by Graham Taylor
Nintendo has recently had a history of succinct E3 press conferences, and this year is no different. Clocking in at about 25 minutes, Nintendo had one of the shortest, yet most exciting shows of this year.
Reggie Fils Aime started the presentation off by detailing the two tournaments being held at E3 this year, one for Arms and one for Splatoon 2. After that, we got a new trailer for Xenoverse Chronicles 2 before diving head first into more trailers and announcements. A new Kirby game, going by only the name Kirby was the first to be displayed. Only showing off some of Kirby's trademark trademark copycat abilities and some co-op play, nothing else was revealed except a general release of 2018.
The hands down biggest announcements from the entire conference though, and possibly from all of E3 came next, with little fanfare and no actual trailers. Tsunekazu Ishihara of the Pokemon came appeared to announce that a mainline Pokemon RPG was being developed for the Nintendo Switch. Nothing else was revealed before the next teaser started playing. Also in development for the Switch is Metroid Prime 4, and again, nothing else was revealed.
Next, fans got a look at a new Yoshi game for the Switch appropriately titled Yoshi with a release date of 2018. Afterwards was another look at the previously announced Fire Emblem Warriors, which is still set to release in fall of this year.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath if the Wild was up next, and detailed the first two DLC packs. The first, titled "The Master Trials" was announced to release on June 30, and will include new challenges, a hard mode, a "Hero's Path" mode, which will track the player's travels throughout the playthrough, and new equipment. The second, "The Champion's Ballad" will be releasing holiday this year, and will release alongside Amiibos of the champion characters found in Breath of the Wild.
With this short showcase wrapping up, fans got another look at the recently announced Mario + Rabbid: Kingdom Battle, the upcoming tactical strategy mashup between Nintendo and Ubisoft, and the announcement of Rocket League for the Switch, which would feature exclusive customization options. Following this was a new look at Super Mario Odyssey featuring new locations and abilities, such as possessing enemies and NPC with the use of Mario's new companion Cappy. Anything from Goombas, to Koopas, and even T-Rex, almost anything could be controlled the the mustachioed mascot. With a firm release date of October 27, Odyssey is going to be a the first open-world collectible based Mario game since Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Short, sweet, and to the point, Nintendo once again had a memorable time at E3, closing off the conference portion of the Expo. While the big shows might be over, the doors have only just opened at the convention center, so we can still expect some more developments to happen as this week goes on.
