Nintendo dished out a bit of love to its fan this Valentine’s Day, with a brand new Nintendo Direct showcasing some up and coming games for both the Wii U and 3DS. Quite a bit of first party offerings, all slated for release this year were unveiled and most were even given solid release dates. As usual three separate Nintendo Directs were made for the regions of North America, Europe, and Japan. What we have to offer you is a breakdown of the Juiciest Segments, and the need to know info for the Nintendo Fans out there.
Iwata kicked things off this year wearing a green Luigi hat, and announcing that 2013 would officially be “The Year of Luigi”. Basically, there are quite a few games slated for release starring Mario’s timid sidekick brother this year.
Shigeru Miyamoto himself discussed the upcoming Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS which is set to release this March. Two previously unannounced 3DS games starring Luigi were also shown off, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team and Mario Golf: World Tour; both are slated for release this summer. The final game in the “Year of Luigi” portion of the Nintendo Direct was not an entirely new game at all. Rather it’s a DLC reimagining of the already released New Super Mario Bros. U, titled New Super Luigi U. Nintendo stated that this DLC pack would essentially be a reimagining of every level on the New Super Mario Bros. U world map. This time though, single player only with the player playing as Luigi, and the difficulty seemingly pumped up from the videos that were shown. No release date was given for New Super Luigi U, but Iwata stated that it would take some time to complete making a winter/holiday release likely.
Next came the announcement of a new Miiverse community, this time for a series which has not had any games released for it as of yet on the Wii U. A Legend of Zelda Miiverse community was created in order to allow fans of the series to discuss their favorite games, and the two new recently announced Wii U Zelda games.
A lot of first party 3DS games were then either revealed or given proper release dates. Animal Crossing: New Leaf was finally given a North American release date of June 9 2013, and North American gamers were also promised some new features that were not implemented in the Japanese release of the game last year. HarmoKnight a new rhythm based platformer by Game Freak, the team behind the Pokémon series, was given a release date of March 28, 2013 and will be an eShop download. New games in the Mario and Donkey Kong series as well as a sequel to last year’s Dillon’s Rolling Western were also revealed as 3DS eShop exclusives. Mario and Donkey: Minis on the Move seems to be a quirky puzzler in which players guide mini Mario and other characters through obstacle filled courses, with the ability for players to create and share their own puzzles as well. No release date was given for this title. Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger follows the formula of action/tower defense devised by its predecessor last year and will be released on April 11, 2013.
Things then switched gears a little and Nintendo then discussed some of the upcoming third party content that is soon to be released for both the Wii U and 3DS. Though before discussing any of the upcoming third party games Nintendo did announce that a new Wii U bundle, called Wii U ZombiU Deluxe Set, will be sold beginning February 17, 2013. This bundle will include a Deluxe Wii U, the Wii U Gamepad, Wii U Pro Controller, a retail copy of Ubisoft’s ZombiU, and a digital download of Nintendo Land, all for the decent price of $389.
In terms of third party content, these were the games announced:
Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien by Gaijin Games, due on Wii U eShop.
Zen Pinball 2, a free to play pinball simulator by Zen Studios, for Wii U eShop.
Toki Tori 2, by Two Tribes, due out on Wii U eShop.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, the highly anticipated 3DS exclusive from Konami, was given the solid release date of March 5, 2013.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted finally has a release date for Wii U. The game, though already released on the Xbox 360 and PS3, will boast some exclusive Wii U features and will launch on March 19, 2013. Some new features include Co-Driver Mode, and Miiverse incorporation (a third party first). The game is actually being handled by Criterion, rather than being outsourced for porting, will use the higher resolution PC textures not found on the Xbox and PlayStation versions, and will include the Ultimate Speed Pack DLC for free.
Activion’s The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was given a release date of March 26, 2013 for Wii U.
Injustice: Gods Among Us by Warner Bros. Games is set to release on April 16, 2013 for Wii U. Injustice is being handled Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boone of NetherRealm Studios, the guys behind 2011’s hit Mortal Kombat reboot. Injustice, a fighting game set in the DC Comics universe, boasts a solid 60 FPS and will feature plenty of DLC to keep the game energized.
Disney Infinity is set to release this June for the 3DS, Wii U, as well as the Wii. Though no specific details were given, it was announced that the 3DS version would be unique from its home console counterparts.
The Nintendo Direct then ended with Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, announcing a a remake of the Retro Studios Wii hit Donkey Kong Country Returns, this time for the 3DS. A 3D video of the Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D was released on the 3DS eShop, and though no release date was given, the game looks gorgeous and is one a lot of Nintendo fans will probably look forward to.
Watch the full Nintendo Direct below…