It’s been something of a rough few months for Nintendo, with high-profile PR shenanigans and rumors about the Wii U’s (greatly exaggerated) demise compounding with flagging sales numbers and decreased market share — but E3 is a chance for the company to turn that all around. Rumors are flying about Nintendo’s next home console, and if wagging tongues are to be believed, it’s going to knock our socks off. Here’s what we can hope to hear from Nintendo at E3:
The Reveal of NX
There’s no guarantee that Nintendo is going to show off their big new thing at E3, but at this point they’d be pretty crazy not to. They’ve been dropping hints about the new console for a while now, and if it does everything that Nintendo claims it can, it’s going to be a game changer. According to sources with access to the advance hardware, the new device looks like it’s going to be a fusion of mobile and console gaming, with some sort of inherent connection between the home console and a handheld device. Some sort of connectivity with your phone and tablet might be possible as well, but given Nintendo’s increasingly ambitious offerings over the last decade, it’s hard to know how crazy or awesome it’s going to be until they actually show us something.
Given the sheer volume of hints they’ve been dropping and the intense secrecy surrounding the project, it would no doubt signal something very bad — or very big — behind the scenes if we don’t get to see more of the NX at E3.
New Games and Old Games Remastered
Assuming the above prediction is correct, we can hope to see some exciting new offerings from the new console, including not just brand new games that take advantage of whatever wacky tech Nintendo is trying on this time, but hopefully some remasters of Wii U games like Mario Kart and Sm4sh. If the rumors about the hardware capabilities of the NX are even close to true, older games adapted to the new console could boast some impressive graphical improvements.
There’s also the Wii U to consider — it’s not a lame duck yet, and there are some anticipated games that could still be on the horizon for the current console. We might see a new Mario spin-off game, a Wii U Zelda game, or something yet to be hinted at.
And More?
That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, no doubt. You can definitely expect to see something Amiibo-related, possibly some information about the future of cross-overs between Nintendo consoles and its competitors, and a hardware demonstration of some sort. It’s definitely going to be a big year for Nintendo at E3.