The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (aka “E3”) is only six weeks away. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for some gamers. New game announcements, playable demos of unreleased games, and more trailers than you can shake a Wiimote at.

Nintendo is already talking about what to expect from them at this year’s E3. Like last year, they will forego a live conference, and instead, stream a video presentation. They are calling it the Nintendo Digital Event, and it airs live on Tuesday, June 10th at 9am PT. This was all revealed this morning on Nintendo’s YouTube channel.

In addition to the digital event, Nintendo will be providing constant live streams from the E3 show floor, featuring demos of new games. These streams will be presented by the folks at Nintendo Treehouse, the product development and localization department of Nintendo of America.

To ramp up hype for the new Super Smash Bros. games for Wii U and 3DS, Nintendo is hosting an invitational Smash Bros. tournament at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Nintendo has chosen 16 Smash savants and will let them duke it out on the the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. The time and date of this event, along with the identities of the players, will be revealed at a later date.

Were you not invited to the Smash Bros. Invitational? Don’t feel bad. You can still get your shot at playing the new Smash Bros. for Wii U. Just visit a participating Best Buy location during the Best Buy Smash Fest and you can play the game months before its release.

To bring it all home, here’s a goofy video from Nintendo and Mega64 to showcase some of what will be seen at this year’s E3.

My Opinion:

Excited. Clearly, Smash Bros. will be a big part of this year’s E3. And Nintendo hasn’t even talked about what other games will be shown. Should be a good show. Let’s just hope the Nintendo Digital Event doesn’t lag as bad as the E3 Nintendo Direct did last year.

Benjamin Luthi is a MONG contributor, specializing in all things Nintendo. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter.