Tuesday, 13 June 2017

E3 2017: Nintendo's Spotlight [Events]

Nintendo's short and sweet Splotlight paid off in a way. It still had talk involved, but with three days of Treehouse, they can afford it. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was shown off first, with a slightly more anime look than previous games. This one doesn't have a date, and neither does a new Kirby Switch game which is coming in 2018. A previous Direct showed off three Kirby games for 3DS, so it's good to know one is coming to Switch. Pokken Tournament was talked about a bit, but the bigger news is that Game Freak are working on a main-line Switch game. This wasn't revealed during the Pokemon Direct last week - which revealed Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as well as Gold and Silver on the 3DS Virtual Console - which means they were saving it specifically for this point. Nothing can be shown, as it's probably only recently started development. A new Yoshi game in the style of Super Mario 3D World looks to be bringing some interesting concepts, but again it is a 2018 game. Metroid Prime 4 was also shown to be in development with a title reveal.

Skyrim on Switch has Zelda items in it, and that gave way to Breath of the Wild DLC. Showing off the first pack, which gives the Trial of the Sword, Master Mode, and several helpful additions. The Champion's Ballad is the second, and it was teased. Those four champions are also getting amiibo.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was shown again, and Rocket League is coming to Switch with cross-play on other platforms. There's also Nintendo themed items with this version, which launches later in the year.
Super Mario Odyssey has a vocal theme. Completely unexpected. The game itself is looking fantastic. Mario's hat can control certain items and enemies, and the trailer featured a lot of new stuff. It's also got a release date of 27-October.

I'm not talking the Treehouse reveals here, but already it's going strong with a lot of information on Mario Odyssey, and a 2D Metroid game on 3DS. Both games are looking strong, and many more reveals are set to be made during these streams, so if you have any interest look them up when you can. As I said, the Treehouse streams are where the bulk of Nintendo is these days, and it showed with their reveals. Most Spotlight games were 2018, giving those closer to release a larger focus on the stream. Don't forget about the tournaments Nintendo have as well, with ARMS, Splatoon 2, and Pokken Tournament DX.