Last Week's Nintendo Direct(s) impressions.

After the end of  the first half of Summer '13, Nintendo fans all around the world have already been pleased with some of the... uuuh... hottest titles for the season (no pun intended), with more yet to come in the near future. On top of that, a double Direct appointment has been spread around the world last week, focusing more on what we'll be getting in roughly the next three months for now! One is our regular-sized Nintendo Direct feature, while the other one is a 20-minute feature about The Wonderful 101, Platinum Games's incoming new game for Wii U. The American version of both the videos can be seen below:

Much like for the pre-E3 Direct, I watched all the three editions of the regular Direct presentation, but this time our focus will be only with the stuff in common in all the editions, with some exceptions. The reason behind this choice is because I would end to talk about some topics I already discussed the past time (eg. not-JP games in the JP market, localization difficulties for most of the JP-exclusive games and so on), thus losing focus from the main things.

So, without further ado, let's dive right into Nintendo's latest news-based marathons and see what's new on the table this time.

THE AWESOME

Look over there! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a...

Cross-over localization: The biggest bombshell this time wasn't brought by a new game, but instead by a welcomed import of Level-5 and Capcom's Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright, which is set to release in NA and Europe next year, after the last Professor Layton game. But when a puzzle-addicted university professor and a well-respected attorney merge their forces, hilarity ensues in the not-Japanese directs. Just look at Satoru Shibata above!

The Wonderful 101 Direct: This special edition about a single game alone is worth of a space among the Awesome stuff in there. As we have already seen in the past, Nintendo hasn't make the world aware about this title as well as they already did with other titles, and last Friday's feature presentation was definitely a step in the right direction.

THE GOOD

You know if your catchphrase works if you crack up a smile when a digital yellow dog uses it.

Home-console Majors Unite: Another relatively-big thing introduced is a new free channel about the Animal Crossing universe, simply called Animal Crossing Plaza. With the opportunity to daily meet a large selection of the game series's anthropomorphic villagers and discuss about them on Miiverse with the rest of the world, this add-on is another welcomed addition to what it's shaped to be the ultimate portable Animal Crossing game of all times.

Release Dates Roundabouts: Once again, the majority of the presentations was an update about the already-announced games with tentative release dates, both for Nintendo games (Zelda on 3DS/Wii U, Pokemon Rumble,...) and third-party/independent contributors, like Sonic Lost worlds and that February game which we will be able to try "only" in about 3-4 weeks from now... Anyway, since it manages to touch both the physical main releases and the eShop/Virtual Console markets, this over-ally results in a complete look of the gaming horizon for ol' N's gaming machines.

A Wonderful Spoiler...?: These Direct-related posts on N5S don't tend to have something like a "THE MIXED" section to talk about, but I want to discuss anyways about the 7-minute trailer which ended the Wonderful 101-themed Friday presentation. While it's great to see more of a future game which had very little content revealed before, said trailer feels more like a fast-forward wrap-up of the majority of the game's plot, which is good for a common movie trailer but for a video-game this may spoil the fun for who wants to fully discover it by simply playing it. My tip is to totally skip said trailer, if what you already seen of the game before is enough for you guys to buy Platinum Games's latest opus.

THE BAD

... we also would like to introduce a brand-new game mechanic: B-button special moves!

Painfully Obvious: As nit-picky as this title sounds, we can't deny that these two Directs had their little flaws that have been received from the viewers as an insult to their intelligence. The Net has already been swarmed by dumb, whiny comments like "Oh, Luigi is coming back to Smash Bros YOU DON'T SAY" or "Yes, tell me once more W101's release date! It may be changed drastically after TWO MINUTES", but for an event so anticipated and suddenly-revealed like a new Nintendo Direct, people usually expects to hear something more of what almost every random fanboy can "predict" with their home-made magic 8-balls.

Slow-Paced Forecast: In a period when industry, reporters and random gamers are continuing to bash Kyoto's gaming industry for well-polished topics about Wii U's poor start and "Why Nintendo should do the Sega gaming approach or totally move into the mobile market" (even if it's probably because most of the reporters seem to have only mobile-related stocks), a Nintendo Direct packed in this way still seems more aimed to already-interested people to Nintendo consoles than actually the whole gaming community. While the Wii U its still waiting for this year's biggest games, this Direct doesn't seem to persuade other people to change their mind by supplying new content about well-known incoming games.

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FINAL DIRECT: 3/5 STARS

Overally, do these iterations speed-up or slow-down the player's hype for Nintendo's products? Once again, this is not the case of any rhythm change. Even if little to no ground-breaking reveals occured this time, this Direct simply holds the good pace of the past iterations, proving once again to be a fast and fine update compilation for an average Nintendo player. But will the next ones be able to drag an even bigger audience?

Lokamp out.

Last Week's Nintendo Direct(s) impressions.

Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct Impressions.

Summer is (almost) in the air and today's world-spread Nintendo Direct presentation is here to fastly recap the biggest things for their platforms which will be out in the next three months from now, with some twist and turns in each of the individual editions as well. The American Direct broadcast is linked below:

Compared to some of the older entries, today's Direct felt a little lack of content to talk about just with one of the editions, so this time I've watched three different runs of the same event -European, American and Japanese- in order to provide to you a wider range of opinions. Let this ride begin!

THE AWESOME

Boy, someone forgot to put their Heroscape board back in the box...

Nintendo meets Sega: Once arch-rivals in the 16-bit console era, the two companies are going to combine their forces once again in a world-wide collaboration, where a new set of games will be specifically made for Nintendo's consoles. The first entries announced are the new Mario & Sonic entry about 2014's Winter Games in Sochi (Wii U) and a new 3D platform game for the blue hedgehog called Sonic Lost World (Wii U/3DS). Also a big line of games from Sega's Game Gear is on its way to the 3DS Virtual Console.

Convenience E3 Saga: In the very end of the American edition, Nintendo of America sensation Reggie Fils-Aime revealed a pretty interesting way to enjoy what the Electronic Entertainment Expo will have to offer: during the E3 week, over a hundred of Best Buy stores in the USA will feature playable demos of the Nintendo games which will be announced in the aforementioned fair. Good news for whoever trusts their personal impressions of a future game more than the opinion of a random press reporter!

Gangsters and Music at the Rising Sun: The Nintendo x Sega collab acquired a different level of influence in Japan, as their Direct edition was mainly labeled as a 'Sega Direct'. Aside from the Sonic-related games already listed above, the Eastern country will be pleased in the next future with another couple of titles from beloved franchises, such as the Wii U remake of the first two Yakuza videogames and a 3DS sequel to the popular Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai.

THE GOOD

Ten bucks less for the package-less game? If only digital retail games were like this...

Release Dates (...again!): As already said, the main focus of today's video was a complete sight of what Nintendo gamers will be able to buy during the Summer period. In all the three editions, Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U had the biggest role, but some release dates for other games have been revealed, like for Platinum Games's The Wonderful 101. It's funny to see that Europe will be able to get great part of those games earlier than both America and Japan, that's for sure!

Pricing Details: For some reason or another, the American streams have been more focused on the reveal of future games's prizes recently. In a market where a lot of new products are announced almost every day, it's a relief to know earlier how much we are going to pay at Day 1 in order to enjoy what we are planning to buy. Will those prices be the same in the rest of the world as well?

The Old Lady's Gold: To see already-released European games in Japanese Directs is always refreshing, since this means that its players love to see something which comes outside from their homelands. Lego City Undercover's feature presentation in the JP broadcast proves that a game nowadays finally doesn't need any kind of specific nationality in order to shine, as long as the experience offered is fun and there is someone who wants to fully enjoy it.

THE BAD

I know you were expecting a different image from me, but... have an otter instead.

The Fastest Leak Alive: Aside the Sega stuff and the usual big N games, there was something else about third-parties today, this time consisting of the reveal of The Wonderful 101's release date. The official logo appears, followed by a couple of sentences by Iwata, ... aaaaaaand it's gone. Granted, today's Direct is meant to be nothing but a sneaky trailer for this summer's goodness but the game really got the shaft, especially compared to the screen time the other titles got!

To Be or Not to Be (localized)?: Surely this point is no surprise for the gaming world in general, but still is worth of a mention. The fact that some of the freshly-announced Sega games have been showed only at the Japanese Direct can be easily translated as unplayable games by the Western audience, thanks to the Region Lock policy issued by Nintendo since eons and eons. While there are many gaming fans out there who are waiting for an international port of other kind of games from Sega (like -say- Yakuza 5), on the other hand we have a relatively small group of people which can't play their favourite game unless on region-specific consoles.

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FINAL DIRECT: 3/5 STARS

Bottom line, today's Nintendo Direct iteration felt more to be like a pre-E3 appetizer than an actual ground-breaking reveal source like in the past. After considering that there will be another Direct episode before the E3's beginning, this doesn't sound that bad, doesn't it? The stuff to tell about is still there, but just in a lesser scale in sight of bigger reveals in the incoming month.

Lokamp Out.

Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct Impressions.

Last Wednesday's Nintendo Direct Impressions.

Iwata and pals showed up once more to deliver juicy reveals about the incoming stuff for the Nintendo 3DS, and... my GOD. Somehow I think this one might have found the receipe to keep the attention of both old Nintendo attenders and new gamers. For me, this surely helps out planning how to properly stab my wallet waiting until the next E3's venture, with loads of stuff that people waited for a pretty long time. The whole Direct presentation can be seen here:

But enough texting! Here's how I sorted the stuff revealed yesterday:

THE AWESOME

All in all you're just / another Link in the wall...

Sequel Fever: A new Yoshi's Island for Nintendo 3DS is in the works. The next portable Legend of Zelda adventure has been revealed for 3DS and it's scened in Link to the Past's world. WHERE'S THAT GODDAMMIT PIGGY BANK WHEN I NEED IT

More Year of the Luigi: Aside from the hilarity ensued by the Mario and Luigi costumes, all the stuff previously announced on the Valentine Direct for Mario's green twin brother has been featured again with new video footage, release dates (we'll discuss of this later) and the introduction of a new Mario Party game.  I think this will be enough to let people finally forget Mario is Missing. Am I right? *runs*

Nintendo 3DS/Wii Direct: From the beginning, Nintendo has labeled this Direct as a 3DS edition about the handheld's gaming panorama, but the Wii U stuff also had its fair share of spotlight, with more details about the next system update (which will be live next week), the New Super Luigi Bros. U DLC adventure, Virtual Console's return and the introduction of a new type of Pikmin for the namesake franchise's third game, coming up this summer. Nice to see some Wii U manna after some relatively-deserted months for the console.

THE GOOD

...WHY only Japan can have this?!?

Release Dates: Another jolly parade of release dates for the next 4-5 months! It doesn't matter if you live in Japan or you are waiting the localization of your 1st-party 3DS game; lots of games now have their launch dates (and boxart, most of the cases) as bright as the sun's light. Plus, it will be possible to buy those titles as bundled in a customized 3DS XL as well!

Fan Service (Not the One with Lots of Perviness): It's nice to see that the pleas of many Nintendo players have been listened by Nintendo, as Earthbound and the two twin Legend of Zelda GB Color games (Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages) will be part of European/American Wii U's eShop service somewhere in 2013, as well as the localization of the Square Enix RPG Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. What an upbeat streak for RPG fans!

DKC Returns + : Another nice thing to see is that the 3DS reharsh of Retro Studios's Donkey Kong Country Returns for Nintendo Wii will feature more than a simple "3D" sticker on the cover. An easier game mode for more casual playing -the New Mode- and a whole new world after the main adventure is over can be worth of a shot even for who already has played the game on Wii.

THE BAD

:

C'mon, spot the differences! It's a fun game for the family.

Retrospective... a bit Retro: Sadly, what I told to you in the Good section is only the abridged version of the reveal's build-up, which consisted in... speaking again about the core of the game. For a good 1-2 minutes. Since this is a remake of a videogame we already know from about 3 years, why to waste time by telling us things we already know from the past game? The new stuff they wanted to say today is still here, but we had to wait for a good chunk of filler moments before it.

No mention of (some) major titles: Directs have been a good vehicle so far for advertising other companies's games as well, like for Level-5's future 3DS eShop games and the final Professor Layton game's release outside Japan. However, some other games are still silent in the NA/EU fronts, like the Professor Layton x Phoenix Wright crossover videogame, always from Level-5. We users don't threat the companies for more details in merit at any cost, but at least state if these games will have a chance to reach other countries as well! It's better than the 'gaming limbo' we experience in similar situations...

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FINAL DIRECT: 4/5 STARS

Nitpicking aside, this has been a great Nintendo Direct for me, as it not only continued the job of the past "episodes" but also proved that they tend to listen to the people's requests for the consoles in order to have fun even more than now. Only two months are between us and the next E3 event, but I'm already sky high towards the future with this additional lineup refresh.

Lokamp out.

Last Wednesday's Nintendo Direct Impressions.

The Big N5 of the Week - Pika Pika Pikachu!

Well I was sick last week, but now I'm back for all you potential readers! Let's get down to what happened this week in the world of Nintendo gaming!

5. Japan gets exclusive Pikachu 3DS Xl. 
Do you like Pikachu? Of course you like Pikachu! (Don't lie!) Well Pokemon Center Japan just got a special Pikachu 3DS XL! It can be yours if you live in Japan and have enough US dollars to counter the exchange rate of Yen! Well...maybe that is real inconvenient news if you don't live near Japan...but at least you can look at it! Just look at that face!

4. Legend of Zelda encyclopedia being localized!  
Dark Horse Comics announced that they'll be bringing translated copies of Hyrule Historia to North America, the UK, and Australia. The book will be released Jan. 29th of next year, and pre-orders are going on right now! If you have the $35.99 (or $27 some sites are selling it) then this is something to consider. why not freshen up on your Zelda history?



 

3. Why was New Super Mario Bros. 2 £10 more in Europe via download?
In it's first week launch as a digital download, Europeans got a surprise to see NSMB2 being £10 more than the retail version! No word on how this came about, or if the situation is fixed, but one thing is for that that is waaaay over my budget! (If you're curious, that is $15 more in American currency.)

2. Luigi's Mansion 2 delayed until Q1 2013. 
Unfortunate news for anyone itching to suck up some ghouls. Luigi's Mansion 2 has been bumped to a Q1 2013 release. Professor Layton and the Mirror of Fate is also delayed until later 2013. But don't fret! We have plenty of games to look forward to come this Holiday season! (Just no sucking up ghouls yet...)

1. Team Ninja wants to make another Metroid. 
Whether you liked or hated Other M, Team Ninja is getting ready to make another...if Nintendo lets them: “Unfortunately Metroid is kind of out of our league as it’s Nintendo’s game, but we’re still in close touch with co-creator Sakamoto-san, so we want to do something with him moving forward definitely. It really depends on what he wants to do with the game first.” -Yosuke Hayashi. No please. The next Metroid should definitely be a 2-D platformer. We need more variety!

Thanks for reading and remember you can get Mario's Picross for $2.99!


 

The Big N5 of the Week - Pika Pika Pikachu!