Why Nintendo Were Direct

In just over 30 minutes Nintendo’s new ‘Direct’ broadcast managed to make a better case for the future of the Wii U than the entirety of the last 12 months and any of their recent E3 outings combined. Nintendo have always been a quite and secretive company but the release of the 3DS and now the Wii U had both been hampered by the lack of vocal advertising from the Japanese powerhouse.

Nintendo have simply put a tablet driven device in front of us and asked that we imagine the possibilities – on our own. Unfortunately our imaginations have limits, in particular when faced with something completely new, so we need to see some examples of the future before we have any idea what they might be going for.

However, these mental transitions happened at considerable speed and when your system suffers to feature any new content for two months after its launch your looking at a downturn not unlike the 3DS. People started looking toward the tablet and mobile markets as well as the aging generation of consoles from Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo did something remarkable in their direct broadcast though that has put the big developers and publishers to shame. They are often secretive but they manage to consistently find ways to format their content delivery in ways that shakes the direction of peoples vision – what was seemingly a peripheral vision is now in the eyesight of gamers everywhere. The Big N delivered dozens of new games, showcased ideas for the tablet controller and showed off what to expect in, not only months, but years to come.

The Wii U is not only home to innovative play styles, but epic, core experiences rivalling the grandest endeavours ever.

Even more interesting the showcase was completely Nintendo exclusive and the glee of what was shown has certainly wet mine, and many thousands of other peoples, appetites. The brilliant of Yoshi’s Island won’t be appearing on your smartphone, the gorgeous Wind Waker won’t make it onto your Sony system and Microsoft won’t be licensing Super Smash Bros’ anytime soon.

These improvements are what made today so remarkably potent. Nintendo has started to provide a real sense of strategy for their marketing of the Wii U and it wouldn’t surprise me to find Microsoft and Sony following the personalise announcement route (potentially for their new systems too).

That is really what made the Nintendo Direct conference so potent, and not just the AAA announcements that no-one predicted, for any gamers who actually can about games this was probably the biggest 30 minutes of the last 18 to 24 months. The GamePad’s innovation means nothing without games, the Miiverse social community doesn’t matter either, not does the fact the original Wii remotes and games work on the new hardware. Nothing matters for any ‘Video Game’ system without compelling games. Features and ideas, although great, only matter when combined with good quality software.

More than simply confirming games and services, Nintendo have done something very clever. It has tipped its hand towards what ought to be a very powerful display at E3 2013. Assuming this isn’t the entirety of its presentation they have confirmed a 3D Mario, a new Mario Kart and Smash Bros. It’s a time when the other publishers will be focusing on presentations for their new hardware and Nintendo are looking to carve a niche in an otherwise hardware related show.

Microsoft and Sony will be where Nintendo were last generation - attempting to convince gamers that remarkably similar visions are somehow radically unique. Meanwhile, in the booth next door, Nintendo’s innovation will be on display, playable by all.

And that underscores the opportunity we’ve all suspected Nintendo might have, even if it’s taken the publisher a while to embrace it. Regardless of the ‘limited’ system power the diverse range of exclsive Wii U titles are still showing exciting prospects. In some ways the announcement of the HD Wind Waker trumped everything else but this is only because of the huge fan-base the game already has. It’ll be an interest 12 months for the Japanese company with their eShop starting to flourish as well.

Nintendo’s vision is taking shape, moving from the theoretical to the real, even with some proposed games sitting on the distant horizon they are giving more and more people a reason to get involved. But it must be said that the company isn’t necessarily building upon a lead, but making up for lost time – and that’s the most interesting thing. Anecdotal evidence continues to suggest Wii U suffers in the minds of gamers, due in part to a lack of information leading the masses to draw their own conclusions. With brand new consoles from Sony and Microsoft on the way, there are considerable challenges ahead for a platform that by any definition will simply lack the power of its counterparts, and perhaps by extension widespread third party support.

Nintendo can’t and won’t stop now and the ‘Direct’ announcement program is definitely the best way to show the fans what the Wii U inevitably wants to deliver. It’s difficult for me to say it, but, Nintendo still need to do more. People are always cautious of change but in less than 30 minutes they have once again showed their ‘outside-the-box’ thinking. I want to see more from Nintendo not only because it assures us that the 3DS and Wii U have a future, but because watching this vision of the future is a sight to behold.