News broke late Wednesday evening, early Thursday morning that Nintendo would be taking a much different approach to E3 this year. Instead of tackling the giants of the PS4 and the next Xbox head-on with a major press conference of their own, Nintendo has opted to holding smaller Nintendo Direct broadcasts from E3. Definitely a move to save the Big N some money and make them stand out from Sony's and Microsoft's offerings at E3. To say the least, ending the tradition of major E3 press conferences is an incredibly bold, risky and polarizing move by Nintendo, but it is also a smart move.
Ever since E3 downsized way back in 2007, the grandeur and spectacle of what was originally the video games industry's biggest convention of the year has slowly but surely been lost. To the point that last year's E3 was nothing short of abysmal. While great moments have squeaked through the cracks on occasion such as the unveiling of the 3DS, Kevin Butler's speech or Watch Dogs, the E3 press conferences these past six years have left a lot to be desired. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have tried too hard to appeal to a much broader audience with their E3 press conferences that many of them lose their focus and easily become a chore to watch. These companies forget that the people who actually tune into to watch their E3 press conferences are primarily hardcore gamers. These gamers want to see games, not applications or entertainment options. With the Nintendo Direct format, Nintendo has captured lightning in a bottle. Nintendo directly talks to their consumers through 30 minute to one hour mini conferences. Providing information on upcoming games, applications and initiatives directly to their audience. Due to the nature of these mini conferences, Nintendo is able to make these Nintendo Directs target certain audiences be it casual or hardcore gamers, Wii U or 3DS owners or even younger or older fans. It allows Nintendo to keep these conferences focused and more importantly keep surprise game reveals from leaking. From Link to the Past 2 to the sequel to Xenoblade, Nintendo Direct has offered a numerous amount of E3 quality surprises that if not kept internally would have easily been leaked. Adapting this format to E3 is an excellent idea because it keeps the focus on the games and makes a more intimate connection with their audience than a massive press conference would. While it is a great idea, Nintendo still needs to worry about being swept under the buzz of the PS4 and next Xbox and the lack of mainstream coverage due to the smaller scale. Addressing these possible problems will be the difference between Nintendo's success or failure at this year's E3.
No matter what breaking tradition can always sting. Personally, I am a little bummed out about Nintendo's announcement of no more large-scale press conferences. While I do have some fond memories of past Nintendo E3 press conferences, the video game industry is constantly changing. With the traditions of E3 becoming more and more stagnant over time, change is definitely needed in order for E3 to regain the grandeur and spectacle that it has lost. Nintendo is trying an entirely different format to how they present their news at E3 and it will be interesting to see how things turn out for better or worse.
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