At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) today (June 10) in Santa Monica, California, it was Nintendo's turn to show off the games it has planned for its Wii U console and 3DS handheld console.
Some of the announcements merely teased more information about previously revealed games, such as "Pokémon Omega Ruby" and "Pokémon Alpha Sapphire." Some were all-new looks, such as the teaser we saw for the new "Legend of Zelda" game for the Wii U. And some were complete surprises, such as the zany co-op competition game "Splatoon."
Here's all you need to know about what was announced at Nintendo's Digital Event press conference at E3 2014.
'Super Smash Bros.' for Wii U and 3DS
Nintendo revealed a new playable character for its classic brawler game "Super Smash Bros.": you! Or rather, Mii: Players can fight as their "Mii" avatars within the game. Mii fighters will come in three types -- Brawlers, Swordfighters and Gunners -- and each can choose four special moves from a total of 12, creating a highly customizable character.
Nintendo also introduced a figurine platform called "Amiibo" that works like "Skylanders": When you touch a Nintendo character figurine, such as Mario or Link, to a Wii U gamepad, it triggers an event pertaining to that same character in the game. "Super Smash Bros." for Wii U will be the first Nintendo game to have Amiibo connectivity, but Nintendo teased that the figurines will work with "Mario Kart 8" as well.
The 3DS version of "Super Smash Bros." will come out Oct. 3, and the Wii U version will be out this holiday season. At the end of the press event, Nintendo also announced one more new character: Palutena of the "Kid Icarus" series.
'Yoshi's Wooly World'
A sort of sequel to "Kirby's Epic Yarn," "Yoshi's Wooly World" will take players back to a world comprised entirely of yarn. Even Yoshi, Nintendo's cute green dragon/dinosaur, is made of yarn. With a focus on exploration, "Yoshi's Wooly World" has single-player and two-player co-op, and is coming out in 2015.
'Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker'
One of the most popular sections in the 2013 game "Super Mario 3D World" is getting a full game of its own in "Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker," a third-person adventure game starring the mushroom-headed little Captain Toad. "Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker" is coming out this holiday season.
A new 'Legend of Zelda'
The star of the Nintendo Digital Event was a new "Zelda" game, which series producer Eiji Aonuma says will feature an entirely open world. Though it doesn't yet have a name, what little we saw of the new game showed Link, the traditional blond hero of the series, astride a brown horse in the middle of a wide green field. Aonuma promised that even the mountains visible in the distance would be visitable in the game.
The new "Legend of Zelda" game is scheduled to release in 2015.
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'Pokémon Omega Ruby' and 'Alpha Sapphire'
Nintendo showed off some gameplay footage for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS Pokémon games, "Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire," remakes of the 2002 games "Ruby" and "Sapphire." We also got a release date: this November.
'Bayonetta 2'
We already knew "Bayonetta 2," the sequel to Sega's 2010 game starring a bespectacled witch, was coming out for Wii U soon. The Nintendo press event revealed that "Bayonetta 2" will come packaged with "Bayonetta" as well, and is hitting shelves in October.
'Hyrule Warriors'
This game uses characters from the "Legend of Zelda" series, but the third-person fighting style of "Dynasty Warriors." "Hyrule Warriors" was announced last winter, but at E3 2014 Nintendo announced that in addition to the elfin hero Link and the warrior woman Impa, Princess Zelda and Midna (of the 2006 game "Twilight Princess") will be playable characters as well. "Hyrule Warriors" is coming out Sept. 26.
'Kirby and the Rainbow Curse'
Another "Kirby" game was briefly teased at Nintendo's Digital Event. Called "Kirby and the Rainbow Curse," it is a sequel to "Kirby: Canvas Curse" and will be out in 2015.
'Xenoblade Chronicles X'
This sequel to "Xenoblade Chronicles" features a team of characters piloting giant robots against an alien invasion. It was first teased earlier this month, and Nintendo has said it will feature an open world. The game is set to release in 2015.
'Mario Maker'
Nintendo fans have been making "Mario"-inspired amateur games for more than 30 years, and now Nintendo has found a way to monetize their creativity. "Mario Maker" is a game-making program in which players can design levels using the obstacles, enemies and other assets of the classic "Mario" platformers. "Mario Maker" is coming in 2015.
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'Splatoon'
This new multiplayer title has up to eight players competing four-on-four to control a territory by splattering it with ink. You can either shoot ink as a human character, or turn into a squid and swim rapidly through your own ink, and even hide in it to spring surprise attacks, but your opponents' ink will slow you down. "Splatoon" is coming out in 2015.
'Fantasy Life'
This popular Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) will be coming to the United States on the Nintendo 3DS hand-held console this October.
'Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'
Two of Nintendo's most beloved B-list characters, Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright, will go head-to-head in a mashup title for the Nintendo 3DS, set to release Aug. 29.
New Nintendo eShop Games
After the Nintendo Digital Event, Nintendo showed off a montage of several smaller games that are coming to the Nintendo eShop online marketplace, including "Shovel Knight," "A.N.N.E.," "6180 the Moon" and "Chariot." Some are collections of older games, such as a "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" compilation, and some were previously released on mobile, such as "Nihilumbra" and "Tengami."
'Mario Party 10'
It was only after the Digital Event was done that Nintendo casually mentioned in its post-show summary that "Mario Party 10" is on its way. In the game, one player plays as Bowser on the Wii U gamepad and tries to thwart the other players in various tasks. "Mario Party 10" will also have Amiibo connectivity.
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