I suppose it was a good move to save them money. E3 is really only big with a specific audience and yet in order to target a larger audience its easier to use the directs. So, I agree with the decision and see not loss in their performance at all.
Besides, it means they can go about releasing info without a big expectation at the same time year after year only to see disappointment. "Oh, a new system got announced, that was random."