Nintendo Representatives go toe to toe for Smash Bros. (Nintendo Direct)

While Sony and Microsoft were originally considered to be the big contenders at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, no one truly anticipated what Nintendo held up their sleeve. After announcing last year that they would no longer participate in public press conferences and instead focused on pre-recorded announcements via Nintendo Direct the tradition continued on Tuesday morning following both Sony and Microsoft’s press conferences.

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The first and most notable announcements are what generated the most hype, and what was hyped the most of course, was the new Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS.

Some of the key announcements, as demonstrated by representatives Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime, were that you can input your own custom avatars (the mii’s) with a variety of move sets that vary upon the player’s choice, and that a new way to play the game will involve buying toys called Amiibos. Much like the Skylanders and Disney Infinity toys, they will serve as functional characters upon contact with the Wii U controller and can even be leveled up and transfer player data. Unfortunately for handheld users, the 3DS version of Smash Bros will be delayed until October.

The Amiibos may play some part in the advancement of the Wii U system in the near future.

Several new games were announced, such as a Yoshi’s Wooly World (a game in the same veins as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Yoshi’s Story), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (a platform puzzle game featuring Toad from the Mario series) and a sequel to Kirby’s Canvas Curse.

Bayonetta 2 was playable with a few new levels and the announcement that it will come with a free bonus copy of Bayonetta 1 and Nintendo related costumes, Devil’s Third is a Wii U exclusive made by the lead from Ninja Gaiden, and a new Star Fox game is in the works with the intention of showing some new uses for the Wii U tablet controller. 

Possibly the biggest (not Super Smash Bros related) announcement was for the new Legend of Zelda game. The world displayed was something bigger and more beautiful than anything yet seen in a Zelda world, and promises to have a much greater sense of exploration than any of its predecessors. While short in demonstration, a new Link was revealed, which may or may not be the Link we’ve come to know (parallel timelines and generational gaps aside), but the real focus of the trailer was just how powerful the Wii U’s potential can be in terms of the quality in graphics and exploration. 

Even though it’s already been out for over a year, there is still much more room for growth on Nintendo’s unique tablet-like system. With announcements like these, though, their growth does seem to be in the making. Only time will tell how far they can go and how much more successful they can become.

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