Topic: Nintendo Skipping PAX East 2014

[NWR_Neal]

For the first time ever, Nintendo of America will not have a presence at PAX East, which is taking place April 11 to 13.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/36940/nintendo-skipping-pax-east-2014

Nintendo of America will not have a booth or any kind of presence at PAX East 2014, a company representative confirmed to us today.

Previously, Nintendo has had a booth at every previous PAX East and most every single PAX Prime as well. At 2013's PAX Prime, the company even hosted a panel on The Wonderful 101.

While Nintendo won't be there, a few eShop-friendly indie developers will be there, including Renegade Kid and Ackk Studios.

UPDATE: Nintendo of America sent over this statement regarding this matter: "Interacting directly with our fans and letting them play our games firsthand is a key component of our approach. That doesn’t include PAX East this year, but we will offer our fans a variety of opportunities to get their hands on Nintendo products in 2014. Keep an eye on our social media pages for more information about where we’ll be and what you can play."

[CrankyTapir]

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.

[Enner]

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.

[Phil]

*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.

[suugrad]

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

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

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

[CrankyTapir]

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. 

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

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.

[marvel_moviefan_2012]

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.

[Phil]

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.

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

[ResettisCousin]

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.

[ejamer]

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


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.

[the asylum]

I wish I could say this was surprising news

Hello, no E3 show again

[Azagthoth]

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


Occam's Razor ya'll.

[Rodrigue]

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

[geckog7]

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


Occam's Razor ya'll.

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

[Phil]

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

And the condescending bullshit coming from you is much helpful.

[Phil]

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

[Shaymin]

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


Occam's Razor ya'll.

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

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.

[ymeegod]

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. 

[ShyGuy]

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

Cancel PAX East

[CrankyTapir]

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.

[Adrock]

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.

[Ian Sane]

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.

[Adrock]

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.