Nintendo made a bunch of hopes and dreams come true today at E3. After a seemingly endless wait, they finally announced Rocket League for Switch! Oh, also Metroid Prime. They announced a new Metroid Prime.
Nintendo has got these pre-recorded E3 videos down to a science at this point, and this year was their usual mix of already-announced games and fun surprises. It was an appropriate conclusion to a generally low-key run of E3 press conferences.
Let’s break down everything they showed.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Sure Is A JRPG.
I’m not going to pretend the new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was anything more than another JRPG trailer, but hey, it’s literally the only JRPG to get any play during an E3 conference this year. It’s coming Holiday 2017.
There’s A Kirby Game Coming To Switch In 2018.
Stephen will be psyched about this one. I’ve never gotten super into Kirby, but I’ve edited enough of his reviews over the years that I definitely want to play one. This will probably be the one.
Game Freak Is Making A 笔辞办é尘辞苍 RPG For Switch.
In other news, the sky is blue. Still cool news, unless you’re a soulless monster who hates 笔辞办é尘辞苍. (Just kidding Jason, I can’t really get into 笔辞办é尘辞苍 either.) Nintendo says it may not release for more than a year.
Holy Shit, They’re Making Metroid Prime 4.
On the one hand, I guess we all knew this day would come. On the other hand, holy hell. This was my (and a lot of other people’s) “it’ll never happen but sure” prediction for this show, and it actually happened. Absolutely zero additional information beyond a title card, however. It’s not even clear if Retro is making the game. (Update: they aren’t.) Hopefully we’ll find out more soon.
Switch Will Get A New Yoshi Game In 2018.
It looks pretty cute, and that’s about all I have to say. I will play it.
Breath of the Wild’s First DLC Is Coming June 30.
Honestly, I’m as psyched about Zelda DLC as I am about anything else in this press conference. The first of two expansions will be out in a couple weeks on June 30. You can read a full breakdown of what’s in it here.
The second, larger expansion is called The Champions’ Ballad and will feature the four champions of Hyrule. They’re each getting their own Amiibo, too, which... shit. I might have to finally buy an Amiibo. That DLC is still scheduled for “Holiday 2017.”
Rocket League is coming to Switch!
This is fantastic news, though it would be even cooler if I had some friends with Switches. Then we could live the dream by meeting up at a BBQ and having local Rocket League tournaments. Still, whatever, this is an awesome game and it’ll be great on Switch. It’ll be out holiday 2017, and will feature Mario hats for car customization.
Super Mario Odyssey Looks Weird And Good, Coming In October.
Nintendo closed the show with a weird little demo of Super Mario Odyssey, which they also have playable on the show floor. The central mechanic involves Mario throwing his magical hat onto enemies and possessing them. Jason’s played 30 minutes of the game and says it’s just as odd and ambitious as it looks, so go read his impressions.
As a side note, I SO hope the entire soundtrack consists of jazz vocalists singing about how fun Mario is. Odyssey will be out on October 27, because October really needed more big games to play.
There’s Also A Metroid Game Coming To 3DS.
Nintendo saved a bonus announcement for their Treehouse live stream: Metroid: Samus Returns. It’s a side-scrolling Metroid game for 3DS, described as a “reimagination” of the Game Boy game Metroid II. It’ll be out on September 15.
Couple Other Things: Reggie talked about the Splatoon 2, Pokken, and Arms tournaments they’re hosting during E3 week, and we got a story trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors.
That does it for Nintendo, which does it for all the E3 press conferences. Now it’s time to head to the show floor to play these games and talk with the people making them. Stay tuned for ongoing E3 coverage all week.