If you’re surprised Nintendo’s VGX announcement was weird and lackluster, you didn’t follow Nintendo in 2013

In this, The Year of Luigi, Nintendo hasn’t necessarily been doing things many view as “normal.” Their E3 press conference/stream/thingy was, well, weird. And buggy. And entirely pointless; they recapped everything for a press event about an hour after the stream aired. While their competitors launched consoles that are selling like hotcakes, the Wii U’s killer app features iconic characters in catsuits.

Nintendo is different. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Therefore, people also shouldn’t be surprised by their appearance at the VGX.

Many were hoping for an announcement regarding The Legend of Zelda or anticipating new news on Super Smash Bros. The chances of this happening, however, were pretty non-existent. Nintendo has spent the past year using their Nintendo Direct videos to make big announcements. By doing this, they’re making key announcements year round, ensuring the spotlight is solely on then. We’re not throwing in news, Tweets, or impressions of Nintendo games along with everything else; we’re doing this and that’s it.

They’ve made a habit of this all year. They’re not afraid to be different. They’ve rarely taken big announcements to a big stage. So why would anyone expect the VGX to be any different? Even their announcement that they would be on the show was fairly quiet. While people were teasing news from hotly anticipated next-gen games, Nintendo pretty much went “oh btw, we’ll be there too. Kthnxbye.” Somehow, this got constructed into the company making a major announcement.

Personally, I thought their announcement was pretty awesome. Cranky Kong is the man. He was the DJ in the DK Rap, commonly breaks the fourth-wall, and is finally making his playable debut. Sure, another Donkey Kong game from Retro isn’t what everyone wanted at E3. A Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze announcement at the VGX may not be what people wanted. Still, should we have expected anything different? Of course not.  They’ve got plenty of sleeping giants at Nintendo HQ just waiting to be awoken, but not at an event like the VGX. They’ll showcase what they’re working on during a Nintendo Event. Remember, that’s how they unveiled Windwaker HD and Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem.