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The Ultimate Nintendo at E3 2013 Rundown!

BY LESLIE KIVETT

(Deep breath) Mmmmm, do you smell that? That lovely scent in the air? It smells like...video game news. Beautiful, sweet, video game news from the years biggest event when it comes to news. That’s right. It’s E3 time. The time of year where my brain and heart are simultaneously set aflame with anticipation and excitement. It’s the lightning strike event that gathers up the grand majority of the worlds top tier developers, puts them together in a single building, and let’s them all loose to show off each of their current and future offerings. It’s a wonderful time of year, one I look forward to more than any other. And this year especially will be very exciting.

This years E3 will undoubtedly be the biggest one in years. Even though NIntendo’s newest console has already been out for 7 months this will be the first E3 to feature a new lineup of entries in classic franchises, all sprinkled with HD glory and polish. With so much in the development pipeline for the Wii U and 3DS both it’s going to be quite difficult to nail down exactly what Nintendo will focus on during their unorthodox presentation this year. That’s right, NIntendo will not be doing a live presentation this year, instead opting for a canned one in the form of an early morning Nintendo Direct. While a certain special something is most certainly lost without a live performance from Nintendo’s top execs and developers, there will no doubt still be a slew of new information. And who knows, this new method could allow for a more focussed presentation that gives a lot more information than we’re used to. And don’t forget that Nintendo traditionally unveils news throughout the week of E3, so stay tuned for updates on everything they’re doing this year throughout the E3 conference.

But without further ado, here’s a breakdown of what I think will be shown and discussed throughout the week, as well as few things I would personally like to see, with special attention on tuesday’s Nintendo Direct, broken down by franchise.


Mario!
Starting with Nintendo’s lead mascot seems like the obvious, predictable choice. So let’s do that! Actually, we’re starting here first because we have more information about our favorite hat wearing plumber and his brother than we do anything else. The first Mario game I’m quite certain will receive attention during the Nintendo Direct is the new 3D Mario game from the makers of both Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 as well as Super Mario 3D land. We don’t know much about this title specifically and haven’t heard anything about it since it was announced during a Nintendo Direct in January, but it’s a fair bet that we’ll hear more about it since these types of Mario games have traditionally received plenty of attention at conferences of this nature.

Since it’s the Year of Luigi you can expect to at least hear a mention of New Super Luigi U at the conference as well, despite its release just 9 days later on June 20th. It’s also likely this will be one of the titles on offer at demo kiosks at select Best Buy locations both during and after the event.

We know Mario Kart for the Wii U will also be shown during the conference, confirmed by NIntendo on Twitter. If it’s anything like the Wii version from 2008 you can expect motion controlled driving with the Gamepad or, similar to New Super Mario Bros. U, Wii remotes you can connect to your Wii U console for multiplayer purposes. Online multiplayer will have to be a must and there are sure to be interesting mechanics, or perhaps tracks, designed around using the Gamepad specifically when playing alone or online. We know next to nothing about Mario Kart U so this section of the Nintendo Direct ought to be interesting.

There’s a whole slew of 3DS Mario titles coming out this summer as well, including Mario & Luigi Dream Team, Mario Golf World Tour, and the new Mario Party for the 3DS. Since Dream Team already has a release date of August 11th for this year I don’t expect they’ll spend much time on it and instead give more detail on the other Mario 3DS titles. I’m especially excited for news about Mario Party on the 3DS as it looks like a completely different take on the franchise, focusing on faster games and more unique game boards. The mini games also looked pretty exciting when they were shown back in April during Nintendo Direct.

Phew, that’s a lot of information on just one franchise. I did say it was the one we knew the most about, so rest won’t be as overwhelming. Next up is....
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