Going into E3, Nintendo was a bit of a mystery. We had a small idea of what the company would be showing for Wii U, but its latest Nintendo Direct shows that the company knows what its fans want.
Nintendo kicked off its show with some new information for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. It revealed there’s a new type called “fairy” that’s especially strong against Dragon types. The game will be out on October 12.
Next up is the latest 3D Mario title – Super Mario 3D World. Unlike the Galaxy games before it, the newest 3D Mario is taking a cue from the excellent Super Mario 3D Land. What that means is that Nintendo is distilling Mario into its core essence. That doesn’t mean the game won’t have anything new, however, as the developers are introducing a cat suit power up and simultaneous four player co-op. It will be out in December.
Sticking with Mario, Nintendo announced that Mario Kart 8 would be coming to the Wii U in Spring 2014. The game will borrow elements from Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Wii to create the definitive version of the title. It will also implement some new online features that the company isn’t discussing at the moment.
Earlier this year, Nintendo said that it would be bringing Wii Party U and Wii Fit U to the console in Summer. Both titles have been delayed with Wii Party U coming later this year and Wii Fit U launching this Winter.
Nintendo noted that fans have been creating fantastic art in Miiverse ever since the console launched. They wanted to bring more sophisticated tools to those fans so they will be creating an updated version of the popular 3DS title Art Academy for Wii U. The game has no release date just yet, but Nintendo will launch some of the drawing tools found in the main game for Miiverse artists in Summer.
Moving on, Nintendo shared more details regarding its remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. The game will ditch the Tingle Tuner from the original game in favor of the Tingle Bottle. This item will allow players to toss a message in a bottle out to sea and then have it wash up on shores of other players. The title will be available in October of this year.
Platinum Games got some love during Nintendo Direct with The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2 both getting new trailers. The Wonderful 101 will be launching September 15.
The latest Bayonetta 2 trailer shows taht the central character has received a redesign with shorter hair and a new outfit. The game will be out in 2014.
One of the brand new announcements was of a new Donkey Kong game titled Donkey Koung Country Tropical Freeze. The new Wii U title will be similar to Donkey Kong Country Returns, but will feature some fancy new camera angles. It will also bring Dixie Kong as a playable character. It will be out later this year.
Near the end, Nintendo showed a new trailer for X. If you recall, X is the codename for the new title from Monolith Soft. It looks like a mashup between Xenoblade and Xenogears. That’s hardly a bad thing. X will be released in 2014.
On a final note, Nintendo showed the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. for both 3DS and Wii U. The 3DS title will be using a cel-shaded style while the Wii U version will look more realistic. The Villager from Animal Crossing will be joining as a fighter.
The big surprise this time around is that Mega Man will be joining the fray as a guest character. He looks to play a little like Samus, but he can also call upon the power of every single robot master from Mega Man 2. Both versions of Super Smash Bros. will be out in 2014.