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or many people, the highlight of E3 each year isn’t the flood of hands-on impressions and videos that emerge from the show floor over the course of the week. Those are great, of course, but the real event comes in the form of the three press conferences that kick off the event: Microsoft’s and Sony’s the day before the show begins, and Nintendo’s in the hours before the doors open. For game fanatics, the press conferences are like Christmas, the Academy Awards, and the Superbowl all rolled into a day’s space. New games come to light. Demos of the big fall releases roll. Amazing hardware is unveiled for the first time. Expectations run as high as anticipation, and it’s no different here at 1UP… which is why we’ve put together a rundown of our own hopes and demands for these big three events. We begin today with our thoughts on Nintendo, whose (presumably revamped plan for) Wii U promises to be a highlight of E3 2012. For more on Nintendo’s challenges and strategies, check out the May 3 episode of the Games, Dammit! podcast.

What do you want from Nintendo this year? Comment below, or blog about it if you’re feeling especially vociferous!

Jeremy Parish: I really hope that Nintendo has taken to heart criticism of the Wii U based on its showing a year ago. I see a lot of potential in the system, but a year is a long time. Heck, it took less time than that for the world to go from hot-to-trot for the 3DS to utterly disinterested. Since last E3, Apple and its competitors have upped the stakes in the tablet market that Wii U intersects at its oddball tangent. On top of that, we’ve begun hearing rumblings of a new Xbox console — while Wii U may off er comparable power to the current generation, it runs the very real risk of looking instantly obsolete in the face of a possible new hardware announcement by Microsoft. So I really think Nintendo needs to come out swinging with significant hardware improvements (a multi-touch interface and support for more than one tablet per system would be handy)… and it needs to back those up with the promise of an out-of-the-box system software set that doesn’t feel a decade behind the times. In this world of seamless social integration, there’s simply no place for friends lists and walled gardens and all of the company’s other archaic practices. Nintendo likes to tout itself as not being in direct competition with anyone, but the design of Wii U puts it toe-to-toe both with other console makers and with tablet creators like Apple. If this Wii U thing is going to fly, it has to compare favorably to both platforms, not neither.

Scott Weber: I would love it if the Nintendo could somehow convince me with their press conference that the Wii U is worth my time, attention and money. I’m finding it incredibly difficult to get thrilled about a screen on my controller at the moment — there surely must be more innovation to it than that. I used to be a bit of a Nintendo fanboy so if I had to have a dog in the hunt, it would be the Big N. Hopefully Nintendo can bring the Wii U wow… and the Ravi Drums. I always have time for more Ravi Drums.

Jose Otero: It’s hard not to get a little riled up when I consider what I want from Nintendo at E3 this year. Obviously they already have their priorities in line, which includes shipping a new system this year and giving glimpses into handful of their launch software, but I really want the Wii-U to show me more than what I’m already expecting. I want to see something outside of the obvious mix of casual and hardcore games. I especially want to see stronger third-party games that provide the same levels of brilliant asynchronous gameplay experiences that I’m sure Nintendo’s been working on for years now. Who knows! Maybe they’ll have that and more, but so many lingering questions remain: Is Nintendo ready to get serious about online? Is near-field communication really the cool thing people seem to think it is? Will my current Virtual Console purchases live on this new hardware, tied to an online profile and credentials like other content delivery services? I can’t see Nintendo release a new platform without answers to these questions. To do so would put them in a compromising position at the Wii-U’s launch — a situation that I just don’t think my weak heart could take.

It’s obvious that Nintendo can’t rest on predictable strategies to find success. We know that and it looks like they know it too: their re-adjusted 3DS strategy — one that saw an $80 price drop and high quality retail and downloadable games released in the second half of the platform’s first year– is proof they’ll do whatever it takes to get people’s attention. Honestly though, I don’t want to see Nintendo react to poor sales. I want to see them lead a new console into this generation with a proper plan. One that gives customers access to great downloadable games and reliable online infrastructure designed without the friend codes nonsense. Since I’m writing this while speaking aloud and hoping that some genie out there is listening, give me: 1) a new 2D Metroid 2) a new 2D Castlevania by Iga, 3) Wind Waker in HD, and 4) more Virtual Console games for all their systems. Only then will Nintendo’s future be perfect. Well, it will be for me at least.

Chris Pereira: I buy every new videogame system that comes out. The main reason I do that is because of my job — it’s helpful to get my hands on everything and experience it all for myself. That meant buying a 3DS for $250 and a Vita for $300, two purchases which, in retrospect, I could have done without right at launch. I’m always excited for any new piece of hardware, and aspects of Wii U do have me intrigued, but Nintendo has yet to show me anything that makes me think I need one at launch. The details we know are coming, like a price and launch lineup, could help to counter my increasingly negative feelings toward being an early adopter, although unless Nintendo demonstrates it finally has a plan for online that is not completely terrible and a compelling launch lineup (i.e. the exact opposite of the 3DS’), I’ll be happy to wait on the sideline for a change.

Bob Mackey: Last year, Nintendo’s Wii U announcement made their conference the clear victor at E3. Can they win over convention-goers with more information about last year’s big news? Probably. Where 2011′s conference showed us an assortment of interesting tech demos, this year’s will undoubtedly reveal the Wii U’s launch lineup, which will hopefully bring with it some surprises. Will the system hit store with a collection of mini-games that show off its unique features a la Wii Sports, or will Nintendo stand behind their claims of appealing to “hardcore” gamers by launching with games designed to appeal to consumers who’ve been immersed in the medium for decades? Whatever the case, we’d better see Pikmin 3, and at least one serious attempt by Nintendo to create some new IP. The lineup for the next Smash Bros. could use some fresh faces, after all.

Nick Todd: Unlike the Wii in 2005, last year’s unveiling of the Wii U landed with a thud amongst enthusiasts and the press with people not really knowing what to make of the tablet controller for Nintendo’s new system.  With expectations of under-powered hardware, first-day buyers may be thinking the console is behind the curb as soon as they leave the register.  With everything that’s on the line for Nintendo, the company needs to be honest with its consumers and stop trying to appeal to the casual market right out the gate with the WiiU.  If they can integrate some of their most popular franchise into an experience that makes sense with the tablet controller, and more importantly, gets people excited at the system’s possibilities, they’ll be able to rekindle the same excitement the WIi mustered at its launch.  As soon as people saw the target video for the Wii back in 2005, thoughts of swinging the Master Sword (or lightsaber) immediately came to mind for a lot of gamers.  Nintendo finally delivered on that concept last year with Skyward Sword, but the point is that the system ignited people’s imaginations.  If rumors are true that Retro Studios is working on a WiiU title, then that’s a step in the right direction to getting their dedicated fan base excited.  Nintendo knows how to play their cards, and it always starts with the company pulling out their biggest properties first to lead the way.

Marty Sliva: Oh, Nintendo, the list of what I want to see from you at this year’s E3 is endless. But for the sake of brevity, let me just simplify it by saying that what I want is to be surprised. We all know that this will be the Wii U’s big coming out party, but I want to see Nintendo deliver something completely unexpected. I know that there will be amazing Mario and Zelda titles, but what else? If Nintendo put their money behind rebooting a completely forgotten franchise, or better yet, nurturing the seeds of a slew of new ideas, the Wii U would become a much more interesting console to me. Likewise, I want Nintendo to unveil some functions in the tablet controller that I couldn’t even fathom before seeing in action. I can easily imagine what a “next-gen” game is going to look like, but I have a hard time envisioning how Nintendo’s tablet could revolutionize the way I play games. I want a similar form of this exploratory thinking in terms of the 3DS. We know that Nintendo stalwarts can exist and thrive on the handheld, so now it’s time to show some creativity and deliver experiences that are wholly unique to the system at hand.