Nintendo is gearing up to kick off 2017 with a bang, unveiling the Switch in detail on 12th / 13th January, in the process ensuring that early-year momentum and attention goes its way. With a March release and so little officially known about it, that seems like a smart way to go.
Oddly, however, Nintendo has ditched a longstanding policy and opted to broadcast its simultaneous stream at a time mostly convenient for Japan, and far less so for regions like Europe and North America. Tellingly, that's a nice 1pm broadcast in Nintendo's homeland, which will also allow investors a couple of hours to react in the Tokyo stock exchange.
What time is the Nintendo Switch presentation?
North America: 8pm PST / 9pm MST / 10pm CST / 11pm EST - UK/Ire: 4am GMT - Europe: 5am CET / 6am EET - Asia/Oceania: 1pm JST / 12pm AWST / 3pm AEDT
We were surprised when we saw these times, frankly; as has already been revealed by attendees that simply can't help themselves, media events are taking place in multiple high-profile locations on 13th January, but that shouldn't have necessarily had a big influence on the broadcast time; unless, of course, the focus is primarily on Japan.
Nintendo is entitled to do as it pleases and target the Japanese market, of course, that is the company's right. Yet the selected times are still rather odd; for the past couple of years Nintendo has generally tried to accommodate a global audience with its synchronised Direct broadcasts, for example. It's never possible to satisfy everyone who has work, school and so on, but events have typically been timed so that they fall in the morning in North America / early-to-mid afternoon in Europe / evening in Japan. In terms of maximising the global audience, a lot of these timings have been a sensible compromise.
Stepping away from offering that accommodating stance, on a working night no less, is a strange move by Nintendo for what is a vital presentation. Leaks and rumours aside, the company has said very little about the system since the initial teaser trailer, and deliberately so. The marketing strategy was evidently to give the world a taste before going big in the New Year, and it's a solid idea; after all, it's inevitable that a majority of the tens of millions that have seen the original trailer haven't been following every detail of leaks and speculation. Yet now a key presentation is at an awkward time for a number of potentially interested observers.
Let's consider some negatives and then positives. On the negative side, Nintendo is damaging its chances of getting significant mainstream media (not specialist media like gaming sites) coverage of the live broadcast. Whenever major tech companies have presentations they often get live blogs and hosted streams on a diverse range of media sites - Apple and Google get this sort of coverage, and Sony and Microsoft did when they hosted their major conferences for unveiling the PS4 and Xbox One back in 2013. It's a way for half-interested observers to see what the fuss is about, but with the odd hours for the West a lot of media (especially in Europe) simply won't bother.
Counter to that, though, it can be argued that this isn't a big deal. Nintendo may cater the live presentation to dedicated followers, such as this writer who'll be live-blogging it at 4am ahead of a flight at about 6.30am. There's a case to be made for that approach, offering detail to the hardcore fans and tackling the wider public in a different way.
Reaching a wider audience will have to come in the 24 hours and days after the 'presentation'. Media coverage of the reveals will be expected on 13th January, and Nintendo will no doubt produce bite-sized videos to condense the key selling points into smaller chunks - a two minute concept demo, a sizzle reel of games, trailers for major launch releases and so on. It's with these videos, updates to official websites and social media posts that Nintendo will hope to pick up traffic and, of course, interest. Then various media will be hands-on shortly after the presentation, so naturally impressions articles will appear extensively online.
The frustrating thing, we'd suggest, is that Nintendo could have done all of these things while delivering its presentation more successfully to a global audience. As it is, the timing of the broadcast means a large part of the world will quite literally be asleep when Nintendo shows off extensive Switch details.
No matter how you cut it, and no matter how strong the rest of the big N's strategy is likely to be in promoting Switch, that seems like an odd mis-step.
Comments (152)
Isn't it like a stream for the event in Japan. If so, it would make sense why its at that time.
I understand their bias towards Japan, but honestly 11 PM for Eastern Time seems like they didn't even try to make it a decent time for us. Would 11 AM for them be that bad? That would at least put us at 9 pm. Then you've got a real bad time for EU though I guess. I hope they don't think non Nintendo fans are going to care to watch for this thing at 11 o'clock at nigbt until whatever time it goes onto. Ah well. I guess they can see it the next day. I just hope they reach more than just us who hang out at sites like this.
it'll be available to watch online once I get up. I don't think it's a big deal.
Sony fans stay up all night so...it works for them?
If it's a stream for a live event, unlike most of the other Nintendo Directs, they have to cater for getting the best people at the event. I doubt it's bias... it's more likely trying to avoid having B-list celebrities looking haggard at the end of the working day.
Also, evening is probably better for the US, TV dinners etc. The ones that REALLY suffer are us in Europe, wouldn't be surprised if there was another event for us announced at the first.
This is not a bad time for Japan.
Everyone else? You just have to suck it up and understand that this is a Japanese company. You can always watch the video later on. But the Japanese media can't miss the keynote, as they are attending live.
The rest of the world have to realise that the timing is designed for the japenese media attending the event, not your little corner of the world to fit in with your job or your sleeping habits.
Works for me. I have work early in the morning, so an early stream is inconvenient. It's just another sign, imo, that they're aiming at adults with their marketing so far. Plus it's convenient for Japan, where the stream is happening.
@Whopper744 11PM is an alright time, better than 4/5 AM in Europe. Putting the japanese presentation back would be even more poopy for Europe.
It's in Japan, so it's a given. The very notion that they will have to rely on word-of-mouth when this will be plastered all over the internet is, quite frankly, a ridiculous statement.
Either way, I'll be up at 4AM to see this and I'll be heading out to preorder on that very same morning (which is when I presume they will open up as the price will be confirmed).
Please, Nintendo. GANBATTE !!
Show your best presentation and Great specs of Switch !
Yep, not going to wake up at 4 AM to watch it live. We'll just have to suck it up and watch whenever we wake up in the morning. I'll be a fun breakfast. Just chill, the Switch will not run away.
I think Nintendo is playing off the Switch's initial reception. Could be dangerous for them, but I think they're counting on this thing going viral this time. As in, they expect the hardcores will see it at the inconvenient time, but that word of mouth will hype it into a massive trend by the time the rest of the world wakes up/gets home from work or school.
VERY risky strategy, but I think they know people want this now.
I don't care what time it is on, I just want to know EVERYTHING!
@World Not as if they can't just drop into a TV show with one & get some free hype while driving people onto YouTube for the presentation. Imagine them ever doing that.
Wait, 1pm JST (Japan time) = 11am for Western Zone Indonesia (I live in Eastern Java) ?
Word of mouth is already out there following the reveal. I know a lot of people who will be buying a Switch. And even more that can freely engage in a relevant debate about the concept. So they'll be fine.
@Anti-Matter Most likely, it'll be 12 in the afternoon in Malaysia
The time is perfect for me. It's just really inconvenient for Europeans.
@DanteSolablood I want to believe.
Certainly early but Nintendo fans will watch it whatever time it's aired .
Least consideration being shown for Europe. Now where have I seen that happening before?
@Whopper744
11 PM is a decent time, its still prime hour and not that difficult to stay up. The conference begins at 1AM where I live, now that is going to be a pain.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Its almost as if Europe has consistently been their worst performing market since they entered the business, causing them to allocate their resources and priorities accordingly.
I'll just wake up for 4am. At the end of the day, I personally don't care, I just want to watch Live.
@A01 It's almost as if Nintendo have consistently never even tried. There's a thing called "marketing".
When you're spanning 19 hours of time zones, it's impossible to satisfy all 3 major continents. Since the conference is being hosted in Japan, and it is live, it makes sense that Japan gets the nod this time. American times are reasonable for the most part.
Also, considering this is the 21st century, 'word-of-mouth' (which now equates to social media) is now the most effective and important method of communicating news.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Japanese gamers have to stay up until 1/2am to watch Nintendo's E3 presentations. Please stop moaning.
well the north american times are totally okay. i dont understand why you guys have a problem with that. are you already asleep at 11pm??
european times however are insane. probably no one will get up at 5am in the morning to watch that stream.
They always sort of rely on word of mouth. Overall I don't think many people actually watched Nintendo Directs. A few hundred people on a Nintendo site like this are not very representative of the general market.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE It's almost as if the foundation through which Nintendo were able to gain a foothold in the West (the US video game crash) didn't exist in Europe. Crazy, isn't it?
Mainstream media is virtually irrelevant to the majority of people nowadays... it's social media that is most important, so the timing is irrelevant... people will keep posting about it for days.
(This article just seems like Thomas's way of complaining about having to be up at 4am to cover the presentation live.)
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I mean, if operating in the region for over 30 years isn't trying, I'm not sure what is.
Im sure it'll work out for them. Most already know about it. In the age of the internet im sure for at least 24 hours it will be nearly first page news. People will learn about it should they wish.
Lets be realistic here. Once the news is out, the internet will be flooded with information Friday morning. So I don't see this as a negative. Plus , there will probably be preorders available that Friday at Gamestop, Bestbuy, and Amazon in the US.
@tjhiphop exactly.. Japan is bigger on portable systems than the west. They should get the convenient time. Its not a bad thing all around.
@Mad_Haus
Oh...lunchtime.
Maybe I will prepare some yummy lunch box to watch Switch presentation at my school. But still wonder how long for that Switch presentation ? Hopefully not more than 15 minutes because I will eat my lunch while watching Live streaming during working hour at my school (Lunch time for my students at 11.45 am but teachers can having lunch a bit earlier).
Well, it's a live event, of course they wanted the most convenient time in their country. I think it doesn't matter that much, coverage will comes a bit later, but it will still covered by mainstream media. Social media trending might be a bit divided though, as some will tweet live and some will tweet later. If they could keep the trending up all day, it will be awesome, but I'm a bit worried the trend won't reach the peak it deserved and spread out too much instead. Let's see how it goes, I'm excited! Bring it on Ninty
I was pretty pleased with that, because in Brazil it will be 8am. Then I realised I will be working at the time.
Damn, Nintendo.
It's not a surprise, but the timing is still disappointing. Since it was already known that it'll be on the 12th in the US and 13 in UK and Europe, there was only a small range of a few hours when this could have taken place.
It's not a big deal at all. People in Europe will hear or read about it on social media or news paper websites etc on their journey to work that morning.
I certainly won't be up at that hour, I'll read about it on my train journey to work on the 13th. Nintendo are just catering to their home turf first I guess. For all we know they might have things planned for the weekend too and another 'Direct' for February focused on a more friendly western time zone.
It's really nothing to get worked up about.
@tjhiphop E3? What a ridiculous statement and event to mention. The timing of that is completely outside of Nintendo's control. This presentation and every detail about it is all in Nintendo's control.
Eh. Nintendo cater mostly to Japan anyway. I'll just see it when I see it.
Although, knowing me, that'll probably be at 4am, because my brain will wake me up then.
This first line of this article says it all..."Tellingly, that's a nice 1pm broadcast in Nintendo's homeland, which will also allow investors a couple of hours to react in the Tokyo stock exchange." This is 100% about the stock.
It's not so bad for America but kinda sucks if you live in Europe. Either way, the Switch hype train knows not the constraints of time!
It'll be trending on Facebook in the morning so everyone on there will easily see it. It's a good option for now, but they need to have some more ads when it comes time for the actual release. One of the reasons the Wii U flopped was because of poor advertising.
I know I'll be in my pjs with some popcorn ready for the dark and late broadcast at 11pm.
Living in Australia, we often have Directs in the early hours of the morning and I've never had a problem.
I'm sure everyone will manage just fine, it's not that hard to plan around.
There is literally no time that will work well for Japan and Europe and Americas. Presentations like this are for the hardcore fans and those fans will see it anyway, even if not live.
The important thing for Nintendo is to get as many non-gaming media outlets as possible to cover it.
Most people in the world won't learn about the Nintendo Switch via a live reveal presentation. They will learn at varying times through advertising, word of mouth and articles in various forms of media. The kind of people who tune in to live games and console reveals are the kind of people who will know all about it whatever time it is revealed as they spend large amounts of time on gaming websites. I very much doubt anyone is going to say "Well if I can't watch it live I will not read or watch anything further about it or consider making a purchase."
As an Australian I must ask. Why does this article exist? What are you complaining about? This is the norm here, I've never seen any of our local gaming media fall to pieces over it. And the news in general is 24/7 anyways so......
It is interesting that European fans are so offended by this timing. I am reading some comments from Australian fans who feel that this timing is really great for the first time. And here in Latin America, well, we are not even mentioned when schedules are listed, so our reality has always been to adapt to the timing that suits the rest of the world and we have never had a problem doing so.
Do not complain so much. The world is big and what does not work for you may work for others. I am sure there will be many videos and articles to digest in the morning. Also, as far as I know, that will not be the only live demo that Nintendo will do.
Whining about the late time? Well, I live in israel, so I have to wake up at 4am! And also it's a day after a gaming convention that ends at 10pm! TALK ABOUT REAL HYPE!!!
Time doesn't matter, whenever they did it someone would be annoyed about it. What I'm annoyed about is using Word of mouth AGAIN??? It worked so well for the Wii U now didn't it? Are they are being cheap or is their marketing team just useless?
@BLP_Software As somebody who lives in NY (state not city) and watches all the Sony stuff, they are usually on at either 8 or 9 at night here, 5 or 6 on the west coast. Not 8 and 11. Which was mentioned in the article, just a couple of hours early, 11AM Japan, 6PM west coast, 9PM east coast is usually the way these things work. None of these companies seem to give a hoot about the UK/EU, sorry.
@ThomasBW84 Somehow this ties in w/ the ONLY live footage we've seen so far of any Switch game is Zelda on The Tonight Show at about 12 midnight. It wasn't on Cartoon Network or Disney Channel at noon on a Saturday. Heck it wasn't even advertised, it was a stealth Switch reveal as Reggie was on to talk about SMR on Apple hardware and then he whips out the first ever live footage of Zelda on Switch. So technically that was the hardware and software live reveal for Switch. Unannounced at midnight.
So on the bright side, they announced this one.
To be honest I have better things to do at 4 am. Like sleep. So I can be all fresh to make money to buy a switch.
Hey! and South America?
01/12 11PM GMT -5 Bogota, Lima, Quito.
01/13 12AM GMT -4 La Paz.
01/13 01AM GMT -3 Asunción, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago, Rio de Jaineiro.
Wasn't it supposed to be primarily for the Japanese investors? People will be asleep? Well, they get to wake up to loads of news from Nintendo. Sounds fine to me.
@A01 Europe is not one region. There are countries in Europe, where Nintendo doesn't operate at all, not even via a local distributor.
In countries they actually did try (Western Europe), they are doing fine. The only exception to this is the UK. Heck, in Germany I can go to any electronics store and get a bigger selection of Nintendo hardware, accessories and games than in pretty much every US store.
Rely on word of mouth like the NES Classic? I think they will be ok. At least I do not have to take off work now to watch it.
@rjejr Its nothing unusual. I find it easier to wake for early hours than stay up for 1am anyway.
We live in the old world remember
This article seems to contradict itself in every paragraph.
You're not going to please everyone with a global broadcast. If it's not on at a convenient time for you, just watch it on YouTube or on eShop later on.
8PM PST is fine for me. Nintendo know who it's marketing to
That's okay for me, I'm in Europe and I'll watch the event the next day with a beer and a joint
Will be sleeping like a baby counting the Sheeps jumping over the gate.
To get up at 5AM or not..., still I have a feeling that this event will primarily be for investors as they have organized their own event place, so I can probably just as well sleep.
I do think there will of course be trailers during the stream, but I don't really think the stream will be a Nintendo Direct level of fun/excitement.
Another thing to consider is that the event might be raw as in unsubbed, which means that people who know Japanese will understand the live stream. Still we do have Nintendo Life to translate the news maybe and then post about it for us to see :+).
So probably going to have a fun morning ^^.
@6ch6ris6 I agree it's not that bad of a time, but there are a decent amount of adults on this site that are usually asleep at 11 so they can get up at 5 am for work or a commute. My dad does that every morning... not that he's a Nintendo fan, though.
Thankfully, I don't have class until 9 and it's just a short walk away from my apartment, so I'm cracking open a few drinks and watching it at 11!
How on earth is 8pm a bad time for america lol. It must be so inconvenient being at home when it broadcasts.
I don't see this as being an issue. It's not a Nintendo Direct after all. Having watched the past videos (the Switch Reveal and the Jimmy Fallon showcase) live as they occurred, there were at most a number of viewers in the thousands, a small fraction of the global viewers. Most people will watch it the next day or at some point later. Plus, surely there'll be quite a lot of coverage afterwards from all types of media.
I'm personally happy they are doing it in the evening, when I do not have to work and my kids are sleep. I can watch the whole thing live without any interruption
I will be stocking up on coffee that night. I know 4AM is crazy, but I've been waiting so long for this. It'll be worth it!
Talouring this to the largest handheld market a mistake? This seems like the right move to me, Nintendo has to secure its main market first and the early UK time means the press reports will be there for people in the morning. To be digested with tea and breakfast.
Where I am at is actually the very best time in my opinion. Even better than Japan's local time. Mine will be at 9p.m. which is an hour after my kids go to bed so the evening will be nice and quiet and I can sit down and watch the glory happen.
Which country is Nintendo struggling the most in? Europe/UK.
Which country is being screwed up most by this Jan. 12 presentation by Nintendo? Europe/UK.
MAYBE people in that area of the world should have bought some Nintendo games outside of Pokemon this generation. You get what you earned.
In the end though, does it really matter if you see the news live vs a few hours later? No. You don't get a Switch that day either way, so it doesn't matter that much.
So I'm not alone in thinking the timing of the Directs and such is pretty awful.
With apologies to the Japanese members of the site, but from an European point of view... it does what Kirby is most famous for.
@XCWarrior Exactly. Nintendo has never been big in Europe/UK, so it makes sense. Why would Nintendo cater to people who have thus far not shown much interest in their products?
@ryanrybot
Because maybe, just maybe, there are European Nintendo fans. You know, we kind of... um, exist.
Eh, it's not like the whole thing won't be ripped to YouTube in ten seconds flat regardless. By the time I wake up, it will likely have millions of watches already. XD
They are going to post recorded footage on youtube and media outlets will be covering this. This is not going to be some hush hush event no matter what time it broadcasts.
I was kind missing the drama on NL's articles. This one didn't disappoint.
I was quite excited about the Switch, more so concerning it's graphics abilities to it being a home and portable device.
Do we really think gamers are going to want to take their precious console out and about? I know it makes sense for Nintendo to have their Dev teams develop games for one platform, I get that, but is it what the market wants?
I like having a portable device that feels a bit more rugged to take out and about, but I want my home console to be exactly that. That may not be the same for a lot of folks, but I don't commute, I don't have a dog so I'll not be taking this device to the park and I don't have lots of 20-something female friends who I hang out on rooftops with, that could be fun though..!
Anyway, what's going to happen if I were a commuter and I was to leave my Switch on the train, then what? I hope there's some thought put into the idea of replacement screen units.
And this is an issue because YouTube isn't a thing and won't have the video available for me to watch the next day at my leisure. I mean we are talking about a video that is for a device that will not even be available for at least 1.5 months after it is shown.
This modern space era brought us conveniences like the interwebs, so it's not really a problem for me. People these days tend to watch things when they please. Streaming live is great and all, but they're gonna have a lot of coverage no matter the time they choose I'm just gonna watch it while I'm having my morning coffee.
@Iggy-Koopa Quite frankly, I feel NVIDIA would do advertising on the Switch even if Nintendo doesn't. I doubt that NVIDIA would be comfortable putting out their major entry into the console market without advertisements.
What did you expected ?
They are live in Japan so it was obivously going to be in the middle of the day in Japan. They then tried to find an hour that kinda works for US and EU.
Sure for EU it's poopy (I live in France, and we love Nintendo there) but it could be worse, 5 AM means waking up at dawn but at least, we're not a work and it's not the complet middle of the night.
@fbnaulin 01/13 12AM GMT -4 Caracas.
But apparently nobody cares
I mean it's pretty hard to make a worldwide live presentation at a time that will be convenient for all countries. Remember directs are prerecorded. This is live. Also YouTube and the myraid of gaming websites render this pretty much moot. Anyone who is even vaguely interested is going to here about it.
You guys have been a little too grumpy lately methinks,
@Clownshoes I guess it is safe to assume that Nintendo will post the event on YouTube themselves.
As for the time of the event I'm fine with it. A lot of Directs have been at midnight for me so it is not a big difference between staying up late or getting up early. Plus it is early enough so that I can watch it before going to work.
If I'm awake at 11:00, I'll watch it. If not, I'll catch up in the morning.
ありがとう、おやすみ。
11pm is okay for me I guess..
@cra1g0s A lot of people don't seem to have a problem with taking their 800€ tablets with them.
Seeing as the press events are at times convenient to their respective regions, it doesn't really matter when the initial reveal is. You could even argue that America would be hurt the worst by this because the news would have to fight to stay viral overnight, while in Europe the major sites will have it covered within 3-6 hours.
I thought it was funny reading these comments, though. I honestly expected a lot of them to be angry since the article was written in part to invoke an angry response to the timing, but most people seem to be fine with the time, and if they aren't, they realize they don't need to see it live.
Honestly, how many people that don't follow Nintendo news tune into events like this? Even if the time was "perfect" for everyone, how many new people would watch the live event? This will take word of mouth and social media to get more people excited for it.
Hmm, in this day and age how will I ever see or hear about the presentation if I don't watch it live? Probably will be lost forever
Honestly making a big deal out of nothing (je crois),
Sure the non gaming media won't necessarily cover it live, but I'm sure they'll talk about it in the coming days, and isn't it better if there is continuous coverage from different sources, instead of an all out blitz?
If it's anything like the moments during and after Nintendo Directs, videos and posts will be trending on all social media by the time people wake up/get home from work.
They already got the message out there as to what the Switch is, so now they just need to show it's worth getting at launch.
I don't think anyone who isn't already invested in finding out about the Switch will give a damn about watching this live. How many people besides Nintendo fans and journalists bothered to tune into the reveal trailer as soon as it went live? It was only through media reporting and images circulating social media that anyone outside of the Nintendo bubble took an interest. Hell, I doubt any of those people are even aware there's an announcement stream in January. 4am is a pain the ass and I don't know if I'll be able to watch it live, but it can't be helped since they want to hit America at a decent hour whereas they usually get stuck with late morning/early afternoon times when people are still at work or school. But I'll sure as hell be tuning in to watch it as soon as I can.
@Grez hahahaha exactly. It's always going to be word of mouth and rewatching the stream on youtube with big announcements like this.
@BLP_Software I'm a sony and nintendo fan...sorry to say I wouldn't stay up late for either though, I'll wait and see it when I can (Basically because I have a wife and kids, so it's not that big to me). Sorry, but that's just putting down other people.
Just watch it when you have time to. Not a big deal, and as soon as it appears in Japan, the internet will be swarming with all of the details right away (even in english translation), so it's not like nobody won't know before. Other than that, it won't be a 'word-of-mouth' scheme, it's gotten enough attention and it has enough people following it and posting video after video on youtube or other media sites...even stores. I don't really get why nintendo is waiting this long, but I'm thinking that they don't want to hurt holiday sales with anything that they have...are they hiding something important from people, will it have the backwards compatibility of the 3DS or DS? Whatever they have in store, they can say 'no' now, but that doesn't mean that it's a definite 'no'.
I'm fine with the time; it will be so fun staying up late to find out about the Switch!
Seriously... I could care less about a live announcement. Servers are gonna be clogged and we'll all just hear about the news on social media and other publications in due time anyways.
Read the schedule this way:
Japan: Investor time
North America: Primetime (8pm on is tv time in US)
Europe: Cup o' Joe time
UK: #dealwithit time
I'm extremely concerned about preorders at this point.
8 p.m. actually sounds quite nice for this West Coaster.
I live in the UK and I'm not complaining about the presentation time, but I am finding the generalisations a bit offensive. 'You people in the UK should have bought more Nintendo stuff, your taste in gaming sucks, you guys only like Pokemon' I see. That may be true for many people but there's still a lot of hardcore Nintendo fans/collectors here. I've bought about 3/4 or more of all Nintendo first party games released on all formats over the last 25 years and tons of third party games too. Probably spent more money on Nintendo games and products in my lifetime than most people being critical of the UK actually.
Looks like 11pm for me. Not really inconvenient at all since I work early in the day. While the article makes some valid points, I think those that are genuinely interested will watch regardless of what time. The video will prob get rewatched a million times the day after. Perhaps Nintendo did this on purpose for some reason.
@Lameborghini Beef, lamb or pork?
@speedracer216 #dealwithit This is possibly the most accurate description I've seen here. Love the way you summarized it, lol
@Lameborghini @thiswaynow it's got to be a slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with a delicious Mint, Caper and Sherry sauce. Yep I'm salivating right now. I'll be getting up early and enjoying a boring old spliff come the 13th.
If only there was a way to watch it not live afterward.
"One or some of the Nintendo Life staff"@ I wonder if it is okey if I ask, do you think the Switch event will be raw, subbed, dubbed or translated as it is live? I think I remember that the DeNa stream with Nintendo had dub or at least some Nintendo related stream, so I am wondering what you think about the Switch event in January.
I think either raw or dubbed, or that they talk/translate English from the event most likely, but if it is only raw as in just Japanese how much do you at Nintendo Life think it will affect you or at least the first minutes after the reveal of something?
Anyway, hope the event covering goes well for you live and that it will be fun covering :+).
5am friday morning... nope... not waking up earlier. But will be excited after work
With those timings surely its more convenient for people in the US than anywhere else.
But either way if it is a live presentation then its more geared to Japanese media and not the average working Joe. Sure its livestreamed so the fans have access to it, but it seems more like the E3 pressers of old, which is rather strange.
@rjejr "... and then he whips out the first ever footage of Zelda on Switch"
Not to troll you but I just thought I'd point out that the first ever footage of Zelda on Switch was in the Switch reveal video, which also happens to be included in this article. First live footage, I suppose but I get your point.
I don't think it matters if they're having media events. The word will spread around regardless of the broadcast time, and Japan will spoil the rest of the world anyway
11pm is fine with me,I'm still up around then,just watching tv before bed 😃
So basically, Nintendo still has not fully learned their lesson? It's about time to shed the super fiscal conservative mode and come back with a Wii era type of vengeance. Get back to doing some serious marketing. Don't keep relying on others to do it all for you. It didn't work for the Wii U, and it won't work now.
Thomas is correct.
News exists in a vacuum and can only reported on the exact moment it takes place. After this happens, all record of said "moment" will be wiped from the internet, and no one will ever see or hear about it ever again. No one will ever know the Switch exists because Nintendo has chosen not to announce it at an hour when most in the UK will be awake. Sad.
Despite it being slightly late here, 10 PM still suits me; I don't normally go to bed until sometime after 11 anyway.
I actually prefer this slightly over the morning broadcasts since I'm normally at work during those. Admittedly I'd be singing a different tune if I lived in Europe, however.
its 4am so what? no doubt my kids will have me up anyway.
@yomanation
The whole premise of Thomas' article is completely ridiculous.
Because gaming/news websites in North America are unable to direct people to watch the announcement "live", it will somehow negatively affect their ability to report on it? Thus hurting the Switch's marketing?
What a load of crap. Events happen all over the globe at different times, and it will be reported on the very next day/news cycle. CNN, newspapers, websites, blogs, etc will all load up the very next morning with coverage of the Switch reveal. Just as they do when earthquakes and terrorist attacks occur while we are asleep.
His whole argument is nonsense.
Nah I'm not getting up after midnight for this, sorry Nintendo.
It is called international time difference.
Perhaps you have heard the concept that areas of the world are in different time zones
And all will be forgotten once Nintendo stuns us all with its precious products lol
It's 9:00pm where I live, which is perfect for me.
Plus this means people who wake up the next morning to the news will be seeing the Switch.
@3MonthBeef
Did you hear about the massive tsunami that hit Japan a few years ago? No?
Apparently it happened in Japan at 1pm local time, and the rest of the world never heard any news about it because we were all asleep. I only know about this because a friend in Japan told me. If not for them, there would have been no way to hear about it.
5 AM? That's okey by me. Better than 8 AM to 16 PM.
@BenAV exactly us Aussies have had years of early morning directs. We all survived! Plus for once this presentation is at 3pm for us which is really nice!
Oh well, it will be a a interesting breakfast. The time seems perfect for the US and good for Japan though, I don't understand the point of this article too much tbh.
The timing is simply because it's a live event that investors will be at, so it must be during business hours there. That just means bad timing elsewhere.
I expect the presentation to be about an hour long and for it to be Japan-centric. It will focus on hardware and services primarily, with 1st party games and Japanese 3rd party games getting the spotlight for the most part.
I'm somewhat expecting the amount of western 3rd party game shown during the presentation to be limited, and that the majority of the announcements will be after the presentation by the various publishers and NoA on Twitter.
@Ernest_The_Crab Oh, undoubtedly. I'm sure they will be talking about it as much as possible, and I think NL are missing a trick here and overlooking just how much Switch has been anticipated in the gaming community. Add in the expected push for Switch with their mobile games and somewhat revitalised advertising (the current ads are leaps and bounds over what has been done in the past), and I'm sure they will be fine. The next showing will be everywhere; YouTube, gaming sites, general tech media...... 'Word of mouth' is just the icing on the cake.
@WilliamCalley
North America is the biggest gaming market so usually these announcements coincide to drive up interest there.
US gaming media being upset isn't a surprise. A live stream would likely drive lots of people to their websites whereas google, yahoo, and facebook articles will likely be most peoples source of switch info now.
It is nice to drum up a little live excitement right when it drops. A few people get roped in who normally wouldn't care. Ultimately though, if the presentation is compelling, it won't matter what time it goes live. For most, it will be the stories that surface in mainstream areas that get their attention. Me? I'd wake up at 4AM to view it but 11 PM is definitely more comfortable.
11:00pm is perfect for me here in the States. Gonna have my brothers over and party it up. Can't wait!!
3PM for me. LOL
It's unfortunate but they're not going to be able to comfortably hit over half the world at a time that makes it convenient for everyone. The fact is, this is the internet age. This stuff isn't going to release during "peak" times across the globe. Whether this launches at 3 in the morning or not, it will be in all the headlines all day, and everyone will be sharing it with their friends the next day. The Switch teaser trailer didn't even hit a million until hours after it was out, and the crazy number it's currently at didn't really start for almost days.
I know it's inconvenient for European folks, and I am sorry, really I am. But... Somebody's gotta get cut, and it makes the most sense to launch it during Japan's business day. Nintendo won't suffer any loss of coverage because of this.
I go to bed at 11pm central, and this starts at 10pm. I probably won't get to bed until 11:30 or 12 at the earliest that night, though. lol. I'm expecting preorders to open during the show, so that should be a madhouse.
@A01
It's almost as if Europe is the region they've consistently treated shoddily and worse than their competitors.
They haven't operated in the region for 30 years. Nintendo of Europe was formed in 1990. They farmed out handling the UK to third-parties until the late N64 era (Nintendo UK was formed in 2001). They gave their competitors space to get a foothold.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Also, NA learns about the Switch on the 12th; Europe and Japan have to wait until the 13th. We get to watch it a day early!
I´m pretty confident someone on youtube will be happy to be that word of mouth.
I think 8-11 PM is okay for the Americas, while not ideal. Asia and Oceania get's it good while Europe and Africa get the short end of the stick with 4-6 AM. But I'm still gonna wake up for it! Hahaw!!
At least everyone can wake up to a Friday full of coverage and impressions, and mentions in the main stream media outlets.
Not the most ideal times but I think it's not such a big deal.
@gspro15198 I agree. The Nintendo Switch video went online at a strange time and it's Nintendo's most viewed YouTube video ever. It's live in Japan so the timing will not be great for North America. However, lots of people will wake up Monday, see press clippings about the event and immediately go to YouTube, watch the video and get hyped.
IT'LL BE LIKE WAKING UP ON XMAS MORNING!
AWESOME!
Alos - they may be able to make it more 'Adult' focussed and show more mature content if it's after hours broadcasting in US and Europe! ( japan may not have the same censorship levels lol)
This is possibly the most garbage NL article of all time. Watch it when you get up, before you look at any other website because the word of mouth will be so strong that the info in the video will be spoiled.
Yeah...not staying up to past midnight on a weekday before work to watch this. Moronic to be at 11 PM
This odd time is a matter of perspective. For Asia and NA is a good time. Besides, this is a Japanese company so the event time is launch from their time zone. High noon.
The presentation is in front of Japanese investors. What time do you expect them to have the presentation at? 7 in the morning or 11/12 at night like they usually do? The author of the article was lazy and/or sloppy.
Hmm, stay up to watch the presentation at 4am (arguably the more exciting option) or just binge watch the following morning before work. Decisions, decisions.
What difference does it make? Everyone that is interested in watching is gonna see it. Where exactly is the "mis-step"?
If I can't wait to watch something inside 24hrs after it first appears, then something is terribly wrong.
Nobody complained or made an article when Sony's E3 presentation was at 2:00AM in UK
Silly article...
This is like saying nobody watched any of the E3 live presentations because they ere on late or early depending on your time zone.
The internet sites in particular YouTube will be bombarded with Nintendo's switch update,and don't forget the extra attention from the hands on event.
We live in a digital age where watching things live is just not that important anymore.
@TromaDogg Yup. I don't get it myself, and as what I consider to be a 'hardcore fan', I'll be up come 4am on the 13th to disect every last morsel and prepare myself for preorder madness. I've already got the cash primed and I'm ready to go.
The very notion that UK fans only buy Pokémon-related stuff from Nintendo is hilarious.
It's ok the Switch has Hype. Will get to see it, but what about the masses?
@River3636 It's funny what can happen with a little bit of advertising. Look at Wii - all it took was Wii Sports & Wii Fit, then the word spread like wildfire.
Nintendo's mobile efforts are this gen's Sports/Fit, and they are practically free for anyone to play as well as commanding (in the case of SMR) 20 million people's worth of interest before they are even out of the gate.
I'm excited - this is a whole new window for Nintendo to exploit, and Kimishima seems to be the man for the job.
@DoctorWily "First live footage, I suppose but I get your point. "
I suppose it's too late now to go back and correct that? Of course we all saw the photoshopped Zelda footage on Switch in that trailer, but we also all knew it was photoshopped onto the screrns. This was the first footage of somebody actually playing the game. I really dont' think that could have been scripted, he was pressing buttons frantically trying to do the shield sled. I don't think there's any way that could have been scripted, it had to be live.
So, yes, I stand corrected, first "live" footage. I'm going to go back and correct it now anyway, better late than never. Thanks.
What evidence does the writer have that the 3ds is heading for retirement rather than an update?
With only ten million Wii's out there and very few if any new games in the pipeline and no Switches sold to date. I would suggest that the sixty million 3ds's are very much needed.
Unless 3ds games can be played on the switch tablet and the tablet can be bought as a stand alone device.
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