Nintendo on its approach to E3 this year, sticking with video presentations, more
At E3, GamesBeat interviewed Charlie Scibetta. Scibetta acts as Nintendo of America’s senior director of corporate communications. During the conversation, Scibetta spoke about Nintendo’s approach to E3 this year, the decision to stick with video presentations, having Fortnite revealed and released on the same day, and those who were hoping for a surprise.
We have these excerpts from the interview below. You can read the full discussion here.
On Nintendo’s approach to E3 this year…
Our approach for this show is great games that are going to keep the momentum going for Nintendo Switch. When we first introduced the system, it was all about a home console you could take anywhere, anytime, and a whole new way to play. We had great momentum in the first year. We’re the fastest-selling console out of the gate in the U.S. in that first 12 months, per NPD.
The way to keep momentum going for the system is with great games. We had great games year one, with Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart, Splatoon 2, and great third-party offerings. This year at E3 we’re showing games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu, Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee. Indie games like Overcooked 2. We’re confident we’re going to keep the momentum going, because they’re the kind of games you’ll enjoy at home, but you’ll also love taking them on the go like you do with a lot of other games on Nintendo Switch.
On continuing with online presentations instead of in person…
We decide each year what to show in the booth based on the content we have. We also do the same when it comes to what we want to do in Nintendo Direct or a presentation. In the past we’ve done presentations where we brought thousands of people together and demo’d live on stage. With the last four or five years, we’ve done more of the video approach. It’s really whatever we think is the best way to bring those games to life.
We think that Nintendo Direct recently has been a nice way to do it, because we’re able to package interviews and gameplay and fine-tune it so it’s a nice tight presentation. It’s an efficient use of time. It’s a good way to bring these games to life in a video format. In the future we might go back to a presentation. We might stick with video. We might do something completely different. But it’ll all be based on what we have to show that year.
On Fortnite being available on Switch on the day it was announced…
Epic was great to work with on this. They bought into the idea of announcing it and making it available on the same day. We were very appreciative that they were able and willing to work with us to make that happen. It was a nice perk for people, that they didn’t have to wait to play that game.
That’s what we’re excited about with Fortnite. Obviously it’s a gaming phenomenon. People have been having a great time with it. But the ability to take that game outside the home on Nintendo Switch and play it with a robust control scheme that the Joy-Cons offer, it’s something that people are already enjoying today.
On those who were hoping for a surprise, something like a new IP reveal…
Scibetta: We certainly had some news break out of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the fact that you could play all these characters from the past, and new characters like Inkling and Ridley. All of your Amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. series and other Amiibo work with that game. If you have an Amiibo that matches to one of the fighting characters in the game, that’s going to bring functionality to the game. We think that’s a nice surprise. I don’t know if you can get much bigger for us than tapping into a phenomenon like Fortnite and having that available on the same day. We felt that was a nice surprise.
Hopefully there’s something in our Nintendo Direct for everyone. We think we have a nice broad swath of games that are going to appeal to people all over the spectrum. They can find something to have a good time with on Nintendo Switch.
