Nintendo Plans For E3 2019 Are Bigger Than Just A Direct Presentation

Nintendo is one of the biggest names in the games industry, so what they're planning to do at E3 2019 is very anticipated. Just as it did last year, the company will host a number of tournaments to promote several of its Nintendo Switch games, in addition to a press conference (of sorts). As has become the norm for the company, it will reveal games and news during a special, pre-recorded E3 2019 Nintendo Direct on the opening day of E3 proper: Tuesday, June 11. However, we did also get a special Pokemon Sword & Shield-focused Nintendo Direct on June 5.

The Direct presentation will kick off on June 11 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST (2 AM AET on June 12). After that, Nintendo will follow up with its three days of Treehouse livestreams, which often include developer chats revolving around the games revealed during the presentation. While the bulk of the news and announcements typically come during the Direct, the Treehouse streams sometimes have reveals of their own. Metroid: Samus Returns, a 3DS remake of sorts of Metroid 2, was first shown during a Treehouse stream two years ago.

Before any of that happens, though, Nintendo is planning three game tournaments for the weekend prior to E3. On June 8 at 11 AM PT, the company will host the Super Mario Maker 2 Invitational, followed immediately by the Splatoon 2 World Championships. Then, once that wraps up around 2 PM PT, the company will host a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World Championship tournament, composed of 3v3 teams. The Mario Maker 2 invitational will pit players against courses designed by the Nintendo Treehouse team.

And before that, we might see the release of Cadence of Hyrule, the Zelda-themed successor to indie hit Crypt of the NecroDancer. Officially slated for this spring, a leak has pointed to a May 30 launch. A new Smash Ultimate patch is also coming soon, though there's still no word regarding the next DLC character.

The announcement of the company's E3 plan didn't detail what is on Nintendo's slate for this year's presentation, but given that it focuses on 2019 it's likely that both Pokemon Sword / Shield and Animal Crossing Switch will be on tap--we've assembled features on what we know and want to see from both games at the show that you can check out below. Super Mario Maker 2 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses could also be shown, but those are both summer releases that will be just weeks from release during E3.

One game that's unlikely to make an appearance is Metroid Prime 4, which reportedly restarted development under Retro Studios earlier this year.

What We Know And Want From Nintendo Games At E3:

• Animal Crossing for Switch
• Pokemon Sword and Shield

Nintendo hasn't removed itself from E3 entirely like Sony, but it was among the first major platform holders to eschew a press conference in favor of a streaming presentation. Sony appears to be announcing its lineup of titles through a series of State of Play streams. Microsoft, meanwhile, promises to "go big" at E3 and says we'll start to see some projects from its newly acquired studios.