E3 2015: Five hopes for Nintendo, Wii U and 3DS

Every company has a story heading into E3 each year, they all have something to prove, something to show off and something to gain. At the Los Angeles congregation of gaming's biggest developers and publishers each will try to outshine the other and "win" E3 2015.

For Nintendo that means sticking to what they know and what they do best. They are a force unto themselves rolling along on a whole other plane of existence to Microsoft and Sony. The Wii U has underperformed for sure, but there's no point playing the console war game – they are doing just fine.

At E3 their job is to convince gamers that they are still fully supportive of the Wii U and 3DS despite the looming spectre of their next dedicated games machine, the NX - which they Nintendo aren't talking about that until next year. With all that in mind, here are five hopes for them at E3.

Star Fox goes full tilt

The Legend of Zelda won't be released in 2015 and Nintendo have said it won't be in their E3 Nintendo Direct broadcast (but we'll see). This leaves them without a massive known quantity for people to get excited about in advance of any potential surprises.

Star Fox is the biggest game they have so far for the end of this year, and we've seen very little of it. We want it to feel like a full-tilt, big budget game beyond anything we've seen in the franchise to date. Big visuals and lofty ambitions would get people a lot more excited than a straight-forward follow-up to Lylat Wars.

3DS resurgence

The 3DS has been far more successful than the Wii U and yet the focus going into E3 is always, without fail, the home console. Nintendo's handheld had an incredible year in 2013 – one of the finest line-ups of exclusives on an individual platform ever released in a calendar year – but 2014 was far less impressive.

So far in 2015 Nintendo have released the New 3DS models, and remakes of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Xenoblade Chronicles. What we need is something new and reasons to dust off those devices as the year goes on.

That or an admission that the console is in its twilight years – which it may well be.

Ease up on Amiibo

We get it, Amiibo has been hugely successful. There's nothing wrong with Nintendo capitalising on this and it being a big part of their E3, but for it to be their primary focus would be a huge mistake.

They also need to be careful not to let Amiibo features lessen the value of the games they are attached to, which hasn't been the case thus far – but which could happen in the future. Some sort of comment on the widespread shortages of Amiibo would be appreciated too, and a plan to combat it.

Give Retro Studios free-reign

Texas-based Retro Studios have more than earned their stripes with Nintendo. The developers behind Metroid Prime, Mario Kart 7 and Donkey Kong Country Returns have crafted some of the most critically and commercially successful games and Nintendo have reaped the rewards over the past decade.

Reward their service and talents by letting them get creative on their own terms. Of course, this is Nintendo so they'll be very careful about what they could make, and whatever it is could still be under an existing Nintendo license, but letting such a talented bunch express themselves fully could pay dividends in a huge way.

Do you Nintendo, do you

Last year Nintendo opened its digital event with president Satoru Iwata and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime doing battle in a Matrix-esque bout of craziness to celebrate Super Smash Bros. This kicked off a show which was fun from start to finish in a way only Nintendo can pull off.

E3 is a trade show, and businesses are selling their products, but there's a sense of fun that should and usually does run through everything at E3 simply because it's about video games. Fans are excited to see the games they'll eventually get to play, developers and publishers are eager to show them off and those there are excited to get their hands on them.

Some press conferences get bogged down in the business side, but rarely Nintendo – who are always weird, always bizarre and always themselves. That must never change.

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