Nintendo will host a “Nintendo Digital Event” in lieu of a press conference

Written by Brandon Hofer on April 29, 2014

News: Nintendo has revealed what their E3 plans will entail including a new digital event and more in-depth access but no press conference.

Nintendo has revealed what their plans are for E3 this year and it appears they are building off of last year’s plans. There will once again be no Nintendo press conference in the traditional sense, however, there is going to be a “Nintendo Digital Event.” Additionally there is going to be a Super Smash Bros Wii U tournament and the ability for everyone to go down to Best Buy and play unreleased games like you were able to do last year.

The Super Smash Bros. Invitational will take place at the Nokia Theater (the same venue where Nintendo used to hold their E3 press conference) to help celebrate Super Smash Bros. coming out on both the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U earlier this year. There will be 16 highly skilled Smash Bros players invited to the tournament where thousands of fans in the audience and more via a live stream on the internet can see Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U in action. Nintendo has stated that more information regarding this tournament will be revealed soon.

In place of the traditional E3 press conference, Nintendo has elected to go with the “Nintendo Digital Event” this year. This will be a new kind of video program that will reveal and provide further detail about the gaming experiences on the way for Nintendo platforms in 2014 and beyond. The “Nintendo Digital Event” will air at 9 a.m. PT on Tuesday, June 10.

In addition to that the Nintendo Treehouse will also be live at E3. For those who don’t know, the “Treehouse” is the product development department at Nintendo of America. This event will offer fans a deeper look at Nintendo’s biggest games of E3, with information directly from the source. The “Treehouse” will provide in-depth game demos live and unscripted from Nintendo’s booth on the show floor. This new program will be streamed during all hours of the E3 show floor.

In addition to those activities in Los Angeles, Nintendo is also teaming up once again with Best Buy. In 2013, Nintendo expanded it’s E3 activities outside of Los Angeles and let fans play some of the games that were on the show floor at participating Best Buy stores. They are doing that again this year and will mark the first time around the world that fans will have the opportunity to get their hands on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

What do you think about Nintendo’s E3 plans? Are you disappointed that they won’t have a press conference for the second year in a row or are you happy with this new direction?