Nintendo E3 2014: Why Wasn’t It Live? Reggie Fils-Aime Explains

The Nintendo E3 2014 show certainly wasn’t live like those of Sony and Microsoft. With all of the tons of announcements in the gaming world, Nintendo once again bowed out of having a physical presence much like last year. It wasn’t because of a lack of news though.

They had a lot to reveal, like the updated roster for Super Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS, as well as Mario Maker and the new Zelda title Hyrule Warriors. Nintendo didn’t appear to be hiding anything, but instead drew a large amount of praise for its redoubled efforts on Wii U games.

Why wasn’t Nintendo’s E3 2014 show live like the others? Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says it all comes down to simple communication:

“The environment is completely changed. More and more people are looking to tune in to an event; more and more people are looking for the full entertainment value of an event.

“Couple that with the fact that so [many] of our developers are Japanese, so having them explain the game directly is a little bit more challenging. We can do it in this type of environment. but to do it from a big stage is a little challenging.”

Reggie Fils-Aime continued to explain about how the Nintendo E3 2014 audience was actually larger due to the digital event:

“So for us, we think the best way to bring our message to the fans, to the larger community, is to create an event, to create something that we believe has all of the little Nintendo magic and pixie dust, and communicate that directly.

“Through social media, we know exactly what people are saying. We know exactly what they’re feeling and how they’re responding to the message candidly, much more directly than we do when we’re present only to about 3,500 people. So for us, it really is a win-win.”

As we recover from the barrage of information that one of gaming’s biggest events of the year had to offer, the week is coming to a close and we must look to the future. Could the Nintendo E3 2014 online show have made enough of a difference to change the public’s opinion about the Nintendo Wii U?

We will only know with time. If the overall reaction to the new Zelda and Wii U exclusive title Devil’s Third can boost the failing console even further after Mario Kart 8, Nintendo could be looking at a turnaround to rival even the Xbox One after its last Nintendo Direct webcast.

What did you think of the online Nintendo E3 2014 show?

[image via Bing/Nintendoblast]