Did you think that Nintendo’s E3 press conference was kind of lame in comparison to Sony and Microsoft’s? If the answer is yes, then Nintendo president Satoru Iwata agrees with you.
Nintendo had some cool things to show off at their press conference at this year’s E3 – Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, to name the big names – but the conference seemed to be lacking some, I don’t know… pizazz. I’m not the only one to feel that way, of course – and in fact, one rather big name in the industry would seem to agree with me: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, to be precise.
Iwata admitted the sentiment at a first quarter financial results conference, reports GI.biz:
“Honestly speaking, none of us at Nintendo thought that our presentation at E3 was as good as it could have been,” said [Iwata]. “It is apparent that we could not fully convey the charm of our products.
“In the past, Wii Sports and Wii Fit were naturally able to convey their appeal on stage since it was something no one had ever seen or imagined before. People seemed to capture the appeal of Wii Sports instantly and although there was some initial confusion with Wii Fit, its appeal did get through to the audience afterwards.
“This year, however, with the New Super Mario Bros Wii, four people lined up with Wii remotes was not a scene that no one had ever seen.”
I have to admit, in an industry where executives seem to exist just to say how awesome their company is, it’s refreshing to see a bit of humility, especially from the man at the helm of an industry giant with a money-printing machine called the Wii. Still, Iwata gave his cloud its silver lining, saying that Nintendo had learned many lessons from their lackluster showing: “We strongly feel that we need to look into finding a better way to demonstrate the products’ appeal better at E3.”
