E3: Nintendo's Super Smash Bros Digital Event and More!

Here comes a new challenger! Watch Nintendo kick off E3 with new Super Smash Bros. content, the return of the Nintendo World Championships, and more!

For those of you who don't have the time to watch all of it, here is one of the more exciting announcements.... the official unveiling of Street Fighter's Ryu for Smash Bros.

Nice to see Tekken represented with a Heihachi Mii costume as well. What's so amazing is that Ryu retains his moves from Street Fighter, including the traditional inputs from the famed fighting series. Doing these inputs adds damage to Ryu's moves. In addition, his moves vary depending on whether you tap or press down the attack buttons, AND he has two Final Smash attacks depending on your proximity to opponents. So Ryu is definitely one of the most versatile characters on the roster.

Now check out the return of Fire Emblem's Roy!

Roy is definitely not just a clone. He has a powerful sword attack that does incredible damage to opponents when fully charged.... if they survive it. This attack, among others, also does flame damage, which adds an extra "oomph" to Roy's attacks. Overall, he is fun to play and is a welcome addition to the roster, even with the current Fire Emblem representation.

Ryu, Roy, Lucas, and more are available for download on the Nintendo eShop now!

Nintendo also announced EarthBound Beginnings for the Wii U Virtual Console!

This is a localized port of the original Mother game from 1989, which was never released in the US. Its sequel, Mother 2, was released in the US as EarthBound. EarthBound Beginnings is available on the Nintendo eShop...... now!

Nintendo finished the day with the return of their Nintendo World Championship! The show is long but ended up being a lot of fun to watch. They played a variety of games including Splatoon and Mario Kart 8. Take a look at least for the Mario Maker portion at the end. It is intense.

Much like in the film The Wizard, the Nintendo World Championship served as a great marketing tool to sell the latest Mario game. They really showed off what Mario Maker is capable of. Mario fans have something great to look forward to whether it's creating levels or playing them.

Mario Maker is scheduled to be released for the Wii U in September.

That is all for today, but E3 is just beginning. Nintendo has another digital event this Tuesday at 9am PT, which will show off a lot more games. Of course, other companies such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Sony will have their own shows throughout the week, so keep an eye out.

For more E3 Nintendo goodness, make sure to check out their official Nintendo @ E3 2015 website and their official YouTube page.

Nintendo E3 Digital Event Impressions; Open-World LEGEND OF ZELDA Announced

E3 is under way, and Nintendo finally put out their digital event presentation. Take a look at the full digital event here!

The digital event was quite entertaining with lots of great inside humor that Nintendo fans can really get into. Let's look at the highlights!

For those not willing to wade through the entire Nintendo Digital Event, here is the announcement trailer for the new Legend of Zelda for the Wii U!

The game is a departure from previous iterations in that the level design allows for much more free-roaming in a huge open world. A big part of the gameplay is figuring out how to get to all the destinations you can see in the far off distance. The art design is similar to the painterly style of Skyward Sword, which probably helps render such far distances in a way that is pleasing to the eye.

This is the game I am most pumped to play in the foreseeable future. Cannot wait to see more. Legend of Zelda for the Wii U is scheduled for release in 2015.

Another great reveal was being able to use your Mii in Super Smash Bros. Fortunately, this wasn't just an after-thought as the Miis are customizable with various fighting styles to choose from. The Miis were also put in as a way to create and play as characters that didn't make the final roster.

The long rumored Palutena from the Kid Icarus series was officially announced for Super Smash Bros. She rounds out a great cast of characters filled with a healthy proportion of strong female fighters such as Samus Aran, Princess Zelda, and Rosalina. In addition, the trailer seems to hint that Dark Pit may be a playable character as well, or an alternate skin for Pit.

Nintendo also introduced their Amiibo figures, a line reminiscent of Disney Infinity and Skylanders. The Amiibos are supposed to be compatible with several games including Mario Kart 8, but the only Amiibo demo shown off was with Super Smash Bros.

The new Amiibo figures... Nintendo really wants your money.

You can place an Amiibo on the Wii U gamepad, and have that character fight for your Mii in Super Smash Bros. These characters can be trained and leveled up, but cannot be used as regular fighters, so they feel more like helpers for your Mii.

Amiibos definitely have a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see how Nintendo decides to use them in the future.

Nintendo also showed off Mario Maker, an interesting new game that lets you create and play your own Mario levels. The trailer does a good job showing off how fun and challenging created levels can be. Definitely a fun tool for budding game designers.

Another standout title was Yoshi's Woolly World. The gameplay appears to be a cross between classic Yoshi games and Kirby's Epic Yarn. The game's graphical style on the Wii U looks amazing. It definitely catches the eye. It just goes to show how much art design can help a game stand out from the rest.


Of course, there are a lot more games to see during E3, but these were the ones that stood out the most to me.

Cannot wait to see what else Nintendo shows in the future. Time will tell if their slate of games will win over the hearts of gamers, but that Zelda game alone has me wanting to buy a Wii U. Nintendo was out to steal the thunder with that announcement.

Nintendo brought out their big gun today.

For even more games and videos, make sure to check out the official Nintendo@E3 website and their official YouTube page.