One of the biggest question marks heading into this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo was the status of Nintendo.

After a Phoenix-like rise last generation with the massively successful Wii console, Nintendo has had a bumpy road these past few years.  From the less than stellar initial performance of the handheld 3DS (which turned to success after time) to the awful sales performance of the Wii U (which I’d argue is due to customer confusion), and most alarmingly a number of successive quarters losing money, things are looking grim for arguably the company most think of when you say the word “video games”.

That said, at E3 2015, Nintendo didn’t address these issues. They just gave us what they do best. Games.

As opposed to the standard opulent press conferences which serve as equal parts hype machine and stockholder’s call, somehow mixing new trailers with sales information and stats on hardware, Nintendo decided they’d rather pitch right to the fans, with an online only streaming event.

Based on the responses across the Twittersphere, I’d say it worked.

Among the things announced (I again link to Polygon, as their coverage this year of E3 is absolutely KILLING it):

• Super Smash Bros. continues to be the big game for Nintendo this year, with the 3DS version slipping to an October 3rd release. That said, new fighters were announced, including your personal Mii, Lady Palutena from Kid Icarus, and believe it or not, Pac Man. They also showed off an interesting new concept called...
• amiibo (yes, all lower case). These amiibo are collectible figures of Nintendo characters - similar to those used in Skylanders and Disney Infinity -which allow you to play, upgrade and customize your favorite video game icons. Initially used in Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, amiibo will be integrated into Mario Kart 8 and additional future titles.
• A new, open-world Legend of Zelda was showcased, featuring beautiful, almost cel-shaded like graphics. The bad news? We won't see it for real until 2015.
• A number of Nintendo favorites getting new titles for the Wii U, including Yoshi's Wooly World (featuring graphics that appear as if they were made of yarn), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (a puzzle game with Toad as the star), the 10th installment of the Mario Party series, titled - surprise - Mario Party 10, and even a brand new Kirby game, called Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
• A surprise new IP from Nintendo, a third person paint-based shooter called Splatoon.
• The rumored "make your own Mario levels" game, Mario Maker.
• Two high profile exclusive third party titles, Bayonetta 2 (which will now include the first Bayonetta for free), and Devil's Third, the long awaited new action title from director Tomonobu Itagaki of Ninja Gaiden fame.
• Heck, even legendary Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto had something new to show. Although early, he showcased a new Star Fox title, and two "proof of concept" projects for the Wii U Gamepad.

The issue remains - why buy a Wii U?

If you love just Nintendo games, you probably already have one, or are going to buy one for some combination of Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8 or The Legend of Zelda. But those same hardcore’s probably will own a Wii U in addition to an Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

And that remains the biggest problem. Much like in the era of the GameCube, or the later years of the Wii, Nintendo is having a hard time striking the interest of developers AND audiences, to make them a focus. Hell, UbiSoft even admitted this week that they have games ready for the Wii U, but the audience isn’t there to bother releasing it.

As great as the lineup showcased was, Nintendo has a tremendous hurdle to climb. Hell, I’d love to play all of those games. But personally, I can’t justify $300 for a system featuring handful of polished games and a large tablet controller.

The clock is ticking. The pace is picking up. Lets hope that Mario can rush to the end of the level and achieve victory once more.