It’s safe to say there was a lot of meat to this year’s E3 Nintendo Direct. During the presentation, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé commented on the “wealth” of indie games available so for on the Switch, which is in large contrast to the lack of third-party developers on the Nintendo Wii U. It’s without saying that Nintendo is grateful developers have been embracing the Switch, much like gamers. Some titles Reggie highlighted specifically were Overcooked! 2, Killer Queen Black, and Hollow Knight; all independent titles that will be releasing for the Switch later this year, save for Hollow Knight, which was released as of today.
Obviously, the major announcement to come from the Direct was everything that had to do with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The name alone indicates how massive this game is to be, but Nintendo still made sure to inundate watchers with a great deal of information: a gigantic roster that includes all of the past fighters; the inclusion of completely new characters the Inklings and Ridley; the continued support of Game Cube controllers; and more! For a more in-depth discussion of what was said about the new Super Smash title, please check out The Beat’s earlier article that covered it.
It was announced a few weeks prior that a special controller called the “Pokeball Plus” would be made with the Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee titles in mind. We also knew that a pokemon from either game could be transferred into the controller and taken abroad. Each pokemon will be accompanied by it’s unique call, which from the Direct it seems the Pokeball Plus is able to emit through a small speaker. What was revealed during the Nintendo Direct, however, was that either game can be completely played with the Pokeball Plus controller alone, and that each one will already come with the rare pokemon Mew, which then can be transferred into one of the games. A legendary pokemon and a controller shaped like a pokeball? I’m in. The games and controller are slated for a November 16th release.
A big surprise was a new Mario Party title. Super Mario Party appears to ditch the car mechanic introduced in Mario Party 9 and used again in Mario Party 10, going back to a board game layout, with one player moving at a time. Each player will use a joy con, utilizing them for their responsive-movement aspects as was shown by a canoeing minigame during the Direct. It also appears that at least two Switchs can be used in tandem for certain games, expanding the play field or giving multiple viewpoints. Super Mario Party will come out October 5th of this year.
Overall, this year’s E3 Nintendo Direct hit all the right chords. Though noticeably some hot-topic titles such as Animal Crossing and Metroid weren’t discussed, it might be due to Nintendo not wanting to take away from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Announcement. They did after show the likes of Daemon X Machina, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country, Pokemon Let’s Go Pickachu and Eevee, Super Mario Party, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Fortnite, Starlink: Battle For Atlas, Arena of Valor, Minecraft, Sushi Striker: The Way of the Sushido, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Donkey Kong Adventure, PixARK, Just Dance 2019, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy, Ninjala, Carcassonne, FIFA 19, ARK: Survival Evolved, Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, Paladins: Champions of the Realm, and more! That’s more than twenty titles. There’s no doubt that an Animal Crossing and Metroid title will be over the horizon eventually. The only question is when they will be ready to be shown.
After a year of proven success under the Nintendo Switch’s belt, the current-gen console has already set itself far apart from its predecessor. For me, I felt that Nintendo’s presentation was solid, focusing as much as possible on the games, which at the end of the day is really all that gamer’s want. Without a doubt, Nintendo has been having one of the best years it has had for a while. With such momentum built up behind them, I think Nintendo has hit this year’s E3-timed Direct out of the park.
Great job Nintendo! What were some of your favorite moments from the Nintendo Direct?
