E3 2013 will go down in the books as the year Sony and Microsoft revealed their next gen consoles… and the reaction that was spurred by the details of those announcements. Nintendo really had its “big moment” in 2012 when the Wii U was revealed, so what does that mean for Nintendo’s presence this year, after all is said and done?
Since Nintendo opted for a smaller-scale presentation—a Nintendo Direct video, instead of a full-out stage show-style press conference—there are questions about whether Nintendo felt like it needed to hide from the other guys and keep it simple, or if that was just a way of getting their news noticed… simply by virtue of being different.
If the talk after the event has anything to show for the success or failure of Nintendo’s efforts, it certainly seems as though they got their message out—this year’s show was about showing off upcoming titles, and they did just that.
So when Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was interviewed by CNN, he emphasized this point—that Nintendo just needs to keep pushing new games out into the gaming wilderness, so that more and more people are able to experience the Wii U and the value of what it has to offer:
“Software sells hardware. The number of hardware selling and the number of people who can experience the unique attractions of the Wii U are going to increase, and thereby the knowledge and the understanding about the Wii U system shall naturally expand.”
But what about the upcoming holiday season? It’s going to be a rough one, extremely competitive, with the PS4 and the Xbox One competing for shoppers’ dollars:
“We just don’t care too much about what other companies are doing or trying to do. Our primary focus is to think about and actually carry out something which other company’s hardware can never realise. We are trying to provide consumers gaming experiences that can only be available on Nintendo platforms.”
The challenge right now? According to Iwata, it’s getting those people who don’t own a Wii U to put their hands on the system, and see the uniqueness of what the Wii U has to offer.
