Due to the poor choice of date, I’m sure that most of you had doubts that anything would come out Nintendo’s announcement of a Direct on April 1st, but it seems that the big N is serious, and wants to everyone to know it. The latest Nintendo Direct has revealed information on a wide variety of upcoming products including new Wii U and 3DS titles, and various upcoming amiibo lines. Highlights from the Direct include the fan-anticipated addition of amiibo cards, details about Splatoon, Mario Maker, and Yoshi’s Wooly World, the debut of 200cc in Mario Kart 8, an upcoming home designer Animal Crossing game, a new Attack on Titan 3DS title, more details on the new Fire Emblem game,and Lucas coming to Smash 4 .
I’ve summarized the highlights for you below, but if you wish to check out the Nintendo Direct for yourself, visit http://www.nintendo.com/
We’ve seen hints for months, but Nintendo has finally confirmed the release of a new amiibo card line coming his fall. These take the form of small cards embedded with NFC chips that allow all the utility of an amiibo with the portability of a note card. The first set of cards will be based on Animal Crossing characters and will be compatible with a newly announced Animal Crossing home designer game. Super Smash Bros will also be receiving large additions to its amiibo count with three upcoming release batches, the first coming up on May 29th, followed by releases in July and September Nintendo has also announced two new lines of amiibos that will be releasing along with upcoming titles Yoshi’s Wolly World and Splatoon, the former of which will be a new set of Yoshi amiibo figures made of actual yarn!
Now that we’ve gotten the peripherals covered, lets get into the real meat of the announcements – the games! Let’s begin with some news for the Wii U
- Splatoon and Mario Maker – Nintendo started their game presentations with two upcoming big hitters – Splatoon and Mario Maker, coming Wii U consoles in May and September respectively. New 4v4 and 1v1 modes have also been announced for Splatoon, allowing players to compete with each other for the highest score.
- Yoshi’s Woolly World: This new Wii U game launches this fall and is filled to the brim with numerous challenges and hidden secrets. In addition to Classic Mode, Yoshi’s Woolly World adds a Mellow Mode, an additional mode that lets players of all skill levels enjoy what the game has to offer as Winged Yoshi.
- 200c makes its debut – The biggest surprise to me during this presentation had to be the announcement of the new 200cc racing class to be added to Mario Kart 8. Karters all over will soon experience what it truly means to go fast. The new speed class will work on all tracks in the game, and will be released as a free update on April 23rd alongside a new DLC Pack featuring new characters, vehicles, and tracks.
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In addition to the variety of Wii U titles detailed above, Nintendo has definitely not left the handheld gamers behind.
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer – While previous Animal Crossing games focused on town building and expansion, a new AC title has been announced that focuses on the decorating and home-designing aspects of the series. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer will be released this fall.
- New Fire Emblem – New information has also been released regarding the new Fire Emblem game slated for 2016. Like in Awakening the main playable character will be a customizable avatar, but this time will also be the main hero or heroine of the game. Two routes have also been revealed that alter the gameplay experience and add complexity to the traditional Fire Emblem formula.
- Pokémon Rumble World: The latest addition to the Pokémon Rumble series is free to download and features more than 700 Pokémon. Square off against tons Toy Pokémon when Pokémon Rumble World launches exclusively on Nintendo 3DS on April 8.
- Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains – In a surprising announcement, an Attack on Titan 3DS game developed by Atlus was also revealed featuring four-player co-op gameplay seemingly similar to that of Monster Hunter, where players take on the role of their favorite characters to defend humanity from the titans.
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3D – The first exclusive to the New 3DS has received a new trailer and will be hitting the shelves to spread its magnificent story and RPG mechanics to New 3DS owners on April 10th
- New (DLC) Challengers Approaching!: As previously announced, Mewtwo will join the roster of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS as a downloadable character on April 28. For $4.99, players receive Mewtwo for both versions of the game. In addition, fan-favorite Lucas from Mother 3 will be joining the Super Smash Bros. cast in June.
