The house that Mario built just held another one of their Nintendo Directs, where they update their rabid fan base as to what’s cooking. But unlike previous installments, a lot was mentioned, hence why I’m bothering to bring it up in the first place.
First up, a behind the scenes look at the upcoming Bayonetta 2. There’s actually not that much to see, but at least it’s nice to know that Platinum is giving it their all with this one, and it’s not just the first one with a few new elements, simply sprinkled about…
Next is the other game Platinum is putting together for the Wii U, The Wonderful 101, which was one of the best things I checked out at PAX Prime last fall. Once again, it’s a super hero take on Pikmin and it’s fairly rad…
Third up is an as of yet unamed RPG from Monolith Soft, the folks behind Xenoblade Chronicles. If you’re into JRPGs, you’ll probably dig the following. As for myself, anything that lets you get inside a large transforming robot is indeed my kind of thing.
So two things got fan boys all hot and bothered. First is word of Shin-Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, which combines Nintendo’s strategy RPG with Atlus’s demon gathering and fighting RPG. Something that I definitely am excited for as well; if both games sound vaguely similar, I assure you that they are not…
But the star of the show was word of two new Zelda games being in development. With one of them being an HD remake of Wind Waker. A pretty game is getting even prettier…
As for other bits and pieces…
- So what’s up with Smash Bros game? It’s coming along, but it’s also taking longer than expected to develop. Though we should see something at this year’s E3.
- The folks who made Wii Party is making a sequel for the Wii U, naturally.
- Two new Super Mario titles in the works. Again, big surprise. One will be by the folks who made Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D Land. The other, by the party responsible for Mario Kart.
- There’s a new game from the folks who made Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and this one stars Yoshi. Looks hella cute…
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- Some new screen shots of Pikmin 3 were also revealed. Here’s perhaps the neatest of the bunch…
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- Nintendo’s Miiverse will soon be leaving the confines of the Wii U, onto smart phones. Nintendo’s social network will be web-based initially, but an app will soon follow.
- Yet what’s a Nintendo announcement with word of something that’s insanely stupid? They finally announced that the Virtual Console is finally coming to the Wii U, which is a good thing, because playing old NES games definitely helps during those stretches in which new software is scarce. Which for Nintendo, can be a lot.
Though for starters, the entire library from the normal Wii will not be available. Why? Who the hell knows. But here’s the best part: you will not be able to re-download games you already bought for the Wii onto the Wii U. You will have to buy them again. Why? Is it because Nintendo is greedy? Not necessarily, there’s probably a host of technical reasons.
Actually, they are also fairly greedy too. Then again, Nintendo’s most diehard fans will put money down regardless, and the company knows this.