It's no secret that most of the internet was disappointed with Nintendo's E3 Media Briefing. In a talk with business newssite Forbes, Iwata openly apologizes to the core gamer expecting him to drop the bomb at E3, and reaffirms that Nintendo is not ignoring core gamers. He notes that the big titles need a long time to develop, and at their present state were not ready to be shown at last week's media briefing.
While Nintendo has done an excellent job in attracting new players to the videogame industry, it has been harshly criticized for ignoring the people who stuck with the company through the lean years. Many hardcore gamers feel the company has abandoned them.
This was apparent at the company's press conference at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Typically, Nintendo briefings are raucous affairs with frequent interruptions for applause. (Heck, I even saw one fanboy break into tears when the trailer for "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" was first shown four years ago.)
This year, though, the conference was a muted affair--and not just because E3 was a smaller event.
"If there is any perception that Nintendo is ignoring the core gamers, it's a misunderstanding and we really want to get rid of that misunderstanding by any means," says Iwata. "We are sorry about [the E3] media briefings, specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about 'Super Mario' or 'Legend of Zelda.'
"However, the fact of the matter is the so-called 'big titles' need a long, long development period. ... We really didn't think this year's E3 media briefing was the time to do so."
The Nintendo faithful have forgiven the company before--and it's likely they'll do so again. But as non-core gamers contribute more and more to the company's bottom line, their voices are likely to grow still louder.
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Just maybe, E3 is the best avenue to reach the mainstream press outlets? Also, by the sound of it, they had nothing ready to show "core-wise" at E3, aside from Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Rhythm Heaven. They did blow their load in the first half of 2008/second half of 2007, remember.
The conference in October will surely make up for the lackluster E3, just like it did last year.
And umm......October conference?????
Anyway, it's good to hear that those guys are aware of the lack of core games.
In all seriousness, Nintendo really brought out the big guns for the end of '07 and the beginning of '08. While it is still disappointing that they didn't show any big title other than Animal Crossing, it does make sense that they just simply didn't have a big title to blow out, and it is better for the game development cycle to keep things under wraps until they are ready to really show off, and not create a three year wait for games like TP.
However, this is when it would be nice if Nintendo would focus in on its third party partners, focusing there show on excellent efforts like The Conduit and Madworld, along with their own line up.
This is a pretty decent apology though. Hopefully they learned a lesson...
Doom,Far Cry,Halo,and Mass Effect are hardcore?
Pikmin,Wario,Mario,and Zelda are hardcore?
hmm...We all enjoy different things.
He still doesnt realize that we want NEW franchises, not a new Mario sports title or a rushed Zelda game.
Not that I think that Mario and Zelda suck, dont get me wrong. I just want a new franchise targeted toward the core crowd.
But, as a gamer, big videogame titles arouse me even more. I can't wait to see 'em.