poor quarterly report, canceled E3 showing...

[onlysublime]

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-wont-be-having-an-e3-press-conference-this-ye-480309870

 

excerpts:

 

Since the dawn of time, E3 has been for many people about one thing. Well, three. The three major press conferences from each platform holder.

 

This year, there won't be three. Nintendo is sitting this one out.

 

Citing the success of its Nintendo Direct events, and a desire to focus its presentations for different sections of the market, boss Satoru Iwata has said at today's investor Q&A that the company will instead hold a number of smaller events, such as one for distributors and one for Western press, which will be behind closed doors.

 

 

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/24/nintendo-profit-misses-analyst-estimates-on-wii-u-software-delays/

 

excerpts:

 

Although Nintendo was able to swing back to profits for the 2012 fiscal year ended March 31, the company ended up recording only half of its previously forecasted income.

 

Nintendo said a favorable exchange rate from a depreciated yen helped the company out of the red, as the Japanese company exported goods to regions with stronger currency. While the company was able to record a net profit thanks to a favorable exchange rate, operating loss -- which is a better indicator of a company's core operations -- was 36.4 billion yen ($366.0 million) as a result of the negative impact of the Nintendo Wii U launch.

 

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, the company posted revenues of 635.4 billion yen ($6.4 billion), down 1.9 percent year-over-year, and profits of 7.1 billion yen ($71.4 million), compared to losses of 43.2 billion yen ($434.5 million) year-over-year. Nintendo said a favorable exchange rate from a depreciated yen helped the company out of the red, as the Japanese company exported goods to regions with stronger currency.

 

Notably, these figures missed Nintendo's previous forecast for the year, with revenue down 5.2 percent compared to what the company had estimated, and profits down 49.3 percent, from the previously projected 14 billion yen ($140.7 million).

 

Nintendo posted its second straight annual operating loss, reporting 36.4 billion yen ($366.0 million) of red ink for the fiscal year ended March.

 

Overall, the Nintendo 3DS sold 13.95 million hardware units worldwide during the 2012 fiscal year, meaning that the total number of 3DS handhelds sold is now 31.09 million, and that the handheld sold 1.24 million units in the fourth and final quarter.

 

This also means that Nintendo failed to miss its sales projection of 15 million for the console, despite cutting the estimate down earlier this year.

As for the Nintendo Wii U, the publisher says that New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land have sold 2.15 million units and 2.6 million units respectively.

 

The Wii U console has sold 3.45 million hardware units worldwide -- again missing its previous forecast of 4 million units sold for this fiscal year, and down significantly from its original forecast of 5.5 million units sold. This means that just 390,000 Wii U units were sold in the last quarter.

[MagitekAngel]

E3 got progressively more bloated every year until they cancelled it. Then they brought it back on a smaller scale. Now it is getting progressively more bloated, until inevitably...

[xg4bx]

I'd rather they invest the money wisely than waste it on overblown stage shows and celebrities that nobody gives a rats ass about. Those Nintendo directs are fun, they get me far more hyped than any E3 ever has.

[+Gemintronic]

I'd rather they invest the money wisely than waste it on overblown stage shows and celebrities that nobody gives a rats ass about. Those Nintendo directs are fun, they get me far more hyped than any E3 ever has.

 

The E3 IS the hype. People pretending to be journalists get to roam about and compare companies offerings. Now the big N wants closed doors and NDAs. There's no competition only force fed announcements.

[onlysublime]

I love E3! It was one of the most fun experiences. I got a bunch of free goodies. some really good looking models (who said booth babes are dead?). lots of great pics and vids taken. the funny part is playing games is the hardest part because all the games you really want to play have insanely long lines.

 

I can't believe it's been almost a year now. time sure flies.

 

I will miss the Nintendo booth. last year's was fantastic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, E3 is very expensive. but it does bring a lot of publicity and generates a lot of good will among the press and the gamers that attend it. and like they say, that kind of good will is priceless.

Edited April 25, 2013 by onlysublime

[Pixelboy]

In the internet age in which we live, E3 is a throw-back at best.

[Mendon]

I read a couple stories this morning, including a link to Forbes, and the debate is raging on whether this news of a no major presentation at E3 by Nintendo is a smart move to better promote the 3DS & Wii U or its simply a move by Nintendo because they have nothing major to really show to fill up the presentation time.

 

But the show isn't what it used to be, as neither Sony and MS bothered to wait for E3 to announce and present their new systems.

[Mendon]

After viewing the following video, I realized I'm going to miss a big presentation by Nintendo at E3. Watching a Nintendo Direct video isn't the same as hearing a crowd roar and applaud as they did at this Zelda presentation in 2004. Even 9 years later I can still feel the excitement.

 

http://youtu.be/6pB647PE-80

[godslabrat]

This isn't that unexpected in this day and age. A year or two ago, Apple pulled out of MacWorld, stating that it was just easier for them to do product announcements on their schedule rather than wait for some third-party event. It's hard to argue with that logic, and Apple's doing just fine.

 

Nintendo might just be deciding to cut a lot of the bloat from their budget. If so, the rest of the industry could follow their lead.

[onlysublime]

Macworld got canceled because iOS is their breadwinner. MacOS is a vestigial remnant.