Nintendo teases software news for E3 2021 (with no mention of rumored new hardware)

Newsbrief: Mario maker Nintendo has blocked off a portion of E3 week for its own Nintendo Direct showcase, joining the likes of Square Enix and Microsoft in participating in this year's show (or simply timing announcements around the annual game expo.)

It was, of course, one of the early companies confirmed to be taking part in this year's virtual E3 event, but we hadn't heard much on their plans until just now.

On that note, Nintendo shared the brief announcement via social media today, notably promising a 40-minute long presentation "focused exclusively on Nintendo Switch software" with, unsurprisingly, no mention of the yet-unannounced new hardware that's rumored to be in the works for release this year.

The wording of the post itself is still vague enough where Nintendo could still slip in an announcement, but so far the company hasn't been keen to acknowledge the rumors or spoil the surprise ahead of time.

Rumors of that new hardware, an upgraded version of its flagship Nintendo Switch console, have been flying for years but a recent report seemed to indicate that Nintendo was considering a reveal before this July and a launch for later this year and that the new, more powerful device would replace the now four-year-old base model of the Switch.