Apt timing for Nintendo's pre-E3 downers

By Ross Miller
On Tuesday, we saw two announcements from Nintendo that we're sure caused a handful of fanboys to tear up: no online Metroid and no playable Smash Bros at E3. Why did the House of Mario decide to break hearts just one week before their E3 press briefing? It's just good business, as observed by Newsweek's N'Gai Croal.

Nintendo PR revealed their "damage control playbook" last year, Croal said, when they announced the then-distressing final name for the Revolution, Wii, just 12 days before E3 2006. (Check the linked post and its 593 comments for a look back at the announcement.) Of course, the oft-teased title change did little to waver its hype and Nintendo is widely regarded as having a stellar E3 showing that year.

Sony, as Croal noted, gave their bad news at the very end — namely, the $600 price tag. And with it being their final note, they left a sour taste in all gamers' mouth. With Nintendo's bad news out of the way this year (hopefully), Iwata and company can end on a high note. We've illustrated this phenomenon on a chart above. (Note: all values are approximate)

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