The 3 Biggest Fears Of E3 2013

Fear #3: No One Cares About Nintendo’s Message

We knew E3 2013 was going to be a blow for Nintendo when they announced they weren’t going to have a press conference this year in lieu of smaller announcements and engagements. Their conferences have become a bit of a spectacle around the world, even if we think they’re the most boring thing on the planet, so Nintendo ditching the main stage reveals they have nothing big to reveal. Of course, this is the worst possible time for Nintendo to not have a big announcement.

The fact of the matter is the air is leaking out of all of Nintendo’s tires. For a decade, their handheld operations kept their home console operations afloat while the incredible success of the Wii offset their odd plunge with the 3DS, a handheld that added little dialogue to a tech fad that was already on its way out when the expensive handheld landed. Factor in the dedicated handheld market’s collapse in the wake of Android and iOS’s emergence in the past decade and their ‘less is more’, previously profitable approach to handhelds doesn’t hold water anymore. Nintendo is being assaulted on all fronts and they’ve basically admitted to not having a battle plan. How far can their franchises take them? How many more years will it be until they have an opportunity to disrupt the market again? Probably too many.