San Francisco (AFP)

Nintendo did not unveil a new model of its Switch console on Tuesday on the last day of the big show dedicated to the video game E3, but made fans salivate with some images of the sequel to the Zelda saga.

The presentation of the Japanese giant, online like all the conferences of the major players in the sector since the start of the event on Saturday, was particularly anticipated.

Even though Nintendo had warned that it would only be devoted to upcoming games, rumors were circulating about the possible presentation of new equipment.

Fans are waiting in particular for a new version, more powerful and offering better graphics of the Switch, Nintendo's console released more than four years ago, which has the particularity of being able to be used as a home console or as a portable console.

The Japanese group stuck to their line and presented trailers for around twenty games for about forty minutes.

The group announced in particular that the next episode of the blockbuster "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" will be released in 2022. Some images of the adventure, where the hero, Link, floats in the skies of the kingdom of Hyrule, have been broadcast.

To keep fans waiting for the "Metroid Prime 4" game, Nintendo has also announced for October 2021 a 2D version of Samus' adventures on Nintendo Switch, called "Metroid Dread".

The group also announced the arrival in the fighting game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" of the character Kazuya from the Tekken universe as a new fighter.

Like the rest of the presentations at E3, Nintendo's conference was presented online.

The 2020 edition of the event had been canceled due to the spread of the Covid.

The mayor of Los Angeles, the city that usually hosts the show, promised on Saturday that E3 would take place on site and not remotely in 2022.

- Sales record -

Driven by the global craze for video games in these times of pandemic, the sector is doing particularly well.

In the United States, video game sales hit a record high in 2020, reaching nearly $ 57 billion, according to a report by research firm NPD Group.

Nintendo also posted record results for its 2020/21 fiscal year ended March 31, thanks in particular to its Switch console and certain ultra-popular games during the pandemic such as "Animal Crossing: New Horizons".

Among other big announcements at E3, French company Ubisoft on Saturday unveiled the first images of a new adventure game based on James Cameron's blue-character sci-fi film Avatar, as well as a new game. combining Mario and Rabbids.

Microsoft, the maker of Xbox consoles, for its part announced on Sunday that the space adventure game Starfield, developed by the Bethseda studio recently arrived at the computer giant, will be released on November 11, 2022.

The group had previously indicated that it was working on software to allow Xbox game enthusiasts to play directly on their television connected to the Internet or on smartphones, without a console, thus marking a further step towards the dematerialization of video games.

© 2021 AFP