Imagine a world where the flow of information is decided on by a few major conventions in the United States. For the video game industry, this was the case in the nineties and 2000s. Trade shows, like E3 is when all video game companies HAD to show off their stuff for press coverage.
That was until 2011. Nintendo had launched their first Direct, and it's launch would change the world.
Like many first episodes, the first Nintendo Direct was quite boring, created and hosted by Nintendo of America CEO, Reggie Fils-Aime, the first Nintendo Direct was basically telling the world information that was already known by the masses-- instead of a presentation of new information, it was essentially an advertisment for existing products.
However, as time went on, the Direct format would be used more and more, and used to show off things like the then new Wii U console.
It wasn't until E3 2013 when the Nintendo Direct finally was used as a true E3 replacement. Due to ailing health of then Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, Nintendo presented their E3 presentation remotely from Japan. And it was called, Nintendo Direct. However, people did not like the format, and it was heavily criticized.
Fast forward ten years later. Nintendo is now at the top when it comes to the "console wars", the Switch has sold over 100 million units, and it's games become best sellers within a few days of release. And due to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade shows like E3 have died completely, leaving Sony and Microsoft to release their own Nintendo Direct like presentations. Some companies even use the "Direct" moniker too-- more recently, Bethesda/Microsoft released a "Starfield Direct", a very Nintendo like move.
For the past six years or so, the Nintendo Direct has become not only a staple of gaming fans everywhere-- but also a industry game changer. No longer do major corporations have to wait until a major trade show to present new titles or hardware. They can control when they get press and don't. And while indie events like "Summer Games Show" exist to fill the E3 gap, they're mostly reserved for smaller studios and indie devs.
Nintendo Direct has healed society.
