Nintendo Skipping E3 Briefing, Holding Super Smash Bros Tournament Instead

For the second year in a row the Big 'N' is taking their ball and bringing it their own yard. They will not set up a stage in the Nokia theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Iwata and Reggie will not walk onto the stage and deliver their typical spiel about the greatness of the Nintendo brand. They will not showcase new games in a roseate way to a room full of media who previously jeered the company into a made-up box of “Nintendoom”.

Instead, Nintendo will do things their own way; a path they lay out to the footsteps of their own beat, and ideals that will tread through the rivers of success, should the consumer market allow it. They will host their own digital media conference, a second year in a row.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo will still participate in E3, possibly even more-so than ever before, but it won't be to a drumbeat of complacency and perfunctory expectations. The Big 'N' is skipping to a tune rolled out over a creative page of marketing genius.

The company is re-teaming with Best Buy, offering gamers the chance to play-test Super Smash Bros at Best Buy stores across the nation. They pulled a similar stunt last year to startling success, and even managed to grab the attention of a Microsoft employee who was trying to peddle into the hands of unsuspecting consumers the NSA's Spybox.

But the promotion of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U doesn't end there. Nintendo is staying within the E3 atmosphere to provide gamers with a 16 person tournament that will be broadcast for thousands and thousands and thousands of gamers to witness the world around via live-stream. Seems pretty cool to me.

In addition to this, Explosion got a hold of a new video for Mario Kart 8, featuring up to 60 minutes of video, all centered around the upcoming racing title for the Wii U. You can check it out below.

Nintendo may not be playing the marketing game the same as their arch-rivals at Sony and Microsoft, but they are doing what they do best in the best way that they know how to do it.

The company is also banking a lot on the upcoming Mario Kart 8 – and based on the way the title has been moving and shaking up the ladder on Amazon – I can't say that it's not a bad place to hedge your bets.

The only thing they need to do now is grasp hold of that momentum like Donald Sterling has a hold on racism, and just ride it through to success, opposite of Sterling riding his convictions right into a lifetime ban from the NBA.

Nintendo's E3 briefing will take place via live-stream on June 10th at 9am PST. We'll throw you a link as soon as one is provided.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.