Well, 2009 has officially started, which mean another year of Nintendo releases and announcements. As expected, many of them will be incredible, others not so.

I've been a Nintendo fan for nearly all of my life, and I've been on the internet for ten years now, meaning that I've experienced many important conferences, announcements and press releases. It seems that whenever Nintendo does one of them a big line of anger and disappointment follows, mainly because people set their expectations way too high.

So today, I will show you some tips in order to avoid these disappointments as a fan (this applies to ALL consoles and companies):

1. Expect the unexpected: Nintendo is type of company that loves to surprise the media, its fanbase and the entire gaming world. They love the unconventional and have no strict set of guidelines when it comes to announcements. For example, one year they stun the world with the unveiling of Twilight Princess, the next they do a horrendous demo of Wii Music. My advice to combat this is to expect the unexpected. In other words, do go into E3 HOPING that the next Mario or Zelda will be there, otherwise you'll be very disappointed. So instead, just enjoy the show.

2. Rumors are not FACT, face it: This is something that clearly happened at this year's E3. For weeks, the media was hyping the fact that Nintendo would unveil either Punch-Out or Kid Icarus. The truth was that all of it were rumors with no solid truth behind them. So when Nintendo failed to show them people were angry at was basically never true to begin with. So prior to any big event don't, I repeat, DON'T accept rumors as fact. If Nintendo says that X game will be shown at E3 then  believe it. If 1up, for example, says that X game will be revealed take it with a grain of salt.

3. Don't get high expectations: This coincides with the first tip. Fans, especially Nintendo fans, expect the moon and heavens when it comes to Nintendo's press conferences and announcements. They expect new entries to ALL their core franchises at the same show, they also expect killer apps from third parties or expect ground breaking announcements at every turn. Even if half of these are met fans are still upset because they expected more. So my advice is to simply NOT have any expectations. Once more, Nintendo likes to shock and surprise its fans. Some of these might be very pleasant (Twilight Princess), others not so much (Wind Waker), but if you go with a neutral mind the shock and disappointment won't be as strong.

4. Be thankful of what you have: Even if your dream game wasn't announced learn to appreciate what was shown. For example, everyone expected Kid Icarus to be unveiled at the Fall Conference. Instead we got Punch-Out, Sin and Punishment 2 and Trace Memory 2. These are great entries in classic franchises, so instead of whining about no KI appreciate the fact that these were announced and exist.

So if you go with these in mind the shows shouldn't be too shocking or disappointing. Like everything in life, some events might suck, others might be great. If you accept the fact that either can happen things won't be as hard to swallow.

All 4 of those points seemed the same to me..... but I don't care, Nintendo hasimproved for me.

Good advice.

But I suggest you expect the expected and don't set expectations that many people will follow your advice. ;)

Win.
Rumors ruined the reputation of Wii Music, so following this advice may save you sadness.

Nintendo was partially responsible for the disappointment of the last E3, what with the promises of "revived franchises" and "content for the core"

I'll admit i went in believing the hype. But that was a real ass-kicker of a letdown, which has taught me a lesson of "never again."

Next year promises to be better, however, since Nintendo did apologize for the lacklustre keynote, a rare move by a company so inured to public opinion

Yeah, a lot of people would be wise to heed these words. ;)
I for one never get my hopes up, or set my expectations too high. That way you're not gonna get disappointed.

Yes, taking PR statements with a grain of salt helps greatly since they are said mainly to get attention and drive up hype. It was surprising seeing Nintendo do this, though. They usually stay quiet about this and just let things happen.

The funny thing is that they eventually kept their promise and presented revived franchises and content for the core at their Fall Conference.

The key to Nintendo conferences, especially since Iwata took over, is disruption of preconcieved notions