Nintendo
Register
Advertisement

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2012 is the 18th annual video game trade show and convention in Los Angeles held between June 4th and 7th. In all, Nintendo has four press events scheduled throughout the week, beginning with a Nintendo Direct live video stream which took place on Sunday, June 3rd at 3:00pm PT where the Wii U's controller and online features were discussed. Nintendo will hold it's annual E3 press conference on Tuesday, June 5th at 9:00am PT. During this conference it is expected that Nintendo will reveal further details pertaining to the Wii U and it's games. Later that day, Nintendo will hold their annual closed-door developers round table, where new games are usually revealed and teased. Then on Wednesday, June 6th at 6:00pm PT, Nintendo will host a Software Showcase, where the Nintendo 3DS and it's games will be discussed.

Aside from Nintendo's own conferences, third parties such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft also held press conferences to announce and demonstrate upcoming games. Ubisoft devoted a section of their conference to the Wii U and the games they have in development for the system.

Nintendo's E3 Schedule

Event Day Time (PT) Time (ET)
Nintendo Direct - Pre E3 2012 Sunday, June 3rd 3:00pm 6:00pm
Electronic Arts conference Monday, June 4th 1:00pm 4:00pm
Ubisoft conference Monday, June 4th 3:00pm 6:00pm
Nintendo conference Tuesday, June 5th 3:00pm 6:00pm
Nintendo - Wii U developer roundtable Tuesday, June 5th 6:00pm 9:00pm
Nintendo - Software Showcase Wednesday, June 6th 6:00pm 9:00pm

Nintendo Direct - Pre E3 2012

In this half-hour long live video stream, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata discussed the Wii U, it's controller, and it's online social features. The controller was given a proper title (Wii U GamePad), and changes from the prototype design shown at the previous year's E3 were detailed including a new button layout and the addition of full, clickable analog sticks. The Wii U Pro Controller was also introduced. Social features such as Miiverse were shown off for the first time. The first footage of Super Mario Wii U was also briefly seen.

Ubisoft conference

Ubisoft kicked off the live Wii U demonstrations with Rayman Legends. The on stage demo showed how a player using the GamePad has a different experience than someone playing with a Wii Remote. An on stage demo was also presented for Assassin's Creed III, though no specific Wii U details were revealed. Trailers were shown for Avengers: Battle for the Earth, ZombiU (previously known as Killer Freaks from Outer Space), Sports Connection, Just Dance 4, Rabbids Land, and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013.

Nintendo conference

Nintendo began it's presentation with Shigeru Miyamoto taking the stage to introduce Pikmin 3. Reggie Fils-Aime then came out to show a trailer for New Super Mario Bros. U, and announced it would be a Wii U launch title. Throughout the show, third party publishers and developers discussed their Wii U offerings like Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition, Scribblenauts Unlimited, Just Dance 4 and ZombiU. Nintendo published games Wii Fit U, SiNG, Lego City Undercover and finally Nintendo Land were discussed at length. New details about New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, all for the 3DS, were also revealed. Other games shown for the Wii U include Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, and Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Software Showcase

The Software Showcase was entirely devoted to games coming to the 3DS this year. It was hosted by Scott Moffitt, Nintendo's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, though Reggie Fils-Aime made an appearance as well. First party titles such as New Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Paper Mario: Sticker Star were discussed at length. Third party titles such as Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance were also given stage-time.

Games

The following games were either announced at, or are on display in some fashion at E3:

Wii U

3DS

Wii

DS

Advertisement