Love is in the air especially for Nintendo lovers! Nintendo released a Nintendo Direct conference this Valentine ’s Day morning and covered some big titles and news coming this year for both the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
Satoru Iwata appeared in Luigi’s iconic hat letting us know that 2013 was the “year of Luigi”. Iwata introduced Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of The Legend of Zelda and Mario series, who went into great detail about Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon including several multi-player modes. These multi-player modes will be playable via wireless play, online play, and local play. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon will launch on March 24th in North America exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r87gwYio6g4[/tube]
Next up, Iwata briefly discusses Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. This is a new installment in the Mario and Luigi role-playing series. Players will be able to interact with Luigi’s face while he is sleeping to solve puzzles and complete levels. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team will be exclusively released for the Nintendo 3DS in North America this summer.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuFA2ZiM2bA[/tube]
Continuing on with the Luigi love, Iwata announces that downloadable content will be available for New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U, New Super Luigi U. This downloadable content will feature none other than Luigi himself. Over 80 alternate stages will be unlocked which will provide a whole new level of gameplay and challenge. New Super Luigi U will be available for purchase as a single download in the eShop this year.
Luigi and the Mushroom Kingdom gang will once again be playing golf in Mario Golf: World Tour. Those familiar with golf will enjoy this title especially. Mario Golf: World Tour will be released exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS in the summer.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G50tRDScGu8[/tube]
Bill Trinen of Nintendo of America’s Treehouse division discussed Fire Emblem: Awakening downloadable content. Two new maps are now available to purchase at the Outrealm Gate on the world map. For $2.50, the Champions of Yore 3 lets players battle against memorable characters such as Marth, Roy, and Ike. Those who have already purchased the Champions of Yore map pack can now access this new map to earn a new playable character named Michaiah and a special skill that will increase all of a character’s stats by two points. The Golden Gaffe map is now available for $2.50. In this map, you will be pitted against wealthy enemies which will be a great way to earn money within the game. The Champons of Yore 1 map is available as a free download through March 6th.
Next up, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is discussed and there is finally an official release date for the game in the US. In New Leaf, you come into town not as a resident but as mayor so goodbye Tom Nook! New features in the game include swimming and full customization of your town including the outside of your home. Animal Crossing: New Leaf will be released exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS on June 9th in North America.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCFqrKFDnqQ[/tube]
On the topic of Animal Crossing, Style Saavy: TrendSetters will have new styles and fashions inspired by Animal Crossing. If you are interested in trying out the game a demo is available on the eShop.
Lego City Undercover is briefly discussed which will be released on March 18th for the Wii U. In addition, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins takes place in the Lego City universe but the story is set two years before Lego City Undercover. This game will be released on the Nintendo 3DS and will be released on April 21st in North America.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiOhy4vNruY[/tube]
If you loved the previous Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge downloadable content then get ready for more coming later this month which will feature different costumes and new ninja trial missions. This DLC will be free to everyone that already owns the game.
Moving on to some information about Miiverse on the Wii U, developers decided to create a Legend of Zelda community for users on Miiverse to discuss their love of the series. This will be available today.
Besides the new Legend of Zelda community, Wii Street U which is powered by Google is now free today to download for a limited time via the Nintendo eShop for Wii U. This application utilizes Google maps and allows users to get a 360-degree view of locations around the world using the Wii U GamePad.
Some downloadable games are coming to the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS which include HarmoKnight, a game developed by the makers of the Pokemon games, Gamefreak. In HarmoKnight, actions like jumping and attacking create the harmonies of the music. Music notes will need to be collected to defeat enemies, complete levels, and unlock different modes to play. A HarmoKnight demo will be released on March 14th followed by the full game release on March 28th. More downloadable games include Kersploosh! which will be available March 7th, Dylan’s Rolling Adventure: The Last Ranger available April 11th, and Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the move which will be coming soon.
Two classic Gameboy Color games from Natsume, Harvest Moon and Legend of the River King, will be released in the coming months on the Virtual Console via Nintendo 3DS.
To continue the Nintendo 3DS eShop discussion, Nintendo 3DS owners can now buy and download select games from the Nintendo eShop at a discounted price for a limited time. These include BIT.TRIP SAGA from Aksys Games; Crashmo, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword and Ketzal’s Corridors from Nintendo; Fractured Soul from Endgame Studios; and Mutant Mudds from Renegade Kid. One game will be available at the reduced price each week.
For those that do not own a Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo will be running a special promotion. Anyone who registers a Nintendo 3DS XL and either Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity between March 21 and April 30 will receive a code to download one of these five games for free from the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS: Super Mario 3D Land, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone!, Star Fox 64 3D or Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive!
On February 28th, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow demo will be available for download on the Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS. The full game will be released on March 5th.
Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate launches for both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS on March 19th. A Wii U player can connect with up to three Nintendo 3DS players to create a hunting party. Players can utilize the game on Wii U and then transfer their data to the Nintendo 3DS to continue playing. A demo will be available in the Nintendo eShop on both platforms on February 21st.
A large roundup of third-party games will be coming to the Wii U including Need for Speed Most Wanted U from EA, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct from Activision, Injustice: Gods Among Us from Warner Bros, Toki Tori 2 from Two Tribes, Zen Pinball 2 from Zen Studios, and BIT.TRIP Presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm from Gaijin Games. These games will be available to purchase from the Nintendo eShop via Wii U system from February to April.
The much talked about Disney Infinity from Disney Interactive is coming to Wii U, Wii, and Nintendo 3DS this summer. Players will be able to use real-world interactive figures to activate original adventures in the game worlds.
Reggie Fil-Aims wraps the conference up by announcing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D which will be released on the Nintendo 3DS. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D will launch this summer but a 3D video on the game will be available today in the Nintendo eShop channel on the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo has plenty of new plans and ideas to keep Nintendo fans, like myself, very happy with both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. I will be picking up many of these titles at release.
Source: Nintendo Direct