Credit: Nintendo
It's time to see what Nintendo has in store. The house that Mario built has been more exciting than ever in recent years, and today all eyes are on its E3 Nintendo Direct to see just what the company has in store. We know that Super Smash Bros. will be making an extended appearance, and we assume that things like Yoshi, Metroid Prime 4 and Fortnite will also show up in there as well. Beyond that, however, there's a lot of guesswork involved, and Nintendo has had more than a few tricks up its sleeve in the past. Maybe a new Zelda? Maybe?
The show goes down at 9:00 a.m. Pacific, 12:00 a.m. Eastern. You can watch the livestream here, or follow along with the liveblog below.
12:44 -- And that's the show. thanks for tuning in!
12:43 -- The game comes out on December 7, presumably to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
12:41 -- And now a new fighter. Ridley from Metroid. Fierce-looking. Always feels awkward to lose while playing something that looks like that.
12:40 -Gamecube controller support, looks like: a big fan request. All amiibo, even from other series, will be supported.
12:38 -- Nobody gives detail on these things like Nintendo does. We're now looking at new dodges and dashes. You have to appreciate the laser focus on gameplay.
12:35 -- Assist trophies now, with more than 50 in total. Looking at a ton of stages returning from older games now, as well as some new ones from games like Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2.
12: 33 -- We know have things called echo fighters -- similar fighters to main characters, like Daisy and Peach. Similar styles with slight changes. And here's our first look at Inkling, complete with squid transformation. You can ink opponents for them to take more damage. You can run out of ink., and there are eight variations/ink colors in total.
12:28 -- Man, this game is complicated at this point. As the video says, Kirby becomes pretty unmanageable with this many fighters in the game. Lots of other visual tweaks: Game and Watch should look as close as possible to the original LCD games, Ganondorf is now Ocarina of Time. Tons of final smash tweaks as well, mostly designed to be quicker and cleaner. The Wii Fit developers asked the team to make Wii Fit Trainer look less weird.
12:23 -- New outfits for Mario and Link from their Switch games. Female Pikachu, as well. Lots of characters are updated with visuals from their most recent appearances. It is still really weird to see Snake in this game. Zelda's design is from Link Between Worlds, not Breath of the Wild.
12:22 -- Every single Smash Bros. fighter is in this game, every character that's ever appeared. The most ambitious crossover event in history.
12:18 -- Smash Bros. time, along with its bizarrely young-looking creator. New fighters incoming: Mario, Samus, Kirby, Bowser, Link, Donkey Kong, Fox, Falco, Marth, Zelda, Sheik, Villager, Meta Knight, Mewtwo, Sonic, Peach, Pikachu, Ice Climbers, Inkling, Captain Falcon, Zero Suit Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Ivysaur, Squirtle, Pokemon TRainer, Ryu Ganondorf, Ike, Cloud, Snake, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Olimar, Diddy Kong, Lucario, Bayonetta, Greninja, Dr. Mario.
Too fast now. Hold up! We'll have a full list after the direct.
12:17: -- Over to Nintendo HQ. Something new, perhaps?
12:15 -- Octopath traveler coming on July 15. And now for a montage: a ton of stuff here, naturally. Toad Tracker, Starlink, more Splatoon 2, Crash Bandicoot, etc.
12:12 -- Overcooked 2: this is a great local co-op game, and great to see more. Also looking at Hollow Knight and killer Queen.
12:08 -- And now it's Fire Emblem: Three Houses: the upgraded visuals make these 3DS franchises feel fresh. Still a really big deal to have all these portable franchises on a living room console.
12:06 -- Super Mario Party! Such a natural for the Switch: looks like it will support more than one console, as well, which is interesting. This video leans heavily on showing cool people playing this cool game, something I can no longer possibly be snarky about.
12:05 -- And now it's Reggie, introducing Pokemon. Mostly information we've already heard before, but mostly I worry about how motion controls are not optional for catching Pokemon--makes this difficult to play in handheld mode.
12:03: And now Xenoblade, out in September 2018. Don't know too much of this franchise, but looks fine.
12:01 --Starting off with some cel-shaded mechs. A little Zone of the Enders-looking.
12:00 -- Time to get this thing going.
One more press conference before E3 2018 begins, and it’s the wild card. Sometimes Nintendo delivers megaton after megaton, sometimes it plays its cards close to its chest. What’s this year’s Direct—which Nintendo says focuses on Switch games for 2018—got in store? Smash, at least. Watch the Nintendo Direct here or read our liveblog below.
Nintendo's press conference will wrap up the briefings for this year's E3, but that doesn't mean it's going to be lacking. We're expecting to see more about Super Smash Bros. for Switch and Let's Go, Pikachu and Eevee during the conference. On the floor, Nintendo will host two tournaments for the new Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon 2, and hand out special collectible pins to attendees who bring a Switch along.
We're not exactly sure what other surprises Nintendo will have in store this year, but there are plenty of rumors already. We hope to see more on Metroid Prime 4 and Yoshi, both of which were teased at last year's show.
In typical Nintendo fashion, its conference this year will be pre-recorded and presented in the "Nintendo Direct" form. It's set to air at 9 AM PT / 12 PM PT / 5 PM BST on Tuesday, June 12, just before the show floor opens. After the conference, Nintendo will host its usual Treehouse livestream throughout the remainder of E3.
If you can't tune into the livestream, which we are hosting here on GameSpot, you can catch up with all the latest announcements in our liveblog on this page, so be sure to come back then. We'll have all the biggest headlines from the conference rounded up on GameSpot, so once it's all over, you'll be able to get all your E3 news in one place.
For now, check out our predictions and more for the Nintendo conference until the show.
E3 2018 is officially here. The show formally kicked off on Tuesday, June 12, but as in recent years, many big-name publishers hosted their own press conferences in the days leading up to the event. Nintendo's will once again take the form of a pre-recorded Direct-style video presentation, which is scheduled to air at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST, just before E3 proper begins. [Update: Nintendo's event is over, and it focused a lot on what we now know is called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. You can read about everything we learned in our Nintendo briefing news recap.]
As usual, the company has been fairly secretive about its plans heading into this year's E3. Outside of confirming that Super Smash Bros. for Switch will play a prominent role both in its presentation and on the show floor, Nintendo hasn't announced any of the titles it plans on showcasing at the expo. However, we do know that the aforementioned video presentation won't be the extent of its plans for E3 2018.
Once again, Nintendo will follow its E3 briefing with a series of Treehouse Live streams, which will air each of the three days the expo runs. Additionally, Nintendo will host competitive esports tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Switch and Splatoon 2, the latter of which is set to receive a big, paid DLC expansion this summer. The Splatoon 2 World Championship begins on Monday, June 11, with the finals taking place on June 12. The Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018 tournament will kick off shortly afterward and features well-known competitive Smash players from around the world.
Aside from that, however, we have little idea of what to expect from Nintendo at E3. The company has said that its presentation will focus primarily on games launching soon, so we'll get a much clearer idea of what its release schedule for Switch will be through the end of the year. It seems likely that we'll learn more about some of the titles that were announced at last year's E3, such as Metroid Prime 4 and Yoshi. We may also see more of the recently revealed Pokemon RPGs for Switch: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eeevee.
Whatever the case, we won't have to wait much longer to find out. Nintendo will broadcast its E3 2018 presentation on its YouTube and Twitch channels. GameSpot will also host a stream of the briefing, so you can tune in right here on June 12 to follow along with all of Nintendo's big announcements.
Nintendo E3 2018 Press Conference Schedule
Tuesday, June 12
9 AM PT
12 PM ET
5 PM BST
2 AM AET (June 13)
Where To Livestream Nintendo's E3 2018 Press Conference
