Nintendo’s Not Talking To You, But Your Grandmother

Miyamoto said Nintendo used E3 as a platform for spreading the word to a broad audience based on the media present at the event, they’re not speaking to the core audience. So, if you’re a core audience gamer and you were confused on why Nintendo didn’t build their presentation to be all glitz and glamor, it’s because they weren’t talking to you.

Based on the fact that E3 is a “press event” and their looking to get out the word to the general audience, press is needed as a staging point. The audience sitting in the seat was a bit more intense in nature and have high expectations for each presentation.

With sites like gamespot streaming the event live on the Internet it’s not too hard to imagine some casual gamers and non-core-gamers may have been listening. Or, perhaps their hoping to get old school media in the form of magazines and journalists to write about their upcoming product launches.

Or, perhaps they just showed up because they’re expected to?

(Thanks, Joystiq)

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E3 Needs FanboysE3 Needs Fanboys

It’s official, E3 would be a lively show if they packed a few fanboys into the press events to cheer on their favorite brands. As Microsoft’s Peter Moore said it, “let’s invite the community. With the right planning, involving our biggest fans in E3 would bring back some of the raw passion the event has lost.” (kotaku)

The offhand comment may not go as unnoticed as those the rest of the blogging community have been making. It seems most “normal gamers” are telling the industry E3 needs more fans to liven the show, but it’s going to take “top executive” like Peter Moore and others to make it a reality.

Imagine going to a rock concern where all the fans are critics waiting to see your performance, stoned faced and unexcited. Obviously your show is going to be a little limp in comparison than a stage full of crazy fans excited to hear anything at all from you.

We’re not saying to bring in 100,000 ravaging fans, we’re just asking for a few rows of excited fanboys to help cheer everyone on. The show would be less flat if you knew you were going on stage to present information you’re fans have been waiting to hear.

E3 doesn’t have to be another Woodstock nor does it have to be an staged audition with critics waiting for you to screw up.

Nintendo Takes Yet Another Month in United StatesNintendo Takes Yet Another Month in United States

The holiday season is over, the NPD sales data for January 2008 is in and we see a common theme: Nintendo rules the show. While Sony continues to try and persuade gamers that the PlayStation 3 is in a completely different gaming category, statistic gathering companies like NPD put ’em all in one big basket.

wiifitIt makes sense for Sony to try to push themselves away from being classified with the Wii console because it makes them look bad. We’re all equal gamers here, there is no need to break into more sub-categories when only three consoles vying for top spot. Many folks (including us) criticize the slow adoption rate of Wii games, yet they steal top software sales spots as well.

  • Wii — 679,200
  • Nintendo DS — 510,800
  • Xbox 360 — 309,000
  • PlayStation 3 — 203,200
  • PlayStation Portable — 172,300
  • PlayStation 2 — 101,200

Thankfully Sony’s PlayStation 3 product took top spot on their hardware list, so that’s not so bad. Sadly, combining all Sony’s hardware still doesn’t meet the units of the Wii.

On the software sales front, Nintendo took six of the top ten positions including position’s one, two and three. Wii Fit takes number one position with an insane 777,000 units sold. The only closest product to Wii Fit was Wii Play (still!) with 415,000 units sold. Place four was held by a 360 title, Left 4 Dead sold 243,000 units.

Although many gamers haven’t turned on their Wii in ages, there is no doubt the market is red hot for Wii. At this point, we’re all wondering how long it will last — any predictions? It’s already been a long time.

Guitar Hero: On Tour – 300K Units SoldGuitar Hero: On Tour – 300K Units Sold

The little DS title Guitar Hero: On Tour arrived with a hand-held attachment for playing guitar on the go. Some reviewers found it cramped, annoying and too damn small to really feel any comfort. Other reviews found it exciting, fresh and a break from standard DS games.

Reviews aside, 300,000 people are willing to bet money that the DS title was going to rock the house. The concept hit the mark for the DS because the game system is for on the go “touch and feel” style games; Guitar Hero: On Tour is definitely a touch and feel game.

Although we’ve not played it, we’re not too surprised that 300k people purchased the title, considering the install base for the Nintendo DS device itself. With such a large install base, even if only 25% of the target audience buys into the product they’ll be rolling in the dough.

Will this inspire a Rock Band style ‘drum game’ for the future from the Activision competitors or was this nothing but a fluke?

(Thanks, GameSpot)