One thing about Nintendo is that the Directs are usually informative and entertaining, and their E3 presentation is the most diverse of the year. So that is why this year’s video was disappointing. It felt more like a Super Smash Brothers-only Direct which is something they could have done in a few months, especially since there were so many other things that they NEEDED to talk about. I left this press conference wanting more, and that is not great for an E3 presentation.

Below is my breakdown of the good, the bad and the AMAZING of the Nintendo’s E3 Press Conference.

Good

Octopath Traveller

As an RPG nerd, Octopath Traveller is by far my most anticipated Switch games. Every screenshot, video, and article about the game has raised my excitement about this modern version of the classic JRPG style, and has me considering a pre-order. It doesn’t hurt that it is made by Square Enix, but if I’m being honest, I hope it’s more of a Squaresoft game.

Fortnite

While I am not deeply invested in Fortnite, I can understand the value of having it on the Switch; It is probably the closest to the phone version that you will get on a console. The only real issue is the lack of LTE or 4G for the Switch, which will make on-the-go gaming more difficult than people realize. The phone may still be the superior way the play the game for the younger generation, but at least the Switch gives them more of an opportunity to get the true Fortnite experience without needed a phone plan, or their own TV.

Bad

Smash Brothers Segment

Sometimes it is not so much about the content of a segment in one of these presentations, but the quantity of the information revealed, which can sometimes be too much. I understand Super Smash Brothers is probably the third most important franchise in Nintendo’s library, but that doesn’t excuse them from spending 10 to 15 minutes on almost every character’s special move. After such a good start to the Switch’s life in 2017, it was disappointing to see that there was so little new content coming to the system. Don’t get me wrong I love all of these ports, but I would rather get some detailed information on games like Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 than hear that Fox’s new Final Smash involves a different ship formation than Wolf’s.

Lack Of Details About Online Service

The most important thing that Nintendo needed to talk about was completely absent from the presentation despite many of the games announced needing it. The Nintendo Online Service is being released in a few months, and yet, we know nothing more than the surface details about the service. Sure, it’s great to know the price, release date, and general info about it, but I would love to know some more details, such as, what collection of NES games am I getting with service are and any other perks. It was strange that they completely omitted a very important piece to the future of their console so they could spend 30 minutes on a glorified port.

AMAZING

The Final 45 Seconds Of Giant Bomb’s Coverage

Nothing summed up my feelings after watching almost an hour of the Nintendo briefing more than Jeff Gerstmann’s rant as Giant Bomb ended it’s coverage. Since I am not a huge Smash Brothers fan, the entire presentation felt like a waste of my time, and Jeff verbalized that perfectly.

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Our schedule for the press conference articles is as follows:

Sunday — EA; Monday — Microsoft; Tuesday — Sony; Thursday — Bethesda; Friday — Square Enix; Saturday — Ubisoft.

We will have a full E3 wrap-up article on Monday, June 18th and on the Main Damie Podcast. If you have any questions that you would like us to answer, please tweet us @themaindamie with the #VGCornerE3. We will answer your questions on the podcast!