Nintendo Reveals E3 Demo Lineup, Includes Link’s Awakening and Luigi’s Mansion 3

We’re just a few days out from E3 2019 now, and Nintendo has revealed some of the games that will be available to play at the event on their demo floor. By looking at what games will be playable, we can probably get an idea about some of Nintendo’s likely announcements for their E3 Direct.

Nintendo recently revealed that games that will be playable at their E3 booth include Pokémon Sword, Pokémon Shield, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch remake), Luigi’s Mansion 3, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, as well as more that have yet to be revealed. It’s certainly a good lineup, with some of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, like Pokémon and Zelda, getting representation. But now let’s look at what each title’s inclusion at the event means.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and Pokémon Sword and Shield are no-brainers for inclusion at E3. We’ve been steadily getting more information about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 since it was revealed last year and the game comes out soon, on July 19. We just recently got a ton of information about Pokémon Sword and Shield, including a release date for November 15. It’s likely that these games won’t appear in Nintendo’s E3 Direct, or if they do they will appear in a small capacity, just reminding fans that these games are on their way.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Link’s Awakening are another story, however. Both of these games are slated for a vague 2019 release window and we haven’t gotten much information about them since their initial announcements, so it’s pretty safe to assume that both these games will appear in Nintendo’s E3 Direct and will likely even get release dates, so that’s exciting.

Also worth mentioning is which games were NOT revealed to be playable at E3. The new Animal Crossing game, for example, is still slated for a 2019 release, but was not listed as a game Nintendo is bringing to the event. This could just be because they’re keeping the fact that the game will be playable a secret. However, its lack of inclusion so far could possibly also mean that the game won’t make an appearance at E3 at all, and will instead appear next in Nintendo’s fall Direct. Given that the game is coming out this year, though, it seems unlikely for there to be no news about it at all at E3, but we’ll just have to wait and see. The Game Freak game Town is also slated for a 2019 release, and so was Bayonetta 3 at one point, though it seems to have been pushed to 2020. Regardless, hopefully we’ll hear at least something about these missing games.