Nintendo is opting to take a "show, don't tell" approach to the E3 expo in Los Angeles, with livestreams of its games running all week, a massive booth at the convention filled with playful games and a series of competitive tournaments that will also be broadcast. It did, however, produce a 25-minute video to kick off the show that detailed upcoming games for its Switch hybrid console. Here are the highlights:

Super Mario Odyssey detailed

This year's biggest Switch game got a lengthy trailer showing off the new skills Mario will have as he jumps, spins and explores through massive open environments.

Travelling in a hat-shaped spaceship called The Odyssey, the italian plumber's new moves come courtesy of a magical hat called Cappy. Throwing the hat at an enemy or an object will let Mario possess and take control of it, giving him a huge variety of options for getting around. Using these abilities to find secrets will earn Power Moons — which function like the Stars from Super Mario 64 or the Shines from Super Mario Sunshine — and open up new worlds to explore.

New Yoshi and Kirby games coming to Switch in 2018

A pair of untitled side-scrolling games starring iconic Nintendo characters were also shown in the presentation, with 2018 release dates. The first stars Yoshi in a papercraft world where stages can be flipped at any time. Different enemies and collectibles sit on both front and back sides of a stage, so flipping will be necessary to get everything. Two Yoshis were shown working together in sections, implying two-player co-operative play.

Kirby starred in the second trailer, up to his usual inhaling and ability-copying antics. This time it appears he can combine two abilities to make new ones — handy for solving puzzles — and can also lend love hearts to enemies to recruit them as friends. A boss fight against Whispy Woods was shown, so this looks to be a mostly traditional Kirby adventure with a co-operative focus.

Metroid Prime 4 and a new mainline Pokemon game are in development for Switch

A quick logo trailer confirmed that the much-requested Metroid Prime 4 is in development for Switch. The teaser features absolutely no details about release plans or even who is making the game, but it will at least get fans off Nintendo's back about it for now. In a similar vein, Pokemon Company confirmed that developer Game Freak is making a brand new, main series Pokemon RPG for Switch.

Rocket League is coming to Switch

Psyonix is bringing its incredibly popular cars-playing-soccer competitive game to Switch. Coming this year, this version will include everything already released for the game, plus some Nintendo-exclusive customisation options, and will be cross-network compatible so online will work with players using other platforms. Outside of online play, Rocket League fans will be able to wirelessly link up to eight Switch consoles for local matches.

Zelda DLC gets vague new details

The upcoming first pack of new content for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was shown in detail, with the arena-like Master Trials and a new more challenging hard mode. More vague was the second pack, due this year, which adds new story content. A teaser showed the four champions from the game as well as Zelda herself, indicating the story will concern them in some way could potentially involve playing as them. New amiibo figurines for the champions were also unveiled, adding more weight to the idea they'll be featured prominently.

The author travelled to E3 as a guest of Ubisoft.