With PlayStation not attending E3 next year, questions have come up regarding the relevancy of the trade show. In an interview with IGN, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime talks about attending E3 next year and the show’s importance.
Nintendo On Attending E3
“E3, those five days, is the opportunity for the world to find out what’s new for video games as entertainment. And during that time, we generate more engagement than…whether it’s CES or Comic-Con, or other big entertainment events. People tune in to find out what’s new and to have first playable experiences for our industry. That’s why E3 is important to Nintendo.”
On How They’ve Changed Their Approach to E3
“Our mentality has been to constantly innovate what we do and what we message at E3. We’ve innovated in how we use our booth space, to create a little piece of Hyrule or to create a little piece of the environment in Super Mario Odyssey, as examples. We innovate in how we deliver our messaging, whether it was the big stage productions or whether it’s the Direct communications that we do today.”
“And so everyone’s watching, we drive innovation, we leverage the elements, so for us it’s a very effective opportunity to deliver our message, and therefore it’s a bit of a no-brainer for us to participate. Now, what’s important as an industry, though, is that E3 in total continues to innovate and it continues to be that leading opportunity to drive consumer engagement in this way. So that’s why we participate. That’s why I sit on the board of the ESA and help drive some of the thinking. It’s important for us.
On Choosing What to Announce
“Broadly speaking, we like to talk about games that are closer. Typically, for example, at E3, we’ll focus on content maybe extending into the first or second calendar quarter following E3. That is typically our horizon. We believe that works because it’s close enough that the fans can be excited and look forward to it. And when we do have an expectation and do something different, we’re doing for very specific reasons.”
“Maybe we have two experiences within a particular franchise, and we know that one might be maybe a nontraditional representation of that franchise. Or maybe then it’s important for us to frame that the more traditional visualization of that franchise is coming. ‘Fans, don’t worry, but here’s something different to tide you over in the meantime.’ So that’s how we think about it, and how we approach our consumer communication. We want to be near-end. We want to deliver the news when it’s most meaningful. We don’t want to be so far out that the consumer either loses interest or worse, gets frustrated.”
What do you think of Reggie’s comments regarding E3? Would you rather have games announced and released in the same year? Let us know in the comments section below. For more Nintendo news, keep it locked to VGR.