Nintendo won't have a press conference at E3 2013

In its financial results briefing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that the company will not have the traditional press conference event at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Instead, the company will be hosting two closed, software-focused events for press and distributors.

"We have decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past," said Iwata in a transcript of the briefing. "Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media."

"During the E3 period, we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience, including those who are at this financial briefing, mainly focusing on the software that we are going to launch in Japan, and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well."

Iwata explained that Nintendo found that the broad conference event was not efficient, since it wasn't specifically tailored to a certain audience.

"As video game fans are looking for information about games, it seems that they are less interested in sales figures that investors and analysts on the other hand attach much greater importance to, and distribution partners are looking for information on how we are going to market our products in the immediate future," said Iwata.

"Given that we now have an established method such as Nintendo Direct, we feel that we will be able to deliver our messages more appropriately and effectively by doing so individually based on the various needs of different groups of people."

This year's E3 is looking to be a software-focused event overall. Sony already announced the PlayStation 4 console, leaving a software slate, final hardware design, and retail price for a potential E3 reveal. Microsoft just announced that its next Xbox event will take place on May 21, weeks before E3. The company later confirmed that software for the next Xbox would be showcased at E3 itself. And now Nintendo follows suit, leaving us with what should be a different E3 2013.