That last point about the limited online gaming options with the first-gen Wii, in particular, has been a sticking point with Nintendo's customers and publishing/development partners, ever since the console first arrived in stores back in November 2006.
"[Nintendo CEO] Satoru Iwata has recently admitted that Nintendo's approach to online gaming has been underwhelming in the past," the NGamer editor reminds us, "which heavily suggests 'Wii 2' will improve upon Wii's online showing. HD is a given, as is a significant power hike.
"More powerful than PS3 and Xbox 360? It would be short-sighted of Nintendo not to make its next console at least as powerful. Another recent comment by Iwata acknowledging Nintendo's keenness to work with third parties hints at easier portability between platforms. Could we see the likes of GTA on Wii 2? We've had Chinatown Wars on DS already, so why not?"
WII 1.0: The original motion-control console has had its day
Sony looks set to announce one of the first major new hardware tech stories of the week, with the final reveal of its new Next Generation Portable set for its press conference at 5pm PST on Monday 6 June.
Following this, Nintendo really needs to consolidate its position on the recently-launched 3DS handheld (otherwise it risks losing its first-mover advantage). So Mr Iwata and Nintendo's creative chief Shigeru Miyamoto really need to announce some concrete exclusive 3DS content news and show off some seriously impressive demonstrations of new triple-A 3DS system-sellers due for release this coming Christmas holiday season.
We hope to see a lot more demos on (and a final name for) Super Mario 3D which "could be the system-seller that Nintendo is looking for," notes Martyn. "There were some really strong games in the 3DS launch window, but there's been no big first-party title for people to get their teeth into. Ocarina Of Time 3D is a big game for Nintendo, but a totally new Mario game - not a remake - could really drive hardware sales."
Also on the 3DS front, Nintendo plans to release a firmware update bringing the new Nintendo 3DS eShop with plenty of new gaming and other downloadable content available for people to test out immediately after the 7 June press conference.
ZELDA IN 3D: Link will no doubt feature heavily in Nintendo's E3 2011 press event
The 3DS eShop is essentially an online store housing Virtual Console, DSiWare and 3DS games and content, as well as web browser support. Let's just hope that Nintendo doesn't spend too long talking about the 3DS eShop, as it really should have been an out-of-the-box feature that arrived at the console's launch back in March.
Publisher support for Wii 2
In addition to its own first-party titles, Nintendo really needs to convince the games industry and consumers alike that it intends to improve the third-party publisher and developer support for its new HD home console.
Initial signs look promising on this front, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently going on record claiming that Nintendo's Wii successor is "really a fantastic platform."
Speaking on a recent Ubisoft investor's conference call, Guillemot added: "We think that it will be extremely successful," explaining that cross platform development (ie releasing the same games on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii 2) will soon be much easier for the major publishers.
"What we see is that we will be able to leverage a lot of the work we do for the Xbox 360 and PS3 when we create games for the platform," Guillemot explained. "So we will not have to completely redo the games we create. We will be able to use all of the capacity the console offers and also use all of the work that we do for the other platforms."
There are likely to be a few teasers about new Wii 2 and 3DS games from major publishers such as Konami, Electronic Arts, Rockstar, Ubisoft, Activision, THQ and others and - we hope - a decent smattering of playable demos of the major new titles from all of the above on Nintendo's new hardware across the E3 showfloor at the LA Convention Center throughout the week.
Independent and smaller developers will also be watching Nintendo's latest hardware play closely, as Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of UK developer trade body TIGA, informed TechRadar: "The next Nintendo Wii will give UK developers a great opportunity to showcase their talents. Original content and games has always been at the heart of the UK industry and this provides another platform to illustrate this."
After all, once that initial press conference hype has died down by the start of the show proper on Wednesday 8 June, it is really that all-important "did you play this yet? did you see that yet? imagine what you could do with this new control method?" word-of-mouth that percolates throughout the event and, eventually, onto thousands of gaming websites and specialist magazines worldwide, that will decide who, in the longer-term, is the eventual "winner" of E3 2011.
Finally, it needs to be stressed that Nintendo is not simply going to forget about the Wii (just yet), particularly with the Project Café home console not set to arrive until later in 2012.
So expect to see plenty of new content on iconic franchises such as the forthcoming The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword. And let's just hope that online gossip of a $400 possible launch price for Wii 2/Project Café/Stream is considerably wide of the mark and notably higher than whatever the final price of Nintendo's new console ends up being.
