A month ago, Sony surprised us all by stating that they would be sitting out next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo; being the first time the developer completely skips the E3 in the event's 24-year history.
After the announcement that Sony would not attend next year's E3, people began to wonder whether the other big developers, Nintendo and Microsoft, would also decide to sit the presentation out; but both developers were quick to let fans know they will not be skipping the event.
In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo of America Chief Operating Officer Reggie Fils-Aimé stated that them, as a company, see every E3 as an opportunity to announce new, and interesting projects to the audiences; which is why these kinds of events are so important.
"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".
In recent years, and after some abysmal live presentations in the past, Nintendo has opted out of doing live presentations—focusing instead on delivering straight-to-the-point Nintendo Directs; where they only announce new projects or talk about ones that were already announced.
This isn't to say they don't attend the E3 as a whole, but that their approach has changed as the company is in the constant quest to innovate the way they reveal information to the masses.
"Our mentality has been to constantly innovate what we do and how we message at E3. We've innovated in how we utilize 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".
When strictly referring to next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Fils-Aimé explains that Nintendo attending the event is a "no-brainer", since it is important for them to interact with the consumer in a way that allows them to deliver their message effectively.
"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 this thinking. It's important to us".
Next year's E3 will be taking place from the 11th of June until the 13th of June, and Nintendo will be there giving players more information regarding already existing projects, as well as announcing new titles that will likely have fans excited for.