Iwata: Nintendo Could Have Been Better at E3

Failed to "convey the charm of our products"

Posted by Staff
Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata
Maybe you were impressed by Nintendo's press conference at E3 this year, maybe it left you feeling a little cold. If you're in the second camp, you're in the company of Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, as well as a lot of his staff.

Speaking in a question and answer session following Nintendo's less than stellar financial results, Iwata said, "As for the media briefing at E3, of course we had many internal discussions after that. Honestly speaking, none of us at Nintendo thought that our presentation at E3 was as good as it could have been."

So... why not? "It is apparent that we could not fully convey the charm of our products. In the past, Wii Sports and Wii Fit were naturally able to convey their appeal on stage since it was something no one had ever seen or imagined before. People seemed to capture the appeal of Wii Sports instantly and although there was some initial confusion with Wii Fit, its appeal did get through to the audience afterwards", Iwata said.

"This year, however, with the New Super Mario Bros. Wii, four people lined up with Wii Remotes was not a scene that no one had ever seen. Those who actually had the chance to play understood how the game would change with four people playing simultaneously, but we could not address that fun sentiment at the media briefing."

So, what of the future? "Now we strongly feel that we need to look into finding a better way to demonstrate the products' appeal better at E3 in these times where more people are watching it online via web cast not only in the U.S. but all around the world, than the number of audience who actually watch it in the theatre. In that sense, we learned many lessons from this year's E3 show. After the media briefing, we had a domestic trade briefing in Japan. There we disclosed the black Wii console and red Nintendo DSi, which made a big buzz among game fans. It is also an important lesson for next year."

So, the message would seem to be that Mario doesn't get gamers excited, the colour of hardware does...

Source: Nintendo
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