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Live: Nintendo Direct E3 Conference

The missing Link? Live coverage from 3pm BST / 4pm CEST.

Happy Nintendo day! Now the shouting's done between Microsoft and Sony - with a little chorus on either side supplied by Ubisoft and EA - it's time to sink back and enjoy the relatively mellow charms of Nintendo's E3 slate. There's no conference this year, though the Nintendo Direct that's kicking off at 3pm BST this afternoon is pretty much a like for like replacement.

What will its stance on DRM and used games be? Oh wait, we already know that. As we do what it's likely to show, with a new 3D Mario and Mario Kart slated to make an appearance, as well as the first trailer for the new Smash Bros. game.

Beyond that, there's some hope that we'll see Bayonetta 2 in action, and a somewhat slimmer chance that Nintendo finally reveals what Retro Studios has been working on these past few years. Can we expect a Wii U price-cut as well, and are there any surprises in store for the Nintendo 3DS? The EG team will be taking you through the show from 3pm BST, so join us for reasoned commentary and a few overexcited yelps.

Our live coverage of this event has finished.

Welcome to another E3 showing from Nintendo! This year we get a more low key pre-recorded Nintendo Direct broadcast rather than the usual fancypants conference.

Tom Phillips

After Microsoft and Sony's squabbling we'll hopefully get to the main event - a chance to see Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto cosplay as Link.

Tom Phillips

Nintendo of America ass-kicker Reggie will also surely make an appearance. If you don't watch he'll know.

Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips

A pre-recorded event will hopefully mean a showing without any Wii Remote technical problems or endless 4-player demos of Pac-Man Versus (remember that year?)

Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips

What will Nintendo call its next 3D Mario, then? Mario Galaxy 3 - no, wait, that's Sega's new Sonic game.

Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips

That's your man Reggie, Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen, European boss Satoru Shibata, Miyamoto and Iwata, there. Aonuma obviously had trouble getting his Black Widow costume on.

Tom Phillips

Retailers are already selling the Wii U at huge discount in the UK, some as low as £199. Will Nintendo make this official, or throw in a couple of extra games?

Tom Phillips

Hey Nintendo, announce a new Retro Studios-developed Metroid game and I'll let you off the £300 I spent back last November.

Tom Phillips

The conference won't just be about Wii U, of course. 3DS has lots to look forward to, including a new Zelda: Link to the Past sequel, Pokémon X/Y and its own version of Smash Bros.

Tom Phillips

Advance Wars. Please?

Christian Donlan

Perhaps even a 3DS XXL with an integrated Circle Pad, too?

Tom Phillips

Eldritch: Axelay 2.

Dare to dream...

Martin Robinson

What are the chances of a Retro-made Stunt Race FX?

Christian Donlan

I paid £80 for Stunt Race FX when it came out. Such a mug.

Martin Robinson

Tetrisphere. Now there is a game.

Christian Donlan

No regrets.

Christian Donlan

@Erp - REALLY?! That is genuinely exciting to hear.

Christian Donlan

Surely Tetrisphere would be amazing in 3D, too.

Christian Donlan

@Skith666 - as long as you aren't a surgeon, I think you'll be okay.

Christian Donlan

Or a pilot.

Christian Donlan

@Erp - I'm on it. Thanks so much!

Christian Donlan

We're in! Pokemon X and Y.

Christian Donlan

My favourite chromosomes.

Christian Donlan

The leaks were true! Fairy Pokemon.

Christian Donlan

Take that Dragon Pokemon.

Christian Donlan

I saw a man eating a bag of Walkers with a pair of chopsticks the other day.

Christian Donlan

New 3D Mario.

Christian Donlan

Looks 3D Landish.

Christian Donlan

Super Mario 3D World for Wii U.

Christian Donlan

Four players in a 3D world. Mario Luigi Toad and Princess Peach.

Christian Donlan

Toad is faster, for example.

Christian Donlan

Co-op or competition.

Christian Donlan

New power-up: Cat Mario. He is sick everywhere and ruins armchairs.

Christian Donlan

Not really - can climb walls and scratch enemies.

Christian Donlan

Out in December.

Christian Donlan

Mario Kart for Wii U next!

Tom Phillips

Looks like it has vertical walls, and wheels which can turn round to grab different surfaces.

Tom Phillips

Of course there's a Princess Peach's Castle level.

Tom Phillips

And it's called... Mario Kart 8!

Tom Phillips

Mario Kart 8's coming out in Spring 2014.

Martin Robinson

It's not just racing other players but sharing the fun with other people around the world. Mario Kart 8 will launch in spring 2014.

Robert Purchese

And, in far less exciting news, it's a new Mario Party.

Martin Robinson

Wii Party U a mix of party games, naturally - it's at least a good workout for the GamePad.

Martin Robinson

It was intended for release this summer - but it's being pushed back to an undisclosed date.

Martin Robinson

ALSO DELAYED! Wii Fit U.

Martin Robinson

Being delayed for new features.

Martin Robinson

And another apology from Iwata. Maybe they should announce that you can play used games on the Wii U seeing as that's a feature now?

Martin Robinson

On to the Miiverse now.

Martin Robinson

There's a new instalment of Art Academy but - this is a trend here - it's not near completion.

Martin Robinson

But the drawing tool developed for it will be available on the eShop this summer.

Martin Robinson

Giving Miiverse creations another boost.

Martin Robinson

I'm already in awe of what's on the Miiverse. This is actually quite exciting.

Martin Robinson

Also Dan in the office has just noticed how intense Iwata's eyebrows are.

Martin Robinson

Running through third-party offerings now - there's Batman: Arkham Origins, on Wii U and 3DS.

Martin Robinson

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut, Just Dance and Disney Infinity.

Martin Robinson

Scribblenauts DC, again on Wii U and 3DS, and Disney's Planes.

Martin Robinson

Blacklist is coming on August 21st, and Sonic Galaxy - sorry, Sonic Lost World - is due this year.

Martin Robinson

All stuff we knew about, but it's a sizeable list nevertheless.

Martin Robinson

This could be an announcement of sorts - Nintendo's support of indies, which is already fairly strong, is rumoured to be bolstered soon.

Martin Robinson

There's DuckTales, Dungeons and Dragons. Wait, these aren't indies? Sorry, they're digital downloads.

Martin Robinson

Scram Kitty and Shovel Knight and Spin the Bottle - now they're proper indies.

Martin Robinson

Legend of Zelda Wind Waker now.

Martin Robinson

There's a new video. It's HD, obviously. Some of the purity of the original's cel-shading's been lost, though, and I can't help but feel sad about that.

Martin Robinson

The bloom that we saw in our first look's been toned down, mind, and this looks a lot more convincing.

Martin Robinson

Will they be restoring the infamous missing dungeons?

Martin Robinson

The Wii U version runs at 1080p.

Martin Robinson

And there have been adjustments to the game....

Martin Robinson

Right now, they're just announcing that the Tingle Tuner - previously accessed by hooking up a GBA to the GameCube - is aped by the GamePad. Kind of - you can now post to MiiVerse with the Tingle Tuner.

Martin Robinson

Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD is due in October.

Martin Robinson

Wonderful 101 now, which is out before then.

Martin Robinson

Ohhh BOY. Back in time for WOnderful 101.

Christian Donlan

Lovely hit-pause in this one. It feels like you're chewing through baddies.

Christian Donlan

Which is out on August 23rd over here. Not long to wait!

Martin Robinson

Do go on Twitter and ask Kamiya if Bayonetta's going to end up in Smash Bros, BTW. That always turns out well.

Christian Donlan

The spirit of Viewtiful Joe is alive and well.

Christian Donlan

There'll be a Wonderful 101 dedicated Direct soon.

Martin Robinson

A new Kong game. Exciting, but please tell me this isn't what Retro's been up to all this time.

Martin Robinson

Is this what Retro's been up to? Adding jelly to Donkey Kong?

Christian Donlan

Donkey Kong's island has been over-run by vikings.

Christian Donlan

It'll be the first Donkey Kong in HD.

Martin Robinson

And you can see his fur flowing! I don't want to see the Retro logo anywhere near this, though.

Martin Robinson

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, coming out later this year.

Martin Robinson

Oh well, we're about to see Bayonetta from the... front? Say what Iwata?

Martin Robinson

She's got shorter hair. The camera's still a total perv too.

Martin Robinson

Ulp. Looks like Donkey Kong is being made by Retro.

Christian Donlan

Yeah, short hair is a feature.

Martin Robinson

Just heard that Donkey Kong is being developed by Retro....

Martin Robinson

Maybe Nintendo has asked Double Helix to make the new Metroid.

Christian Donlan

Oh well. Bayonetta 2 looks great in action.

Martin Robinson

Topical.

Christian Donlan

Progguitarist: Where is METROID

It's dead. As is my heart right now.

Martin Robinson

On the plus side, Monolithsoft's RPG looks absolutely marvellous.

Martin Robinson

The goal's to create a large scale open world, says Iwata.

Martin Robinson

Leaning on the experience from Xenoblade.

Martin Robinson

Monolithsoft's working on a large-scale open world. Wii U. Robots and dinosaurs.

Christian Donlan

2014. Please stay tuned.

Christian Donlan

Robots, big arse monsters and an amazing open world. A 2014 release.

Martin Robinson

ONE FINAL GAME.

Christian Donlan

Smash Bros. to take us home.

Martin Robinson

Tell me that Nook Jerk is in Smash Bros.

Christian Donlan

If you could smackdown Nook that would indeed be a thing.

Martin Robinson

Can you hit someone with Link's train?

Christian Donlan

Metroid. Too soon, Nintendo. Too soon.

Christian Donlan

VILLAGER!

Christian Donlan

Alright, you can play as the villager from Animal Crossing.

Martin Robinson

Super Smash Bros for 3DS and Wii U. Knock over trees!

Christian Donlan

Mega Man's in it this time.

Martin Robinson

Lordy, and Mega Man's in it too.

Christian Donlan

But yeah, the villager from Animal Crossing! Exciting, right?

Martin Robinson

Smash Bros website and Miiverse community opening today by the sounds of it.

Christian Donlan

Being released in 2014.

Martin Robinson

Sorry Martin!

Christian Donlan

Pro_wrestler: This was underwhelming. Hardly a single game announced that we didn't already know about and everything is delayed.

Don't forget that Retro's making a new game! Oh, and it's a new Donkey Kong. Yeah, that wasn't all that.

Martin Robinson

Hmm. Some lovely stuff in there, but some real disappointments too.

Christian Donlan

Mario looks great, but I think a lot of us were hoping for a Galaxy follow-up of some kind.

Christian Donlan

And no Metroid.

Christian Donlan

There's always Gamescom?

Christian Donlan

That's the end of the conferences. There's plenty more to come from E3, of course.

Martin Robinson

Oli's going to be checking out Nintendo's games later today, and will be giving you his impressions soon.

Martin Robinson

By this point, Nintendo might as well call its E3 press event: There's Always Gamescom.

Christian Donlan

Plus there's plenty more to discover from Sony and Microsoft et al.

Martin Robinson

@Sid-Nice come back in 12 months and maybe they'll have something?

Martin Robinson

Well, that old Zelda game looked nice, didn't it?

Martin Robinson

It's not looking like a great Christmas for Nintendo - going up against two new consoles with a ten-year-old Zelda and a Mario that, quite honestly, looks rushed.

Martin Robinson

Sorry, just had to go and wipe away the tears, which seems to be something of a tradition when it comes to Nintendo at E3 lately. Anyway, that's a wrap. Hope you can join us here for the rest of the show!

Martin Robinson

Still! At least we learned there's a Tetrisphere clone on Android, right?

Christian Donlan

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