Nintendo Direct 8/7/13 Overview

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It’s been awhile since we’ve hear from Nintendo. Their last Direct was in June for their E3 showing. It wasn’t insanely impressive, but it gave us closer looks at some of the core and first party games coming to the consoles. After the news about the dwindling sales of the Wii U, it seems like Nintendo just wanted to get some buzz rolling around some of their top tier games.

The direct started off with 3rd Party games. Sonic The Lost World was explained in further detail, and the game looks fantastic! The Wii U and 3DS versions will ship together on October 22, and will be able to interact with one another using local wifi. The 3DS player will be able to help Sonic by creating a customisable remote control helicopter and fly around the stages.

Rayman Legends is no longer a Wii U exclusive, however the Wii U will still offer a unique experience that utilizes the GamePads featureset. Allowing up to 5 players, asymmetrical multiplayer, and GamePad only play gives this game a definite edge over the other consoles. Rayman Legends is launching September 3rd.

Art Academy SketchPad will launch on August 9th. It will provide a whole artistic array of functions to the Wii U GamePad. The MiiVerse version will launch soon after the app. There is also a full retail release in the works.

Nintendo then went on to talk about some of their first party titles. Starting with Pikmin 3, which has already launched. They were exclusively talking about the camera feature that allows you to upload images to MiiVerse directly from the game. Nintendo is taking these screenshots and putting them on their facebook wall, and encouraging users to caption the images.

Mario and Luigi Dream Team is launching on August 11th. They spoke about the gameplay elements like badges, and challenge modes to acquire new gear.

Pokemon Rumble U is coming to the Wii U on August 29th. It will feature every Pokemon from Pokemon Red and Blue all the way to Pokemon Black and White 2. Figures will be sold separately that can be imported to the game using NFC. These figures will provide the player with bonuses, but are not required to experience the entirety of the game.

Next they moved onto the 3DS and the 3DS eShop announcing that Summer Carnival ’92 Recca will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS soon. Donkey Kong will also be coming to the 3DS on August 15th. For those of you with a love of sports, Tecmo Bowl will be heading to the 3DS this fall. Also headed to the 3DS eShop is Warioland 3, launching on August 29th! Super Mario Bros 3 will hit the 3DS and Wii U eShops later this year!

Two other major titles coming to the 3DS are Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, as well as Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney! Both launch in 2013!

Focus shifted to The Legend of Zelda series. A Link Between Worlds will introduce a dark or shadowy triforce that exists in another world. The world Link lives in will be the same as the world in A Link to the Past, the ‘other’ world will be new, not the same Dark World. Both worlds will feature new dungeons. The game takes place years after A Link to the Past. So much time has passed that we will be playing as a whole new Link once again. A Link Between Worlds will ship for Nintendo 3DS this November.

Wind Waker HD will be launching this October. It will feature new features like faster travel, and a fine tuned final section to make the triforce fetch quest a little less daunting. It was also announced that the Wind Waker takes place before Phantom Hourglass! That’s some interesting news to me.

Adding info into the Year of Luigi – Luigi was announced as a playable character in the new Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS. Not surprising, but still exciting.

Animal Crossing New Leaf was the final focus of the show. The game is now available world wide, and will allow the players to visit the towns created by other players around the world. There will also be an Animal Crossing community page added to the MiiVerse. Animal Crossing Plaza will become available on the Wii U, which looks just like the Walla Walla Plaza on the Wii U only with Animal Crossing avatars moving about. You can use this area to specifically discus the game, and share and organize images. The Plaza will be available through the end of 2014.

One final announcement was made: There will be a Nintendo Direct this Friday, at 10AM(EST) for The Wonderful 101. So be sure to check back for info on that!

Over all I wouldn’t call this an outstanding Nintendo Direct, but I’m just glad to hear from them. Hopefully they can get moving with some more of their first party games like. . . Metroid? PLEASE?!

Eric is not a boss. You can Email Eric or follow Eric on Twitter @EricSweeten or Facebook

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