How Nintendo Had A Successful Show At E3 2016

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Now that the ashes of E3 have fallen, it’s a good time to look at just how well Nintendo performed, despite not having a proper conference like its competitors, PlayStation and Xbox.

Instead of having a one-hour or two-hour long presentation full of game trailers, interviews and reveals, Nintendo decided to keep it simple and host several Nintendo Treehouse live streams. These focused on showing off the biggest titles that Nintendo is focusing on – mainly the new Legend of Zelda, Pokémon and Monster Hunter.

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No NX, no problem

There weren’t any major reveals; everyone knew these titles were coming out and just as promised Nintendo said nothing about the NX. Despite this, Nintendo fans around the world were delighted when they saw a whole bunch of gameplay from the huge The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Easily the most ambitious game Nintendo has ever created, Breath of the Wild lit up social media channels. In fact, Twitter revealed it was the most talked about game of the whole of E3, generating almost 600,000 tweets – that’s nearly three-times as many as Battlefield 1. Nintendo managed to dominate social media with just one game – now that’s impressive.

It’s easy to see why so many of us were, and still are, talking about Breath of the Wild. The open-world RPG features aren’t something we’re used to with a Zelda game, but all the of the charm we know and love is evidently still present.

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A peek into Nintendo’s future

We know that Breath of the Wild is coming to the NX as well as the Wii U, and it gives us an exciting peek into Nintendo’s home console future. If all the games set to come out on the NX are just as bold as Zelda, then gamers have a lot to look forward to. Bigger, more ambitious games that we can’t play anywhere else will be key to Nintendo attracting NX adopters, especially since the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles are set to come out later this year. Unfortunately, Nintendo fans have to wait until early 2017 to get their hands on the NX.

There was a lot of love for the 3DS at E3 too. Pokémon Sun and Moon featured heavily in the Treehouse streams – wannabe trainers were treated to glimpses of new Pokémon , battle moves and the Aloha Region. A brand new IP, Ever Oasis, was revealed – a cutesy RPG made by the same team behind The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. Monster Hunter Generations, Mario Party: Star Rush, Dragon Quest VII and a few smaller titles were also featured in the streams.

This is great news for 3DS fans, as it shows that Nintendo still has a lot of love and support for the handheld. However, it also hints that Nintendo sadly hasn’t got much in the pipeline for the Wii U, though that is to be expected as it will probably phase out the console over the next year or so to make way for the NX.

It is surprising that the only NX game mentioned was Breath of the Wild – a lack of games is sure to make some fans feel uneasy. Most likely, Nintendo is waiting until later this year to to reveal the NX and its library of games, which is why it didn’t have much to show off at E3.

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Was Nintendo’s presence at E3 worthwhile?

Sure, it didn’t have many games to flaunt, but an E3 without Nintendo would have felt…wrong. If anything, Nintendo managed to show up its competitors, by proving it didn’t need a big fancy stage, wacky dancers and a live orchestra to win over its fans and generate a buzz online. Nintendo’s charm, as always, triumphed.

Some argue that not having the NX at E3 was a mistake, and although a shiny new console would have certainly dominated E3, Nintendo did okay without it. The company may have felt that E3 just isn’t the time nor the place to reveal its future, or perhaps there is still some games and features in the works that aren’t quite ready to be shown yet.

Whatever the reason, Nintendo held its own at E3 with just a handful of games, and that’s quite the achievement.

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  1. No nintendo didnt had a sucessful e3. Yes poeple tweeted about zelda. About why they keep talking over and over the same thing again. No other game was covered for 8h and they would have shown as much in 2h. A quick look at the live stream chat said everything. The game looks fantastic but not revolutionary. For Nintendo it’s a step in the right direction, would it be another dev studio people would criticise much more.

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