Looking forward to playing some Mario Kart 8 at PAX East this year? I’ve got some bad news for you: that won’t be happening. Nintendo will sadly not have a presence at the show.
Considering what Nitnendo’s booth had in stores for the past two years, this isn’t exactly heartbreaking news. Compared with the rest of the exhibit hall at PAX East, the Big N’s corner of the room wasn’t exactly show-stopping. 2012 saw the booth headlined by Kid Icarus: Uprising, a game that had already released. Last year, we saw Lego City Undercover, Pikmin 3 (the same demo from E3), and an unplayable walkthrough of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. More excitement than 2013, but compared to, say, The Last of Us, pretty disappointing.
That was all set to change here in 2014, though. Mario Kart 8 is on the horizon. Videos of Super Smash Bros. could be shown to entertain the masses. Heck, a stream of Twitch Plays Pokemon would have absolutely sated the hunger of Nintendo fans. None of this will come to fruiting because Nintendo is flat out skipping the show. Here’s the “explanation:”
Interacting directly with our fans and letting them play our games firsthand is a key component of our approach. That doesn’t include PAX East this year, but we will offer our fans a variety of opportunities to get their hands on Nintendo products in 2014. Keep an eye on our social mediapages for more information about where we’ll be and what you can play.
From the sounds of things, they’ll be doing some sort of tour, offering demo units to people all across the country. This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve gone about this route for promotion. It would also fit in with the visions of the Nintendo Directs: they’re keeping the spotlight to themselves instead of sharing it with everyone else.
But still. A big stage has been made for Nintendo and they’re choosing to forgo it. We can’t help but wonder why: is it just not their bag anymore? Are they (still) not ready for prime time? Instead of getting answers, we’re asking more questions. That’s something Nintendo doesn’t exactly need leading up to what should be a big E3 for their competitors.
