I think I first need to make something clear. This will not be a discussion about whether or not it is a financially sound desision to not have a conference at this year's E3. I'd like to talk about why I felt that last year's E3 Direct was disappointing, and why I feel that this year's similar Digital Event will not only be better. but actually be good. I also don't believe in the "directly to the fans" bull shit that Nintendo has been marketing. I think that the Digital Event will be good, but not because of some mystical special treatment Nintendo is apparently giving us as opposed to Sony and Microsoft, so I won't be talking about that.

We good? Okay.

I think that the first thing I should talk about is exactly why I was disappointed in last year's E3 Direct. It all boils down to three things; Spoilers, language barriers, and streaming issues.

So spoilers.

That's kind of my biggest issue from last year. It has a lot to do with why I personally feel that a live conference would have been just as disappointing. Nintendo pretty much spoiled every E3 reveal within the first six months of last year. We were told we'd see Mario Kart and Smash. We were told we'd see a Wii U 3D Mario. We were told we'd see something from Retro. We were told we'd see Wind Waker HD. We were sure we'd see Bayonetta 2 and Wonderful 101. We were sure we'd see X from Monolith Soft. I was personally suprised to see Pokemon at E3, but that's it. And because we literally knew the whole show before it happened, disappointment set in when things deviated from those expectations. Oh, the 3D Mario was just a 3DS sequel that many of us originally thought was a trailer for another 3DS game.

Oh, Retro isn't making Metroid. Oh, Iwata is dedicating the last three fucking minutes of Nintendo's most important direct of the year to remind everyone that, yes, they really are attending E3 this year. Oh, no Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem or Yarn Yoshi news. 

Nintendo told us a lot of things we just didn't need to know yet, and I blame the "famous" January Direct of 2013. Imagine if Wind Waker HD was revealed at E3 instead? Imagine if X was revealed at E3 instead? Imagine if we were actually positively surprised at E3?

So language barriers.

Let's cut right to the point. Iwata sucks at english speeches. He just does. It's legitimately an ear sore listening to him struggle through an introduction. Why was he the primary voice for a primerily english speeking audience. He has no stage presence, he's difficult to listen to, and there are other people more qualified to give these speeches than him. Why didn't Reggie or Bill Trinen do the Direct. Iwata's a nice guy and all, but he needed to be more background in things like that.

So streaming issues.

They sucked. What more is there to say? We all know about this one.

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But with all these critisisms, aren't I a little bothered by the announcement of a similar format? Well, no. And that is because Nintendo seems to be fixing a lot of their issues. To be more specific, Nintendo's last four Directs/announcements have impressed me a lot. I am, of course talking about the Smash Direct of 4/8, the Tomodatchi Direct of 4/10, the surprise Mario Kart 8 direct of 4/30, and the Mega 64 announcement trailer for E3. These four videos showcase an awareness and fundumental change in the way Nintendo formats these kinds of videos, and the new title of "Digital Event" all but confirms these fundemental changes. These video's also seem to correct one of my biggest issues with these videos; the language barrier. In the Smash direct, Sakurai's voice is dubbed over. Great. In the Tomodatchi Direct, Trinen is speaking. (in the US version) Great. In the Mario Kart 8 Direct, Iwata spoke for all of three minutes. Great. In every video, the issue was addressed in a different way, but the important thing is that they were addressed, but more importantly, that Nintendo was aware there was an issue in the first place. An issue rooting in east to west differences. That's big.

The fact that the Tomodatchi Direct had a different version for the US and Europe is big. It shows off a fundemental "getting it" in the west that Nintendo had been lacking before. "All hail the Virtual Boy" is a meme now. An orchestrated meme. Nintendo perposefully orchestrated a meme to advertize a game. Wow. Nintendo took arguably it's biggest embarassment, one that Nintendo has been pretending didn't exist for years, and purposefully put it into a situation where it would obviously be turned into a meme. That's marketing genious. And that's self awareness. Nintendo is letting people who get the west advertize for the west. And it's working. The Tomodatchi controversy is proof. None of that controvercy wouldn't have arisen if enough people weren't already excited about the game.

But the other things about these directs is how focused they are, and what that means for E3. Each of the three directs only focused on one game each. Because of this, there hasn't really been a game revealed since Hyrule Warriors. Nothing. (don't quote me on that) Not only has that made the quality of the directs go up, but it means that we know less than we knew at this time last year. There are things we actually may not know about E3 this year, and that's exciting!

Now it's not all roses.

We still know way more than I wish we did, namely Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Now these games aren't confirmed to be at E3, and I seriously hope they don't show up there, but if they do that's another potential surprise wasted. Something nobody would have seen coming. I don't watch E3 expecting Pokemon. To me, Pokemon had always been a separate thing (coro coro), so seeing a remake of two of the most remarkable Pokemon games at E3 would have been insane, but now it'll be five minutes of buffer time for the actually new annoucements. Same thing with the whole "Zelda U confirmed to be at E3." Why? Why spoil that? Why not just leave it at "a new Zelda game is in developement and new info will be released at a later date."

You know why I'm excited for seeing Pokken Fighters at E3? Because it's literally just speculation on a trademark we know literally nothing about. No one really knows if we'll see it at E3. No one really knows if it's a fighting game. No one really knows if is has anything to do with the HD Pokemon footage. Smash Tournament? What? I get to watch a real tournament of one of my most anticipated games of the year? Who called that? Nobody. Nobody did. Bayonette 2 though? Don't care. X? Don't care. Project S.T.E.A.M.? What? What is that? Will it be at E3? Is it anything at all? Devils Third? There are rumors that it will be a Wii U exclusive? No way! Might that be at E3? Who knows? Sonic Boom? Don't care. Hyrule Warriors? Don't care.

Why all the don't cares? Because I'm expecting to see them. I want to play all of those games, but at E3, they are only buffer. The only reason I am excited for Smash is because the excitement comes from the roster reveals. Will Pacman be a character? Mii's? Reggie Filse-a-mech?

Will we finally see Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem? The Yarn Yosh? Will there be a new Star Fox game? Will there be a Metroid? An F-Zero/Kid Icarus/Earthbound? Something goddamn new? Anything? That's what makes E3 exciting. And that's something we thankfully lacked this year. There were no big directs. The reveals weren't huge, and yet this year is way more exciting than last. The show would be nothing with nothing but surprises, don't get me wrong, but one or two huge surprises are what Nintendo needs, and I'm far more optimistic that that will happen this year thanks to there treatment of a similar format as of late.

When it comes to the stream, that's where I am the most worried and the most optomistic. Nintendo is obviously aware of the terrible streaming issues last year, and I imagine that the first thing on their agenda is making sure that doesn'thappen again. Their Direct streams have been really stable. On Youtube, anyway. And yet, Nintendo has the knack of screwing up the obvious. But with all the self awareness they've shown recently, I can only hope that their stream will work out. I guess that'll be just another E3 surprise.

In closing.

I think the last thing is the actual format of the Digital Event. We don't know how it will play out. Each of these directs was great, but because they focus on one game, they'll be fundementally different from whatever the Digital Event turns out to be. One thing I do expect though is less Iwata. I also expect it to at least feel like they are trying to make this feel different. I can't imagine how they'll do it yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic.

You know, Nintendo and e3 has been pretty interesting cause for the past few years, something always ruined it or made it awkward. e3 wiiU launch for example, ended with Nintendoland, no smash or anything thats a big bang... e3 2013 was laggy, buggy and there were consistent skips, specially through the key moments which was not a good experience at all and before those two, there was the skyward sword e3 which had "technical" issues and the list goes on...

Yet... I always get excited for them.. Perhaps its a fanboy thing but I am excited as ever for their e3 this year and I hope that nothing goes wrong cause when its perfect, we have that moment like the Twilight Princess e3 which was one of the best e3's in gaming history!

Let's get to the point. Nintendo just needs a better host.

Just hire this guy.

He's appealing to brain damaged of all ages :)

Just putting this out there.

I may be thinking too big here, but ever since I read the term 'digital event' I thought Nintendo Direct + a live audience - in their press release, they stated that their new kind of program will build upon the ND format...well how do you build upon a video by merely keeping it within the confines of a video? Then I came across this - here's a clip of a non-gaming digital event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmXmyBiSVug

Imagine Nintendo's E3 video playing outside the Convention Center in LA in front of everyone waiting to get inside...as well as Times Square & Nintendo World Store in NYC...meanwhile, the Zelda Symphony is jamming out at Rockefeller Center, or something. The idea is that you're getting direct footage of the games, but also crossfading to live reactions as well as live performances.

While that would be awesome, I feel like if that was happening, we'd know about it. I think that the Digital Event should be the pre-show to the Smash Tournament.

Wouldn't that be a spoiler though if Nintendo outright gave a heads up for something like that? It'd be better if it was a planned-surprise-random-encounter lol. 

The event may touch base on the tourney, but its main purpose is to showcase all of this years software and game announcements. 

It would definitely be a surprise lol

I was expecting a lot of unrealistic expectations from the title, and instead found a logical, well-thought-out OP. Thanks for the pleasant surprise.

I disagree about known appearances being padding for E3. I was very excited to see more of X and first gameplay of Smash Bros last year, and I am no less excited to see both again this year. I know Zelda will be shown, but I have no clue what it will look like or what to expect from the game, so I can't wait to see it in action. Surprise game announcements are nice, but each known game has its own surprises that follow it.

I need more information about X, Smash Bros, Zelda, and more. I don't need this information because I'm on the fence about buying them. I need this information because I knew I would be buying them the moment they were announced, and as they are still months away from release, I am starving for details about them. Despite having seen it three times now, I have so many questions about X that I want answered.

I see E3 more as an opportunity to answer such questions than as a stage for announcing new games. The Developer Directs last year were among the best parts of E3. Between the show-floor demos and explanations by the game creators, it's a more appropriate venue for detailed impressions of games than for cinematic trailers and vague title drops. Of course I want new games to be announced, but only when they're ready to be shown. The SMTxFE reveal was far less exciting to me than anything shown at last year's E3.

@OP

"Nintendo pretty much spoiled every E3 reveal within the first six months of last year. We were told we'd see Mario Kart and Smash. We were told we'd see a Wii U 3D Mario. We were told we'd see something from Retro. We were told we'd see Wind Waker HD. We were sure we'd see Bayonetta 2 and Wonderful 101. We were sure we'd see X from Monolith Soft. I was personally suprised to see Pokemon at E3, but that's it. And because we literally knew the whole show before it happened, disappointment set in when things deviated from those expectations."

Let's be honest, we're never told a thing.  Leaks are not to be believed.  Unless of course you can see into the future.

oops, missread.  yeah, they fucked up all those things.  I say we don't get smash Wii u until march 2015.