The Nintendo pre-E3 presentation was chock full of interesting conceptual ideas pertaining to the Wii U, but a quiet subset of watchers were looking for something else. Where was the Nintendo 3DS news? Perhaps they're saving everything for their keynote on Tuesday.

The presentation, overall, was surprisingly well done despite its lack of games, but a single comment in the closing minute deserves greater attention. In case you missed it, here's Nintendo president Iwata's exact words:

"We have a busy week ahead, including our on-stage E3 presentation where we'll continue to focus our attention on Wii U. But don't worry, we also have plenty of news about Nintendo 3DS to deliver during other upcoming opportunities."

3DS owners, at this point, sighed heavily and found an appropriate online forum to complain on. Whether this means the Nintendo keynote will lack any substantive news or announcements on the 3DS, or if we'll at least see a few new game announcements, time will tell. The question is, why would Iwata even mention it unless he wanted to offset fan expectations early?

Overall, I find the comments troubling and disappointing. As a launch 3DS investor, I've had unending optimism towards the handheld's future, but if another E3 goes buy without a renewed dedication to increased software output... sigh, I just find the situation quite exasperating.