E3 2011 Preview: Nintendo

The E3 2011 conference is set to begin next week, and almost all the big gaming companies are set to make their biggest announcements in an effort to unofficially "win" E3 by having the most talked about products.

Nintendo has, without a doubt, the biggest chances to conquer the audience this year, as the company already confirmed that it will present the successor to the Wii home console at the show in Los Angeles.

After managing to make the original Wii a sales phenomenon, proving almost everybody else in the industry wrong, the Japanese company is expected to repeat the miracle with the successor to the small console.

Codenamed Project Cafe, the Wii successor is set to sport a variety of new features, including support for high-definition output, putting it on par with rivals like the PS3 or Xbox 360, as well as sport enhanced hardware, which might make the Wii 2 even more powerful than its opponents.

While the Wii successor is anticipated by many, industry insiders are anxious to see how the new controller for the device will look, as current rumors say it's going to boast a special touchscreen, allowing it to display various images as well as controls other than the physical buttons on the controller.

After the reveal of the Wii successor, Nintendo is expected to detail the first actual games that will appear for it, so we can expect some pretty big announcements for it, in order to emphasize that the new console is a must-get device to everyone around the world.

The Japanese company is also expected to showcase some new titles for the recently released 3DS handheld, chief among which should be the Super Mario Bros. title that has already been teased at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year.

The Wii won't be overlooked, as Nintendo is still expected to release some more details about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the last hurrah for the aging console that will see its replacement paraded onto the stage.

There are some fresh rumors, though, which say that Nintendo is going to delay Skyward Sword, in order to release it onto the Wii as well as on its successor, at the same time next year.

This is just speculation, as of yet, so look forward to Nintendo's special E3 2011 press conference on Monday, June 6.

Softpedia will be live on the show floor at E3 2011, so you should also look forward to live coverage of the event, from all the major announcements to plenty of hands-on time spent with many upcoming games.