nintendo has raised the white flag.

The Gamecube and Wii U also had all those things prior to launch, all but revolutionary for it's time motion controls. Seeing as the Gamecube and Wii U floundered, while the Wii soared, the reason has to be whatever the Wii did differently, which was revolutionary motion controls. Also, what happened to that great E3 2004 you were going on about hmm?

Wii U and GameCube had terrible marketing.

That's irrelevant when we're trying to determine whether or not the conference itself has any impact on sales.

Yikes, terrible mistake. They're gonna get less coverage no matter what they show. My friends who are casual watch E3, they're not gonna go on their comp to watch a stream.

bolded: then how do they watch E3?

spike tv

gametrailers

A press conference is marketing. Press.

It's all about impressions, even if the content is the same.

Physically being there (and I mean, physically present something) reinforces the notion that you are involved. That the viewer is part of it. Even for the average internet-viewer like us. They will recognize effort had gone into it, they will recognize they are part of a bigger thing and there will be less of a notion that there's a barrier between them as a viewer and the company and people that is Nintendo. It feels personal. Even if only subconsciously. Reaching out a hand generates sympathy. It generates good press, it creates a bond. These things then indirectly translate into consumer confedence, followed by sales, followed by loyalty.

A pre-recorded video could never do all that, because it doesn't feel 'real', and the barrier remains. Bad press is created in response. So it's not about the potential content, it's about the impression that's given. This is not rocket science.

Ok, so I like I said having a conference instead would make no difference then!