Nintendo's pre-E3 event will be focused on Wii U. What does that mean for the 3DS?
As you all likely know by now, Nintendo isn't having a traditional big E3 press conference. It's the end of an era and a great step forward into a (Nintendo) direct world. I'm bummed by that, but as long as we get the same caliber of announcements, I don't see it as the end of the world. I was, however, very dismayed to see the invite come in for their press conference replacement. It's clearly labeled as a "Wii U Software Showcase." That's very worrisome as it seems to reduce the importance of the 3DS.
Those on the outside looking in last year might not fully realize how small of a presence the 3DS had at Nintendo's booth during E3 2012. The focus was clearly on the Wii U, which of course makes sense since that was the big, new hotness slated for a release later in the year. The only way to play 3DS games at Nintendo's booth last year was to track down and find booth girls that had one or two systems attached to them. Wearing a Mario or a Luigi hat, they wandered around the Wii U-laden booth. In totality, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon was the only playable Nintendo-made 3DS game for all three days. New Super Mario Bros. 2 showed up on the last day only, after the 3DS Software Showcase the night before (giving credit where credit's due, Nate Bihldorff's presentations for NSMB2 and Paper Mario were charismatic and rock solid).
On one hand, Nintendo likely needs to pull out all the stops for Wii U and focus solely on the (potentially) awesome games coming out for their lagging system. That seems to be what the half-hour presentation led by Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime will be focused on, along with the early hands-on access given to the press before the show floor opens. We can expect to see a new 3D Mario from EAD Tokyo, a new Mario Kart for Wii U, likely Wind Waker HD, Yarn Yoshi, and hopefully much more. It might not be the caliber of the larger system reveals that Microsoft and Sony have, but if you show some kick-ass games, you might turn some heads favorably.
And that's all very exciting, but after last year's 3DS thud, where the only interesting news was teased out accidentally following the rote showcase and the show floor presence for the system was better at Square Enix's booth, I can't help but lower my 3DS expectations at E3 to a dangerously low level. We might have just had our 3DS E3 showing two weeks ago during the Nintendo Direct where Link to the Past 2 and Yoshi's Island were revealed.
I hope I'm a little off base and whatever possible 3DS card Nintendo has up its sleeve wows the crowd at E3. Maybe there will be a dedicated section to the 3DS inside their booth, and maybe we will get more information on Link to the Past 2, Yoshi's Island, Mario Party, Smash Bros., and more. Or maybe, in Nintendo's grand plan, E3 is just a Wii U event, and the 3DS will just make a token appearance.