The Nintendo Digital event was filled with games, colors, and fun. In a way, it was everything one would expect from a Nintendo E3 broadcast, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t gasps from the audience as some fan favorites were revealed.

“There’s nothing wrong with having a little fun.” – Reggie Fils-Aime, NOA President and COO

Through the campy presentation, Nintendo announced a heavy release schedule of exclusive games that they hope will carry the momentum of Mario Kart 8 sales through the holiday season. Some of the big exclusive titles for 2014 release included:

• Super Smash Bros. coming to 3DS in October 2014 and a broader holiday 2014 release data for Wii U
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, an action puzzler, has a holiday 2014 release window for Wii U
• Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire will release on 3DS in November 2014
• Bayonetta 2 will come to Wii U in October 2014 and will come bundled with the original Bayonetta, which previously only released on Xbox 360 and PS3
• Hyrule Warriors, a Dynasty Warriors title with Zelda characters, will attempt to sate the need for Zelda titles in 2014 with an October release for Wii U in the US

Super Smash Bros. was an intense focus for Nintendo throughout the show. Mii characters can now join the game as Mii Fighters with moves that rival traditional Super Smash Bros. characters and add an element of personalization.

Nintendo will use the Super Smash Bros. Wii U release to debut its NFC toys-to-life figures, called “amiibo,” with other first and third-party titles to follow, such as Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Disney Infinity 2.0, and Skylanders. By placing a character on the Wii U Game Pad, a two-way NFC link is established to transfer player stats and skills specific to that game and brings the character to life in the game. As the character grows through in-game experiences, that data is sent back to the amiibo. No pricing is available at this point, but the figures are incredibly detailed as currently displayed and certainly have a collectible aspect to them – now where have we heard “Gotta Catch ‘em All” from before?

There were several games set for 2015 release which bear mentioning as well:

• Yoshi’s Woolly World, a side-scroller stylized in yarn for Wii U
• Zelda (perhaps titled World of Zelda?) will get a new title on Wii U
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse comes to Wii U
• Xenoblade Chronicles, which stood out among other Nintendo releases with its epic anime movie look, comes to Wii U
• Mario Maker, a level creator for Super Mario Bros. on Wii U
• Splatoon, a new third-person shooter IP, will release in 2015

Nintendo has definitely found some new religion on getting first party titles to consumers as there is now a steady pipeline of classic games and new IP for this holiday season and through 2015. The core gaming community got a few long-awaited announcements like Zelda and Star Fox; Splatoon offers a family-friendly online multi-player shooter; and, though details were scarce overall for Mario Maker, it has potential for greater social gaming on Wii U.

There was also serious attention given to utilizing the Game Pad more effectively with games from the NFC standpoint with amiibo, using the gyroscope for intuitive POV control with games in development like Star Fox or the Projects Giant Robot and Guard, or using the second screen for more immersive co-op play without a split TV screen. Nintendo is far from giving up on this generation, though there is still debate whether gamers have moved on from Nintendo at this point.

As intimated earlier, my coverage of E3 won’t stop with these first-party vendor overviews. EA and Ubisoft had press conferences which tie into how the next generation consoles are evolving; I had some time to explore the show floor and have some initial thoughts about gameplay with new console platforms; and, there was plenty happening behind the scenes to cover. I have a written insight and perhaps one more blog entry planned on the topic.

- Eric Smith