Dvader said:

Fuck you Nintendo. E3 sucks now.

I don't see the problem. Nintendo's E3 Keynotes almost always suck anyway.

For example:

Yeah, less of that is a very good thing,

Guys, you have to listen back to when we were all so innocent.

Nintendo E3 coverage from the press room podcast.

Dvader said:

I might actually use miiverse now since I never turn on my Wii U. I see GG is all over that thing.

Cause I actually use it.

Seriously, guys, get Lego City.

Ravenprose said:

So, I got home from work tonight, and decided to verify my checking account. Turns out I have $1,200 missing. Someone cashed a check in that amount, which I most certainly did not authorize. It's still pending, and my bank claims they can't do anything until it clears. Gee thanks. I'm hoping it's just a teller fuck up, and not someone trying to cash a fraudulent check..

The hell?! Someone jacked my brothers account, a German, for plane tickets. Thanksfully it's never happened to me. Oh wait, your own dad screwed you over sounds like my dad.

SteelAttack said:

Then I am horribly dead inside.

Hey you liked Mario Galaxy and Animal Crossing. Now if we could only get you to play Zelda and Metroid you'd be IN.

Dvader said:

Fuck you Nintendo. E3 sucks now.

Da fuck just happened?! Nintendo Direct killed E3? I like Nintendo Direct but I doubt the gaming masses out there who don't visit forums are stuck voraciously to the live streams like we are. I suppose the news does then get repeated by all the media outlets so it does it's job. Still, the stage show is a tradition, it's about showmanship and dick measuring between the platform holders. Nintendo has essentially once again zagged.

I don't know what it's like in your country but here the marketing and distribution has been one huge clusterfuck with Wii U and 3DS compared to the Wii and DS. With the Wii and DS Nintendo actually advertised on mainstream channels and uncommon ones, appealing to the whole country at large. They acheived these long tail selling games with that approach and raised awareness. Now the marketing is back to the GC days, where they only put commercials on the kids channels. And you can barely find any U games in stores, maybe 1 game per store and no point of sale material or demo units.

Anyhow I got Fire Emblem, played the first two missions last night, same as the demo really but with an additional intro and a bit more dialogue, some repositioning of the tutorials.

Love the 3D effect. I don't know why there is this pessimism about 3D, it's a great feature. Here the buildings all pop out and it looks like you are looking at a little game board inside the screen. Everything just pops and seems more tangible, more real. Don't know why Sony and Nintendo are playing down 3D, I wish everything was 3D. Once again they have chosed rendered 3D game characters for the battle scenes - ugh I wish they would just stick with high resolution 2D attack animations. Love the first person view though.

Everything else seems like standard Fire Emblem but with higher production values, the cutscenes look excellent, title screens are glossy and glittering - the music.... fully orchestrated??

Controls are fine but after touch screen Advance wars I can't help but feel that it's a step back in control, wish they had put a 2D touch screen map on the bottom screen I could use for movement and selection. Seems like a great game though.

Made me think about my history with FE, I have only completed one game in the series, Path of Radiance. The first gba game I got to the final mission only to have mislevelled lead characters - that's a common problem and the games fault. With Sacred stones first time I played it I got to the mountain level with multiple wyverns and just stopped - for no particular reason. Second time playing Sacred Stones I got to the last level and instead decided to go and pump up my characters in the towers, then forgot about it.

And Radiant Dawn, despite loving it I must have got caught up playing something else. Guess I should complete sacred stones first, that would be easier.

Dang, you can log into Miiverse PC and save your Wii U grabbed ingame screenshots and post them elsewhere.

These are from GAF

Nintendoland actually has very nice graphics, the trophies in particular

Now you can see why Lego City is fun.

aspro said:

edgecrusher said:

aspro said:

HBGG:

You guys probably don't realise this, but this is actually the first cutscene of Zelda in the new Wii U entry of the franchise.

Finally, A mature Zelda game!

_Bear said:

ummmm That girl in video has a rather large bulge NOT HOT

Isn't that Yolande Visser the girl in my avatar?

I think she's rather hot

robio said:

I'd like to say I'm sad that Nintendo won't be at E3 but after last year's E3 I really don't give a fuck. The whole thing was awful last year and while this could be a sign that Nintendo is confused at what the hell they should be do doing, it's also a fair sign that they realize E3 doesn't mean what it once did and not doing a presentation really doesn't change a thing.

In terms of perception it feels like they've given up when others are going to have these swanky stage shows. But they are right on the other hand that stuff like the Nintendo Direct where they announced Wind Waker and X, do the job just as well. And even the recent 3DS one, afterwards they let the press go hands on. So even though it's not on stage you still get the info out. I still think it hurts them perception wise.

More Miiverse screenies from GAF

Checking out Miiverse on the internet via PC.

I don't like it, it works fine and all but it's just missing the personality from the U version. Everything is sort of smaller.

So Nintendo isn't having an E3 event...big fucking deal. The games are still going to be announced & playable so why should I care that I don't have to watch Iwata try to speak English while I wish that Reggie COULDN'T speak English all the while watching a bunch of crap infomercials up on the jumbotron just so an hour later they can say "enjoy the games on the floor"?

edgecrusher said:

So Nintendo isn't having an E3 event...big fucking deal. The games are still going to be announced & playable so why should I care that I don't have to watch Iwata try to speak English while I wish that Reggie COULDN'T speak English all the while watching a bunch of crap infomercials up on the jumbotron just so an hour later they can say "enjoy the games on the floor"?

Cause it's a tradition.

Cause it's fun.

It's a stageshow. You sit down and wonder what will happen and if there will be flops or stunners. And sometimes you can tell if there is going to be good support from partners depending on who is on stage.

Nice, when analysts talk sense. Pachter is notably missing from this discussion.

Nintendo "forgot Marketing 101" for Wii U

We speak to analysts about Nintendo's recent fiscal report and the company's move to give Iwata the additional role of North American CEO

Nintendo of America

Nintendo's recent fiscal report revealed shockingly poor sales for the Wii U console, and while the company did turn a profit, it once again failed to hit estimates. On top of that, the company decided to hand over the North American reins to Satoru Iwata, giving him the additional responsibility of Nintendo of America CEO. What does it all mean for Nintendo, and can Wii U bounce back? GamesIndustry International chatted with several leading analysts to get their takes.

"Nintendo of America's performance the past couple years has been a disaster on almost every level. Much of this was due to lack of execution on basic stuff like product marketing," said David Cole of DFC Intelligence. "They forgot Marketing 101 for the Wii U and no product could have done well without basic marketing support. Clearly a change in execution was long overdue. The damage done is enormous but there is the possibility of a turnaround. The fact is that the general public is not really aware the Wii U even exists so it is an opportunity to almost start from scratch."

Indeed, Nintendo need only look to its 3DS strategy as an example of how the company could potentially fix the Wii U, said Asif A. Khan, CFO of Virtue LLC.

"I still believe Wii U will outsell past flops like the Gamecube, and Nintendo's brands will retain their value for decades to come"

Asif A. Khan

"I believe that 3DS offers a perfect template for how Wii U could succeed in the future," he said. "Nintendo had an equally poor 3DS launch lineup as we have seen with the Wii U. One thing that holds true for most systems they have made, software moves the hardware. Nintendoland was not as compelling and groundbreaking as Wii Sports was in 2006. The wow factor of the Wii U is very hard to advertise on television and with no robust third-party exclusives, the system's launch can definitely be characterized as a flop. This does not mean that the company is going to die."

"Nintendo is projecting a huge 674 percent increase in net income year-over-year and the bar is incredibly low going forward with the last two years being some of the worst financial performances in the company's history. What has given life to the 3DS in recent months is the introduction of high quality first party titles and I believe we will see the same process play out for the Wii U," Khan continued.

"Nintendo's biggest problem right now is balancing quality with quantity of games. It takes time to make high quality games, and they clearly don't want to overspend on this console cycle. This painstakingly slow approach to software development is why the company is still standing today after past weak console cycles. I still believe Wii U will outsell past flops like the Gamecube, and Nintendo's brands will retain their value for decades to come."

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich shares Khan's optimism for Nintendo. "Nintendo expects to sell an additional 9 million Wii U units this fiscal year, which is a positive sign for the hardware. While the past quarter numbers have raised eyebrows, Nintendo's confidence in next year does indicate they likely have a few promotional/marketing programs in the pipeline, along with the strong likelihood of stellar content we've yet to see," he said. "We know Nintendo has been in this position before with the 3DS and they were ultimately able to regain consumer confidence and wallet share. We've yet to see the best Nintendo has to offer for the Wii U. I am reserving long-term judgment on the Wii U until we see stronger first party content released. If a new Super Mario, Smash Brothers, Pikmin or Zelda game are unable to revitalize sales, then I'd begin to be concerned."

Clearly, action is needed to turn things around, and with Iwata now helming Nintendo of America as well, it may be easier to push out a more unified global strategy.

"Nintendo's historically central role in gaming could be permanently diminished if it doesn't execute better in the US in the next 12 months"

Lewis Ward

"The shift in structure likely speaks to a desire to bring Nintendo's Japanese and American operations closer, consolidate its strategic efforts and maximize the opportunities available to the company on a global level," said Scott Steinberg, CEO of consulting firm TechSavvy Global. "With one foot in America and one in Japan, Iwata's leadership may be able to better bridge the gap between audiences and markets, and ensure that the company continues to innovate and deliver high-quality content that appeals to all. The key to rebounding is focus, differentiation, and ability to communicate value - hopefully, Iwata will be uniquely poised and able to draw on the best of both worlds to achieve this goal."

IDC Research Manager Lewis Ward added, "I think Mr. Iwata understands that for Nintendo to grow overall in 2013 and 2014 that business has to bounce back in the US in particular. It's been here where the drop in Wii sales was sharpest in recent years and where iPhones and iPads and so forth have put serious pressure on the 3DS. I read this change in role as a signal that Nintendo's board will keep an exceptionally close eye on US trends in the coming quarters, and will do everything possible to boost Wii U and 3DS performance in the US."

"Nintendo will get a little leaner and meaner in 2013. The salad days of the Wii and DS family are gone and it could very well be that Nintendo's historically central role in gaming could be permanently diminished if it doesn't execute better in the US in the next 12 months."

Even if Nintendo does execute better in the next 12 months, it's going to be facing an incredibly competitive market as new consoles from Microsoft and Sony will likely be on store shelves, noted Billy Pidgeon, an independent analyst who previously worked at Inside Network, M2 Research and IDC. Pidgeon believes "Nintendo's FY 2014 forecasts for Wii U and 3DS are very aggressive relative to sector potential" and he also cautions that "ninth generation will be selling in more slowly across all vendors in comparison with the eighth generation as the console business has changed fundamentally."

It's hard to judge currently what sales volume ninth generation consoles will achieve, but it's ultimately important to keep in mind that Nintendo doesn't need to dominate any "console wars" to be successful. The company has a track record of being profitable, and if you're an investor, that's immensely appealing.

"I got quite a laugh this morning when I read the headline that Nintendo missed their profit expectations. The real headline to me is that Nintendo has returned to profitability," remarked Khan. "Considering many folks in the industry claim that this company is on a colossal death spiral, a weakening yen and new compelling software may prove bears wrong yet again. When the stock market prices a company for death and they don't die, there is usually a lot of upside to being a contrarian."

edgecrusher said:

Meh