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Join us for Nintendo’s final attempts to save the Wii U.
Closing up this year’s batch of E3 press conferences is Nintendo with a special online presentation of their upcoming 3DS and Wii U titles, including Star Fox U, Zelda U and Pokemon. You’ve read our predictions, now it’s time for the real thing. Watch the live stream and follow along with our live commentary below.
Check out the Talkingship E3 Hub for full coverage of all the other press conferences.
This liveblog will be infinitely more interesting than the last one as it has the added advantage of me being awake.
Ninety seconds remaining. Get those streams fired up!
Zero hour. It’s time to be… amazed? Disappointed? Exasperated? All of the above?
Oh God, they’ve Robot Chicken’d it.
No new Mario games! The revolution is being televised right now. And it is hilarious.
What a weird, weird opening.
This is the next year of gaming forum gifs, right from the word go.
Smash Bros U though. Yes please.
NFC with Smash Bros. Can drop new characters in. Hellll yeah. That’s the hot toy this Xmas then.
Smash Bros is being shown, complete with Miis. And… Skylanders?
I don’t like this Mii fighter thing. Looks…weird. Really weird.
Mii Fighter: Just like a regular fighter, but with a stupid lazily-made face.
Three categories of Mii: Brawler, Swordfighter and Gunner.
I’m still not used to how weird the Mii’s facial expressions are. Hate it.
Multiple special moves for the Mii Fighters.
Nice levels of customer characterisation here though, both in terms of fighting ability and looks.
Telling us about debugging. How unexciting.
That Nintendogs level is amazing.
The 3DS version of Smash looks better than I expected. Will be good for a commuting distraction.
I have no idea what’s going on in these minigames.
3DS out October 3rd, Wii U is “Holiday”. Ugh, no date.
Still no release date for SSB on the Wii U.
More on the NFC stuff now.
Amiibo is the name for these new toys.
Disney Infinity and Skylanders work with it as well! Impressive partnership.
So… Skylanders?
Shame it doesn’t mean that SSB gets Spyro.
Disney Infinity proved that Skylanders can be cloned successfully. Nintendo are well placed to do that again.
Your toys have read/write capability so when your fighter levels up, that data gets written to the toy’s chip.
Amiibo is coming to Mario Kart 8 too! More details soon.
Skylanders is a cool concept, and the more recognisable figures and franchises that get behind it, the better.
Nintendo will make a lot of money out of this. Anyway, something else now.
Reporting for duty.
Considering there are no Mario announcements today they’re spending a long time talking about Mario.
Hi Fish. About to talk about a bunch of new games, it seems.
Well that’s a pretty good belief to hold considering you’re making video games.
How do you underscore a point?
It’s a new Kirby Epic Yarn. Or something epic yarn.
_.
There we go.
._ <- my attempt
Kirby’s Epic Yarn 2?
There’s a lot of yarn there.
Yoshi’s Wooly World? Seriously?
Yes, Yoshi’s Wooly World. What a wonderful name.
Oh, it’s Yoshi now. I love how they’re reinventing the game’s look in these ways. The name could be better though.
Aesthetically pretty nice. Very LBP-like.
I’d get this immediately if I had a Wii U. Unfortunately, I don’t, and this definitely isn’t enough to change that.
What would it take to get you to buy a Wii U, Antony?
If this is a) cheap and b) downloadable, I might consider it.
This almost certainly isn’t worth £50, but looks nice for a tenner.
Co-op mode too! Nice.
Difficult to say. There’s not a lot of Nintendo franchises I’m majorly invested in. But strong third party exclusives would be a good way to go. That is always Nintendo’s Achilles heel these days though.
If the Twitch stream’s down for you, refresh the page to see the Youtube stream which is working well right now.
Actually no, put out a Wii U bundle that comes with one of those knitted Yoshi’s, and you’ve got me.
Wow, a Toad game. Legit, a game just about Toad.
A Toad game?
True. I think the value proposition is there for me. Depending on how this presser goes and if there’s anything related to the price, I’ll probably be in.
Toad <3
Reminder: Mario Kart 8 is so good that it justifies the purchase of a Wii U.
Robot Chicken are back.
Also, this Captain Toad Treasure Tracker game is out in the holiday period. Yay.
Yeah, that and Smash are what put me over the edge Shax.
Zeldaaaaaaaa
And now it’s Zelda time!
MK8 and SSB make it tempting, but definitely still not something I’d get before/instead of a PS4 or X1.
Taking a look at the series’ long, extensive history.
Nintendo do have a habit of talking about the past in their conferences/digital events.
Oh my good god it’s gorgeous.
And the world looks huge.
THAT GRASS.
I zoned out staring at the grass, I think he said something about open world?
Wait, are they approaching this as an open world sandbox style game?
Just checked: he did indeed. Game is open world and connected, you decide where to go.
And now everything is on fire and there’s lasers and a horse
Link has a blue suit this time. How exciting. This is coming 2015, and that was a verrrry short teaser.
Pokemon?
We’ve gone live action now. Interesting.
Dungeon Rescue Team?
Yup, Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire remakes.
Oh it’s the remakes. Those are happening too.
Has the X and Y aesthetic, looks as good as you’d want/expect. Mega evolutions included, obviously.
Omg the legendaries’ mega evolutions are awesome.
We are zipping through games here. Already onto the next one. Bayonetta!
Bayonetta?
I think Shaxster is a little ahead of me. Good for him.
But this is Bayonetta indeed. And it looks magnificent.
This looks nice. And Antony, I’m always ahead of you. In all walks of life. Don’t try and catch up xox
This overstylized character action game just isn’t my jam. I get the appeal, it’s just not for me.
Another super-short teaser. Oh, and Metroid/Link costumes are in it too. How cool.
The entire Bayonetta universe coming to the Wii U in one boxset. Nice.
Hyrule Warriors now, the Dynasty Warriors/Zelda crossover.
Re: Bayonetta – I think the first game is included with the second. Which is a nice touch.
This looks fantastic.
Fellas, I’m pretty sure fans of the Dynasty Warriors series and fans of the Zelda series may intersect more than you expect.
As a big Dynasty Warriors fan, I’m looking forward to this.
I get the feeling that with them talking about “the entire Bayonetta universe”, they’ll be including the film in that boxset as well. There was a film.
Who knew.
“all the essences”
Kirby for Wii U!
They’re acting like the Zelda and Dynasty Warriors fans don’t intersect at all. How bizarre. And now we’re back to Kirby!
i love you kirby you are round and adorable and i want to hug you a lot
This looks like a downloadable title.
So yeah, Fish. About what would tempt me more on getting a Wii U? Kirby. Kirby would.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, coming 2015. Now…Metroid?
Metroid?
Nope, another new Japanese game. From Monolith, I think they said?
Oh, this is the previously announced X.
Xenoblade Chronicles. That is another series I recognise by name but have never played.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: 2015 release. This is shaping up to be E3: The Things that You Can Buy Next Year Edition.
Mario maker.
And it looks like it will definitely work well with the Wii U pad.
On Wii U! Niceeee.
So much for no Mario announcements
Looking forward to seeing what people come up with here.
So up for this. Oh god it’s beautiful HD as well as retro.
Oh neat, with transition to ‘New’ Mario mode, too.
Switching between classic and modern graphics at the touch of a button. Sweet.
This game should be free if Nintendo are smart. 2015.
“This is shaping up to be E3: The Things that You Can Buy Next Year Edition.” – Me. I said this.
What is this octopus
Octodaaaad, nobody suspects a thi-oh it’s paintballs.
Splatoon. Whatever that is.
8 player 4v4 online multiplayer action game. Looks like Gotham City Imposters.
Oh and they’re squids, not octopodes. Just because. Why not, I guess?
Oh, you can switch between being a person and a squid. This is really weird.
This reminds me of splattering paint everywhere in Portal 2.
You have to paint the level in your colour. Can only shoot paint as a human, can swim really quickly through the ink as a squid.
“Make use of your squid abilities”. All those crazy squid abilities, am I right?
Do *not* like moving the gamepad to aim. Doesn’t work. Ever.
The gamepad’s gyroscopic sensor (I think that’s what it’s called?) is being used to aim. Fancy.
I’ve never had trouble spotting bullets in a shooter.
These games are going to be permanent stalemates.
Fancy, but potentially annoying. Ever tried a game like that on mobile?
This looks pretty fun. Again though: not a $60 retail title. Can’t be.
Getting a lot of footage of this, which suggests 2014 release.
In an E3 full of incredible music choices, this song has missed the boat a little.
Also, all the “I’ll never buy Titanfall because it’s multiplayer only” people have suddenly gone very quiet.
Seems like you can call in special attacks. Sounds like a pretty fun. And… that’s it? Are we done?
I thought this was going to be an hour-long event.
Anddd that’s it! Some more news will come later in the post show briefing, which I guess we’ll cover because why not?
I’m wondering where Star Fox U is. Considering it leaked just before the show.
Binge heaven already exists as far as Britain is concerned. It’s called Birmingham.
Ah, one more teaser.
One more teaser.
Smash Bros character teaser though…
I don’t know what’s going on.
Link vs. Kid Icarus?
Palutena is joining Smash as a playable character. Ok then.
Palutena is the new SSB character.
Is it Jesus? It’s Jesus. Jesus in Smash Bros confirmed. (I have no idea who this is)
I think it’s a Kid Icarus character. Eh.
This is the best conferece-ending surprise of them all. Crackdown and Rainbow Six have nothing on this.
Ok, time for the post show. We’ll stick around for this, I think.
It’s Miyamotooo.
Miyamoto, yay! I see those Pikmin on your 3DS, you tease.
More will be revealed at 12.40PT. Which is…in two hours?
And that’s it. Okay then.
Explaining amiibo. Has a lot of potential, this.
The door is being left open for Amiibo inclusion in future games. Which is good.
So.
Awkward technical difficulties.
There we go.
Right, so this video is Bill Trinen acting like a 5 year old.
“You caught me playing with my toys” for the creepiest-sounding line out of context this year.
Samus and Mario are the first Amiibos announced. Wonder how many there’ll be. 20? More?
Why in the fuck would anyone have a Wii Fit Trainer figure.
Link and Wii Fit Trainer confirmed as well. Eclectic selection.
Looks like all the Super Smash Bros characters are going to be in this.
If you bring your figures to a friend’s house, your character travels with you. Also, I second Fish: why would you buy that.
Gonna guess we’ll be seeing a collector’s edition of SSB, with a few Amiibos bundled in.
MOM! MOM MOM MOM. Get me the Wii Fit Trainer one. It’s my favorite.
oh no someone's gonna do something gross with that wii fit trainer figurine aren't they 
— Nick Robinson (@Babylonian) June 10, 2014
Okay, so that’s why, I guess. Gross.
So, countdown to Pokemon game that features amiibo support….
Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10, Captain Toad and Yoshi’s Wooly World will have amiibo support too.
Dammit Shax.
Also, Mario Party 10???? And a 3DS peripheral for amiibo support comes soon too.
Maybe Amiibo is the thing that will be the savior of the Wii U, financially.
That was a stealth announcement of Mario Party 10! Why didn’t they talk about that more! I love Mario Party!
I like the idea of games starting to ship with the Amiibos of their main characters included.
On the stream now they’re pretending that Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney doesn’t already exist.
Oh, it’s not out in the States yet. Weird.
Mario Party 10 was apparently announced in April. Missed that memo.
Oh god these tech difficulties are SO AWKWARD. They just hold those weird facial expressions.
It is taking a long time for them to get these clips going.
Eshop titles! Indie indie supercool indie indie indie.
This is all looking very cool indeed.
Yu Gi Oh. Apparently that’s still a thing. Also I didn’t realise Nintendo had such huge indie support. Guacamelee and stuff!
Teslagrad! Guacamelee! Yay!
30% of top franchises on the EShop for the next week. So get on that.
Mario Party 10 time! Yayyyy.
Bowser is the star. “Bowser Party hahaha kill me”
Or, Bowser Party. The person on the gamepad gets to be Bowser and mess with other people. Brilliant.
Ok, they’re not actually talking about Mario Party 10? They’re analysing the conference. What’s going on.
That’s why you play party games. You don’t play it just to be a happy laughing stock photo-ready bunch of gamers, you play them to be dicks to each other.
But that’s enough about Mario Party 10, here’s some Splatoon tactics!
This is the biggest bait and switch since Battlefront into Need for Speed at EA’s conference last year.
Right, I think we’re finished with new stuff here. Thanks for joining us for all of our E3 live blogs, and stay tuned to our E3 hub for continued summary articles, opinion pieces and analysis.
Shaxster’s kicking us out. Fair enough. This was a blast, same time next year?
Yes indeedy. See y’all!
Just a few short minutes until Nintendo show their hand for this year. If this conference lives up to the Mega64 preview then I’ll be… well, quite pleased actually.