Nintendo at E3: Dates & Predictions

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is almost upon us and while Nintendo fans have had a pretty bland year in terms of first party games from the Big N so far, the fans, including me, are thirsty for more information and hopefully some huge reveals.

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Nintendo is a bit of an enigma at E3 as since 2014, they haven’t had a live press conference instead opting to showcase their new software, games and hardware in 40-50 minute videos known as ‘Nintendo Directs’ which honestly works well for them as it doesn’t require viewers to take too much time out of their day.

Times for this year’s Nintendo Direct

June 15th

• 5pm BST (British Standard Time)

• 12am AWST (16th)

• 2am AEST (16th)

• 12pm EST

• 9AM PST

A bit of a late show for us Aussie’s but it comes with living here, most announcements don’t come till late at night for us, or if we’re lucky at around 9pm.

As for predictions, there’s a few big ones as well the unexpected picks and as always with Nintendo, always expect the unexpected.

The next Smash Bros fighter (or potentially the last two?)

This is in running for the biggest prediction of E3, who will be the last two fighters in Smash Ultimate’s Fighter Pass 2 DLC? Back in the February Direct, Nintendo revealed that Pyra/Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 would be joining the roster as the fourth spot in the pass to mixed results, though fans have accepted the two as a decent fighter in Smash. There are so many rumours floating around about who the last two fighters will be ranging from Master Chief from the Halo series all the way to Crash Bandicoot and of course there is the loud minority of people wanting Goku from Dragon Ball in the game.

Personally I’m still hoping for Geno from the cult-classic Super Mario RPG, but that’s a pipe dream at this point.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

It’s been a whole two years since that massive reveal at E3 2019 that the sequel to the fourth best selling Nintendo Switch game was in development. ...Aaand we’ve heard nothing since that trailer .

However, fans are keen for more info as it has been two years since then and a whole four since the release of Breath of the Wild and this E3 is looking to be the one where we find out more about the game. Series director Hidemaro Fujibayashi confirmed earlier this year that the title was still in development and was experiencing delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic which is understandable.

Metroid Prime 4 & Bayonetta 3

Ah yes, the two famous JPEG logos of E3 2017, we still have heard barely anything about these two titles from Retro Studios and Platinum Games since their reveal outside little tidbits here and there but I think a lot of fans are growing impatient and would like at least some form of a progress report at this year's E3. Here’s what we know so far:

In regards to Bayonetta 3, Hideki Kamiya the director of the game was interviewed in 2020 by Japanese magazine Famitsu that the game is coming along nicely and is set to be released ‘sometime’ in the future. At least it confirmed that the game wasn’t cancelled.

And as for Metroid Prime 4, Nintendo released a video back in 2019 saying that the development of the game was in complete disarray and had to be restarted from the ground up, in the interest of the fans, Nintendo handed development over to Retro Studios who worked on the Prime series previously, which does give some hope towards more information on the game. Fingers crossed we get something on the game soon.

Other Predictions

• Switch Pro - The biggest hardware rumour of this year is that there is an imminent announcement of an upgraded Nintendo Switch aptly named the ‘Switch Pro’ that will boast 4K graphics among other improvements. It seems pretty unlikely that it will be announced at E3 as Nintendo has said that it will be a software focused E3, so there may be an announcement before or after the convention.

• Pokemon - More news on Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl seems pretty likely as the release date was confirmed to be November 19th last week. Rumours are floating around that the news will mostly focus on what makes the remakes different from the original. Fans are also expecting more gameplay from the spin-off title Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

• Remakes - There’s still quite a few games out there that fans want remade or ported over to the Switch especially certain Wii U titles like Xenoblade Chronicles X or the two Zelda games. There’s also small rumours circling around of a second Ace Attorney Trilogy which will feature games 4, 5 and 6.

• Splatoon 3 - The sequel that no one expected to be announced back in February this year. However it is a most welcome sequel in the ink splatting shooter series and one that fans are super keen for.

• Zelda 35th Anniversary Collection/Celebrations - Outside of Skyward Sword HD, Nintendo have been pretty quiet on the Zelda anniversary front this year, let’s hope that will change with a ‘Greatest Hits’ collection.

Granted all of these predictions could be taken with a grain of salt since nothing is confirmed but I’d say some are pretty likely.

Catch all of the E3 action from June 12th - June 15th over at https://e3expo.com/ featuring not just Nintendo but other companies such as Ubisoft, Microsoft, Bethesda, Square Enix and more!