Nintendo is skipping the stage show at E3 again, but it’s not like they’re resting on their laurels.
Nintendo announced today that, like last year, they will be forgoing the standard E3 show that they, Microsoft, and Sony have been doing for so many years. Instead, they’ll be taking four separate approaches to E3 2014.
Nintendo will once again go digital for their press conference with the Nintendo Digital Event, a streaming event set to air at 9 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, June 10. In addition, Nintendo plans to stream content throughout the duration of the conference with the Nintendo Treehouse stream.
This year, Nintendo will offer fans a deeper look at Nintendo’s biggest games of E3, with information directly from the source. The “Treehouse,” the Product Development department at Nintendo of America, will provide in-depth game demos live and unscripted from Nintendo’s booth. This new program will be live streamed during all hours of the E3 show. Fans can get settled in, open their browsers and experience the Nintendo games at E3 like never before.
Super Smash Bros. is going to be a big deal for Nintendo this year, and they’re celebrating its arrival in two different ways. While they’ll be skipping the live press conference, Nintendo has a stage show planned in the form of the Super Smash Bros. Invitational. Nintendo will be inviting 16 of the best Smash Bros. players to the NOKIA Theater in Los Angeles to compete in a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament. More information about the participants and the “identity of the announcers” – suggesting that they might be celebrities either within the Smash Bros. or wider gaming community – is still to come. Like the Digital Event and Treehouse, this tournament will be streaming online.
If you can’t make it out to LA but you want to check out Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Nintendo has you covered there, too. Once again, Nintendo will be holding events at some Best Buy stores, allowing fans to get their hands on Super Smash Bros. for the first time.
Between the Nintendo Digital Event, Treehouse, and Super Smash Bros. Invitational, Nintendo has a clear E3 presence despite skipping the expensive press conference. Nintendo switched from UStream exclusively to adding Youtube a few months back for livestreaming, which should make this year’s conference smoother than the last. We’re looking forward to seeing what Nintendo has to offer in just a few weeks.
