Nintendo's Doug Bowser teases E3 2021 plans: "We'll make the virtual format fun"

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Nintendo E3 2021 plans include a virtual presentation, and Nintendo of America boss Doug Bowser is promising that it will be "fun and engaging". 

The Entertainment Software Association included Nintendo in its list of partners when it announced the E3 2021 dates for its upcoming all-digital show, so we knew Nintendo would be involved in some capacity. This followup from Bowser stops short of confirming that Nintendo is planning another big Direct-style presentation for its part in the show, but it is the natural conclusion considering its approach to E3 in recent years. 

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When E3 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, a number of companies across the industry picked up with their own events across the summer. Nintendo didn't do a direct E3 press conference analog, though it did have a range of Nintendo Direct mini presentations throughout the year. The company finally broke its dry spell of full-fledged Direct presentations in February, so we'll have to wait and see if it's ready for another show of that scale (or even bigger) in June.

There's plenty more ground for Nintendo to cover in whatever it does for its E3 presentation. We know The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is on the way this July, and it would be an ideal time for Nintendo to share any more plans it may have to celebrate Zelda's 35th anniversary. Series producer Eiji Aonuma did say Nintendo would have more to share about the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel later this year.

Nintendo could have some hardware news at E3 too, as a recent datamine may have dug up a reference to a new dock for an upcoming Switch revision. 

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.