Why June? :P

Interesting times ahead. E3 will be make or break as far as I'm concerned.

I suppose June is important because of E3, but I don't see that turning the Wii U's fortunes around. If they want someone new and to go in another direction they need to act quick. R&D for new hardware takes years.

Its more about salvaging the Wii U as is. Whatever games or services announced or demod at E3 had better add value and make the system desirable. Desirable to everyone not just die hard forum goers or ninty loyalists.

Any exciting announcements like "Cranky Kong at VGX" == game over XD.

Zelda U? Yes. Metroid with a seperate well though out online multiplayer/commander mode? Yes. X? Yes. Bayonetta 2? Niche but always welcome. Mario Kart 8? definately. Smash? No brainer. Price cut? Hell yes. One or two new 1st/3rd party exclusives? Perfect. Project CARS demoed and positioned as an alternative for Forza or GT? One can dream but ninty hates 3rd partys.

Truth be told Ninty has the ammo to make a pretty big impact at E3. If they screw up I swear heads NEED to roll.

I'm not sure they can salvage the Wii U.  Maybe it has happened, but I can't think of any other hardware struggling for so long and then turning around.  3DS was never Wii U levels of bad and that had turned it's fortunes around by now

June is the first full month of the MK8 release. Bayo 2 or something else may be coming out that same month as well. At e3, they of course will need to unveil not only what they're doing through 2014, but also what comes next in 2015. June also marks the end of Q1 for their fiscal year 2014 for them... (Q2 of the year of 2014).

completely agree with this.

you can add that nfc game - if they can make a skylanders phenomenom it could do wonders (not saying it will save the wii u).  With the wii u nintendo can use it as a foundation for their next endeavour - improve miiverse, build up their online services, ip pool etc.

If they show shit at e3 - then the wii u is utterly fucked beyond repair.

I don't know why they haven't opened up a few theme parks tbh. Mario is one of the few characters bigger than Mickey Mouse. Open one in Japan, one in Europe and one in the States. That's a licence to print money, and they already have a name for them - Nintendo Land.

They have plenty of characters/IPs that can be incorporated into rides - Luigi's Mansion/Ghost Train, Wave Race Water Slide, F-Zero rollercoaster, Metroid gun ride, Mario kid's rides, Zelda adventure ride...the list goes on and on.

Then you have Nintendo themed food and drink - Mario burgers and drinks, Peach candy floss. Loads of stuff they can use.

And then you have Mario/Nintendo t-shirts, balloons, posters, badges etc etc

And if that wasn't enough you can also add demo stations for the 3DS and Wii U, discounted games in the Mario shop.

It would cost them a few billions to set up but they would easily make a fortune from that investment.

This E3 better be a game changer for Nintendo (not just Wii U). Or at least be recalled as the moment where things started to change.

I think June is important because that´s when there´ll be the meeting of shareholders, where they´ll decide whether or not to re-elect Iwata to the board of directors.

There´s a nice info on GAF about it, copying here:

Historical Re-election Approval Ratings:

Iwata, 2010:
Approve: 952,201
Oppose: 19,072
Approval Rating: 96.74%

Iwata, 2011:
Approve: 932,379
Oppose: 48,339
Approval Rating: 92.89%

Iwata, 2012:
Approve: 913,453
Oppose: 83,740
Approval Rating: 90.60%

Iwata, 2013:
Approve: 772,384
Oppose: 218,960
Approval Rating: 77.26%