What to expect from Nintendo at E3 2018

At Nintendo's last big Direct event in March it teased a new Super Smash Bros. game for Switch, and let it be known that it would be launching later this year.

It stands to reason, then, that we'll get a whole bunch of footage and plenty of details at the E3 Direct. Perhaps even a release date, if that's not too presumptuous on our part.

What's this? A non-Nintendo game featured high-up in our expectations list? Well, when that game is the current online sensation and what the kids are all playing/watching, you'd better believe a Switch version is big news.

In fairness, Fortnite has already come to pretty much every other modern platform to date (including mobile). Still, leaked details of a Switch take on Epic's massive Battle Royale have us quite excited.

We know already that this Wii U port is heading to Switch and 3DS on July 13 - almost exactly a month from now. It would be an enormous surprise if Nintendo doesn't show us some more of this quirky platform-puzzle at its next Direct.

Hopefully we'll get plenty on the game's new content, including the all new Super Mario Odyssey-themed levels.

We went hands-on with this major expansion to Splatoon 2 a few weeks ago, and came away quietly impressed. It's about time the general public got a bigger look.

This time the focus is on the single player portion of Nintendo's shooter sequel. It's essentially a selection of 80 puzzle-like challenge rooms, which you'll tackle as an Octoling.

Its release is less than a fortnight away, and you've already played the online beta. But Nintendo will still offer you a glimpse at Mario Tennis Aces in action. That's just how it rolls.

This latest sporty effort from series stalwart Camelot promises slick arcade-tennis action with plenty of unlikely power-ups. Oh, and a meaty single-player adventure to accompany the many multiplayer options.

Just like Mario Tennis and Captain Toad, we're expecting to see more on Octopath Traveler because it's very near release, rather than despite the fact.

Square Enix's strange mash-up of classic 2D JRPG with modern 3D flourishes certainly looks pretty enough to grace any highlights video.

Yoshi for Nintendo Switch was announced at last year's E3 Direct event, yet it still hasn't been given a proper title. Now would be a good time to give it one, Nintendo.

We'd also quite like to get some more information on the game itself. We know it has a charming Paper Mario-meets-hobbycraft artstyle, and that it'll almost certainly be a casual kid-friendly affair.

Metroid Prime 4 is almost certainly way off release. As in, everyone's crossing their fingers for a late 2019 launch. Nintendo has said that it'll be focusing mainly on near-term releases, so we might not get a Metroid glimpse at E3.

But it's been a whole year since Nintendo revealed the fact that it was working on the game at the E3 2017 Direct. We may only have received a title card then, but we'd hope there'd be something material to show by now.

We haven't heard or seen anything about the first Fire Emblem game for Switch since its announcement. Given that this was in January 2017, prior to the Switch's release, we reckon it's about time.

The Switch line-up has hardly been starved of team-based strategy with the surprise hit of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, but the FE series is something else.

We've only just had these first Switch Pokémon games revealed, and that reveal included a fair amount of gameplay. Still, we'd be surprised if the E3 2018 video passed without at least a mention.

Especially given the fact that the games are launching in 2018, which is apparently what Nintendo will be concentrating on at this Direct.

Rumour has it that Retro (the original Metroid Prime dev) is working on a Star Fox-themed racing game. Could this be Nintendo's big new reveal at E3 2018?

Once again, remember that Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 with only a title card, so even if this is nowhere near ready, don't discard the possibility of a teaser.

Those are the titles that have at least a reasonable chance of featuring. But there are some other things we'd like to see.

For example, we know that Nintendo has released emulated versions of some of its best Wii games for the Nvidia Shield in China. The Shield, as we know, is essentially a faster-clocked Switch with a flabby Android OS. We'd love to hear some news about Super Mario Galaxy and co. coming West.

Also, while we know it's likely to be all about the games, some solid details on Nintendo Switch Online service would be good - especially given the likely focus on Smash Bros.

Finally, indie games! Yes, the Switch eShop is rapidly filling up with belated indie game conversions, but we're not expecting that to stop any time soon.

Oh, and maybe some 3DS stuff too. If you're lucky.