Oh man.  This really sucks.  I always head over to the Nintendo booth the moment they open the gates.  Oh well.  I guess it's not that big of a deal seeing as how they mostly brought games with them that were already out in the stores already with one or two exceptions.  Still, this just doesn't sit right with me.

That is a wonderfully apt graphic.


It makes sense if they have nothing new to show. Mario Kart 8 is a huge question mark of whether it differs significantly from its predecessor, but I guess Nintendo thinks it wise to focus on finishing the game rather than having a new demo for public viewing.

*Needs to have some kind of presence to show they are still somewhat relevant and to get any kind of attention for them as a company in this ever Nintendo-doesn't-really-matter industry*


*Don't show up to PAX East, an event they usually do*


Yeah, Nintendo. Great move.

I wonder why. Is it expensive to have a booth there?

It's not about money, they got more than enough of that to go around right now, this is a bad sign, Nintendo has been moving away from the core gamer crowd for a while now, their new talk about QoL and now this, makes me think their days as a video game company are winding down.

It shouldn't matter if they have nothing new to show, they need good press not bad press, this is bad press

I'm not really sure that missing PAX is "bad press" for Nintendo.  The only press that would be for are the people who follow the industry closely and maybe, Nintendo thinks that those consumers have already made up their minds about the Wii U and 3DS so why go after a target market you either already have or probably won't get at this point. 

I disagree, Nintendo needs to ignite their fanbase and get those on the fence on board, they are not doing that, they need hype this is a bad sign. It doesn't matter if they have nothing to show PAX is not a video game thing it is a comic book and internet culture thing, this is for the hard cores, E3 is more mainstream but PAX is for the hard cores and shunning them is not good at this time, especially their fans. And no not everyone who follows the industry knows about the Wii U, they might now about the console but Nintendo needs to get the word out on the games and so far they are not doing that well.

I mean to say not everyone who wants a Wii U follows the industry but again PAX is a convention for the die hards and they need them on board, Nintendo has way more than 5 million die hard fans but not more than 5 million Wii U users, so there is room to grow.

I've seen a familiar version of this post elsewhere...

Fools. Give out some streetpass nonsense, some stickers, and have a bunch of LAN Mario Kart 8 on a three track mini demo. Schedule a tourny where the winner gets a trophy. If you have space, have a couple stations with DKTF, Wind Waker and Wonderful 101 demos. Not hard.

Yuck. Because this is exactly what Nintendo need: less visibility at major gaming events.
:P:


I've been trying to believe that Nintendo isn't just folding up shop with the Wii U... but they aren't making it easy. The console has been hard to recommend for a while. Now that it's got enough good games and I'm starting to drink the kool-aid that Wii U can be pretty cool, I still can't recommend it to friends and family due to lacking confidence that the console will stay on the market for a significant period.


As long as X gets released, it's all ok with me though.

I wish I could say this was surprising news

Hello, no E3 show again

Nintendo is obviously protesting because of the lack of NWR panels at Pax East.


Occam's Razor ya'll.

the sheer ignorance in these comments from people who act like they know how to "fix" nintendo is hilarious

What happened? Are there not going to be NWR panels this year?

And the condescending bullshit coming from you is much helpful.

To elaborate, mind actually explaining instead of posting said condescending bullshit?

Correct, no official NWR panels this year.

And before everyon... too late in that regard, I guess. But Sony isn't showing up this year either.

No Mario Kart 8 :(.  Not sure why since that game was supposed to launch prior to e3 but yeah any other "new" information should be saved for e3. 

Nintendo Skipping PAX East
NWR Skipping PAX East
Sony Skipping PAX East

Cancel PAX East

That update sounds like more Best Buy appearances.  I don't know about you but I'd rather be at PAX with similar-minded people like me enjoying Nintendo's presence then going to some random Best Buy.

If Nintendo schedules a Nintendo Direct around the same time, that is pretty much the same thing to me. I'm not going to PAX so some updates and announcements by any means works for me. Any time Nintendo has a Nintendo Direct, all the major gaming sites cover it anyway. Still, putting demos in the hands of journalists and other industry people would be helpful in addition to the Nintendo Directs.

Well once you've skipped fuckin' E3 you might as well skip everything else.

Though I imagine anyone attending PAX East would either already own a Wii U or would very intentionally not own one because they're familiar enough with the gaming industry to be aware of the numerous problems the Wii U has.

At E3, even if Nintendo isn't there because that would be a telling statement in itself, we'll have a good idea of the future of the Wii U.

Nintendo didn't skip E3. They had a Nintendo Direct instead of a big (usually boring) press conference. They still had a show floor presence.

They'll have something big to show, it's just likely not ready at this time so instead of PAX you'll have to wait until E3.

I will also be skipping PAX East.

Yes, they did skip E3. Holding a little private show on the same week is like saying I was at the nightclub even though I just stayed home drinking.

Skipping events like these is LAST thing Nintendo needs to be doing. Over and over again we hear Iwata going, "Please just see what wonderful things we have on the Wii U!" and then skipping events with thousands of eyes and going for dinky internet shows that nobody outside the most die-hard Nintendo fans know or care about.

If I was the man in charge of getting a sluggish system to move units, events like PAX and E3 would be my Christmas.

/infinite facepalm

Oh, hey, look. Here are a bunch of hands-on previews and off-screen videos from that E3 Nintendo skipped last year courtesy of some website.

Jebus, man... Nintendo had a booth; they just didn't have a press conference.

And Nintendo's reserved three rooms for E3 this year instead of the two they had last year.

The third room must be for Quality of Life. :B

Not holding a press conference at E3 when I'm pretty sure they had held one at every single E3 prior to that was like waving a white flag.  That was the ultimate gesture to demonstrate how irrelevant the Wii U is.  They were there but dropping the conference might as well be the same as skipping it.  Console makers have a conference, only third parties have just a booth.  Nintendo Direct ain't the same.  It's preaching to the choir.  It's an ever increasingly irrelevant Nintendo retreating further from the rest of the industry.

In regards to PAX East, what justification is there to skip the show when they've been to it numerous times?  Like not holding an E3 press conference it comes across like Nintendo is irrelevant.  Their lack of promotion suggests that even Nintendo has given up on the product.  That doesn't mean that's the case but it sure LOOKS like it.  A console that is not selling that has no marketing presence is just going to sell worse because no one wants to buy a product they assume to be a failure.

That's ridiculous and just comes off as a weak attempt at backtracking on the fact that you ran your mouth without doing a simple Google search to confirm anything. Nintendo was at E3 last year and if the floor plan was to scale, their booth was larger than Sony's. Don't act like none of this counts just because you have an ax to grind.

And really? Not having their large press conference is "the ultimate gesture" to demonstrate irrelevance? You, sir, certainly have a flair for the dramatic. If Nintendo was waiving the white flag, they wouldn't even have been at E3 at all. All those industry people got to demo new and upcoming Nintendo titles which is the entire point of E3.

Gamers think E3 is for them which it isn't. And a press conference is named after exactly who the audience is. Nintendo still held smaller, private E3 events for press and distributors. Nintendo had a Nintendo Direct for us. The Nintendo Directs are preaching to the choir, but Nintendo still addressed the people who attend E3. All Nintendo did was focus their message for press/distributors and then for gamers which makes sense. Us gamers sitting in front of our computer screens didn't have to sit through the fluff that typically makes up most of the press conferences.

Does there need to be one? Apple stopped attending the Mac World Expo like five or six years ago. Nintendo Space World is a distant memory. If you still want to make a big deal over this, keep in mind that Sony isn't attending PAX East this year either.

It doesnt seem like Nintendo thinks they need to fix anything. They just keep making stupid decision after stupid decision. I sold my Wii u launch console for a VITA and couldnt be happier! Maybe Ill get a Wii u again at the end of its life cycle. Which will probably be soon.

Wrong, Nintendo already admitted Wii U is a failure and needs fixing they just haven't done anything major yet to instil confidence that they are actually trying to fix it.


Also I have every right to bitch about the damn machine all I want, I have owned every fucking machine that company has ever made, I have NOT bought a Wii U and I am not interested in a Wii U. They don't have to exactly cater to my specific needs but they do need to listen to the collective voice of others like me who keep having the same issues.  The problem is there are less than 6 million Wii U units sold, there should be at least 9 million sold by now. As it stands the Wii U is not even living up to Game Cubes numbers it's looking closer to Saturn, which is not good.


Wii U has many problems lack of games is a big one but that alone is NOT the only problem that needs fixing. I can concede that there won't be the same level of 3rd party support as was hoped, they blew that and there is nothing they can do now to regain third parties, period end of discussion. BUT there are other issues they can fix that could bring more people who are either on the fence, or have written it off, people like me who should want one but just can't find the justification at it's current state.


Why do I care? Because I actually do love Nintendo and want them to make GAMES forever. I do not give a shit if they make money unless that money comes from and is invested in video games. I am not a share holder so I don't give a flying fuck how much money they have in the bank that means shit to me unless they are willing to spend it to make their machine worth buying.


The same lame argument gets tossed out, people buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games, which is true but BUT that does not mean we have to A) buy EVERY game they make just for the fuck of it, and B) if they aren't making the games we want then there is no reason to have faith in them, and C) there does need to be more than just Nintendo games because  some of us ALSO like varied experiences and no I am not talking multiplatform titles I am talking 3rd party exclusives that fit the Nintendo profile, something every previous console did well but so far the most Wii U has that fits the profile is Zombie U, a game that was not well received and isn't likely to get a follow up.


So when I voice my views on what I want them to do to make the machine interesting to me, and it just happens to be in line with what a lot of others are asking for, then maybe, just maybe Nintendo SHOULD actually listen because hello those are potential buyers they are ignoring. Right now they are getting real hate not just normal anti-Nintendo biased hate they always get their FANS< YES I count I am a fan so I can say this, their fans are getting tired of their shit, so they have a few cheerleaders left who don't care because they just buy everything Nintendo makes, good for you if that is what you enjoy but the reality is their portfolio is diverse enough they actually do attract, or at least used to attract, a wide array of gamers, now they all they have left are the cheerleaders who will buy their product no matter what, and guess what those numbers are not enough. They can't stay in business forever on diminishing returns that is why they are changing their approach and so far it's not working.


Either way you look at it, ignoring the hard core gamers, the people who live for gaming is a bad idea, and this notion that they already have that market locked in is bullshit as I can read plenty of others on here who express their disinsterest in the console also, people who bought their past consoles and enjoyed them, so there is still a segment of their CORE base that is not won over yet and doing stuff like this is not giving us much confidence to invest in their product that for all we know could be discontinued in a year or so. There is evidence that suggests Nintendo might be ready to drop Wii U in a heatbeat if they can figure out what to do next, they did it with GBA to DS, if they see a greener pasture that makes them money but shifts their focus away from US, why should we so good for them at least they have money in the bank? What kind of bull shit is that? You know why they have that money in the bank, gamers like me PUT IT THERE!

Maybe 20 years ago that was true, but I'd say it's a stretch to say that's true now.  There's a reason they're broadcast on TV, that every website live blogs/tweets them, and the companies put so much effort into the presentation.  The press is still definitely a large part of the audience (the lack of coverage on non-Nintendo sites last year seems to suggest that without a press conference Nintendo was largely ignored by some) but the companies know that the consumers are getting the information directly now, too, and they're a large part of the audience as well.