German Infendo fan, Maximilian Hepach, shared his recent experience at Nintendo’s booth during the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention:
I’ve been going to the Leipzig Games Convention ever since it started and I went again this year.
After praising Nintendo last year for their small but efficient booth, I had high hopes this year which were quickly dashed. Nintendo had a booth 3 to 4 times the size as last year but you could only play Brain Age, Wii Sports and Wii Fit. They had no other games. I can fully understand why they are demoing these games, since they appeal to the casual gamer market, but to not have a way to rent a DS or any place to sit like they did last year ruined it.
“Pure Awesome” is a good way to summarize their booth at GC 2006. They had a Table where you could rent the DS and LOTS of seats. Last year I was able to sit down at their booth, turn on my DS, download a few demos, and play with other people. This year they didn’t even have a Download Station.
From my standpoint Nintendo had a very poor showing at GC 2007.
GC 2006 was an excellent showing. Period. Almost any showing would pale in comparison.
Although it sucks, I think Nintendo may be resting on it’s hardcore laurels. The amazing games are coming, and from the lack of industry buzz Nintendo is creating, the games are likely good enough to speak for themselves, such is the life of a Nintendo loyalist. We just have to wait while Nintendo woos the new gamers.
That’s two strikes Nintendo. I wasn’t concerned about the poor E3 performance because I knew people like New York Times would be there scoping your snazzy new system out; but not at a place like this they aren’t…
@DmNt
Well I have been to the GC and must say Nintendo at least had something to show without having to wait an hour in a line. From that standpoint it was one of the opener/better booths.
And for Nintendo the show was clearly about presenting their hardware (again), showing how intuitive the Wii system is and how fun it is to use the Wiimote. Same goes for the Wii Fit board, the focus was on the thing itself, not so much on the games.
Sure for the real Nintendo fans that kind of presentation is a bit “underwhelming”, but it’s their strategy and selling millions of more consoles will increase the user-base, the base for new games from Nintendo & Third Parties.