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Nintendo: No New Hardware at E3 2014

by Clay Johnson - May 5, 2014, 7:21 pm EDT
Total comments: 13 Source: GoNintendo, IGN, VideoGamer

A flurry of rumors has prompted a response from the company.

Nintendo has confirmed that no new hardware announcement is planned for E3 this year. The company has reiterated this position to multiple news sites who had reported on rumors that the unveiling of a new console or console iteration would happen at this year’s event.

A combination of factors led to these rumors gaining traction across the internet over the past several days.

First, news began sprouting up that references to a “new Nintendo system” could be found in the metadata for the company’s E3 website. The references were quickly removed from the site’s source code. It was later discovered that the metadata in question had been in the site’s source code last year as well, suggesting it was simply a leftover that hadn’t been cleaned up. However, the rumor mill had already begun churning.

Soon after the story started spreading, an episode of the IGN podcast Nintendo Voice Chat was released containing a short conversation regarding the possibility of new hardware. Comments by IGN co-founder and industry veteran Peer Schneider were widely reported, including his assertion that “they are absolutely going to show new hardware this year.”

While Schneider did note that he has heard rumblings to that effect from at least a former Nintendo employee and “somebody on the third-party front,” the conversation in its full context is highly speculative and wide-ranging as to the possibilities at play, from a new iteration of a current system to some sort of relatively minor peripheral.

Not long after that podcast was posted, a VideoGamer article cited a “third-party publishing source” in its claim that Nintendo would show new hardware and accompanying games at E3. It further asserted that the new hardware was believed to be based upon specs that circulated early in the year for a system called Fusion. The platform would basically be a home and portable console hybrid, with a DS-like portable component and docking station to connect the device to a TV for home play.

Nintendo initially offered its typical refusal to comment on rumors and speculation. Soon, though, they responded with a clear answer regarding the issue, with a company representative telling VideoGamer, “I can confirm Nintendo is not revealing any hardware at this year's E3.” Many other sites’ inquiries were also answered in a similar manner.

As for what Nintendo will actually reveal at E3 2014, fans will find out on June 10 when the company’s Digital Event is broadcast across the internet.

Talkback

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorMay 05, 2014

Of course there will be no new hardware announcement at E3.  They always announce it before E3. :D

That's why they're doing the Nintendo Direct instead of a press conference: it's not technically at E3, allowing them to keep this smokescreen.

Of course they won't be showing new hardware at E3...

...they've been showing old hardware for years!

HEY-OH

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMay 06, 2014

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

Of course they won't be showing new hardware at E3...

...they've been showing old hardware for years!

HEY-OH

Nicely done good sir,

We can safely rule out a console successor because WiiU owners would riot, which means handhelds... and the last handheld rev revealed at E3 was the Game Boy f**king Micro.

DS Lite: January announcement
DSi: Fall Conference 2008
DSiXL: Fall Conference 2009
3DS: First acknowledged in a shareholder statement the week the DSiXL came out in North America
3DSXL: Nintendo Direct, June 21/12
2DS: August 2013 press event

Plus, this isn't a "We don't comment on rumors and speculation" statement, this is as close to a Sherman statement as Nintendo gets. Could they pull a surprise announcement out two weeks later like with the 3DS? Sure. But that's the earliest we'll see anything.

edit: two weeks later like with the 3DSXL

THANKS SHUGGART

EvilMarioMay 06, 2014

I'm still bitter about the 3DS XL announcement two weeks after E3, since I just bought a Midnight Purple 3DS. Maybe there will be a new 3DS revision at E3, maybe it'll come two weeks later, but it's probably coming at some point.

ShyGuyMay 06, 2014

What about all the *Advance trademarks happening in Japan? 3DS Advance?

KhushrenadaMay 06, 2014

Nintendo getting out of the home console business confirmed! Looks like it is software only from now on.

PhilPhillip Stortzum, May 06, 2014

Nintendo isn't going to be at E3. Just like last year.
It doesn't count that it had an immense presence on the show floor last year... or something.

the asylumMay 06, 2014

Quote from: NWR_Lindy

Of course they won't be showing new hardware at E3...

...they've been showing old hardware for years!

HEY-OH

http://www.instantrimshot.com

Mop it upMay 07, 2014

Meh, they were talking about a revision, and the XL isn't a revision because it doesn't add functionality and is sold alongside the regular model. Same with the 2DS, not a revision.

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