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[clav]

I wonder if the OP is insinuating that if you don't watch Nintendo Direct, then you're not a hardcore Nintendo fan, and you can't credit yourself to be one. Therefore, you can't discuss anything unless you watched all the ND presentations in real time.

I don't think it has changed anything. Maybe for the hardcore fans, yes. Every Nintendo Direct announcement brings on the hype train almost every time they get announced. This is just another info dump straight from the company like any other press release, only this time it's in video form. That's the innovation of Nintendo Direct, having all that info in a single video with information, trailers, and gameplay videos.

I actually haven't watched the latest Nintendo Direct. I didn't want to spend time to (it was streaming live too early for me to catch it). I caught up on the info quickly by looking at threads on this forum and checking the usual Twitter feed and gaming sites. Once I got my info, I went on my business. This isn't any different than how news is delivered right now. But for hardcore fans, hype levels are through the roof and everyone is totally excited.

It's just another source of information. Just like how I listen to the PlayStation Blogcast every Thursday to find out what's coming out in the following week on PSN. So what?

Exactly. Essentially it's just an ad platform for Nintendo to speak euphemistically about any current problems and apologizing for whatever qualms users feel through some prerecorded insider footage.

GAF and some of these gaming journalists highlight the third party situation, which has been a huge problem since Gamecube. Did any of you really think that the first party games were going to be nonexistent?

 

[wildfire]

Nintendo Direct is the best idea Nintendo has had in years and in many ways its surprising they were the ones to do it first
.

They weren't though. If you were part of the MMO scene this is something you had experienced regularily after the 90s. Midway through the 00 decade indie devs were doing the same thing.

Nintendo is the first major developer and publisher to do this though which will have wider impact on the gaming industry as a whole because of their sheer size compared to everyone else who did it before.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Every major actor in this industry should have something like Iwata Asks and ND, if only to contribute to fucking these "gaming journalists"
fools over.

 

[Currygan]

Iwata makes some really good interviews. Always interesting and satisfying. Yes, of course it's just publicity, but when it's actually useful and entertaining, who cares?

 

[glimmerman]

Jesus it's just marketing, get over it. You think Nintendo will listen to fans, they don't even listen to their own execs This is just a way to get the koolaid to fans without having it diluted by any realism.

 

[MrCompletely]

direct marketing is nothing new folks. This is not journalism, nintendo direct is a glorified infomercial. How broadly do you think the videos reach among nintendo's target? They still need the media to trickle down their messaging.

 

[Chao]

Oh my god, this. How many deep amazing articles do we need about how revolutionary and new and groundbreaking Nintendo Direct is?

But... it is!

I think gaming journos are getting butthurt that Nintendo is pretty much bypassing them anymore.

That's what I think as well. Looks like the press has been mad at Nintendo for a long time, no matter how hard they try to make them fail (poor coverage, not treating them like an actual gaming option because the "real" systems are made by Sony and Microsoft, the old kiddy argument) they always succeed somehow. Nintendo Direct is like the last nail in the coffin, it's Nintendo saying "We don't need you anymore for the most part"

 

[Aroo]

Dear OP,

Read your piece and loved it. I stopped reading game news a long time ago. This piece was great to read. The subject matter (video games) is something that goes way back with me yet it felt fresh. (Maybe this piece should be submitted somewhere for more to read?) Now, I'm not saying I'm for or against or even care about "Nintendo Direct", moreover I just knew it existed and have seen a sample of it before. I just had to make a post on how much I appreciate your piece. I haven't cared finish any video game articles (or attempt to navigate the jungles of advertisements to get to a damn video game article in years. )


I'm honestly nostalgic for the old days of video game journalism. It was was almost like a romantic period. People that wrote about video games not only loved video games, but were dreamers whether it be the writers or the fans (Next Gen I miss you.) Now the whole damn industry feels like TMZ where every secret feels artifically hyped or was already on the disc to begin with. Even the technology talk isnt as great. (System X will have 1000 GBs and Y company's special Z GPU!. What!? That's what the PC has now, Company M/S/N will be out homeless if they dont get at the very least GPU T!"



Thanks again!

 

[pixlexic]

Yeah a lot of people are missing the point of the op. those people should apply to gamers sites. ;p

 

[Drek]

Does the OP realize that both Sony and MS have been putting up massive quantities of their E3 unveils during E3 for several years now?

Or that MANY PC devs have been doing this kind of direct marketing for a while? CD Projekt has been putting up web videos directed at their audience and not via reporters for a while now. Indie devs have been doing this for a stupid long time.

Or maybe that more than a few Kickstarters are already taking this to the next level, not even just video marketing but actually emailing you with weekly project updates.

This is nothing new. It's nice to see Nintendo get with the times on at least one small aspect of their infrastructure, but this is far from revolutionary. Hell, coming from Nintendo it's in some ways worse because it means they'll further restrict what little journalist access they have given in the past, so no one will ever get a real behind the scenes look, just the Nintendo PR front.

This "new direction" is called "direct marketing" in most other fields.

 

[wildfire]

Nintendo direct is an infomercial, nothing more. That's not journalism.

In what world a biased highly prettified PR propaganda is "better game journalism".

I don't think it has changed anything. Maybe for the hardcore fans, yes. Every Nintendo Direct announcement brings on the hype train almost every time they get announced. This is just another info dump straight from the company like any other press release, only this time it's in video form. That's the innovation of Nintendo Direct, having all that info in a single video with information, trailers, and gameplay videos.

Good to see you weren't permanently banned.

The two of you bring up something that makes it possible that Nintendo Direct will be have an even bigger long term impact than either you or the OP, Gummb are foreseeing.

Your underlying arguments ask why bother caring about getting information directly from the developer/publisher.

Let's just assume Nintendo's marketing strategy is adapted by most big publishers and developers.

There will come a time when a few of those companies will abuse their position of disseminating information and rip people off like the developers of DayZ. This is indisputable because even among the smaller MMO and indie community this level of exploitation has been observed.


To combat this we need independent reviewers. In the long run Nintendo's impact on journalism won't be undermining it to the point of making irrelevant but transforming it were it will become a more credible news agency with integrity and standards for protecting the consumer instead of acting as a lap dog for the publisher/developer.

 

[Huff]

Literally nothing new about holding your own conference to announce your own stuff. Companies have been doing it for years.

 

[Air]

Reading this thread is like watching a football player run toward the other teams goal.

 

[AntMurda]

Iwata Asks and Nintendo Direct are both great platforms to provide entertainment and information to the user. Obviously it favors the more invested and enthusiastic fanatic, but still something we can all appreciate.

As far as some hinting it is journalism, it is not. It lack objection and is public relation driven and guided.

 

[one_kill]

Let's all repeat the same answer guys! It just entices discussion.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Nintendo has been doing stuff like this for a while. I remember when I was a kid getting promotional VHS tapes in the mail or at game stores for N64 that I'd watch ad nauseam. These are just infomercials delivered over the web. Not sure why they're getting so much attention. It's not new, innovative, and this nintendo direct vs. games journalism thing is a complete fabrication.

 

[Forkball]

Nintendo Direct cuts out the middle man.

Iwata: Hello. Blather blather blather engrish SONIK PEEKU blather ACTUAL GAME NEWS OHMYGOD

vs.

Hey I'm Joe Games Journalist and let me preface the actual news that was announced some indiscriminate time ago by summarizing it and/or giving my opinion, often in the form of sarcasm or a joke.

PR Junk

Closing comment/joke/what do YOU, the READER, think?

 

[Meesh]

What I find interesting, is while they're maintaining a strong connection to their enthusiast gamer base through NDs, they've yet to create a method to reach out to their casual base via a more mainstream outlet. Partnering with certain retailers by providing Streamlined NDs on disk, viewable at kiosks could be a way for casual gamers and impulse shoppers to stay informed. The reason I suggest this is because most Wii owners I know had no idea whatsoever about the product they had, what it was really capable of and what games were coming out. They had little to no interest in doing a little research online and didn't care for the Nintendo channel, what they did care about was games so for those types this could be one outlet. It would also save me from having all those, "hey I'm really looking forward to that Gears game"..."uh, that's not on Wii" conversations lol. Not to derail, just a thought.

 

[ArtHands]

I honestly think it's just a lot of people disagreeing with the premise of the thread, as stated in the title. ND "representing a new direction and improvement of Gaming Journalism." Frankly, I do believe that idea is a little silly. Maybe ND represents a new direction for Nintendo, but let's not pretend that they're pioneering transparency in gaming. The concept has been around for a while now.

I mean, when was the last time anyone had to rely on gaming journalism to get their gaming news? Most companies release blog posts, press releases and youtube videos. Most major companies make their E3 presentations available direct online - and this is all the same basic premise as ND: PR for the company. You're never going to get an objective opinion on the games. You're going to get information the company wants you to know presented in the way they want you to see it. If you want dissection, analysis, and discussion, and context of said information, you're going to have to go to "game journalism" and enthusiast sites like GAF.

That's...kind of how it has been for years now. Welcome to the party, Nintendo.

Actually, the fact that you brings up the various types of channels that those companies uses to announce something, proves the point on how its not exactly the same. Nobody know where to get first hand, earliest raw news announcement for major titles that are not announced at the major trade shows, because its all over the places. Take for example, God of War Ascension was teased on facebook and leaked on amazon. The Last of Us was teased on a billboard and announced at SVGA, with additional information on PS blog shortly right after. All Stars Battle Royale was leaked everywhere and announced at GTTV. These news announcements are then circulated and then put together by the various gaming sites which by then, have changed more than several hands.

Not for Nintendo, who is publicly known for keeping their cards close to their chest. The only channels you are going to get 1st hand major announcements are at the major trade shows, and now Nintendo Direct. You are exposed to as much information as everyone else. There is only 1 unified place to look for raw, megaton Nintendo announcements, not counting the major trade shows like E3.

 

[Kai Dracon]

For those pointing out how this is nothing new and merely "Nintendo catching up to everyone else", one observation:

It is true this is not a revolutionary idea in itself. However, I think one reason why it may seem like a really big deal to a lot of people isn't because they have never seen such practices. Rather, they've never seen it done with the tone Nintendo adopts from a major platform holder and/or AAA+A publisher. That is what is affecting about the Nintendo directs - but moreso ones involving Iwata and anyone who isn't Reggie.

While Sony or MS for example do put a lot of material up, and MS even has a long running blog, most big companies in the industry really don't approach the public as plainly as many more down-to-earth developers do. A developer like CD Projekt is, you know, kind of the anti-everything to the typical game industry (and they're rather vocal about it). The big players are still spending a great deal of money and effort to shape appearances using hype and glitter.

Simple comparison:

Don Mattrick on Xbox.

"Everyone LOVES the box! Did you know about the box? I love the box. The Gamers (tm) love the box! We're doing SO much with the box this year. And believe me, we know not everyone has gotten on board with the box yet. We're going to work to see if we can't get those people to love the box too!"

Iwata on Wii U.

"We are pleased that people are enjoying Miiverse and they are posting very nice artwork on it. We understand there is great concern about interesting and exciting software for Wii U in the future. In a moment we can talk about upcoming games that I hope will engage our users. I regret that many Wii U owners have been frustrated by the large initial software update and slow operation speed of the Wii U interface. It is something we must work towards to satisfy those concerns. Application speed will be addressed in a future update. Please have patience."

It's that non-hyperbole laced tone that is simply unexpected in a modern industry ruled by doritios, mountain dew, and endless "if you aren't here on day one with the special edition, YOU WILL LITERALLY DIE" marketing. It's rather novel so it's gotten a lot of attention. It is also a stark contrast with doing it "American style" as can be seen in the generally more annoying NOA directs where Reggie comes across far more as a euphemism-addled marketer and makes stuff up as he goes along.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Not for Nintendo, who is publicly known for keeping their cards close to their chest. The only channels you are going to get 1st hand major announcements are at the major trade shows, and now Nintendo Direct. You are exposed to as much information as everyone else. There is only 1 unified place to look for raw, megaton Nintendo announcements, not counting the major trade shows like E3.

How do you know this? There's a lot of theoretical wishful thinking and speculation in your argument.

I personally think the reason these games were announced during this recent Nintendo Direct is because Nintendo realized they had a perception problem on the software side with the launch of the Wii U and wanted to do something fast to help fix it. They couldn't wait until E3 because it's not for five long months. Most Nintendo Directs are filled with a whole bunch of nothin'

 

[Chû Totoro]

Maybe a ND with a 30 minutes Q&A with Reggie for the NA press, Iwata for the Japanese press and Satoru Shibata for EU press would be a good thing. Or at least after these they should inform gaming journalists when they can expect to have some materials about these games (trailers, demo, new information...).

I'm really enjoying the Nintendo Directs and every Iwata asks are delightful but I'm not sure gaming journalism will get better thanks to this. It's only their choice to make certain types of articles and besides Game Informer (digital edition) I've no other subscription and I don't even read it... it's just not as good as I expected it to be.

At the end it's sad for gaming journalism but I'm ok with Nintendo's approach. Now it's up to them to find a way to work more efficiently together.

Also, I've lost hope in gaming journalism a long time ago and sorry but not only gaming journalism is fu**ed up... more important topics are treated like they are just material to make polemics or shock so they can sell more of the toilet paper their newspapers are (but no derail so I'll let it here).

 

[pixlexic]

this is not like showing a e3 video. This is saying no to game media . Not giving them anything. this is truly direct to the user.

 

[jschreier]

I wonder how many times this same thread is going to be regurgitated.

"Game journalists are afraid to piss off publishers," some say, while reading about Durango/Orbis, Silicon Knights, Team Bondi, and many more in-depth reports that piss off publishers quite a bit.

"All I need is GAF," some say, while reading daily GAF threads based on stories that game journalists break and report.

"Big gaming sites don't actually do original journalism," say the people who don't actually read big gaming sites.

All this talk of doom and gloom is undoubtedly a great deal of fun for those of you who bear irrational amounts of hatred for the games media, but I can promise you that very few professional gaming journalists are worried about Nintendo Direct taking our jobs. And the ones who are worried probably shouldn't be journalists in the first place.

 

[ArtHands]

How do you know this? There's a lot of theoretical wishful thinking and speculation in your argument.

I personally think the reason these games were announced during this recent Nintendo Direct is because Nintendo realized they had a perception problem on the software side with the launch of the Wii U and wanted to do something fast to help fix it. They couldn't wait until E3 because it's not for five long months. Most Nintendo Directs are filled with a whole bunch of nothin'

Correct me if I am wrong, I believe the last major 1st party Nintendo game news not announced through a trade shows or nintendo direct was only pokemon black and white 2 ever since nintendo direct starts.

 

[pixlexic]

I wonder how many times this same thread is going to be regurgitated.

"Game journalists are afraid to piss off publishers," some say, while reading about Durango/Orbis, Silicon Knights, Team Bondi, and many more in-depth reports that piss off publishers quite a bit.

"All I need is GAF," some say, while reading daily GAF threads based on stories that game journalists break and report.

"Big gaming sites don't actually do original journalism," say the people who don't actually read big gaming sites.

All this talk of doom and gloom is undoubtedly a great deal of fun for those of you who bear irrational amounts of hatred for the games media, but I can promise you that very few professional gaming journalists are worried about Nintendo Direct taking our jobs. And the ones who are worried probably shouldn't be journalists in the first place.

It's not about that. It's about getting straight information with out personal opinion.

It's also about cutting out that middle man was has its own amgendas.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

It's not about that. It's about getting straight information with out personal opinion.

"Straight information" directly from the massive corporation trying to sell you a product. Wonderful.

If games journalists are all bought off by publishers, then why would you instead implicitly trust the publishers themselves to give you the straight info, the same people buying off the journalists? None of that makes any sense.

 

[Malvingt2]

Greta job OP. What a great read.

 

[Kunan]

I am a much bigger fan of the Iwata asks column. Humanizes those behind the scenes and reveals their goals, missteps and innovations on a more personal level.

Direct is awesome for getting GAF talking again. January was starting to be such a bore here.

 

[daxgame]

good post, OP, but it really all comes down to "videogame journalist is biased shit" (to different doritos). Nothing new. Nintendo just went "OK, we'll do it alone" way

 

[Honey Bunny]

"Straight information" directly from the massive corporation trying to sell you a product. Wonderful.

If games journalists are all bought off by publishers, then why would you instead implicitly trust the publishers themselves to give you the straight info, the same people buying off the journalists? None of that makes any sense.

Yes, this. What on earth is going on here.

I suppose, for those that don't like a 'negative' interpretation of a game company's announcements, filtering out everything but said company's direct PR seems like a ground breaking idea.

I very much hope that people do not bypass secondary outlets of games information in favour of direct advertisements from the devs/publishers themselves. That would be disastrous.

 

[FreedomFighter]

So many people misinterpreting the OP, I'm convinced they haven't read it and just came in to rag on Nintendo Direct. Seriously, what does Nintendo being the first or last to do this type of thing have to do with the OP at all? Seriously, some of you just seem to have caught a glimpse of the thread title and entered to leave the obligatory negative comment regardless of its relevance to the OP.

 

[Synth_floyd]

LOL it's just a press conference that is once a month or whatever instead of the once a year E3 type press conferences.

 

[daxgame]

I wonder how many times this same thread is going to be regurgitated.

"Game journalists are afraid to piss off publishers," some say, while reading about Durango/Orbis, Silicon Knights, Team Bondi, and many more in-depth reports that piss off publishers quite a bit.

"All I need is GAF," some say, while reading daily GAF threads based on stories that game journalists break and report.

"Big gaming sites don't actually do original journalism," say the people who don't actually read big gaming sites.

All this talk of doom and gloom is undoubtedly a great deal of fun for those of you who bear irrational amounts of hatred for the games media, but I can promise you that very few professional gaming journalists are worried about Nintendo Direct taking our jobs. And the ones who are worried probably shouldn't be journalists in the first place.

You did not understand the argument at all then.
I'll tell you how it is: "Today's game journalists are incapable of writing unbiased articles, too often based on what they think could get more clicks, instead of merely reporting facts"

Note that this not applies to Nintendo only, though since the Wii it went mostly against them for sure (not that I care much in the end, I'll buy anything interests me whether people write shit about it or not)

 

[jschreier]

It's not about that. It's about getting straight information with out personal opinion.

It's also about cutting out that middle man was has its own amgendas.

Well, sometimes. It's also about selling you products.

Take the PlayStation Blog, for example. In general, it's a fantastic idea. Fans of PlayStation products can get news and info directly from the source and Sony can show off new games in their own way, cutting out the middle-men. It all seems great.

But then there are cases when the PlayStation Blog is dishonest, trying to sell you atrocious games and reminding us all that their job is not to serve fans - it is to move merchandise. See: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012...guy-back-to-the-multiverse-delivers-for-fans/

As a journalist, I'm more than happy to see things like Nintendo Direct and the PS Blog, but I also know that companies are never going to be 100% honest with their fans, and that people will always rely on Kotaku (and other gaming websites) to cut through some of that bullshit.

Of course, I'm also happy because I don't really want to spend my time writing up press blasts from Nintendo and Sony. Anything that frees me and my colleagues up to work on original content is a very good thing.

 

[Antiwhippy]

It's not about that. It's about getting straight information with out personal opinion.

It's also about cutting out that middle man was has its own amgendas.

You're saying that the person supplying the information has no agendas?

 

[outunderthestars]

ND's are company hype and PR.

How is that different than the majority of gaming news sites?

 

[DR2K]

Nintendo Direct is a great thing, it has all the information you could possibly want on a game directly from the source. The sooner gaming journalism goes the way of Blockbuster the better.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

I'll tell you how it is: "Today's game journalists are incapable of writing unbiased articles, too often based on what they think could get more clicks, instead of merely reporting facts"

To finish your argument: "Therefore, Nintendo themselves provides unbiased coverage of their own products and report nothing but facts."

 

[Huff]

this is not like showing a e3 video. This is saying no to game media . Not giving them anything. this is truly direct to the user.

This is exactly like have smaller e3 conferences throughout the year.

Saying to no game media, do you really think Nintendo doesn't want to be the top story on every website after a direct conference?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Exactly.

Pure, blatant PR.

Content providing is not journalism.

That's it. Let's not get all gung ho and try and make it more than what it is. PR.

 

[FryHole]

To finish your argument: "Therefore, Nintendo themselves provides unbiased coverage of their own products and report nothing but facts."

Pretty sure that's not where that argument leads.

At least when its the producer supplying the info you're aware of the ingrained bias and moderate your response accordingly.

 

[Massa]

How is that different than the majority of gaming news sites?

Perhaps the majority, but the sites that I pay attention to are not like that. Of course, when journalists actually do that they get ripped to shreds by fanboys, as the recent Gamespot and Edge comments on the latest Nintendo Direct demonstrate.

 

[pixlexic]

You're saying that the person supplying the information has no agendas?

Did the videos have a sales pitch? They were just purely informative.

Here's what we are doing.

 

[Starchasing]

Did the videos have a sales pitch? They were just purely informative.

Here's what we are doing.

Exactly. Iwata just said what games where coming when and what they approach was. He never went on hype mode saying things like ITS OUR BEST GAME EVER

 

[Azelover]

Not only Nintendo Direct but also Iwata Asks and that Smash Brothers Brawl website, all were efforts to diminish the power of individual press.

Wait for more ideas that try to realize this, I predict there will be much more than ND, Iwata Asks and Reggie Asks.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Did the videos have a sales pitch? They were just purely informative.

Here's what we are doing.

Information that is purely meant to sell you on a product, yes.

Do you think that they will report on the fire emblem x megaten game will have a horrible bug midway through (to be fair, some gaming news sites sometimes fail to report these to), or that the X game turns pretty horrible at chapter 4? Purely hypothetical and I'm not making judgements on any game, but you get what I mean.

 

[pixlexic]

Exactly. Iwata just said what games where coming when and what they approach was. He never went on hype mode saying things like ITS OUR BEST GAME EVER

And we don't get that from games media anymore its all " nintendo announces xxxx but will it pull them out of their hole of doom?"

 

[Pachterballs]

Okay seriously Nintendo direct is not that big deal.

its direct marketing.

there's no editorial and voice to ND:



I'm unimpressed.

 

[ezekielpacman]

Echoing what a number of people have said already, but seriously, George Orwell says hi.

As if Nintendo don't have their own agenda.