Nintendo Directs are a funny thing now. It's not common that we see so many new game announcements before E3, yet now we've had three full Directs, showcasing more new games than I have fingers to count. It's probably overwhelming for anyone with a wallet, and especially those anticipating more games in E3, which will we. That's why I loved today's Direct. Sure, it announced more games (wallet: eeek!), but its focus on new DLC was the deal breaker. It wasn't amazing, BUT THAT'S OKAY. You can view the whole Direct here:
And without a further ado...here's what we thought about it:
THE AWESOME:
Luigi...wake up! You're the star now!
Year of the Luigi: Luigi has always been something of a second fiddle gag for the Mario series, but this year Luigi is starring in no fewer than three games, as a great aspect in-game than just a supporting character. Seeing Iwata sporting a Luigi hat is probably the best justice for the Green caper. Better hang onto Peach, Mario, Luigi is the new man in the house!
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D: At first I was disappointed with a port of a Wii game instead of a brand new adventure, but the 3D affects blew me away- this game was made to be on the 3DS. If you have a 3DS, I recommend downloading and viewing the trailer from the Nintendo eShop.
Mario & Luigi gets a fourth installment: Tweaking Luigi's nose forms a staircase in the hilarious new trailer for the fourth M&L installment: Dream Team. The sprites, a combination of Mario RPG and 3D Mario style graphics, are sure to please. And who wouldn't want to tweak Luigi's nose?
THE GOOD:
Is your body Ready?
Release Dates: HarmoKnight on March 28th, Animal Crossing New Leaf in June 9th, Pokemon Mystery dungeon and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon both released on March 17th, a Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate demo on February 21st, and many more 3DS games being released this Summer. Can you say: HELL YES?
DLC done right: 80 full new levels for New Super Mario Bros. U?! More Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC maps at half price? This is how you do DLC.
Waluigi: WALUIGI IS BACK, BABY!
THE BAD:
This makes somewhat sense now, maybe?
No mention of major titles: When are we going to see more NA screens for Project X Zone, or any other titles after the first Q1?
Aren't Directs a little.................long?: It's great to watch Directs, but 40 minutes is still too long just to show a few new titles. Keep Directs shorter and avoid any more Miiverse updates- we had enough!
-
FINAL DIRECT: 3/5 STARS
This was a decent Direct that gave me what I wanted and left without too many teases. The 3DS got it's spotlight, and E3 is just 4 months away to deliver more. Well done.
Happy Valentines, and have a great Luigi year, everyone!
Nintendo has done it: they have convinced me to get a Wii U, and that is incredible. Even after their 2012 E3 conference I was still not convinced to get a Wii U. Sure, there were a lot of cool games to look forward to, but I was tired of buying new consoles. The post-launch list was also pretty shallow and full of vague promises. But then I watched yesterday's Wii U Direct, and all my irks about the console have long since disappeared:
Before any games are shown, Iwata literally apologizes to Wii U owners about the lack of content for January and February, and also for the long load times of the system updates. But like a crafty Nintenja, Iwata doesn't stop at apologizes, oh no, he delivered the games- E3 debut quality games. It's as if he literally said: "Sorry we couldn't give you any cupcakes- HERE'S YO BIRTHDAY CAKE INSTEAD! HO! NINTENDO CHOP!!!" First a system with an unclear dark future, now a bright light that shines so bright, that if it wasn't a metaphor it would melt your face off just like the Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The gravity of games announced was so vast I had to break down this article into three sections. Not all of the Direct was great, but at least we got the goods.
THE AWESOME
"Dear World, I'm playing this game until the end of time. I won't make it to the party next Tuesday" -Me
The games: Did I just watch E3? Because I totally just watched E3. If Nintendo doesn't own this generation of gaming, it's either because everyone will simultaneously turn into radioactive butterflies and explode or that the screwcap on the universe is screwed on wrong. Pikmin 3 got to shine to show off new Miiverse snapshot capabilities. Mii Party U looks fun. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD broke the house and took everyone by surprise, and even more surprising is that it's being released this fall. Platinum Games' The Wonderful 101 and Bayontte got a spotlight. Yoshi returns in a Epic Yarn adventure. Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, in whatever form it will appear in, is going to be awesome and INSANE. And finally, as if to bro-fist every person who supported Xenoblade's localization, Monolith Studios' new game, titled X, was revealed to be a spiritual successor to Xenoblade at the end of the show. Yes, I do believe I just watched E3. Don't wake me up from this dream, ever.
The future: If Nintendo achieved anything in this Direct, it was to put the naysayers for the future of the Wii U console to bed- and they did so with a semi-automatic...to the head. As with the announcement of the remake for Wind Waker, a second Zelda game is in development for the Wii U as I write this. A new Mario Kart and 3-D Mario (from the team of Mario Galaxy/3-D Land fame) are also planned, and will be in playable form this E3. Smash Bros. 4 will also be finally revealed in June. Sure, these are Nintendo staples, but I'm sure they got some more surprises up their sleaves.
It's getting better: Those experiencing problems with long Wii U load times may not fret, because Nintendo will solve the problem in the form of two updates: one in Spring and the other in Summer. Instead of just providing false promises, Nintendo is determined to fix it's problems and provide better entertainment experiences. I only wish for more game companies would follow suit.
THE GOOD
You can never play too many NES games.
Wii U Virtual Console: VC titles on the Wii U have been extremely stagnant. But luckily, Nintendo is not only offering a new NES title every month for only 30 cents each for a limited time, but also letting past Wii owners to tansfer their NES and SNES VC library to the Wii U for a reduced price per game. The price isn't frivolous money grabing either: Nintendo is tuning up every VC game headed to the Wii U, and allowing you to play them on the Gamepad with the ability to save at any point.
Miiverse: Nintendo is forming it's own Facebook-esk gaming community with new filtering features, and the results are quite surprising. Hopefully I new art studio will come into place as well.
GBA is coming to Wii U VC: Hey look, GBA games!
THE BAD
Nope.
GBA is coming to Wii U VC: Wait, what? Why snub the 3DS owners?
"Now that we're done talking about Miiverse, let's talk about Miiverse": "And while we're talking about Miiverse, here's more pictures of Miive-" okay, we get Miiverse is great and all, but have we already exhausted this topic in last E3 AND in a past Direct? Show new features about Miiverse, good, but can we move it along after that?
-
FINAL VERDICT: 5/5 STARS
Nintendo has convinced me that the Wii U is capable of producing top notch games with brilliant production values. I'm also convinced the future for console is going to produce some of the best games I ever played, and if not, I always have Xenoblade 2, I mean LOOK AT IT. This with the Pokemon X/Y unveiling are making me hyped ever so much for what Nintendo has next in store. 3DS Direct, please.
It's the Big 5 of the week! Grab a chair and read on what's happening in the world of the big N!
5. Someone just got a million coins in under 5 hours in NSMB2.
Have you beaten the million coin challenge? Well this guydid it in under 5 hours! Use the video as reference and you'll be able to pull this off yourself. Who needs the stock exchange?
4. Nintendo wants to create a Gamer Facebook.
Accompanying Miiverse, Nintendo wants to bring a social on-line forum to the 3DS for all Nintendo gamers to connect. "We have reached an era where even a single-player game experience [can]
have a social component that is very important. And I think, again,
that social component is mandatory." Iwata explains. "Early on, when I played a Mario game, it was really fun for me to sit
and chat with my friends about, 'Hey I found coins over here, there's a
hidden place.' [or] 'This is how far I got.' That interaction was great.
It was really a lot of fun, and I think you'll agree that [it was also
great] to help your friends in playing a Zelda game by saying, 'Hey,
this is how you get past this boss or solve this puzzle.' We'll have to wait and see how it plays out, but knowing Nintendo, they'll do something extra special.
3. Iwata: Handheld consoles aren't going away.
Tired of people predicting the doom of handhelds because of iPhones/iPads? Iwata is backing you up:
“I think that consumers who are willing to pay money for a gaming
experience are looking for something that is more rich and are willing
to spend some of that valuable time on that experience,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to see the desire to have, again, rich and
deep sort of gaming experiences – we’re not going to see that vanish.
That’s not going to go away.” Yes! Thank you, Iwata for giving the iOS the what-to! The gaming industry would be nothing without the 3DS and all of Nintendo's handhelds!
2. Fanmade Super Mario Galaxy 2.5 in the making! With full video AND a link to the demo!What you just saw there was fanmade - polished to near realistic perfection. The hack requires Riivolution in under to run, but anyone wishing for SMG3 would be more than happy to play this. Just look at Bowser's Castle!
1. Nintendo Power is no more.
On the saddest note of the week, Future magazine is ceasing publications of Nintendo Power due to lack of new subscribers. It's sad news for all Nintendo fans, including me, whether we were the first to grab the magazine along with a free Dragon Warriors cartridge, or newbies waiting for the latest news on Twilight Princess - it was a perfect magazine. Sadly, expect your last in November. We'll miss, good ol' friend...
Hello and welcome to another rendition of The Big N5!
5. HMV apologizes for the misleading 3DS XL ad.
HMV has something to say about last week's embarrassing3DS XL ad with a photoshopped second analog stick: "It's apparent this was just one particular store being a little
over-enthusiastic - and the poster has been removed. If it's caused
anyone any issues then we're sorry, but I'd say it doesn't take much to
work out this doesn't represent the company's retail offer for this
release." Thanks for being a good sport, HMV. Now don't go photoshopping a second screen on the Wii U control pad!
4. New Super Mario Bros. 2/Demon Training heading to Japan's 3DS eShop.
Starting July 28, two downloadable games will be heading to the Japanese 3DS eShop: New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 4,800 Yen ($61) and Demon Training for 3,800 Yen ($48). Don't be alarmed by the high prices, since the American dollar is weak in Japan, and the American downloadable versions will be the same price as the physical copies. NSMB2 will be released in the U.S. on August 19th. Demon Training's release is TBA.
3. Nintendo claims Wii U will be important for the world. In a Gamasutra interviewIwata expresses how it's not all about being first in the console spotlight: "Being first in the next generation race is not important at all," he
tells Gamasutra. "One of the reasons we believe this is the time for
Nintendo to launch the Wii U is it's going to be important for the
world." Later in the interview he discusses about the 3DS hardware sales, and the potential for the Wii to still produce more games, but didn't go into any specifics about the Wii U's price tag. He closes with this statement about graphics power: "We have not changed our strategy. In other words, we just do not care
what kind of 'more beef' console Microsoft and Sony might produce in
2013. Our focus is on how we can make our new console different than
[others]." Amen. Hopefully all three future systems can thrive in harmony.
2. My Little Epona T-shirt sells out on TeeFury.com.
Bronies and Zelda fans alike got a nice treat this week when the 'My Little Epona' T-Shirt was up for sale on TeeFury.com on Friday. Created by Julia "JellySnail" Whittles this adorable Zelda/MLP fancry to both fan services. It is sadly not available any more.
1. 30 Obscure facts about Mario.
You think you know Mario games? Well did you know that Goombas are called Kuribos in Japan? That Kamek was going to be a playable character in Mario Kart 64? Here's 28 more facts you probably didn't about your favorite plumber!
Well this was a pretty revealing bit. Nothing of the sort would come to light if this was ten years ago. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
---
Nakago: And I’ve got something even more interesting today. This is the first dungeon map ever created for Zelda.
Tezuka: Basically, we were going to make lots of dungeons using one square per room, and lay them out like a jigsaw puzzle.
Iwata: In order to fit in as many dungeons as possible given the limited memory, you were making them like you were doing a puzzle.
Since the launch of the Nintendo Wii in late 2006, the level of interactivity with games had been taken to a whole new level. I mean, the Wiimote actually sensed your movements, for crying out loud. Wasn't it the most fascinating thing you'd ever seen? Back then, anyway. Initially the Wii by itself should have been enough to hook Nintendo's market this time- casual gamers. It wasn't enough, so Nintendo released a whole load of other accessories(some which were not really all that necessary) for the console to help it achieve its goal.
