Full FeedOpinion: How Nintendo won E3 2009
Let’s pretend for a minute that the E3 press conferences are a competition.
At E3 2008, it was safe to say that all three of the expo’s big keynotes really stunk it up. Microsoft’s biggest surprise was something that everyone expected, Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360, Nintendo had nothing other than Wii Motion Plus, and Sony… well, Sony had MAG and a teaser of God of War III. Last year was the polar opposite of this year’s E3.
At E3 2009, Microsoft showed us the future of gaming with Project Natal. Nintendo addressed the hardcore Nintendo fan’s concerns and Sony came out swinging with stuff all across the board. This year, it’s going to be hard to choose the most successful press conference of the show because they all were strong in their own ways.
If you are looking for a clear cut “winner,” however, I think you have to look at Nintendo. While Microsoft wins as my favorite presentation, Nintendo accomplished everything it set out to do and that’s comfort both gaming fans and Nintendo fans alike, by reassuring us that Nintendo hasn’t given itself completely up to the idea of catering only to a “casual” market.
Who can argue that a Mario game is no longer relevant for a Nintendo console anymore? Even if you have “grown up,” chances are you’re still going to find yourself picking up one of the two (something that hasn’t happened since the NES days) new Mario games coming up because of your nostalgia for the franchise. That’s exactly what Nintendo wants to bank on and, I guarantee you, after spending countless years in the retail game watching New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Galaxy fly of the store shelves, that’s exactly what is going to happen.
And into the mix of the late-game announcement by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that a new Legend of Zelda game, designed specifically with the Wii in mind, is coming in 2010, and you’ve already got a strong portfolio for Nintendo next year and that’s not even counting the announcements of a Tecmo-Nintendo tag team on the next Metroid game, Metroid Other M, plus Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers, and Golden Sun returns.
One thing all console manufacturers fear is the resale of their console and while it started to look like Nintendo was dangerously close to falling victim of such practice, it looks like they eked it out a last minute solution. For now.
Read [Gamertell’s E3 2009 coverage]
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All it took for Nintendo to win the conference for me was the announcement of Golden Sun DS. :-P
on June 13, 2009 at 05:15 AM - LINKlmao this is funny as hell, we know who won.
on June 13, 2009 at 10:50 PM - LINKnintendo suks big ones no good games and they r stil stuk in the last generation pathetic, even smash bros suks so once they get a news flash mayb just mayb i would buy there rtarded system.comin from an mlg halo pro
on June 14, 2009 at 03:42 AM - LINKAhh…thanks angel for your insightful comments. I found them unbiased, well grounded, rational and above all beautifully literate.
Cheers
on June 14, 2009 at 08:00 AM - LINKYes, Nintendo did have some decent announcements for once. But there is no way I would ever give their press conference the win. Sony and Microsoft both showed up more stuff in their conferences. Another point to remember is that Nintendo could have gone the whole conference without saying a word about more DS stuff. Their press conference needed to be about the Wii this year, and compared to what the 360 and PS3 have coming before next year’s E3, they didn’t bring much to the table. When Christmas rolls around, Wii owners will have 3-4 new games that will be worth asking for or buying. I’m not sure when Muramasa is coming out. PS3 owners will have Ratchet and Clank Future 2, Uncharted 2, and MAG. Xbox 360 owners will have Halo: ODST, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Forza 3, and Left 4 Dead 2. Both the 360 and PS3 (not the Wii or DS) will have Assassin’s Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Blur, Alpha Protocol, Brutal Legend, Batman Arkham Asylum, Bioshock 2, and Dragon Age Origins.
on June 25, 2009 at 07:01 AM - LINKIf you want to mention games that won’t be out by Christmas, but are coming out in the early half of next year, then it gets a little wider. Then you can add Mass Effect 2 and Alan Wake for Xbox 360, God of War 3 for PS3, and Final Fantasy XIII and Saboteur for both consoles.
All of those games will be in players’ hands before there is even a release date for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M or a trailer for the new Legend of Zelda game.
@MB
Another point to remember is that Nintendo could have gone the whole conference without saying a word about more DS stuff. Their press conference needed to be about the Wii this year
Why?
on June 25, 2009 at 09:31 AM - LINKBecause that is their strongest selling platform where the majority of their hardcore audience is. They have tons and tons of good software for the DS, but the Wii is where the lack of good, solid hardcore games has been. And I don’t care who says that New Super Mario Bros: Wii is going to be a big core game. I still see it as a Wii port of the DS game, which to me for them to lead their holiday season with a DS port is kind of ridiculous compared to the caliber and amount of games that Sony and Microsoft and throwing out.
And no, I’m not a Sony/Microsoft fanboy. I proudly own a Wii, 360, PS3, and some of the older generation consoles.
on June 25, 2009 at 04:59 PM - LINKBecause that is their strongest selling platform where the majority of their hardcore audience is.
I was under the impression that the DS was the strongest selling platform period. Is there a gamer out there, hardcore or not, who doesn’t own a DS at this point?
on June 26, 2009 at 09:11 AM - LINKYeah! I don’t have one. And I also know tons more gamers on my PSN friends list, Xbox Live list, and from clans and forums who don’t. But you are right. That was a logistical error on my part, sorry. But, the point is even deeper that Nintendo needs to give hardcore gamers a reason to buy the Wii, and they did not do that. At least not for 2009-2010. Now, next year is a different story. But from this fall into the winter and spring, no real huge games that are must-haves for the hardcore audience.
on June 27, 2009 at 05:00 AM - LINKNintendo needs to give hardcore gamers a reason to buy the Wii, and they did not do that
I am somewhat confused about which argument you are trying to make. First you said that the Wii is “where the majority of their hardcore audience is,” but now you’re saying that Nintendo has not given hardcore gamers a reason to buy the Wii.
If Nintendo has truly not given “hardcore” gamers a reason to buy the Wii yet, then sales figures indicate that they don’t really “need” to at all—they’ve sold over 50 million Wiis so far, and Microsoft trails behind them at around 30 million 360’s sold, with Sony at about 23 million. If anything, the sales figures indicate the exact opposite of what you’re arguing: Microsoft and Sony need to start giving casual gamers compelling reasons to pick up their systems. If Microsoft and Sony have been doing a good job at marketing their systems for hardcore gamers and Nintendo has not, and Nintendo has soundly outsold both systems nearly combined in spite of this, I think the take home message is that focusing on the niche “hardcore” audience limits your ability to sell your system to as many people as possible and isn’t the most successful business strategy.
But from this fall into the winter and spring, no real huge games that are must-haves for the hardcore audience.
That really depends on how you define the nebulous “hardcore audience.”
on June 28, 2009 at 07:36 AM - LINK