"It’s an exciting way to showcase the new game with some of the best players in the world playing it," Bill Trinen, Nintendo's director of product marketing manager, told Heat Vision. The tournament will bring together eight competitors who are top-ranked at their respective games in the world; four players who specialize in 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee and 2014's Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. They will compete playing the upcoming Super Smash Bros. game for Switch.

"Typically players from the different games don’t play against each other, but we wanted to showcase the game before launch and wanted to represent both sides of what is a very strong Smash Bros. community," Trinen said.

Of course, we still don't know what the new Super Smash Bros. for Switch is, exactly. When asked directly, Trinen was cagey and wouldn't specify whether it was a new game altogether or a port of the Wii U title for the new console ("Stay tuned" were his exact words), but he did drop a few hints.

“The tournament is going to be designed to show quite a bit of the game in terms of modes, characters and items, but obviously we won’t show everything and we’re keeping a few surprises for later in the year,” he said.

It seems likely that Super Smash Bros. for Switch will not just be a simple port of the Wii U game. After all, the teaser trailer for the game shows off silhouettes of character models from recent Switch games — such as Link from Breath of the Wild.

Super Smash Bros. isn't the only title that Nintendo is bringing to E3, of course, and fans are going wild with theories over what else the Japanese gaming studio might show off. Fans of Splatoon 2 can look forward to watching the Splatoon 2 World Championship on June 11-12, which will feature a look at a new stage and "some additional content that’s coming from a DLC perspective," according to Trinen.

Last year, Nintendo made waves when it announced a new Metroid Prime game was in the works. If the studio does show off footage from the game, the timing for a return of the female space Marine Samus Aran couldn't be better.

Nintendo's E3 showcase will take place June 12 at 9 a.m. PT. The Splatoon 2 World Championship finals begin at 1 p.m. PT and the Super Smash Bros. Invitational will commence immediately afterward at the Belasco Theater and is free to attend.