Miyamoto says Nintendo not targeting core with E3

by Justin McElroy { Jul 18th 2008 at 11:50PM }

That niggling feeling in the back of your head that Nintendo wasn't talking to you with their E3 press conference? Good news: It wasn't your imagination! Straight from the mouth of Shigeru Miyamoto, the company says that they're not using E3 to speak to the core gamer anymore. Yeah, thanks Shiggy, we pieced it together.

What, you ask, are they using E3 for? Well Miyamoto describes it as "an opportunity for [them] to introduce new concepts and new types of play that [they] intend to bring to the broader audience, particularly because of the media that gathers at E3 now." So, there you have it. Hey ... does that mean that we don't have to go anymore?

[Thanks a ton, Ridgecity!]

Tags: e3-2008, nintendo, shigeru-miyamoto

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

WiiFTW @ Jul 18th 2008 11:55PM

"particularly because of the media that gathers at E3 now"

You mean the media that used to gather at E3 before you guys decided to not put money into E3?

Poor show, Ninty.

Shaq-Fu @ Jul 19th 2008 3:21AM

There's also a lot more people like NewsWeek, and New York Times. They don't care about hitting the target, they just need to write up a few sentences about how colorful and purty the games look.

BananaBoat @ Jul 19th 2008 4:44AM

It hurt when all I had was the sense that Nintendo no longer cared about me. To hear it from the mouth of Miyamoto makes me cry Banana tears.

Kye - WiiDSixty DF @ Jul 19th 2008 9:42AM

Oh now look what he done.

Fernando's crying his little eyes out and everything.

samfish @ Jul 19th 2008 1:54PM

"To hear it from the mouth of Miyamoto makes me cry Banana tears."

Then maybe Joystiq should post the rest of Miyamoto's quote so you can dry your tears:

"So while attending an E3 event like this, they might be given the impression that Nintendo is no longer focusing on the games that appeal to the core gamer, in fact we’re still working on many of those titles, but it’s just not the type of event where we’ll be showcasing that anymore."

4MyFriends @ Jul 19th 2008 3:24PM

I'm honestly getting real sick and tired of all these blatantly obvious flamebait articles and blog entries. Yes we know you guys was upset Nintendo doesn't give a fuck about E3 anymore, it still doesn't mean they have "abandoned" us.

If you guys want to bitch, at least bitch correctly, bitch about them abandoning E3 instead of abandoning us.

Josh @ Jul 19th 2008 3:41PM

I'm thinking we'll see more around TGS.

Josh @ Jul 19th 2008 3:55PM

I'm thinking we'll see more around TGS.

deaftly @ Jul 19th 2008 4:43PM

http://nintendoe32008.ytmnd.com/

BananaBoat @ Jul 19th 2008 5:26PM

My point stands. They don't care anymore, but they realize that there is atleast a few bucks to be made from continued Zelda and Mario releases. If you look at some of the other interviews with Miyamoto, he says such worrisome things as "we're trying to make our core games more accessible to casual gamers" (not verbatim, just a paraphrase). If the next Zelda has mii support....so help me....

Even if they are still making those games, their main focus and the large share of their effort is now going into creating casual games. It's like the divorced parents of a kid, who lives with his mom (I have no experience with this). Oh sure, the dad comes to visit every now and again, and you get two Christmases, but the rest of the year he doesn't care about you at all. I think this abandonment by Nintendo will leave the NDF emotionally scarred.

samfish @ Jul 19th 2008 9:33PM

"If you look at some of the other interviews with Miyamoto, he says such worrisome things as "we're trying to make our core games more accessible to casual gamers" (not verbatim, just a paraphrase). If the next Zelda has mii support....so help me...."

Miyamoto also said that Mario Galaxy was made to be more accessible to casual gamers...and I don't think I need to point out how great that turned out.
So if they want to apply that philosophy to their other core games, as long as they're more like Galaxy than not, I don't personally mind it.

Lord Bowser @ Jul 20th 2008 10:12AM

The only people who whine about casuals and hardcores are morons. The difficulty of something does not determine its fun. People who whine about casual games have some inferiority complex and must prove they are the best at something horribly difficult.

Moffka @ Jul 18th 2008 11:55PM

Haha... oh wow.

theturtle363 @ Jul 18th 2008 11:55PM

Proof that Nintendo cares less and less about its loyal fans every year

007craft @ Jul 19th 2008 2:08AM

the loyal fans buy mario, zelda and metroid (good games). The casual everyday gamer buys wii music, wii fit, every add on device, and crappy shovelware

Due to this, Nintendo makes more money off the average idiot then the loyal fan. Therefore, they dont care anymore about their loyal fans.

I used to be the biggest nintendo fan. the nes, snes and n64 were my bibles. The gamecube, despite its shortcomings, I forced myself to like it. I played any good games that were worth it and even after the game died (only 2 years in) I still played it. But then I finally bought an xbox (for halo 2 of course) and M@'s system reminded me of the pure fun I use to have with the n64, except now I could go online since im older and dont really game locally anymore with friends. Then the 360 just made it even better, while the wii skewed even further off track then the gamecube.

I didnt buy a wii (my brother owns one but i dont play it (niether does he lol). I wont be buying nintendos next system unless they get their act together. Im not a casual gamer, Just because im outnumbered, doesnt mean i should be ignored by nintendo. They need to stop with this innovative shovleware crap.

If wii2 comes out and they ditch motion controls, throw me a controler (not remote), give me high resolution (I own a hdtv now), put in some proper online and start pumping out the old school mario titles, im in.

But if I get some sort of touchscreen motion sensitve glove with detachment goggles that I need to blow into while jumping in my Nintenshoes, count me out.

SIG @ Jul 19th 2008 2:58AM

I wouldn't think so. I'd say their big title announcements will be at Lepzig.

Foetoid @ Jul 19th 2008 4:01AM

@ 007Craft

What the? The Wii may be loaded with shovelware, but none of it comes from Nintendo themselves. You want the magic of a good Mario game like they used to, but you havent finished Mario Galaxy? I have owned every Nintendo console ever and each generation, including now, they impressed me. I'm a picky hardcore gamer who doesnt buy mini-game compilations or shovelware and i still managed to find 11 excellent Wii games to buy, and i havent bought Mario Galaxy, SSBB, No More Heroes, Battalion Wars or Mario Kart. I've also got 12 GC games (all A+) and 12 VC Games (with 1 WiiWare game). Thats a total of 36 games i own that i can play on the Wii, each of them an excellent example of the great games that have come out on Nintendo systems. I really don't understand how people can diss the Wii when a picky hardcore gamer like myself can find 36 games to play which doesn't include the excellent games i listed above. Nintendo havent abandoned thier core audience, or i'd have no games at all. All they've done is taken thier existing franchises and improved them with the motion controls. Yes i know a lot of Wii games don't use the motion controls properly and it damages the games playability. The games that DO use it properly have much MORE replayability than they would have had with traditional controls. They just play a lot better. Finish Metroid Prime 3 and you'll see i'm right.

Riod @ Jul 19th 2008 4:52AM

God, I am so tired of all the bitching everyone does about Nintendo "abandoning" them...

So, Nintendo had a pretty slow presentation. While that may be true, which groundbreaking news did Sony or Microsoft bring?.. Truth is, E3 just isn't what it used to be, period. And the best thing Nintendo can use it for is to attract people that don't follow gaming news. And don't tell me that casuals aren't even aware about E3 - even if they don't, the media outlets they follow are.

Now, to the hardcore vs. casual BS. First of all, it's dumb to eulogize Nintendo for having one bad show. And don't give me the condescending "it wasn't bad, it was just aimed elsewhere" nonsense Penny Arcade believe in. Animal Crossing, Wii MotionPlus, WiiSpeak, Wii Music, and Wario World. That's pretty much all they had in store. Animal Crossing may not be what you'd define as "hardcore" but it's definitely not casual either; MotionPlus has as much potential to change "serious" games as it does casual ones, and Wii Sports Resort is really more a tech demo than a "casual game"; voice chat is something all you a-holes have been bitching about for ages; and Wario World is definitely a "core gamer" game - one that hasn't been given nearly enough attention, IMO. So the one truely casual "feature" we have left is Wii Music. And that's a game we already new was coming.

Miyamoto confirmed that the Zelda, Mario, and Pikmin teams are at work. Kid Icarus, while not mentioned in this conference, is also almost certanily being developed. And may I remind you that Fatal Frame IV is published by Nintendo. What more do you want?

What Nintendo obviously believes in is that the marketing money is better spent at people who won't anyway read game reviews and follow previews. What you're obviously immature enough to want is for Nintendo to waste their time and resources on making trailers and "concept art" so you won't feel left out.

Willozap @ Jul 19th 2008 5:33AM

@007craft - you didn't buy a Wii, but you still want Nintendo to cater to you? Geez, demanding!

FSK405K @ Jul 19th 2008 5:38AM

007craft, you've got such a perfect response! My thought exactly, although I was stuck in Gamecube land even longer....

I didn't get my first Sony device until Guitar Hero came out, and didn't get my first MS device until Dead Rising and Gears of War were both out.

Bought a Wii on day 1, loved Zelda, hated friend codes, gave the system to my neices and nephews.

FSK405K @ Jul 19th 2008 5:42AM

Riod, Nintendo's voice chat is about as an appalling way to meet that request as possible. A conference call microphone, really? Where would I possibly put it that you could hear me talking instead of the game sounds? Maybe I should tie it around my neck?

Riod @ Jul 19th 2008 6:05AM

@FSK405K
Did you think of maybe waiting to try the device before deciding it doesn't work?..
(Do you seriously think Nintendo would release a device as bad as you describe? Plus, it's pretty much the same idea as the PlayStation Eye's microphone, which reportedly works great)

Foetoid @ Jul 19th 2008 6:22AM

@ FSK405K

Another friend codes hater. As far as i know (and i DO know) every online game on the Wii still has random matchups per region and other bits and pieces to circumvent friend codes. You only need friendcodes to play against a friend. WAIT! Isn't Gamertags the same thing?

Kye - WiiDSixty DF @ Jul 19th 2008 6:54AM

007 I'm behind you!

+1

Markez (MKWii 4339-2878-5120) @ Jul 19th 2008 10:26AM

@ 007

"Due to this, Nintendo makes more money off the average idiot then the loyal fan." Nice elitist statement there. Heaven forbid the market expand, but I guess if a gamer isn't as HARDCORE AND EXTREME than you that they're just an average idiot. Yeah, it sure pisses me off that stupid idiots not as schweet and serious a gamer as me dare buy a console, they're idiots.

You're comments are typically full of waaahh waaah waaahhh.

Noshino @ Jul 19th 2008 11:08AM

"Nice elitist statement there. Heaven forbid the market expand"

Im all for expansion of the video game industry, but at what cost Nintendo? leaving the hardcore behind not only by not ALSO focusing on them but, in an attempt to make their games more accessible, screw up the mechanics that once were considered hardcore by fans? Fuck no

JAY JAY @ Jul 19th 2008 12:11PM

Dude, that's with every corporation.

theturtle363 @ Jul 19th 2008 2:21PM

I know i started this reply chain but TLDR

FSK405K @ Jul 19th 2008 5:33PM

@Foetoid

Are there any games where you can make friends with someone you meet on random match, to exchange friend codes with them while you play? Any way to communicate with someone that you're randomly matched against, either ingame or immediately after? If none of these, then there's not much point in trying to be a social gamer, like on XBL or PSN.

RoboChamp @ Jul 18th 2008 11:56PM

Best pic ever.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 19th 2008 12:03AM

lol i agree. didnt notice the joke at first but yes, that pic wins the internets.

Jakka @ Jul 19th 2008 12:12PM

I don't get it :'(

Pedobear @ Jul 19th 2008 6:33PM

If you ignore the fingers saying ignore, he is fingering you.

Ignatius @ Jul 19th 2008 7:55PM

Don't you mean giving you the finger?

... O.o;

Freako @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:57AM

The fact that it's Pedobear saying that makes it all the more disturbing.

Obie @ Jul 18th 2008 11:57PM

Sooooo....what? Tokyo Game show then?

We'll see, but I am not holding my breath.

dnlkk94 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:02AM

I personally think that it's an excuse for the bad show they put on.

Well, anyways, I wish Nintendo luck. =P I'm personally a PS3 guy, but I like the Wii as well.

Wiinterfang @ Jul 19th 2008 12:05AM

Mind=blown.

BPM [MSN: BPMdotEXE @ hotmail.com] @ Jul 19th 2008 12:05AM

E3 has changed, guys. It just ain't what it used to be.

I mean, all Capcom did with their presser was talk about the Lost Planet MOVIE. And you can't fault Capcom with "lol casual games" like you can with Nintendo.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread) @ Jul 19th 2008 12:06AM

thank you Miyamoto. i couldnt tell that NOTHING in that show was aimed at me. thanks for clearing that up champ.

i seriously got better Nintendo news AFTER the show then i did during the keynote with the Kirby and Pikmin news.

Huey2k2 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:06AM

B.S.

The only people I know that follow E3 are my hardcore gamer friends, I don't know any "casual" gamers that even know what E3 is. Much less care about it.

sohcahtoa @ Jul 19th 2008 1:33AM

You be surprised on how many different news media would give a little snap shot coverage of E3, like MSNBC, aka the sources of this article. And i saw a small coverage in the NY times and on my local news channel, which is NYC which mean is quite big.

Winman2000 @ Jul 19th 2008 3:41AM

I've seen one or two news snippets on E3, but all they do is mention that fact that it's about video games and that's pretty much it.

Roto13 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:41PM

Open up the Sunday edition of your local newspaper.

Turn to the technology section, or possibly the entertainment.

See that little bit about E3?

John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5) @ Jul 19th 2008 12:18AM

There is no denying it anymore Nintendo nation. The Wii is extremely mainstream and the core gamer does not matter. Not even a single bone thrown at you during the show. Nintendo does not need you to be successful anymore. It is a sad but true reality.

I am a Wii Owner and although I admit the system is really not for me even I am pretty pissed off at what Nintendo is doing. It is great if you are like Co or Fernando and only care about hardware and software sales. It sucks if you want actual good exclusive content not from mario & Co.