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The madness is on the way, with Los Angeles all set to host hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of attendees for E3 2015. While technically an expo like any other, it has become far more than that for game companies and their fans. It's a major centrepiece of any gaming year, and an opportunity for major publishers and developers to announce new games and build hype for their biggest titles.

For gamers it's a second Christmas, and a week of long days and obsessive online stream watching. For your humble Nintendo Life crew it means multiple things - some will be in HQ covering every stream and announcement while eating food of questionable nutritional value, and others will be on the show floor to actually play games and interview developers. When it comes to an information overload, there's nothing quite like E3.

That's why we love it, of course, and there'll be plenty for Nintendo fans to follow this year. Much of that is down to the big N's own efforts, which are varied, but there are plenty of other shows to grab our attention. With that in mind we're using this Guide to pull together all of the times and details for the major presentations at this year's event - we'll include those of Nintendo's competitors, too, for those of you that own multiple platforms or are simply curious about what's going down.

You can see the breakdown below, and we'll add to this as more details emerge ahead of the main event.

Nintendo

Nintendo World Championships 2015

  • 30th May, regional heats will be hosted at select Best Buy stores around the US
  • 14th June, qualifying players will compete with invited guests in live finals at the NOKIA Theatre in LA. Specific times and streaming details are yet to be provided.

Nintendo Digital Event

  • 16th June at 9am Pacific / Noon Eastern / 5pm UK / 6pm CET - Like the equivalent from E3 2014, this will be pre-recorded, while Nintendo's stated the focus is on "showcasing the many games we have coming for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS".

Nintendo Treehouse: Live @ E3

  • Running from 16th-18th June, we can expect more details nearer the time, but we'd anticipate it'll be largely similar to the extended sessions of E3 2014, with more developers and coverage promised. At E3 2014 the Nintendo Digital Event was immediately followed by a live Nintendo Minute segment and then the Treehouse team, though no Nintendo Minute session has been confirmed this time. It could begin as early as 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK / 7pm CET on 16th June, and we can expect 7-8 hours of streaming on each of the three days of E3 (16th-18th June).

Mario Maker at Best Buy

  • Sessions will be held in Best Buy stores around the US from 4-9 p.m. local time on Wednesday 17th June, and noon-5 p.m. local time on Saturday 20th June. Attendees will receive a 30th anniversary Super Mario Bros. pin while supplies last.
Third Parties

15th June

  • Ubisoft - 3pm Pacific / 6pm Eastern / 11pm UK / midnight CET - A large percentage of this presentation may not affect Nintendo fans directly, though there are normally enough bad jokes and cringe-worthy moments (see above) to make Ubisoft's press conferences entertaining. While playing 'next-gen' bingo, we can expect a look at the latest Just Dance which will likely come to Wii U, and perhaps hope for download-only Ubi-Art games - such as a new Child of Light - that could potentially be included on the eShop.

16th June

  • Square Enix - 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK / 7pm CET - This was originally clashing with Nintendo's Digital Event before SE blinked, though Treehouse fans may potentially have a choice to deal with. There's some potential for Nintendo-related news, such as localisation for Bravely Second on 3DS or any of the various Dragon Quest releases that have graced Japan.
Competitors

Microsoft - 15th June - 9:30am Pacific / 12:30pm Eastern / 5:30pm UK / 6:30pm CET

Sony - 15th June - 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern / 2am (16th June) UK / 3am (16th June) CET

Miscellaneous

This section includes shows that either have no link to Nintendo or are very unlikely to mention the big N. As gamers, however, some may be of interest to you.

Bethesda - 14th June - 7pm Pacific / 10pm Eastern / 3am (15th June) UK / 4am (15th June) CET

EA - 15th June - 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern / 9pm UK / 10pm CET

PC Gaming Show - 16th June - 5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern / 1am (17th June) UK / 2am (17th June) CET

We anticipate more events and streams to be announced in the next month, which we'll add here as appropriate. Naturally we'll be live streaming and live blogging any Nintendo-related presentations here on Nintendo Life, while keeping a curious eye on everything else that's happening.

What will you be watching during E3?