E3 is an annual game-conference that has been held in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Santa Monica for decades. Nintendo has also showcased many new developments concerning the Super Smash Bros. series since 2001. So far, Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Samus are the only characters to be confirmed in all of the E3 trailers.
E3 2001
At E3 2001, Super Smash Bros. Melee was announced, complete with a trailer.
The trailer and demos revealed the following:
Trailer characters
- Mario
- Samus Aran
- Princess Peach
- Captain Falcon
- Bowser
- Yoshi
- Kirby
- Donkey Kong
- Fox McCloud
- Link
- Ness
- Pikachu
- Ice Climbers
- Sheik
Demo/Trailer enemies
Demo/Trailer items
Demo/Trailer stages
- Jungle Japes
- Princess Peach's Castle
- Brinstar
- Onett
- Pokémon Stadium
- Temple
- Yoshi's Story
- Fountain of Dreams
- Infinite Glacier: Icicle Mountain
- Yoshi's Island
- Lylat System: Corneria
- Great Bay
- Big Blue
- Fourside
Demo/Trailer other
E3 2005/06/07
At E3 2005, the Nintendo Revolution (now called Wii) was unveiled. Satoru Iwata stated that four major games were in production, three of which was called Super Mario 128, Metroid Prime 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (the name was revealed earlier). They were later confirmed to be Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The third one, called Super Smash Bros. Revolution, was later renamed Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Sakurai was surprised at this announcement, since Satoru had refrained from informing him. However, he accepted Satoru's offer to become the game's director.
At E3 2006, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was officially announced at the After-Hour Press Conference, with the very first trailer. This come as a bit of a shock, since all major games are unveiled in the normal Press Conference. The trailer has became somewhat famous, because of the incorrect statement that the Labrador Retriever was an item, while no mention of the Assist Trophy item was made. The same came true with Final Smash, with many thinking it was just was an extraordinarily strong Smash Attack.
The trailers and demos revealed the following:
Trailer/demo characters
Trailer/Demo items
Trailer/Demo stages
Trailer/Demo techniques
Namely:
At E3 2007, a 15-Second representation was shown to showcase the things already known about SSBB. However, the representation also incidentally confirmed Donkey Kong. The first confirmed release date for Brawl for North America was announced to be December 3, 2007, but was delayed until March 8, 2008.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl's original trailer can be seen here.
E3 2011
A new game was finally revealed at the expo, but development had not yet begun. It was revealed that the game would be playable on both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS.
E3 2013
Super Smash Bros. (Wii U and 3DS) was further detailed at E3 2013 during a Nintendo Direct presentation. The first screenshots were showcased, and after a trailer, a demonstration of the game, a brief battle between Mario (Nate Bihldorff) and Mega Man (Masahiro Sakurai), and the revelation of the Wii Fit Trainer soon followed. A portion of the Smash Run area was briefly shown, but at the time was believed to be a normal stage.
Characters
Stages
- Battlefield
- 3D Land
- Gerudo Valley
- Spirit Train
- Skyloft
- Arena Ferox
- Living Room
- Boxing Ring (revealed with a generic design prior to the reveal of Little Mac)
- Town and City
- Wii Fit Studio
- Wily Castle
E3 2014
On June 10, 2014, Mii Fighters and Palutena were announced as newcomers to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U in a trailer. Also, Amiibos were announced as a compatible add-on. A first ever official Super Smash Bros. tournament was held for the Wii U version. Later at the Roundtable, Pac-Man was confirmed in a trailer.