What We Expect To See from Nintendo at E3 2015

Nintendo always strives to be different from the pack, and that philosophy seems to trickle down to how they reveal news at E3. Most companies have revealed what they will have on display on the show floor next week. The majority of Nintendos software and hardware plans, however, are a complete mystery. Unlike many companies that will do a traditional press conference, Nintendo will do a Nintendo Direct that is meant to appeal to as many people as possible, rather than just investors and press. Nintendos lack of transparency before the expo has left us with very little that we know for sure. We know that they are going to show off some games for both the Wii U and the 3DS and they may talk about downloadable content for games they released previously such as Super Smash Brothers. The new games Nintendo has confirmed for this year are Yoshis Wooly World, Mario Maker, Star Fox, and Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Yoshis Wooly World is a new Yoshis Island style platformer developed by Good-Feel. This is the team that worked on Kirbys Epic Yarn, a game on the Wii with a very similar fabric art style.

Mario Maker is going to be a traditional 2D Mario game except it has some key differences. You can switch the art of the games between Super Mario Bros. 1, 3, and the New Super Mario Bros. style at almost any time. This game is not only a platformer, but a comprehensive level builder. The idea is to have fans generate continuous content for the game. The tools in this game allow you to combine enemies, objects, and level elements in ways never before seen in a previous Mario title.

We have not seen much from Star Fox since E3 Last year. The only thing we know for sure is that it is coming out later this year and it is going to be on WiiU. There is speculation that elements from Project Guard and Project Giant Robot may be integrated into the upcoming title.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a spiritual successor to the standout Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles by Monolith Soft. This game has actually been available in Japan for about 2 weeks already but they are letting the US have a look at the western release during E3. On Sunday before E3 starts Nintendo also said they will be doing a 20 minuet Mini Direct talking about new DLC coming to Super Smash Brothers. A returning character from the franchise, Lucas, will be released that day as well.

Nintendo has not officially talked more about what other software and hardware they are showing but they have mentioned what will not be there.

There is a new Legend of Zelda in the works but it has been delayed to next year. Nintendo has gone on record saying they will not show it at E3 this year. I really doubt they wont show anything though. Perhaps they will only show screen shots and a trailer but no actual in game footage.

Nintendos new hardware that is in development (currently code named NX) is also said to not make an appearance of any kind this year. I completely believe this because doing so would defiantly cut into sales of their current hardware.

Nintendo is also planning on releasing software for the mobile market. They have stated that none of their mobile content will be at E3 this year. I believe they want to focus on games and services on their own hardware for this E3 so this seems understandable.

There was also a leak of Nintendo news this week. Koei Tecmo uploaded an unlisted video that showed was that Hyrule Warriors, a Dynasty Warriors style game with Legend of Zelda elements and characters, will be ported from WiiU to 3DS with some additional characters. I find this surprising since you dont see many WiiU games ported to 3DS especially ones that seemed to push the WiiU Hardware so hard.