Topic: Do you think it would be better for Nintendo to reveal the NX before E3 or at E3?

I think the former would be better so they could focus on games at E3 itself.

They need to reveal it before E3. Around GDC would be perfect.

At E3. Kinda pointless to announce it before E3 if it is releasing in 2017. If it is releasing 2016 then they need to have already reviled it. Many developers have no idea what the system is and have no idea what to design for. Less than a year of development isn't good.

If it is a micro-console then they could get away with announcing it early 2016 and releasing 2016. Then development for it would still have to be simple but a micro-console could work in a short time span.

If it releases in 2016, then before E3. If they're gonna wait till 2017, then at E3.

Since it more than likely will be released next year, they need to unveil it in February or March. That way Nintendo can just show off its games at E3. Developers already have kits (why else would Square Enix have already announced games for it?) so I expect some "definitive edition" games along with an awesome lineup from Nintendo which I selfishly hope are cross-gen.

At E3, as they said they would.

If I were Nintendo I would take the PS4 approach: announced it at a private event or in Nintendo's case at a Nintendo Direct (February or March as long as it's in Q1) while holding back the controller or console or both from the public til E3. Simply acknowledge it, talk about it and showcase the specs and that's it. Then at E3 reveal the whole thing, showcase games and tell us when it's available on the market (or at least tell us if it's Q4 2016 or Q1 2017 something like that) and then in a Fall Nintendo direct reveal the launch line up and pricing.

I suspect that they'll have a Nintendo Direct before E3 where they give us a bit of an idea of what it actually is. Whether it's a home console, portable or something else entirely. Especially if it's not a home console. Because the last thing they want is to go into E3 with people being hyped for one thing and ultimately being disappointed when its not that. Also with the way that the news works these days there's no way they can keep that amount of information under control.

Worth remembering that that's the way they announced the Wii U and 3DS. We were told what it was early in the year and then E3 was all of the games and all of the specifics.

I was pretty much going to say this exact thing as well.

If they plan to have the NX as a 2016 release, then having a reveal for the system itself before E3, and then expanding upon it at that year's E3 would make the most sense. If it is to be a 2017 release, then they have plenty of time to reveal it at next year's E3, then expanding upon it at E3 2017.

@OlicityBlows: Square Enix hasn't announced any games for the NX yet. DQ 10 and 11 were under consideration, but since they had no idea what the NX actually is, they couldn't confirm anything.

@skywake: Both the 3DS and the Wii U were revealed during E3 a year prior to their launch, 3DS during E3 in 2010, followed by its launch in 2011 and Wii U in 2011, followed by its launch in 2012.

3DS reveal E3 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83GoGHBkdyg
Wii U reveal E3 2011: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKwldXyhSzU

The official announcement was at E3 but they told us they were releasing new hardware and what it was before then.

3DS: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36087758
Wii U: http://kotaku.com/5795241/nintendo-confirms-wii-successor

They're going to want to get some information out ahead of the inevitable speculation. Control the message. Given the platform they have these days? It'd make a lot of sense to say something about what it is during a Direct. Not that much information, not anything that you would call an "official reveal". Just enough to give us a broad idea of what it is.

@skywake: I'm not sure if a Direct is the place to announce that, but I can definitely see some information being released before its ''official'' reveal. Anyway, I think that's all the more reason to assume that it won't be out until 2017.

This would be a public reveal. Devs will have already been briefed on specs by this point and many would have dev kits.

I don't think there's much point in looking back at what Nintendo have done in the past. Sony and Microsoft revealed and then launched their consoles in not much more than 6 months and it worked out pretty well for them.

I just can't see how they can wait till 2017 to release it.As much as I would love to have another 2 years of the Wii U being Nintendo's main console ,releases for this past year have been far too thin on the ground and it's only going to get worse.Another 2 years of this will only damage the brand more.With their first mobile game due out soon and 4 more into next year,there should be a huge surge in popularity around Nintendo,they'd be wise to take advantage of that.I'm sure 1 or 2 of the NX launch titles will be expanded versions of some of their mobile titles,with the plan being to tempt those hooked on the mobile games to upgrade to NX,whatever it may be.

This is something I love speculating about but it's really an isolated question. Depending on what NX embodies and what it doesn't, go to market strategies differ immensely.

I think nintendo will want to get as close to "available today" as they can get. Don't talk about it, ship devices, have the internet go wild on speculation without nintendo saying a word, and boom - welcome to our new world, people. But it all depends on what NX embodies on whether or not it's a clever thing to do.

@Octane: Firstly, thanks for tagging this poor Iowa boy at 2 AM, two hours of sleep should power me through the day. Secondly, the way I remember it was they announced those two games for the NX but backtracked when they realized announcing a game on an unveiled platform was stupid. That could be wrong but I don't feel like rewatching the announcement.

You wake up to reply to emails?

Nah. I am just a really light sleeper and my phone was on my bed because I use it as an alarm clock. I tried getting back to sleep after my phone buzzed but I couldn't.

Sony and Microsoft only increased power. It wasn't anything major. Developers still have no idea what the controller looks like for the new system or whether it is portable or a home console. Developers really have no information. There is a rumor that Dev Kits are out but the Wii U's Dev Kits changed constantly, so that rumor doesn't mean much.

I'm pretty sure, knowing Nintendo, the controller is probably the very first thing devs know about. We all know Nintendo doesn't focus on specs first.