Ryo Nagamatsu announced today that he has left Nintendo. This went into effect on April 30, 2023.

Nagamatsu joined Nintendo in 2006 and worked on some of the company’s biggest games as a composer since then. He was the sole composer on games such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, and Link’s Awakening on Switch as well as Wii Sports Resort and Nintendo Land. He also contributed to Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario Kart 8, and more.

Speaking about things on Twitter, Nagamatsu indicated that it was an amicable split. He mentioned: “I will work a little wider and more directly to help those who need my help and to help the industry. Thank you all for your kind support! I look forward to serve you in the future!”

We wish Nagamatsu well in his future endeavors.

Cutting corners: What was supposed to be the triumphant return of one of the gaming industry’s biggest annual events has suffered a major blow. E3 2023 will be the first event in the Los Angeles expo’s 18-year history without presentations from any of the major console manufacturers.

IGN sources have confirmed that that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have declined to participate in the 2023 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The big three console manufacturers won’t hold press conferences or present on the show floor this year.

Microsoft will hold a presentation around the same time as E3, but the recent news makes it the last console manufacturer to cease direct participation in the expo. Sony and Nintendo had already drifted away from it over the last few years.

Nintendo has released pre-recorded presentations instead of E3 press conferences every year since 2013 but maintained show floor presence. Sony declined to participate in E3 entirely starting in 2019, having followed Nintendo’s practice of producing pre-recorded showcases throughout the year. Microsoft released its first pre-recorded announcement reel last week, signaling that all three console manufacturers have found an alternative to physical press conferences.

Losing the big three – previously seen as the centerpieces of the event – won’t help E3’s struggle to recover from pandemic-related cancelations. 2020 saw the event canceled for the first time, while an online-only event occurred the following year. A hybrid E3 was planned for 2022, but it switched to another online-only affair before completely falling through.

Event organizer ReedPop will manage the planned hybrid E3 2023 alongside the expo’s traditional manager, the Entertainment Software Association. Other big game companies haven’t yet announced plans to present at E3 or hold individual events this summer.

Nintendo could still release a “Nintendo Direct” presentation in June regardless of alignment with E3. Electronic Arts hasn’t yet said whether it will hold an “EA Play” this year alongside E3, a practice it started in 2016 but skipped last year. Ubisoft also hasn’t said anything so far, and PC Gamer hasn’t confirmed a PC Gaming Show for E3 2023.

Microsoft’s exit from the event is a surprise because Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently praised E3 in an interview with IGN. He said he wants to help the expo succeed, suggesting Microsoft’s summer event will complement E3, even if the company doesn’t have anything on the show floor this year.

As if on cue, the Twitter account for the Summer Game Fest reminded followers of its planned date for the event, which will host presentations from many major game companies — June 8.

IT’S BEEN SIX YEARS SINCE THE LAST COMPLETELY NEW MARIO ADVENTURE

Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested the next Mario game may be revealed in an upcoming Nintendo Direct.

In an interview with Variety, Miyamoto was asked when the next Mario game would be released, given that Nintendo had just launched a new Super Nintendo World theme park in Hollywood and the Super Mario Bros Movie this week.

Miyamoto laughed and said, according to the video’s subtitles: “Well, all I can say is please stay tuned for future Nintendo Directs”.

What Miyamoto actually said was a little more detailed than this, but gives the same general message.

“I can’t say anything in advance, but we have Nintendo Directs every two or three months, so please look forward to those”, he said.

The last entirely new Mario adventure was Super Mario Odyssey, which was released on the Switch in October 2017.

In the six years that have passed, Switch owners have had numerous remasters and ports of previous Mario games, including New Super Mario Bros U, Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 3D World (the latter coming with a new mini adventure, Bowser’s Fury).

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The console has also received a number of Mario-themed spin-offs including Yoshi’s Crafted World, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Paper Mario: The Origami King and Super Mario Maker 2.

The Super Mario Bros Movie will release on April 5 in the US and more than 60 markets around the world, including the UK.

The movie stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad.