Nintendo held yet another Nintendo Direct presser this week and revealed New Super Mario Bros. 2, a new 3DS firmware update, and tons more.
Once again Nintendo took to the digital airwaves as part of their continuing Nintendo Direct presentations, featuring a future forecast of what’s soon to come to all Nintendo platforms. And boy, did this particular April 22 event pack enough good stuff to make any fan of the Big N as happy as that pinwheel-holding pig from those Geico commercials (man, those things are great).
This go around though, there wasn’t a Nintendo of America counterpart to the Japanese one hosted by Nintendo big boss, President Satoru Iwata, but NoA public relations made certain us Yanks were kept in the loop of things, so all the info I’ve collected here, is thanks to them. The clever wordsmith-ing you’re about to read today? All humbly me.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 For Nintendo 3DS, Hits For August Release
I doubt this piece of news needs much explanation, but because of the career chip installed in the my palm of my hand, “you gotta do what you gotta do” as they say. Alright, so – Mario heads back to money-printing fountain that is the New Super Mario Bros. formula, with a forthcoming iteration for the Nintendo 3DS headed for a simultaneous world-wide release in August.
Certainly more 2D Mario escapades are always welcomed in my book, the original New Super Mario Bros. was a blast for the Nintendo DS, and this sequel looks to have that in spades, along with what appears to be an infusion of new fun gimmicks and twists; wait, did I just spy the original P-Wing power-up from Super Mario Bros. 3? Okay Nintendo, have all my monies… Again.
Nintendo Celebrates Kirby’s 20th Anniversary
April 27, 1992 marks the first Kirby game (ten points if you rightly guessed Kirby’s Dream Land of the Game Boy), and to celebrate the “round mound of pink’s” twentieth birthday, Nintendo is throwing a party of sorts. What kind of party? First, hopefully cake. And second, a collection of past Kirby titles boxed into one retail-shelf offering.
Please, oh please, be better than the crappy emulation job in Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition. Oh please, oh please, oh please, be better!
New 3DS Firmware Adds Folders To System OS & Bug Fixes
“Wee-ooo!” “Wee-ooo!” “Wee-ooo!” Hark! I believe I hear the 3DS firmware update alarm in the far distance! And this time Nintendo is taking a sharp cue from Apple’s iOS by giving users the clutter-clearing ability to create individual folders to organize games and applications, with each folder holding up to 60 items and can be personally labeled (you better be taking notes Sony).
There’s also a few bug fixes to games, like Mario Kart 7 (if you’ve played its multiplayer, you know the one), to go along with this 3DS firmware when it drops on April 25. In fact, from now on Nintendo and all third-party developers will be able to patch physical games. Kudos to that.
Project X Zone Trailer Shows Off The Wildest Cross-Over By Far
Remember back to the last Nintendo Direct in February (the Nintendo of Japan version) when the trio of Capcom/Namco/Sega announced they were tag-teaming to make a mysterious game for the Nintendo 3DS? Oh, you don’t? Well then, now is the apt time to snap into attention with the debut trailer for Project X Zone – the collaborative effort between all three Japanese companies.
Yup, if there’s one thing Japanese game producers do awesomely right, its cross-overs. And this strategy-RPG flavored one, has an all-star cast (16 characters total) belonging to some well-loved IPs: just to name a few, from Capcom, there’s Ryu and Mega Man X; representing Namco Bandai, Jin Kazama and Kite; finally form Sega, Ulala and Akira Yuki.
Likelihood of Project X Zone coming stateside? Fifty-fifty. (Internet fanboys get your online petitions ready!) For now, the game only has a fall Japanese shipping date. Bummer. Personally, I really want this game, so here is hoping on a release westward and beyond.
Two New Pokemon Apps Mastering Their Way Onto The Japanese eShop
Leading up to the Japanese summer launch of Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2, Nintendo is eagerly rolling out the hype with the announcements of two Pokémon-related goods arriving for the Japanese eShop, a Face Raiders-esque mini-game called Pokemon AR Searcher (June 23 for 300 yen) that puts Pokemon in real-world environments for players to catch.
Meanwhile, the other eShop release is more app-based and is an expanded version of Pokédex 3D. The original freeware download only carried a partial list of the popular pocket monsters, but with Pokédex 3D Pro (July 14 for 1,500 yen) the index will include a full database of every Pokémon thus far. No word yet if any of these two items will be made available for outsiders Japan.
Animal Crossing 3DS Landing In The Fall… In Japan
Wait a flippin’ minute? This is still a thing?! It’s been forever since we’ve heard anything about Animal Crossing for the Nintendo 3DS (I believe the last time was at a 3DS developer roundtable in December), I thought it had disappeared off the face of the Earth or something. Well, looks like Nintendo is finally breaking the silence by updating the time stamp for a fall release in Japan.
The fourth cutesy life-sim game from Nintendo, which now has players taking the role of town mayor to the furry populated village, also has a new Japanese title of “Tobidase Dobutsu no Mor,” or for us English-speakers, “Leap Out Animal Crossing.” I’m guessing that title change is due to the reported use of 3D in the game; who knows if that will be the same treatment for the Western version though.
That raps up another Nintendo Direct, but there’s still more gaming news to be had here at Walyou. Find out about the new God of War title coming to the PlayStation 3, and how a smart ten-year-old from Martinez, California created a video game for his blind grandma.
