E3 2015 Part 1: Nintendo’s Surprise

It’s that time of year again! Like I did last year, I’m going to cover the events of E3. Unlike last year, however, I won’t wait until the end to compile my thoughts, but react to announcements and conferences throughout the event.

You already know what I’d love to see so let’s go straight to this year’s table of contents:

Nintendo World Championships
Bethesda
Microsoft
EA
Ubisoft
Sony
Nintendo
Square Enix
PC Gaming
Nintendo Treehouse

It’s a bit more populated than it was last year, as Bethesda, Square Enix, and… PC games (I’m not sure how this is going to work) have their own conferences. Once again, Nintendo plans to keep the E3 fervor alive after the press conferences have ended…

…and give it a boost before they get going.

I didn’t really expect E3 announcements until Bethesda’s conference at best. Yes, Nintendo announced new content for Super Smash Bros. this morning, but I didn’t think today’s Nintendo World Championships would include anything except the competition itself.

But in the pre-show, this happened:

When I finished EarthBound, I said I think the story would have meant more to me if I went into it familiar with the original Mother game. Now I wish I’d waited a few weeks before playing EarthBound… or maybe I just shouldn’t have spoiled the original’s story after the fact.

But it’s too late for regrets. Mother is being released as EarthBound Beginnings on the Wii U Virtual Console tonight!

If I wasn’t distracted by Velvet, I would have used Friday’s blog post to predict a Mother 3 announcement at E3, but I wasn’t expecting this at all. Still, Mother 3 now seems more likely than ever.

Nintendo also used the World Championships to debut Blast Ball, a third-person shooter soccer game for the 3DS.

Nothing else is known about Blast Ball.

The Nintendo World Championships themselves were entertaining to watch, much like last year’s Smash tournament.

With the release of EarthBound Beginnings, Nintendo has kicked this E3 off with a bang. The E3 excitement has already begun, and we have a lot to look forward to…

E3 2015 Press Conference Schedule:

Bethesda – tonight at 7 PM Pacific Time/10 PM Eastern Time
Microsoft – tomorrow at 9:30 AM Pacific Time/12:30 PM Eastern Time
EA – tomorrow at 1 PM Pacific Time/4 PM Eastern Time
Ubisoft – tomorrow at 3 PM Pacific Time/6 PM Eastern Time
Sony – tomorrow at 6 PM Pacific Time/9 PM Eastern Time
Nintendo – Tuesday at 9 AM Pacific Time/12 PM Eastern Time
Square Enix – Tuesday at 10 AM Pacific Time/1 PM Eastern Time
PC – Tuesday at 5 PM Pacific Time/8 PM Eastern Time

And then Nintendo Treehouse live streams will follow for the remainder of E3, along with other announcements and gameplay demonstrations from the floor.

Share your thoughts on the surprise EarthBound Beginnings announcement and the start of E3 2015 in the comments below!