I certainly agree that digital broadcasts may be over saturated, but Directs still have BY FAR the strongest brand recognition and viewership numbers in the sea of presentations. Maybe rather than outright replacing them, they can try a hybrid approach? Still keep those core 3 Direct slots open (February, June, and September), but then in addition or maybe sometimes instead of the Direct at that time, they try something different? But ultimately I still feel like Nintendo still has such an iron grip on the internet with their Directs that they really shouldn’t stop. Not only are they a great way to connect with fans, but they’re incredible for marketing.
I agree with this. I think that utilizing anything that is exclusive to their own hardware will artificially deflate the advertising potential of a direct successor. And as you’ve said the Direct format is much more of a powerful entity than a State of Play/Inside Xbox etc.
Interesting idea. What if it was a Direct virtual con. The presentation happens (or can be re-watched), then the ‘doors open’ for a Grand Fest style space where the announced games are showcased for a few days, and you run around as your avatar sharing the same space with ghosts of other attendees who are there ’live’ with you to visit the booths to see the new game demos and trailers etc, including multiplayer demos.
This sounds like a really cool idea, but it also sounds *extremely* ambitious. If it was necessary to download something ahead of time for these interactive directs, I would imagine you'd run a high risk of people datamining that download's content.
He was saying that during the ps3/ps4 era, which was at least still noticeable, but not as impressive as the jumps between ps1/ps2/ps3. Ps5/pro graphical difference is just sad
I think they'll keep directs just because they keep everyone on the same page, but I think revealing more games individually could be a good move. It worked well back in 2020 and got more people talking about certain games then they would otherwise.
I never knew Mr Iwata personally but he's one of the only public people I would've wanted to ever meet. There was something genuine about him. Something that made you think he's actually a good human despite being a big corporate boss who actually cares about his workers and customers alike. After seeing Mr Sakurai's video yesterday about him I only felt validated in my opinion about Mr Iwata.
While I agree, people been saying the same stuff about Directs when they were just introduced and now everyone loves them. We'll see how things go and maybe Nintendo actually cooking a great replacement
Have you even watched the video? It's not about replacing but an innovation of the formula because of the different factors stated in the video (leaks/controls).
TLDW: The video talked about possibly adding an interactive element to the directs for NSO EX subscribers. In other words: other people gets the regular directs, but also the personal experiences shared by the NSO EX members it would be a goldmine for content creators as well
The idea of a playable direct is simply amazing, especially the way you described "get your controllers ready, mystery game time!", now imagine someone like a huge F-Zero fan being surprised by F-Zero 99. Truly an unforgettable experience. Now I will put my "Business Hat" and say Nintendo should sell "tickets" for at least the Direct live reveal, it is basically like going to a show, so I might as well profit from it. After the direct ends, lock the playable version behind NSO and keep the "unplayable version" on YT.
It felt in touch with the core fan base for sure, it’s an odd thing to see for me. I care less than ever about Nintendo Directs, because they lack any personality, but they’re also more popular than ever simply because of how successful the Switch is.
It felt touched because there were so few Nintendo fans at the time. It felt like they were talking to US Not necessarily saying that era was worse or better because of it, but that certainly is the reason why it may have perhaps felt more personal
Oh piss off, you lot didn't care nor like the Wii u from the start. Now it's "man the Wii u era was so underrated and good" I wonder why? Because of you lot
I’m not sure if this is in development there…but it’s a fantastic idea that I hope in some form they do. Great video, I hope someone internal can see it!
Having an "E3 like event" we can have access to via the cloud directly on our Switch systems, a place where we can virtually hang out with our friends or alone using our Mii characters to watch the Direct and immediately after walk to places where we can try the newly announced games or other types of activities is a brilliant idea, it may take a few years but I hope Nintendo does this before someone else steals the idea.
This is a great idea, I think that the way it could work is playing the games via streaming during this interactive direct, and as soon as the direct is over, they upload the video to RU-vid etc of the interactive experience. They would capture gameplay of random participants. This would be an amazing experience as a Nintendo/gaming fan, and would work in conjunction with the existing Nintendo Directs, not necessarily replace them.
Now that I've seen the entire argument, I think that yes: it's a brilliant pattern to connect the dots with. In fact, I will be surprised if it isn't mostly what you're describing. First reaction, I'm not sure about the practicality of having users move over to their Switch for Directs... But, they wouldn't need "everyone"... it's a portable device... so bringing in pre-registrations, and engaging in some operant conditioning, I suppose it's not unrealistic. Gosh, I even HOPE it comes to be that! Nice man, no one else has offered such a nintendo-esque reason for what we're seeing. Very novel and well thought out!!
While your idea sounds cool and i think could be a good idea as a complementary thing to directs I see multiple obstacles for why it can't be a substitute or their new main way of doing announcements. Depending on the game it might not fit that way of announcement(like there are games that doesn't demo well) + third party(and nintendo themselves to a degree) might have a hard time supporting that type of announcements, since there is a lot of work needed to make it. Like the work needed to make a demo is a part of the reasons, why not more games have a demo. Also this type of announcement probably will have a hard time moving outside the hardcore fanbase. But no matter what I do agree that it makes sends for nintendo to become more experimental with announcements agian and that aspect of your idea might be a part of it.
your voice and channel is really good at putting people to sleep. It's very monotone and you go very in depth in ways most people find boring which I like. it's like someone talking about one of their autism special interest which if it's a topic I'm passionate towards and care about then I love the content. I try to put myself to sleep with this channels content sometimes but then I'm interested in the content this channel is about so I end up watching the whole video instead of going to sleep, plus these videos aren't long enough. Maybe this sparks an idea for a 2nd channel or more content idea's.
I like how the previous directs are constructed, we know a 1st party game gets announced first and then other games and then a big finale game. It was fast informative and it provided gameplay. I dont like having to interact with things like this, i just need a list of games, gameplay segments, release date or demo announcements and thats it
I think one of the most missed hits was the Partner Showcase. I've been preaching to the void that Nintendo needed to use it to give one company the premiere featuring, and use that to both give it a popularity boost and to entice the company to make games for them. For example, if on the early days where the format was extremely maligned, the Partner Showcases were something like "Nintendo Partner Showcase feat. Capcom", or Ubisoft, they would at least give some value to them. Have a bigger game from them as anchor, use a couple extra games if they can, and gather around other games from other publishers. I wonder who had the idea for Partner Showcases, and I assume part of it was that PS is a Direct without Nintendo games made during an era when Nintendo was unsure if they could deliver games - the pandemic era -, but they definitely fumbled the brand hard.
I think the proposed concept is very interesting. But I feel like this kind of idea would be the most beneficial as a free feature, when this play test is for one that’s for NSO. Not that NSO at the base tier is light on members, but just that it would feel like it has the maximum reach for anybody to play along with a Direct overhaul. Also, I’m gonna say, if the next console is more iterative than an evolution for Nintendo, I have a hard time seeing them changing how Directs work. Since the Wii U at least had a substantial gimmick, and the Switch successor, from what little we can glean seems like just a… well, a Switch 2. Still, there is a mystique about the idea I can’t deny, though I’d need to be able to experience something like it firsthand to really get behind it. And I can’t deny there’s always the possibility they adjust how Directs are done.
Good point on NSO. Theoretically, it would be easier with an iterative successor since they can stream games to the old Switch without a console compatibility issue.
The complication of a demo is that you're trying to make a portion of an unfinished game presentable, which is a risk from two directions: On the one hand, particularly when it comes to widely distributed demos, people might crack the files faster than expected and leak all kinds of information in advance (especially if you're essentially offering a time-limited version of the full game, as Super Smash Bros. Brawl did). On the other hand, if you try to reduce those leaks by removing spoiler-y data (and make your demo less bloated in the process), then you run the risk that something inside your demo might depend on something outside the demo, and crash unexpectedly during the player's experience. In fact, even beyond the point above, the use of an unfinished (and thus almost certainly buggy) game as the basis of a demo is bound to lead to unexpected behavior, if not outright crashes. This was the very reason why the E3 show floor-and even pre-release demos like the sort Nintendo used to show at Best Buys across North America-had attendants close by, to troubleshoot or reset the demo if bugs should arise. This is why, as Sakurai pointed out on his RU-vid channel, the process of making a demo is a labor-intensive, time-consuming, and nerve-racking experience for developers. With that said, I found the idea fascinating that the playtest might be for streaming demos of upcoming games ever since you first floated the idea-namely because streaming these demos would (mostly) resolve the risk of secretive data leaking out through datamining, and it'd make a LOT of sense for such demos to require an active NSO account-heck, it even explains why the playtest would be limited to Expansion Pak members, since that would help reduce traffic to the streaming servers (and limit the player pool to those who would be least likely to leak information if they saw something they shouldn't have, or spread negative word-of-mouth if they found a bug). Come to think of it, in terms of the time and labor necessary to publish a demo... do you think that might've been the motivation for one of Nintendo's more recent studio acquisitions? For example, do you suppose Shiver Entertainment's experience porting pre-existing games onto Switch might translate to them being able to polish buggy, unfinished demos while removing potentially spoiler-y content?
My feeling is that they would be streaming a limited amount - much more limited than a full demo. And because Nintendo generally only reveal titles within months of release, I think it would be rare to have a game previewed that was buggy in any way (or not that part of it anyway). Really interesting point about Shiver.
I absolutely adore this idea but this feels even more prone to leaks and huge data mine efforts than the directs I mean even assuming you don't leak the games early your still giving people access to a fair bit of game files and seeing as to how much gets leaked from demos already I figure you'd see a large increase in that particular type of leak when combining it with the hype and desire to leak that comes with a direct
I’ve been stuck on this “Nintendo ‘Zigs’ when you expect them to ‘zag’” thing for some time. A phenomenon with Switch 2 speculation is that the system cannot just be the Switch again with better hardware because that would be boring. But only Nintendo has to deal with that problem! Sony and Xbox have been putting out the same system since their initial releases with small improvements and everyone remains generally pleased. Nintendos crazy innovation has always been consistent with Market trends. The analogue stick on the n64 was an innovation but one on the backs of work other hardware manufacturers were attempting. The DS was touch screen of course and that was innovative, but again touch screens were already desirable, they just did it best. Portable consoles like the Switch are not a huge innovation, it just makes sense. I have no doubt that Nintendo will try something wacky with Switch 2 (and Directs!) but they won’t toss out a proven formula until it stops working. And right now the Directs are absolutely working for them
wow. that idea is so striking, so "nintendo-like". you did make it clear that it's not necessarily a prediction for the playtest, but if you're somehow right, i mean, you win. might as well rename your channel to "the nintendo prophet" lol
I have no problems with the idea here, but it does seem like a bit of a weird forecast, considering that there are no real signs that nintendo is dissatisfied with directs, or that they specifically have a new style of presentation on the way.
I do love the idea but I very much doubt Nintendo would exclude everyone in the wrong timezone (at school/at work/asleep during the time of the Direct). Even changing the time for each presentation so that everyone in the world feels excluded sometimes and included at other times is still a bad choice imo. Whatever way Nintendo will evolve the current Direct format they definitely will not forget that they are a global company aimed at all ages and that this means the asynchronous experience of the Direct needs to be as good as the live experience.
I imagine it would be available with time delays. Realistically, it would probably be easier to avoid spoilers if it's via their bespoke tech than on the wilds of the internet.
Getting rid of Nintendo directs would just kill any potential for hype among super fans. I know Nintendo wants to appeal to the casual gamer but Nintendo fans need something to get excited about. It’s how to keeo us engaging with the brand even during the downtime between games.
Nintendo Directs just need to get better. Get rid of the puns and annoying commentary. Show interviews with the game creators explaining their art. Make it feel special, not like a commercial, but a direct message from the artist to the audience. Don't waste time on games that don't look great. Just stick them in a montage or something. You can shadow drop demos right after the Direct.
partner showcases were such a bad mistake honestly. nintendo has by a landslide the most beloved and notable and paid attention to presentations, and then they just threw it out the window to make presentations identical to the usual playstation or other company presentations :( and after february and august, its like theyre replacing nintendo directs with these really lifeless presentations
As cool as the playable directs sounds it seems like too much of an investment for little payoff. Would it be mandatory to be playable? if opt-in would people even use it compared to just downloading an eShop demo or watching the trailers uploaded to the main channel after a direct? streaming is pretty expensive and they'd have to rely on developers/publishers to issue out a playable state of their build + setup streaming servers which is expensive. Not to mention they'd have to get RU-vid to integrate something like this. Since RU-vid has the most amount of users, I'm not sure they'd create their own Direct app (in that case can just do eShop demos which is much cheaper and reliable) One of Iwata's points was reaching beyond their core audience (which RU-vid provides from mobile users to PC users) how would they control the games in the direct? it sounds like you'd have to be on a Switch or its successor for it to work but that would take away from reaching beyond their audience
Fans are just a huge fan of directs. You can call them something else if you want. But there would be a massive blowback from nintendo fans if Nintendo were to stop doing them all together.
