The conferences are the centerpiece of E3. Your mentality would cause the fabric of the event to unravel just because you agree with Nintendos every move. Nintendo did not have enough content to justify an conference and its pretty obvious. They used Nintendo directs as a way to properly distribute new advances as time went on. Nothing will ever be as big as their conference and no Direct ever will be. Without the big three conferences E3 would cease to exist in the capacity as it is known today. As I said before, it might as well be PAX for media only. People take the time out of their day to watch the new advances and they want to see it live. Nintendo direct can be seen at any time of the day so no one is going to take a day off to watch it like they will the actual live event. Do you really think people would take time out of their busy schedules to watch a morning televised broadcast of Sony or Microsofts version of Nintendo Direct? No. They wouldn't. They would watch it when they damn well please. Thats the best thing about Youtube, because you can watch things at your leisure. 

Watching the conferences is the equivalent of watching the NFL/NBA draft for football fans. Nintendo Directs are a cop out and no one gets to enjoy in the passion of that live unveiling, crowning or whatever. When a a king goes through his cornation does everyone not want to see it as it happens and also enjoy the social sphere of peoples reaction to the coronation itself? Nintendo needs to get their act together, gather their content and put it all together at the proper time.

I would love to see the day the NFL or NBA created a Direct like situation. Theres no reason for anyone to be on the edge of their seat at all. No crowd reactions, no proper demonstration, nothing but listening to the excutives boring voices and seeing a trailer that lasts a couple minutes long. Its just not on par.

No any better?  You mean we don't know that Nintendo stalled for over 20 minutes playing music at its last E3 conference.  Yeah that shows they have tons of gaming content to show lol.

Live conferences are definitely better in my book. You show the same content you would at a pre-recorded event but with the benefit of audience reactions (both positive and negative) as well as the hilarious fuck ups. The unrehearsed stuff combined with atmosphere of the crowd can add comedy value that would otherwise be lost.

It's like comparing a pre-recorded piece of music to a live concert with all the added atmosphere a group of hundreds/thousands of people can bring. For the "journalists" in the actual event, it can completely alter how they perceive a particular game or tech leading to a more positive preview.

You're forgetting the second audience at E3 - the investors. Big games need big money and need that few hours free advertising to the world. To decline that with a closed door event is abusrd and asking for stocks to take another battering.

Yes, E3 demos are a great idea other could certianly benefit from, however at the cost of closing it off to those who have NOT bought the console? That is economically stupid.

/thread

E3 is a trade show. By not going a company pretty much misses out on a chance to sway devs, publishers, and publishers.

Furthermore, a digital event will only be watched by those who either already have the system our were fans of it to begin with, you are not gonna reach any kind of new audience with a digital event.

No, what people do is take time to stream a conference and deal with all kinds of technical issues to be with the first to see some big reveal, same as the E3 Direct last year. You say you can see a Digital Event any time, but I can go on youtube and see Sony and Microsoft's E3, it is to you and me and 99.9999% of the rest of the World the exact same thing. And just like going to a conference to get some sort of "I was actually there" boner, Nintendo is hosting a Smash tournament with an unreleased game. This goes back to the Nintendo World Championship back in the late 80's or early 90's (I forget) where the finalists got to play Super Mario Bros. 3. 

I would argue that watching Nintendo's E3 is like watching a draft.

Take the Smash Bros trailer for instance. We get Villager, and everyone was like cool. We get Wii Fit Trainer and everyone is a little confused. Then we see the end title card and everyone thinks it's over.... Screen turns black.... We're excited sure, but nothing too jaw dropping happened. We think the reveal is over and actually start coming down from the excitement of Smash and start to go back to our let's get the talking over with and see the next game phase.

(Wait for it....) 

*BAM* Siren sounds, but the screen is still black? What is this? Smash Bros. signature New Challenger Approaches screen pops up, and it gets us on the edge of our seats. You know it has to be big, because of the way they introduce him. Cut to Mario, Link, Kirby, ect looking at a hilltop. We see the outline of a character but no real detail, he's in the shadows. Camera pans up to his head, he kind of think Mega Man, but that would be too awesome, no way (and at that second we all confirm to ourselves that it isn't going to be Mega Man). Then boom, the bombshell. Mega Man's eyes light up and the hype is real. 

Or the Jan. Direct

At this point I literally just bought a Wii U, and got Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (great game by the way). I go to the Eshop just to check out what it's like and I see a link called Nintendo Direct. Click on it, and the first thingthat happens is sweeping orchestrated music. Monolith Soft fades in then out. I love Xenoblade so my interest is piqued. The awesomeness of the rest of that video with it's MASSIVE World, transforming robots, on the fly weapon changes, and monsters getting hacked apart got me so hyped it was unreal. I had to call my brother immediately and have him watch it. 

That gets me excited as a gamer, not a crowd cheering. 

That's the equivelant of posting every aspect of your life on Facebook waiting for people to like it. Lol. 

It's about the reveal, not the reaction.

Thats the problem...I think you're only thinking about yourself. There is absolutely nothing in history which has proven a crowd would respond better a pre-recorded public message, vs a live staged event where the crowd get to be surprised and enjoy the reactions of the crowd to whatever reveals are shown at E3. E3 is has become a spectacle because of the live staged conferences. If you wont enjoy it, dont watch E3. Watch Nintendos show alone and ask everyone how it went.Nintendo decided to be the loner so be the loner with them and watch their little morning announcements programming like you did when you were a kid.

Humans have a history of watching spectator events and cheering and booing for them. Were social animals and its human nature.

I present to you exhibit B:

Fans reaction to loki showing up by surprise to the fan panel at comic con.

Sports

Live theatre

Movies

Comedy

Concerts

Professional Wrestling

Car shows

Anime conventions

Comic con 

The list of live events goes on and on which proves my point about human interaction and live crowd response to the things these people do making more sense. Better to reveal something and be booed live and feel the crowds anger or immense respect from cheers than to wait alone for the internet. Call it a heads up.

You must not be very social nor understand the importance of human socialization in public events. Ive given you examples. Its time for you stop talking about crap and show me examples in the media to prove your point about how a pre recorded event can get people more excited than a live one.

You forgot Smash Tournament, and E3 demo's at Best Buy.

None of these actually apply to hype though? Why do people attend a comic con? Because they bought and read the comic. They don't get excited for a comic because people at a comic con are excited for a comic. 

Quote Tree Trimmed And Snipped - Conegamer

Nintendo has used the demos before at Best Buy. They still havent saved the Wii U. This isnt the first year. its like you dont read. I also doubt you watched the video. 

The Wii U reveal was at an ON STAGE E3 event. What's your point? The on stage event didn't save the Wii U. Yet Mario Kart 8 is the best seller on Amazon.com right now. There has only been directs on Mario Kart 8. The problems are many and not just "because they don't make a stage presence at E3". Come on.