Nintendo needs to showcase its robust "Nindies" on the show floor, and then some.
For several years now Sony has done an excellent job of showcasing independent games in their booth, and this year was no different. Sony had rows of quirky and retro-looking indie games in their booth, many of which were actually multi-platform. From dumb, sloppy fun with Gang Beasts to the oh-so-Metroidvania siren song of Chasm, Sony had a bunch of interesting games on display. Microsoft had also made a respectable effort to showcase small and independent developers in their booth, with kiosks for games like Mighty No. 9 that were only playable on Xbox One. Showcasing smaller games like these on the show floor made Microsoft and Sony's platforms feel robust with lots to play in the upcoming year.
In contrast, Nintendo's booth gave the appearance of struggling to pad out an anemic lineup. Sure, the booth had loads of attendees, but many were standing around to watch one of Nintendo's two stage shows, or waiting for a game mostly to collect the associated swag.
Ironically, this needn’t be the case, as Nintendo actually has many more games coming to its systems than it featured in its booth. Meaty Nintendo-published games like Devil's Third, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Fire Emblem: Fates had no substantive presence on the show floor, nor did some of the smaller releases like Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Maybe Nintendo couldn't throw together playable demos for those titles or felt the trade show atmosphere would result in demos that would poorly represent the final product, but either way Nintendo missed an important opportunity to promote compelling and diverse games in its portfolio.
Even more tragically, Nintendo did not showcase its stable of "Nindie" titles, which were demoed elsewhere during E3 and many of which are exclusive to Nintendo platforms. Some of these were released as limited-time eShop demos for folks at home to enjoy, like Freedom Planet, which is awesome. Others, like the popular Fast Racing Neo, were showcased to industry press at the Indie MIX Event Wednesday night. Other notable Nintendo-bound games from smaller developers that were floating around E3 included Yooka-Laylee and SteamWorld Heist.
Yes, many of these games were showcased at some point during Treehouse Live. Nonetheless, they did not have a persistent E3 show floor presence which is important because a good portion of the industry is at E3 and their perceptions and opinions will be shaped by what they see on the show floor. Nintendo likes to ignore others in the industry and talk "directly" to the consumer, but that approach assumes the consumer is actively watching the stream or looking for Nintendo's promotional videos online later. That will come back and bite Nintendo, because the people they most desperately need to reach during E3 are precisely those potential consumers and industry professionals that are not inclined to tune into Nintendo Directs or Treehouse Live. Why would an executive for a game publisher ever approve a Wii U release when they perceive there to be only two third-party titles coming out for that platform? Why would a GameStop employee recommend a Wii U if he incorrectly believes there are no smaller, independent games to fill out gaps in Nintendo's release schedule? What will those video bloggers have to say? And, yes, what will us outdated games media outlets write for our loyal readers?
Nintendo used to cram as many of their third party partners' games into their booth as possible, even those also found in their respective publishers' booths. And yes, they managed to do this even with their (excellent Wheel of Wario) stage show. They can do it again.