The 3 biggest announcements from Nintendo at E3 2018
Big players like Microsoft, Sony, and publishers like Ubisoft and Bethesda had already debuted their new titles coming to game consoles over the past several days, but all eyes were on Nintendo as the only big presentation on Tuesday.
In case you missed the presentation, or you just want to get straight to the highlights, these were the 3 biggest announcements from Nintendo's presentation at E3 2018:
1. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" will release on December 7, 2018, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
Let's get the biggest announcement out of the way: The biggest game coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2018 was finally given an official name ("Super Smash Bros. Ultimate") and an official release date (December 7, 2018). Fans were thrilled by what they saw.
Unlike most presentations we've seen at E3 2018, Nintendo spent the vast majority of its presentation on this single game — in fact, it spent 24 out of the 42 total minutes of its Nintendo Direct video talking about "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."
The most notable highlights:
— The new roster will include every character from past "Super Smash Bros." games, as well as new characters like the Inklings from Nintendo's newer "Splatoon" franchise and the long-awaited Ridley from the "Metroid" games.
— Plenty of levels from other "Super Smash Bros." games will return, but there will be new maps as well.
— You can play the game with any Nintendo Switch controller, or any Nintendo GameCube controller (sold separately).
— Nintendo made "tens of thousands" of updates to how the game actually plays, from level-design tweaks, to changes in how characters look and play, to the many items available to be used in the game, to "Final Smash" attacks, and more.
2. After a years-long drought, "Mario Party" will make its triumphant return with the release of "Super Mario Party," coming to the Nintendo Switch on October 5, 2018.
It's been three years since the last "Mario Party" game was available, but that was on the Wii U console, which didn't sell very well. For many, it's likely been a long time since they've seen or played a "Mario Party" game.
So as one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, and one of the longest-running minigame series of all-time, fans were delighted to see a new entry coming to the Nintendo Switch: "Super Mario Party."
From what Nintendo showed, "Super Mario Party" looks like one of the most creative games Nintendo has ever come up with.
If you've never played "Mario Party," expect a virtual board game for up to four players, with traditional dice roll-based gameplay broken up by quick minigames.
The minigames you play this time out will take advantage of the Nintendo Switch's unique motion controls and technologies. In this new game, for instance, you can put two Nintendo Switch consoles next to each other and play on one giant display. It's really neat, and looks perfect for parties, as the name would suggest.
Take a look at "Super Mario Party":
3. Plenty of third-party games.
The highlights:
— "Fortnite," the biggest game in the world right now, is finally available on the Nintendo Switch starting today.
— "Octopath Traveler," a new fantasy game from Square Enix, will launch exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on July 13, with a free demo available on June 14.
— "Hollow Knight," from developers Team Cherry, features beautiful hand-drawn animation, platforming, and combat. It's available starting today.
— "Daemon x Machina" looks like a highly stylized, fast-paced action game where you fly around in a giant mechanical suit. It's coming in 2019.
— More third-party games coming to the Nintendo Switch over the next year include "Dragon Ball FighterZ," "Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus," "FIFA 19," "Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate," and "Dark Souls Remastered," which, despite delays, is still apparently coming this summer.
Other notable highlights from Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation:
— Nintendo has a new game in its long-running "Fire Emblem" series of roleplaying games, coming to the Nintendo Switch in spring 2019, called "Fire Emblem: Three Houses."
— "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" is getting a new expansion on September 14, called "Torna: The Golden Country."
— Nintendo showed off more of "Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu!" and "Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee!," which are both coming to the Nintendo Switch on November 16. One of the highlights from the presentation was Nintendo's new accessory, called the Poké Ball Plus, which looks just like a poké ball from the Pokémon games, but you can actually use it as a controller to play the game in its entirety. It also comes with an exclusive legendary Pokémon you can't get in the game itself: Mew. The Poké Ball Plus goes on sale the same day as the "Pokémon: Let's Go" games.