I only bring this up because I see it repeated, in one form or another, by various commenters in these forums and across certain youtube channels.

I think it's BS.

Nintendo didn't have a press conference or announcements of anything new at E3 last year. We knew in early Spring of 2016 that "NX would launch in March of 2017." So when nothing was announced at E3, of course, people freaked out with the belief Nintendo was doomed, that they would never have enough time to promote the Switch (then called NX). Certain sources began began making "Bold Predictions" that the Switch would be delayed.

Nintendo's plan: tease the Switch during the Holiday season, announce it in January shortly before launch. No delay required, the short time for promotion was highly successful, and three months later Switch has become one of the hottest launches in the history of videogaming. Nintendo's biggest outside of the Wii.

Would this situation have improved with an unveil at E3 instead?
The answer is clearly no. If anything, an E3 reveal may have been damaging.

The benefit to doing big announcement pressers outside of E3 is the flexibility of timing (placing it at a more strategic date than mid-June), greater control over the proceedings, and capturing the full focus of the media, rather than diluting it and muddying the message with a bunch of media coverage of other companies.

I do think Nintendo clearly sees this, and they're not alone, as other companies have dropped off to instead do their big press events and announcements at other dates.

The last time E3 made a significant difference was in 2006, 11 years ago. That is why the requirement for Nintendo to have big announcements (or any new announcements) and a live press conference at E3 is completely mythological. It's bad analysis to make the assumption that Nintendo is doomed if they don't do what this myth suggests they should do; luckily, they already know this.

Well, if we're being honest NOONE needs big surprises on E3. Every single company can make their own event, either digitally of phisycally, and get as much attention. E3's big attention spot is no longer valid when a Youtube trailer an get a game as much attention as a full event.

Nintendo may not be doomed, but I'd say that Microsoft needs to make a big announcement, cause as of now the upcoming games from PS4 and Switch are getting quite the hype.

Completely agree. The Switch will continue it's steam going forward regardless of e3. Only the die hard will respond to the e3 announcements however considering the sales of the system it embodies far more than the core gamer crowd.

I didn't even know that was a myth. To be honest, before the Switch launch, everything about it was a myth and it's been proving the majority wrong, ever since. Most people just don't know what they're talking about when it comes to Nintendo.

No it does not need a big surprise. The system is a hot commodity right now, and the holidays won't change that.

What it will need between now and Jan 1st is either at E3 or a Nintendo Direct to showcase its 2018 line-up of games. That is a major flaw that Nintendo has. They tend to not want to announce games until they are near completion. While yes its nice to hear of a game and get to play it 3 months later, it's even better to know that you and others are planning on supporting the system in the future.

ESPECIALLY after a failure like the Wii U. No one is blaming Nintendo for dropping support of that system and moving on to the Switch. It was a failure. But people remember the long drought of no games. They want to know that the new Switch will have games coming out past 2017.

While it wouldn't doom them to not announce anything new, I definitely think it would be to their benefit to throw the fans a bone. Give them something to REALLY look forward to. Long droughts with no games. Letting us know what Retro is working on and/or revealing a Metroid game would go a long way in building hype and increasing confidence. And if they wanted to toss in a major surprise as well, that could only increase hype and excitement.

I'd agree. There's no need for big surprises and I don't see them coming. I mean it depends on what people think of when they say big surprises though. For me personally, a Smash bros port wouldn't be surprising at all likewise for other big Nintendo franchises. I mean Metroid would be kinda surprising I'd guess. For example. a big surprise for me would be if Retro's new game turns out to be a big epic western RPG/Action adventure game in the veins of the Witcher 3 or Horizon, which without a doubt would be awesome!

I just need gameplay of XC 2 and Mario Odyssee and this E3 is a success for me.

Was this really actually a thing/myth? Because honestly....for me.......this is my first time hearing this.....

But no they would not be doomed if they did not announce anything at E3 but one would feel it would be for the better if they did......and that is the same for all of the big 3.