I was disappointed with the presentation, but to speak the truth, I think they are right. If you write in a page that you are going to release Diablo 3. 10 millions nerds are going to get crazy about that in 2 minutes, don't need a conference to show a game to "nerdcores", they are going to see it in the foruns.
So the better strategy is to aim all your publicity/conferences to sell hardware, peripherals and casual stuff, than you can just create a website about the new "Smash Bros" with daily upgrades and you will get more visitors there than in ur official site.

Exactly. This is from the New York Times:

Nintendo — which is riding high on the gangbusters popularity of its DS handheld game unit and its Wii home console — continued to aim largely at ... the mainstream consumers who have adopted gaming in recent years, propelling the industry and the hobby beyond its historical base of young male players.

Nintendo opened its briefing at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood with Shaun White, the Olympic gold medalist, demonstrating his upcoming snowboarding game, in which a player stands atop the sensitive balance board Nintendo has shipped with its new Wii Fit fitness system. Shaun White Snowboarding, to be published by Ubisoft of France and shipped this fall, appears to be one of the first third-party games to take advantage of the board.

Nintendo unveiled two new peripherals on Tuesday. The first is a microphone for the Wii called Wii Speak, which will be available as an option for a new version of Animal Crossing, a sort of virtual zookeeper, this holiday season. The second is an attachment for the Wii controller that is meant to make it even more sensitive to being physically twisted and turned than it already is. Called the Wii Motion Plus, the unit will be packaged with a new compilation called Wii Sports Resort, which includes mini-games such as sword fighting and throwing a Frisbee-like disc.

I don't see how anyone can defend Nintendo anymore. Last year it was " bu bu Super Mario Galaxy and Brawl"... Now its "Bu bu hardcore games don't sell"...

E3 is designed for Press and hardcore gamers. Casuals don't watch it, they don't care about it and it isn't going to effect their buying habits. Nintendo should of focused on the hardcore gamer -- we don't need Nintendo hyping their casual games- we need Nintendo to show us something new for the core gamer. You know the ones whom kept Nintendo console business afloat during the N64, GC and launch of Wii.

Casuals don't watch it, but it's the only gaming event the mainstream media pays attention to.

The only thing we're defending against are the people who are blowing this out of proportion. Nintendo used a media-heavy event to showcase their upcoming casual games and get information out to sources that normally wouldn't cover video game news. The mainstream media is usually the only place a casual player hears about games. They don't visit gaming websites or forums. Hardcore gamers don't rely on the mainstream media to learn about new games since they hear about them regardless. Not understanding the reasoning behind this just shows short-sightedness. It's not that difficult to comprehend.

And to think Nintendo isn't developing/releasing any core games because they didn't show any is absurd. There are many IPs that are almost assured to either be released soon or announced: Kid Icarus, Pikmin, Zelda, Kirby, F-Zero, Disaster, Punch Out, Retro's project, Mario team's project, etc. Not to mention all the core 3rd party games coming out: de Blob, Tenchu, Monster Hunter, MadWorld, Deadly Creatures, CoD5, The Conduit, Fatal Frame, Samba, Sonic, Castlevania, SW:TFU, SW:CW, Spore, Wario Land, Ghostbusters, Mushroom Men, I Am Alive, more RPGs than I care to list, etc. So what are we missing out on? Two or three unannounced Nintendo games. Just because they don't say "Here's a list of all these games you already know about" doesn't mean they cease to exist.

Well hold on, I think Padjuan32 had a very valid point that there are many reporting agencies there who would invariably be presenting news to a very casual market. I also think that Nintendo would be interested in reaffirming their goals set with the Wii that these types of titles are what they intend to promote. The average Wii owner probably wants to see that they are still working on this new interface and they aren't just going to drop the console like SEGA did with the Saturn and Gamegear.

Also, I didn't want to waste a post on this, but good posts Ares and fkusumot, I like your insight.

I think the one big concern for Ninty long term is. nobody knows how these "New Gamers" are going to react long term. the next must have gadjet could come out tomarrow and these people could start abandoning their Wii's. If nintendo turns it's backs on it's long time core gamers, this could really bite them in the Ass down the road. These new casual gamers are not tried and true proven over the test of time like the core audience that has been around for years and years. I know, i know "the Wii isn't a fad", but regardless of what Reggie wants to spout it has onlybeen a year and a half. These new casuals have not proven themselves to be reliable video game consumers for the long haul, not by a long shot. Abandoning your Core is just retarded, and IF that is where Nintendo is going, they deserve to have everything implode on top of them.

Just a little comment to make people understand something :

PS3 is 400$ : too much expensive for casuals. So right now, Sony needs to attract hardcore gamers.
When the console will hit 300$, then Sony will go casual (S-mote).

That is not the case of MS which are completely late and have problem to get the casual ship (bad brandname, too much hardcore, arcade doesn't sell, no X-mote, too much online)

So true...

Well wii has been a lost cause for HC gamers for long. Did someone really think that it will change? Haha.