E3

E3 Logo

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is an American video game convention and one of the conventions linked with Nintendo such as Nintendo Space World and World Hobby Fair.

In the past, many Nintendo games were showcased at this event in person and displays. Although Nintendo is still associated with the convention, currently their content is presented in a digital Nintendo Direct video through streaming and Nintendo Treehouse: Live sessions.

List of E3s

E3 1995

The Nintendo 64 (then named Ultra 64) was discussed. Playable on the show floor was Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Chrono Trigger.

E3 1996

Super Mario 64 was shown. Mario Kart 64 (then called Super Mario Kart R) was shown.

E3 1997

Banjo-Kazooie, Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr., Goldeneye 007 and Tetrisphere were playable; the queue for Goldeneye 007 was the longest.

E3 1998

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was shown off.

E3 1999

Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, an early version of Eternal Darkness and an unreleased Kirby game was for Nintendo 64 were shown off.

E3 2000

Conker's Bad Fur Day was shown off.

E3 2001

Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Mario Sunshine were revealed.

E3 2002

Metroid Prime was shown, as were a collection of Game Boy Advance games, including Game & Watch Gallery 4, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 and Metroid Fusion. The final Rareware game for a Nintendo console, Star Fox Adventures, was shown. Shigeru Miyamoto gave a demonstration on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

E3 2003

A discussion of the e-Reader in conjunction to the Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo GameCube. Star Wars: Rebel Strike - Rogue Squadron III was shown. Several Capcom games were shown, including an early version of Residennt Evil 4. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords was also shown, as were Advance Wars and Viewtiful Joe.

E3 2004

Reggie Fils-Aime's first E3. He introduced himself by saying "My name is Reggie, I'm about kicking ass, I'm about taking names, and we're about taking names." The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was revealed.

E3 2005

The Game Boy Micro was revealed, as was the Wii, then codenamed the Revolution.

E3 2006

A focus on the Wii, revealing Super Mario Galaxy. There was a demonstration on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, showing off a demo version of the Goron Mines. The DS game The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was also demoed. Additionally, Wii Sports was shown off, specifically the Tennis minigame, which was played by Satoru Iwata, Reggie Fils-Aime, Shigeru Miyamoto and guest Scott Dire.

E3 2007

Sales of the DS were discussed. The Wii Zapper was shown off, as were Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Brain Age 2. The Wii Wheel, a peripheral for Mario Kart Wii, was revealed, showing how intuitive the controls for the game can be. Wii Fit was also shown - during the demonstration, Reggie Fils-Aime remarked "My body is ready."

E3 2008

A large focus was given to Wii Music, with Shigeru Miyamoto playing the saxophone in-game, leading to an ensemble performance of the Super Mario Bros. theme. Animal Crossing: City Folk, Rayman: Raving Rabbids and Wii Sports Resort were also shown. Reggie Fils-Aime won in the fencing minigame, claiming "That's why they call me the Reggienator."

E3 2009

Super Mario Galaxy 2 was revealed.

E3 2010

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Sports Mix, Kirby's Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns were announced. The Nintendo 3DS was shown off, with the handheld console carried by many women to the audience.

E3 2011

The 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: An orchestra played a medley of Zelda themes to commence. Super Mario 3D Land was shown off, as were Mario Kart 7 (then called Mario Kart 3DS), Kid Icarus: Uprising and Luigi's Mansion 2. The Wii U was revealed, including an early version of New Super Mario Bros. U, then called New Super Mario Bros. Mii.

E3 2012

The last live on-stage E3. Pikmin 3 was revealed, sporting a different logo to the final design. Additional details on the Wii U were given, such as to Miiverse. Reggie Fils-Aime claimed the Wii U would support two GamePads at once, an idea which never transpired. New Super Mario Bros. 2 was shown off, as was Paper Mario: Sticker Star (without mentioning the lack of party members, badges or fewer chapters). The final section was devoted to Nintendo Land, a launch game for the Wii U.

E3 2013

From here onwards, Nintendo's E3s were delivered as pre-recorded videos, akin to Nintendo Directs. Gamers shown include: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Wii Party U, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, The Wonderful 101, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Bayonetta 2, Monolith Soft's new game X (later titled Xenoblade Chronicles X) and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

E3 2014

Animations by Robot Chicken were interspersed into the video, including a memorable moment where an audience member shouts out "Come on Reggie, give us Mother 3!" Reggie responds by saying "How about this instead?", eating a Fire Flower and burning the audience member. Miis were shown as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. 4, along with the announcement of amiibo. Additional announcements include Yoshi's Woolly World, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and a first glimpse at a new game in The Legend of Zelda series. Super Mario Maker and Splatoon were also revealed, along with newcomer Palutena as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4.

E3 2015

A puppet performance commenced the show. Star Fox: Zero was shown off, as were The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Fire Emblem: Fates, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Animal Crossing: ambiibo Festival, Yo-Kai Watch, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash.

E3 2016

There was no video this year. A Nintendo Treehouse event, in which games are demoed, was used here and subsequently. The main focus was on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Additional announcements include WarioWare: Gold and Pokémon Sun and Moon.

E3 2017

Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Kirby Star Allies, Yoshi's Crafted World and Super Mario Odyssey were shown. A logo revealing development of Metroid Prime 4 was shown.

E3 2018

Super Mario Party, Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Hollow Knight, Overcooked 2, Wolfenstein II and Octopath Traveller were shown off. Many new details were given on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which had been teased in an earlier Nintendo Direct.

E3 2019

The Hero and Banjo-Kazooie were announced to be playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Games shown include a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for the Nintendo Switch, a remake of Panzer Dragoon, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, Contra: Rogue Corps, Astral Chain and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. An unnamed sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was shown.

E3 2020

There was no E3 this year.

E3 2021

Kazuya of the Tekken series was announced to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Games shown include Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, Astria Ascending, Mario Party Superstars, Metroid Dread, Mario Golf: Super Rush, Shin Megami Tensei V, Strange Brigade, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and the unnamed sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Future

There have been no E3s since 2021 for Nintendo, although Nintendo Directs offer a similar insight into upcoming games and development.

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