Nintendo’s big game this E3 will be the fifth installment of Super Smash Bros., which has already been announced for the Nintendo Switch later in the year, and it looks like Nintendo plans on showing off a lot of it at the convention. A lot of the showing will come as Smash competitive players from around the world play the title live in a casual tournament, giving everyone a real time look at the new game and how it plays.
Four of those players are veterans of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and the other four from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. According to Nintendo’s Bill Trinen, that was a deliberate choice, because Nintendo wanted both “passionate” sides of the Smash community to see the new game- which may be hinting that the new game is meant as an olive branch and a bridge between the Smash community, which has long had a rift within it.
However, the tournament itself will not be competitive- given that its purpose is to show off the game, it will be showing off a lot of things, including items and stage hazards, that typically wouldn’t pass muster in a competitive tournament.
“The tournament is going to be designed to show quite a bit of the game in terms of modes, characters and items, but obviously we won’t show everything and we’re keeping a few surprises for later in the year,” he said to Hollywood Reporter.
Whether or not the game turns out to heal the chasm in the Smash community remains to be seen, but it should be a jolly good time for everyone regardless. Super Smash Bros. is due out exclusively on the Nintendo Switch later this year.