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Nintendo puts on a master class on how to win E3 - VentureBeat

CyberPanda

Banned
It might seem kind of silly to talk about “winning E3.” It is just a trade show, after all. But the Electronic Entertainment Expois also very much a battle for the hearts and minds of gamers. And if this E3 was a battle, than Nintendo was Alexander the Great. It dominated.

The E3 Nintendo Direct was fast-paced. Many of the other week’s briefings from the likes of Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda, and Ubisoft were around 90 minutes long. Nintendo’s show was just 40 minutes.

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We got good looks (including plenty of gameplay) for anticipated titles we already knew about. Important games like Luigi’s Mansion 3, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons had enough time in the spotlight to make appealing pitches to fans without overstaying their welcome.

More hype in less time

We also had plenty of surprises, both big and small. On the more niche side, Panzer Dragoon is getting a remake for Switch. The same goes for Trials of Mana (the sequel to Secret of Mana), a Square Enix that has never come to the U.S. before. These announcements may not appeal to everyone, but they’re a big deal for specific audiences.



The big announcements felt huge. Seeing Dragon Quest characters coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is cool, but the Banjo-Kazooie reveal was a euphoric moment for many long-time Nintendo fans. And then we had the show-ending knockout of the announcement of a sequel for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Few people saw that one coming.

Even the specific order of the announcements and segments during the Direct felt masterful. They opened with the Dragon Quest characters coming to Smash Bros., which was a surprise and significant reveal for one of the Switch’s most popular games. Then Nintendo seemingly ended the show with the Banjo-Kazooie reveal, only to deliver a classic “one more thing” moment with the Zelda announcement.

That’s how you build excitement. Show something good to enough to be the final reveal, and then top it. Compare that with what Microsoft did. It ended its show with Halo: Infinite. Now, Halo is a big deal, but the in-game cinematic presentation we got wasn’t all the exciting. Microsoft already revealed that game last year. We didn’t learn much about it during its E3 segment. Even though it’s freaking Halo, it fell a bit flat.

And even the shows that did have good openings and closings, like Square Enix with Final Fantasy VII Remake and The Avengers, suffered from boring middle sections that felt like padding. Nintendo didn’t have any filler.

Nintendo’s in charge

Now, Nintendo does have an advantage. Many of the other companies are working on games for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, consoles that are nearing the end of their lives. The Switch is only just over two years old. It should have a busier lineup of games while Sony and Microsoft focus on making their next systems.

But Nintendo’s show was impressive even when judged against some of the best E3 shows ever. It was snappy, paced perfectly, and had a lot of huge, exciting moments.

Everyone else needs to study what Nintendo did hear. Maybe the rest of the industry should follow its lead. Ditch those onstage and bloated presentations for something like this hype-filled and snappy Nintendo Direct.

Correction, 5:30 p.m.: We originally called Halo: Infinite’s presentation at Microsoft’s briefing a CG trailer, but it was an in-game cinematic. We have corrected the error and apologize.

 
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I'm not a big fan of Venture Beat, but they're correct. Nintendo showed some great games coming out this year, previewed some great games coming out later, and made a good show of it.
 

Ol'Scratch

Member
This reads like something off of some Nintendo fan site. I am not saying that the Nintendo direct was bad in any way but for those who do not own a Switch and nothing else it was a non event. I also love that they spoke down of the Halo trailer for no gameplay while acting like the Zelda was not the same.
It was a good show but won nothing.
 
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Ol'Scratch

Member
I think more importantly there were no total loser shit shows like there have been in previous years. Every presser in my opinion went well and had good moments.
 

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
"It might seem kind of silly to talk about “winning E3.”

Should have stopped there.

"We also had plenty of surprises, both big and small. On the more niche side, Panzer Dragoon is getting a remake for Switch. "

That "surprise" that was announced in December? These people sure pay attention to the news.
 
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It is true they had a good E3, but it's also true that sometimes the timing of games and announcements falls in place just right. Can't forget the egg they laid last year spending half the show going through Smash Bros character abilities. So no, I don't believe nintendo is the only company that knows how to put on a good show. I'm disappointed that Microsoft's conference didn't show what i personally wanted to see, but I'm also not gonna say it was horrible simply because the games shown weren't what i was interested in personally. PSO2 coming to xbox is a pretty big deal. Flight Simulator making a comeback is a pretty big deal. Some people just love to hate on MS. Age of Empires is gonna be great. Battletoads could go either way, but at least it is coming. Ori is gonna be fantastic. Halo Infinite is going to turn heads. Even without showing Tunic or The Last Night, MS was still able to show a lot of good games, and that's really what i wanted from the conference. That's a win for gamers. If you don't like it, take up knitting or something.
This reads like something off of some Nintendo fan site. I am not saying that the Nintendo direct was bad in any way but for those who do not own a Switch and nothing else it was a non event. I also love that they spoke down of the Halo trailer for no gameplay while acting like the Zelda was not the same.
It was a good show but won nothing.
That too crossed my mind, but i think you have to judge the announcement of a game differently than something that was announced 2 years back. That is likely the bigger reason people were upset about the Infinite trailer, including me. But i still loved the trailer lol.
 
I think they've won several years in a row now. And that's interesting because they even won two years when they just brought one game.

Their Treehouse coverage is still the best. Tons of uninterrupted gameplay with interviews with developers and localizers. Tons of footage from the showfloor. 3 days worth of good content.

It hasn't really been close for a while now.

The last time Sony won, they loaded their show with multiple games that aren't even out yet. That was E3 2015, and two of those games still aren't out.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I still say Devolver Digital had the best E3 conference. I dunno why more people aren't talking about how creative it was.
 

Ol'Scratch

Member
You mean the reskinned Horizon Zero Dawn/every Ubisoft game ever? It's like when Hyrule Warriors came out and Nintendo fans acted like it was the best game ever even though it's literally just Dynasty Warriors with a Zelda skin.
I REALLY like you
 

cryptoadam

Banned
Yes Nintendo did win E3, and yes the Direct made most of everyone else look amateur hour. Even last year we had Sony with their disaster of a conference.

These stage shows that take 2 hours with stupid segments should go the way of the dodo bird. Nintendo packed in more content than anyone else with minimal filler into a tight 40 minute presentation. No orchestra's, dumb presenters, or paid audiences. Just games games games. Does anyone seriously want to watch those other shows again where these companies felate themselves about how important games are and new worlds and connecting everyone etc... Its like they are high on their own farts and think they need these 100 000$ dollar stage shows.

Now not a lot of gamers are into the Switch and its software, but from an objective point of view they brought games for everyone and more "surprises" then most everyone else. And lets just pretend we don't have leaks or people who follow the industry for every rumor. For a normal person Witcher 3 or Banjoo would of been huge shocks. For people like us it was like ya we knew it.

Nintendo had gameplay, 3rd parties, first party, family games, mature games, SP, MP, big games, small games, pretty much all the bases covered.

So like I said you might not be into the switch but you have to recognize that they brought the games, and they appealed to exactly what their fanbase wanted.

It being a gap year it was the perfrect storm for Nintendo to take advantage. Next year will be a big bounce back because we are going to get a ton of Next gen games and info. But I hope that the other companies re think how they do E3 and go for a more "Direct" style approach and Tree house approach. Give us 40 or so minutes of a quick edited video and then follow it up with the games being played for a few hours.
 

Xaero Gravity

NEXT LEVEL lame™
I genuinely can't agree. For me at least, they just didn't show much that grabbed my interest in comparison to what was shown at other conferences.
 

blackjon24

Member
Not all that impressed at all with nintendo showing. The only game I'm getting switch this year is probably Astral Chain
 
Not all that impressed at all with nintendo showing. The only game I'm getting switch this year is probably Astral Chain
I'm getting:

Astral Chain
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Luigi's Mansion 3
My Friend Pedro
Super Mario Maker 2
Link's Awakening

Probably forgetting some. I don't think I'll bother with Pokemon. Probably forgetting some eShop releases.
 
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D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
I'm getting:

Astral Chain
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Luigi's Mansion 3
My Friend Pedro
Super Mario Maker 2
Link's Awakening

Probably forgetting some. I don't think I'll bother with Pokemon. Probably forgetting some eShop releases.

Yeah, I'm pretty stoked about the upcoming line up after not playing my Switch lately.

Buying (no particular order):

Collection of Mana (already bought and finished Final Fantasy Adventure)
Mario Maker 2
Luigi's Mansion 3
Link's Awakening
Pokemon Sword
Fire Emblem Three Houses
Panzer Dragoon (unless it ends up a bad remake)
Animal Crossing

I'll keep an eye on Astral Chain. It looks intriguing, but I tend to not enjoy the gameplay in most Platinum games.
 
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blackjon24

Member
I'm getting:

Astral Chain
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Luigi's Mansion 3
My Friend Pedro
Super Mario Maker 2
Link's Awakening

Probably forgetting some. I don't think I'll bother with Pokemon. Probably forgetting some eShop releases.

Not really anything there for me...the games I want seems to be far away (Smt5, metroid prime 3, bayonetta and breath of the wild 2)
 
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Andyliini

Member
It was a great presentation, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Announcements in rapid succession in the main show, deep-diving gameplay in the aftershow seems to be the working solution.

I think this was even better presentation than 2014 was, that has been my favorite so far. The rest of the year feels ultra packed, as I'm planning on buying at least the following:

Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Oninaki
Collection of Mana (physical)
Astral Chain
Daemon X Machina
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition
Luigi's Mansion 3
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

Now that I write it like this, it looks even larger than before. My poor wallet.
 

-Minsc-

Member
I don't really care who wins or loses E3. Go Nintendo!! fanboy.exe Stripping out all the games and announcements, I like the core setup Nintendo has. A 45 minute video showcase followed by plenty of live gameplay demonstrations with the game developers. It dos the trick.
 
I think they've won several years in a row now. And that's interesting because they even won two years when they just brought one game.

Their Treehouse coverage is still the best. Tons of uninterrupted gameplay with interviews with developers and localizers. Tons of footage from the showfloor. 3 days worth of good content.

It hasn't really been close for a while now.

The last time Sony won, they loaded their show with multiple games that aren't even out yet. That was E3 2015, and two of those games still aren't out.
You're kidding right? Last year was the worst thing I have ever seen from Nintendo. They literally spent 30 minutes going over each smash Bros character's move set. You consider that good?
 
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