[1] The presentations began in Japan and North America with the first edition on October 21, 2011, before later expanding to Europe, Australia, and South Korea.

For subjects of a general worldwide appeal, a single Nintendo Direct is often localized for a simultaneous international broadcast.

Prior to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's death, he would host Directs in both English and Japanese, with other languages' presentations being subtitled.

From 2019 until the last event in 2021, E3 Directs were produced by Nintendo of Japan, presented in Japanese and dubbed or subtitled into other languages for international broadcast.

Directs focused on Super Smash Bros. are typically hosted by series creator and director Masahiro Sakurai.

Australia generally only airs the European output, but one Direct was created specifically for the region, broadcast on September 24, 2014.

Compared to other press conferences held that year, Nintendo's presentation left little for fans of the company to be excited for.

[5] During the stream of the pre-recorded broadcast for E3 2013, Nintendo's website suffered from technical difficulties in the form of overloaded servers, rendering the live video unwatchable for many viewers, and prompting an official apology from Satoru Iwata.

[6] Despite these difficulties, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé noted that secondary viewership following the initial broadcast still worked to popularize product promotion.

The year also began a trend of Nintendo hosting a game tournament sometime during the week, in which the participants compete in titles that had yet to be released.

[24] The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) permanently discontinued E3 in December 2023, leading to more publisher-specific showcases, including main Nintendo Directs with headlines.