E3 is decidedly considered as the olympics of gaming events, the single biggest hoi polloi there is annually; made up of key players in the video game industry, in addition to the press, the developers, and all others who help birth video games in some form or another.
Nintendo, one of the three biggest players in the E3 scene alongside Sony and Microsoft, has now teased that it will have a big presentation this year, signaling potential hype for more unannounced Switch games to come into the fore.
Nintendo E3 2017
"E3 is always a big time for Nintendo," Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, told Fox News. According to him, Nintendo looks at E3 as primarily a unique venue for telling its story, adding that the company has in place a "big" show for E3 this year. "We're going to be showcasing a variety of games."
While Fils-Aime didn't offer any concrete specifics regarding what games might be in store for the forthcoming show, he did say that both Switch and 3DS titles will be on display, which lines up with the company's promise of not pulling 3DS support even with the arrival of the Switch.
For the uninitiated, the Switch is Nintendo's most recent console effort after the embattled Wii U failed to take off with the masses. It's a hybrid console, meaning it can be played as a home gaming system and as a handheld device. It being a handheld device is what leads most people into believing that the 3DS will soon lose support, much like how the Game Boy Advance lost support when the DS was outed.
"E3 is going to be a major opportunity for us to showcase not only Nintendo Switch, but also content coming to Nintendo 3DS," said Fils-Aime.
Fils-Aime also made mention of the fact that for the first time in the show's story, E3 will open its doors to the public, although he hasn't offered anything as to how the company will leverage such openness. For one thing, this will bolster the Switch's marketing efforts by a mile, although that's not to say it's been slacking off in the advertising department, either. It recently used the Super Bowl to show of the Switch and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for example — it's got that part pretty much covered. But with more people entering E3, it needs to make the Switch more alluring than it already is, if it indeed hopes to ship 16 million units for this year alone.
Reggie On Video Game Industry 'Analysts'
Fils-Aime also stated during the interview that trying to predict the direction of the video game industry is a tall order. He says that he thinks anyone who claims to know where the industry is going "is really not knowledgeable about the industry," reasoning out that at the heart of industry is "innovation and creativity."
It's been quite a few years since Nintendo withdrew from the usual flair of big-deal staged presentations of E3, like how Sony and Microsoft, by contrast, always opts for big, on-stage shows. Instead, Nintendo moved its show components online years ago, offering its fans so-called Nintendo Direct presentations, as well as livestream of a number of games during its Treehouse events.
Nintendo E3 2017 Games
For now, it's pure guesswork, but Nintendo is expected to at least unveil more gameplay footage for Super Mario Odyssey, its holiday-bound 3D Mario platformer for the Switch. Launch dates for Arms and Splatoon 2 could also be unveiled. Nintendo could also possibly unveil a Pokémon title for the Switch, which will give rest to longstanding rumors once and for all. But anything is up for speculation at this point.
Any wild predictions you can offer regarding Nintendo's E3 presentation this year? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
