looked like in the past:

Main booth(s) of Nintendo at GDC, 2010 - 2016

2010: 50x40 (1224 in South Hall)
2011: 50x40 (1012 in South Hall)
2012: 50x50 (802 in South Hall)
2013: 50x50 (802 in South Hall)
2014: 50x50 (612 in South Hall))
2015: 3 10x20 (BMR2742/BMR2738/BMR2732 in North Hall. Business Center)
2016: 3 10x20 (BMR2742/BMR2738/BMR2732 in North Hall, Business Center)

Next year Nintendo has:

3 10x20 (BS5225/BS5226/BS5230 in North Hall, Business Center)

North Hall at GDC 2017

I have marked Nintendo's booths with bob-ombs.


South Hall at GDC 2017


Source: http://fp37.a2zinc.net/Clients/fpUBM/gdc2017/Public/Eventmap.aspx?mapID=33&shmode=E

The floor plans are of course not complete, and things could change. But the only larger booths available in South Hall are 1238 (60x20) and 1902 (20x60). These seem too small for Nintendo.

North Hall has one large booth available, BS4734 (50x30). GDC Play is for emerging/indie developers, so that space is not for Nintendo. Still, North Hall/Business Center is not the main expo area and is intended more for business meetings, not for exhibiting new games or technologies.

I bring this up because GDC 2017 should happen well after the reveal of NX, and I assume Nintendo would want as much exposure as possible of this new machine, both to the public and to developers. Therefore I find it strange Nintendo seemingly has so little presence at this event. It is the premiere event for video game developers after all.

There is one small change in 2017 though. Nintendo is no longer in BMRs (Business Center Meeting Rooms) but in BSs (Business Center Suites). If this has any greater effect on Nintendo's presence at GDC I don't know.

There you have it.
 

LewieP

Member
Probably delayed until 2018.

Edit: More seriously, they could just be setting up lots of meetings outside of the actual conference, it's easy enough to do, and probably cheaper and more private. That's just speculation, mind.
 

rje

Member
I don't really remember nintendo ever having a huge floor presence at GDC? I'm sure they've had booths now and then but it's not like they need a big show floor booth to get devs on board. It's far more useful to do what they did during the Gamecube launch where they hold a series of open talks in a nearby location. Lets the devs hear about the hardware from the company and use it as a jumping off point to more discussions.
 

tebunker

Banned
Rösti;204437544 said:
I wrote what booth (with size) they had between 2010-2016 in the OP.
Yeah so it looks like in 2014 they realized a big booth wasnt worth the costs?

This is what I take from this stuff.

I think, we the fans, put too much stock in to these events.

Clearly Nintendo has been movin away from large prescences at these kind of events for a while. See E3 shifts over the years. They don't ultimately pay off considering the costs needed to do big shows.

We could theorize that since they are planning to launch the new platform in March of Next year there is no value to using marketing spend at GDC. At least no more benefit than can be gained by having several smaller meeting and business rooms.
 
Rösti;204437544 said:
I wrote what booth (with size) they had between 2010-2016 in the OP.

Oops, so you did... sorry :D

I guess Nintendo wants to keep silent on the NX until they get really close to launch. Maybe they don't want other companies to look at what they are doing so nobody will ape them on whatever new concepts are going to be present in the NX?
 

udivision

Member
I guess this isn't too big of a deal, but it'd nice to add something to the unequivocally positive thingsabout the NX list. Everything seems to be neutral or potentially negative.
 
Rösti;204437130 said:
I bring this up because GDC 2017 should happen well after the reveal of NX, and I assume Nintendo would want as much exposure as possible of this new machine, both to the public and to developers. Therefore I find it strange Nintendo seemingly has so little presence at this event. It is the premiere event for video game developers after all.

This is even more worrying then their barely non-existant showing at this year's E3, imho.
 

Asd202

Member
This is even more worrying then their barely non-existant showing at this year's E3, imho.

Heh would be funny if the March release month is just there because of the end of the fiscal year just to appease to investors while the real plan is to launch in the Holidays 2017. At this point nothing will surprise me.
 

Vena

Member
Heh would be funny if the March release month is just there because of the end of the fiscal year just to appease to investors while the real plan is to launch in the Holidays 2017.

It would be funny because they'd get sued for lying to their investors. You don't make up random ass dates that you do not intend to keep at all. If it doesn't make it it isn't because "lol we lied" but because something else delayed it.
 

Asd202

Member
It would be funny because they'd get sued for lying to their investors. You don't make up random ass dates that you do not intend to keep at all. If it doesn't make it it isn't because "lol we lied" but because something else delayed it.

LoL you're making it sound like they just can't say that games are not ready so they need to push the launch further.
 

Vena

Member
LoL you're making it sound like they just can't say that games are not ready so they need to push the launch further.

...they can't. Not to their investors, they would need a very real, very elaborated upon reason for why they failed to keep the date they had set and then face massive repercusions for failing to badly meet EoFY expectations based on promised products coming to market. The hell are you talking about?
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
...they can't. Not to their investors, they would need a very real, very elaborated upon reason for why they failed to keep the date they had set and then face massive repercusions for failing to badly meet EoFY expectations based on promised products coming to market. The hell are you talking about?

There is no NX impact estimated in the current FY forecasts. There is no promise actually made.
 

Vena

Member
There is no NX impact estimated in the current FY forecasts. There is no promise actually made.

They have a promised release before EoFY. They have given no projections on earnings, which I still find a bit weird given that they should have ballpark estimates on initial shipments/costs and such, but it most certainly is telling investors to expect a major up-tick before the end of the year from new products launching.

If they change the date, which they can, they will need a good reason and not "lol games weren't ready" or "lol we made up the date for march". That'd be some major incompetence given that the first delay is seemingly "lol games aren't ready".
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
They have a promised release before EoFY. They have given no projections on earnings but it most certainly is telling investors to expect a major up-tick before the end of the year from new products launching.

From NX or mobile.
 

Asd202

Member
They have a promised release before EoFY. They have given no projections on earnings, which I still find a bit weird given that they should have ballpark estimates on initial shipments/costs and such, but it most certainly is telling investors to expect a major up-tick before the end of the year from new products launching.

If they change the date, which they can, they will need a good reason and not "lol games weren't ready". That'd be some major incompetence given that the first delay is seemingly "lol games aren't ready".

Well that the reason they used now. Anyway it's just a hypothetical situation that would not surprise me I'm not saying it will happen. But for me targeting March for a console release is fishy and smells a lot of like trying to meet the end of the fiscal year at all cost while not being sure how will that pan out.
 

Vena

Member
From NX or mobile.

Ahh fair enough, perhaps they only want to give estimates on current products. In such a sense, then ya, NX would definitely not show on the FY. That said, as with the mobile promise (and the bad reaction after the announcement and delay of Miitomo), the investors are laying expectations based on the date provided. Moreover, a hardware launch is considerably more massive an event than a mobile game launching.

Well that the reason they used now.

They didn't have a date before setting the current one... This is the first time they actually set a date. Again, what are you even talking about?
 

udivision

Member
I think you can get away with missing launch Windows without being sued. This is the gaming industry... Even for hardware, it happens.

Every date is goal, not a promise.
 

Vena

Member
I think you can get away with missing launch Windows without being sued. This is the gaming industry... Even for hardware, it happens.

Every date is goal, not a promise.

I didn't say you couldn't miss the date. I am saying they didn't just blatantly lie to their investors with a made up date. That is just sheer nonsense.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Ahh fair enough, perhaps they only want to give estimates on current products. In such a sense, then ya, NX would definitely not show on the FY. That said, as with the mobile promise (and the bad reaction after the announcement and delay of Miitomo), the investors are laying expectations based on the date provided. Moreover, a hardware launch is considerably more massive an event than a mobile game launching.



They didn't have a date before setting the current one...

Normally yes. But let's not forget that they played this game before with the QoL. March 2017 is a provisional planned date until the official reveal. It can change.
 

udivision

Member
I didn't say you couldn't miss the date. I am saying they didn't just blatantly lie to their investors with a made up date. That is just sheer nonsense.
But... how would they even know the difference. We got confirmation that Zrlda would be a 2016 game not too long ago, and now we're being told that it is a 2017 one. Whether that 2016 date was a lie or not cant be determined, and it doesn't matter if it was.
 

Vena

Member
Normally yes. But let's not forget that they played this game before with the QoL. March 2017 is a provisional planned date until the official reveal. It can change.

Well I wouldn't generally equate QoL, a minor side project that never had much of a concrete form or function for the business outside of minor diversification into a growing field, to a major business pillar. At the same time as you have also completely written off your home console.

I know things can slip, but I generally do not think they put that March date out there as a falsehood against the EoFY. I do believe that is there actual target.

As for why they aren't at GDC, I'd wonder if that hasn't more to do with a non-yet conclusively planned reveal event and then non-yet conclusively planned up follow up. Potentially, trying to avoid the E3 fiasco where they had everything seemingly lined up for a reveal, and then something happened behind the scenes.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
What did Nintendo actually do at GDC? Recruiting potential employees?

GDC is a developers conference where usually companies go to promote new techs, new engines, new hardware to developers. One would think that Nintendo would want to promote NX to developers. Unless they don't plan to reveal it until then.

Well I wouldn't generally equate QoL, a minor side project that never had much of a concrete form or function for the business outside of minor diversification into a growing field, to a major business pillar. At the same time as you have also completely written off your home console.

I know things can slip, but I generally do not think they put that March date out there as a falsehood against the EoFY. I do believe that is there actual target.

As for why they aren't at GDC, I'd wonder if that hasn't more to do with a non-yet conclusively planned reveal event and then non-yet conclusively planned up follow up. Potentially, trying to avoid the E3 fiasco where they had everything seemingly lined up for a reveal, and then something happened behind the scenes.

GDC is not really a gaming expo or a conference where a hardware would be revealed. It's more about "selling" your new tech or new softare (like SDKs, engines etc.) to developers. As I said above, one would assume Nintendo would be interested to do that with NX.
 

Vena

Member
GDC is not really a gaming expo or a conference where a hardware would be revealed. It's more about "selling" your new tech or new softare (like SDKs, engines etc.) to developers. As I said above, one would assume Nintendo would be interested to do that with NX.

No I know, what I meant was they weren't sure when they would do the reveal to then schedule other events (even ones likes GDC) thereafter. Admittedly, they said they would reveal it this year, so that's not even a problem if they miss the March date, and as such the GDC is well after any such moment, so the current plan is a bit bewildering.

They could, potentially, have an event planned around it or aside from it for whatever reason, or they haven't yet booked the necessary floor space. /shrug

Heck, given Rosti's floor space analysis, there may just not have been the necessary booth/floor space for Nintendo given every large floor space was/is already taken.
 

Schnozberry

Member
Maybe I'm crazy, but perhaps this indicates that they will be having their own conference for NX at some point and felt that scaling back their presence at GDC was a way to make that fit underneath their operations budget.
 

Nosgotham

Junior Member
whatever NX is, its obvious at this point that it doesnt do well in a convention setting, meaning they cant get their message of NX across in a busy, time limited environment. that setting may provide negative feedback. they need a quiet, personal, focused setting for peoples first hands on with the system.
 
Seriously, I dont know what is Nintendo planning. But after all these no show, they better have the most amazing showing ever. Because otherwise, they're done for. You dont go absent for two years to come up with bland games.
 

AdanVC

Member
Heh would be funny if the March release month is just there because of the end of the fiscal year just to appease to investors while the real plan is to launch in the Holidays 2017. At this point nothing will surprise me.

Reading this makes me feel like killing myself with a Virtual Boy until my eyes pop out. Holy shiiiiiiift
 

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
GDC is a developers conference where usually companies go to promote new techs, new engines, new hardware to developers. One would think that Nintendo would want to promote NX to developers. Unless they don't plan to reveal it until then.



GDC is not really a gaming expo or a conference where a hardware would be revealed. It's more about "selling" your new tech or new softare (like SDKs, engines etc.) to developers. As I said above, one would assume Nintendo would be interested to do that with NX.

That's what I figured. Maybe they'll still send some people for recruiting purposes, check out talented devs and such.
 
GDC is a developers conference where usually companies go to promote new techs, new engines, new hardware to developers. One would think that Nintendo would want to promote NX to developers. Unless they don't plan to reveal it until then.

GDC is not really a gaming expo or a conference where a hardware would be revealed. It's more about "selling" your new tech or new softare (like SDKs, engines etc.) to developers. As I said above, one would assume Nintendo would be interested to do that with NX.

As Rösti pointed out in the OP, Nintendo does indeed have a small presence at GDC planned for next year, so we can assume that they do plan to showcase NX to developers there, albeit in a potentially limited fashion.

I'm going to agree with others in this thread that the major NX event(s) will be of Nintendo's own making, and outside of these industry standard conferences. Hopefully they can adequately show off their console and development tools in this way, on top of their limited presence at next years GDC.

Hopefully they really do understand how important exposure is for NX now, otherwise, as a shareholder, I will be quite disappointed and worried.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Probably delayed until 2018.

Edit: More seriously, they could just be setting up lots of meetings outside of the actual conference, it's easy enough to do, and probably cheaper and more private. That's just speculation, mind.

Are they cash strapped? No. Would this be just very few months ahead of the planned worldwide launch? Yes, so why keep it private and closed down?
 

Parham

Banned
Worth noting that booth space really isn't as important at GDC as in consumer-focused events. Even Microsoft just has the Xbox lounge in the lobby of Moscone South.

Edit: Also, companies book spaces at nearby hotels, like the W, for meetings off-site all of the time at GDC. This isn't to say Nintendo necessarily will be, but there are multiple ways to engage developers at the conference and we shouldn't read too deeply into the floor plan.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
I don't really remember nintendo ever having a huge floor presence at GDC? I'm sure they've had booths now and then but it's not like they need a big show floor booth to get devs on board. It's far more useful to do what they did during the Gamecube launch where they hold a series of open talks in a nearby location. Lets the devs hear about the hardware from the company and use it as a jumping off point to more discussions.

I am not sure we should use the third party developer relations strategy they held in the past decade or so as a justification of what they seem to be doing now... :/.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
It would be funny because they'd get sued for lying to their investors. You don't make up random ass dates that you do not intend to keep at all. If it doesn't make it it isn't because "lol we lied" but because something else delayed it.

See: forward looking statements stretched thin ;).
 
Top Bottom