In what could be be described as sudden and profoundly saddening, Nintendo has announced that its current president, Satoru Iwata, has passed away. They explain in a very short message that his death was due to a bile duct growth. He had surgery to remove this growth last year, which concerned many since it meant that he would skip out on last year’s E3. Upon his return, it seemed like everything was fine and that the surgery was a success. That is until today when Nintendo told us the news. According to their “Notification of Death and Personnel Change of a Representative Director (President)” (PDF) document, Iwata had actually died last Saturday, July 11th, and waited until today to fully confirm the news and relay the message to the public.
This morning’s Nintendo Direct was all about new stuff, new stuff in already released games, and new stuff in upcoming games. Since this year is about to wrap up, everything that would’ve been shown during a Nintendo Direct this year has more or less transpired. While some games have yet to be shown again, like X and Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, this Direct had some pretty cool announcements. So hit the jump let’s check out some of them.
Well things are certainly going a differently at the house of Mario. Instead of having a press conference, Nintendo is holding a Direct broadcast showcasing what’s to come for the Wii U. The Wii U so far has had a very sluggish year with barely any games released for the console. However, will this be the Direct that turns things around for Nintendo? They did confirm that the next Super Smash Bros. will be shown. What about that mysterious “X” game from earlier this year? And what about Retro Studios’ newest game? All will be known today.
The Nintendo Direct Broadcast will begin at 10:00AM. The above embed is a live reaction of us watching the broadcast.
Another Nintendo Direct has gone by this morning. It wasn’t long, but it offered some new info on games we already knew about, namely some release dates on long awaited games. There were a couple of reveals too involving Sonic The Hedgehog. Before we jump, let’s talk about the teaser image up there. It’s from the next game in the Sonic series, titled Sonic: Lost World. So what exactly are we seeing there? Well there’s Sonic on top of the Tornado (most likely piloted by Tails). But then there’s this fractured globe, connected by hexagon-shaped landmasses. There’s some aquatic areas, some plains, a forest, an ice cap, and volcanic areas. There’s also two desert-like areas, probably one resembling a standard desert and the other a more rugged, American-styled desert.
Iwata states that Nintendo is partnering with Sega for this venture. It’s not certain how deep this venture goes, but we do know that Sonic: Lost World will be exclusive to the Wii U and 3DS.
The very last announcement for today’s Nintendo Direct came from the Regginator himself. He called back to how he views A Link To The Past as his favorite game of all time (it’s my second favorite Zelda game, behind Wind Waker). With that in mind, he showed off a new game that’ll take place in the same Hyrule as depicted in A Link To The Past, this time with 3D graphics. Gameplay and movement is the same as it was in A Link To The Past (and Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks minus the stylus control). Sporting his classic Brown/Green tunic from the original game, Link will traverse the land of Hyrule in oldschool fashion. However height will now play a bigger role than before. On top of this, Link can become a 2D picture on the wall and turn corners that he wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Think Sideways NY, but with a lot more Zelda.
Currently Nintendo of America hasn’t chosen a name for this sequel, but Nintendo of Japan is currently calling it Triforce of the Gods 2 (referencing ALttP’s Japanese name). Will it be called A Link To The Past 2, fall prey to the punny A Link 2 The Past, or will we get an entirely new subtitle? The game will be made available for the 3DS around the holiday season of this year.
Nintendo announced that they’re be airing a new Nintendo Direct this Wednesday. It’ll be starting at 10AM EST/7AM PST. The focus will be on the 3DS. Will we be seeing new games on the horizon. Will we have new info on Shin Megami Tensei IV‘s U.S. release? We’ll get those answers this Wednesday. So mark those calendars!
And Europe, you’re getting a Nintendo Direct too. It’ll start at 3PM GMT.
During the grand ol’ hullabaloo of PS4 Reveal, Nintendo was having a Nintendo Direct for the 3DS in Japan. Shin Megami Tensei IV was one of the games shown, and in it a plethora of info mainly regarding battles. Of course one of the biggest things many have noticed (for a while anyway) is a return to using a first person view for battles, a style that many MegaTen games have used. The battle system will be using the Press-Turn Battle system first seen in games like Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga. For those unaware, you get a certain amount of actions per turn. Say for instance you get four actions. You can spend those however you like. However you can get more actions by exploiting an enemy’s weakness, increasing your actions beyond four. Attack an enemy with an element they’re strong to, and you’ll lose an action. This system doesn’t just apply to the player though as the enemy can do the same to you and gain more actions per turn. Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean.
This morning’s Nintendo Direct was full of surprises for Wii U owners. The Wii U-centric presentation revealed several new releases for the console that I’m sure will have owners and would-be owners foaming at the mouth, but one in particular just blew me and many other Xenoblade fans away.
Monolith Soft’s new unnamed Wii U title was revealed during Nintendo Direct with a trailer that gives us a small taste of what to expect. The gameplay and environment look extremely similar to Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles, which was released on the Wii last year. Steven and I sung its praises during last week’s podcast, both dubbing it our game of the year. The red X that appears at the end of the trailer also resembles the Xenogears logo, which gives even more reason to believe this game is related to the Xeno series. Tetsuya Takahashi, who directed both Xenogears and Xenoblade, returns as director for this title, as well as character designer Kunihiko Tanako. I’m a little disappointed that Yoko Shimomura isn’t doing the soundtrack but, if the song from the trailer is anything to go by, Hiroyuki Sawano’s music sounds like it’s going to be amazing.
What really has me excited though is that Monolith Soft seems to be bringing back one of the best features of Xenogears, the ability to fight both inside and outside of a mech. This game seems to take it even further with being able to hover and transform into vehicles as well. And if the world is as vast and fun to explore as Xenoblade’s was, then I can only imagine what they have in store for players this time around now.
I’ve already re-watched that trailer more times than I care to admit, and it gives me chills each and every time. I have to say, this is the game that may convince me to get a Wii U. And even if it weren’t, there are plenty of other reasons for gamers to purchase one after today’s Nintendo Direct. For Nintendo, it looks like the gloves are coming off.
While we’re on the subject of releases, two bits of news came out of Nintendo following their Nintendo Direct a couple of nights back. First up, Rhythm Hunter HarmoKnight was confirmed for release in the U.S. Made by Game Freak, the creators of the Pokemon franchise, the gamplay is one part Rhythm Heaven, one part Bit.Trip Runner, and one part Space Channel 5. The game also has music and stages inspired by the Pokemon series. Nintendo states that the game will be coming the Nintendo eShop for the 3DS soon.
The next bit of good news is that the release date for Fire Emblem Awakening has narrowed even further to a specific date. It now has an expected release date of February 4th, 2013.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Yes, for free. In the U.S. Nintendo Direct video a couple of days ago, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge producer Yosuke Hayashi revealed that female ninja Momiji would become playable via a patch for the game. He states in the video, “If you can connect to the internet, you will be able to download her for free as part of a patch.” Seeming to almost start wrapping up his segment, he continues on with, “And that’s not all! Kasumi from the Dead of Alive series will also be a playable character in NG3:RE. She will be also available as a free update if you can connect online…”
I like seeing stuff like this. No word yet if they’ll be free forever or for a limited time. Either way, all you need is internet and you’re good to go. No cash required!
From left to right: Liberation Maiden from Suda51, AeroPorter from Yoot Saito, and Crimson Shroud from Yasumi Matsuno
Today Nintendo of Europe held a Nintendo Direct Press conference for European fans focusing primarily on 3DS software. It touched on a few things like New Super Mario Bros. 2 add-on content, Virtue’s Last Reward, and a new Pushmo game. I won’t cover the whole thing, but if you want, you can see the entire presentation here. One of the more notable announcements is that Fire Emblem Awakening now has an approximate release date of Q2 of 2013. Another bit of awesome news is that three of Level 5’s Guild 01 games are coming to Europe. They are Suda 51’s Liberation Maiden, Yoot Saito’s AeroPorter, and Yasumi Matsuno’s Crimson Shroud. Many had doubts that the games, or Guild 01 for that matter, had little chance of coming westward due to the quirkiness of the project. It’s nice to see that the download space is still a viable venture for these types of games.
Again, watch the video for the full lodown for things to come in Europe. Just remember that not all your hear may not apply to the U.S. And… real quick for us in the U.S…. Pullblox is Pushmo, Style Boutique is Style Savvy, New Art Academy is just Art Academy, and that Koopa Shell trophy is awesome.
Looks like Nintendo’s gonna do another Nintendo Direct. According to the message on the streaming page, they’ll only be focusing on Wii and 3DS software. They make it very clear that there will be no Wii U news on this. I have a feeling this is primarily going to be a 3DS showing as the Wii is on its last legs. If they’re going to show anything on the Wii, it’ll probably be extra stuff for games currently released, maybe some Fatal Frame II and Kirby 20th Anniversary news, etc. Remember, this is the Japanese Nintendo Direct, so any news coming out of this may not necessarily apply to the U.S. But who knows, maybe Iwata might break the flow, become aware of the U.S. audience watching it, and suddenly announce at the last minute that Pandora’s Tower‘s coming to the U.S.!
Since the broadcast starts at 8PM JST, using a timezone converter, that means it’ll start at… 7AM EST? Huh… I think I might have to wake my ass up early for this then. Use this. If I’m wrong, please correct me.
Okay then, the Nintendo Direct broadcast has ended. Quite a few announcements were made, most of which were for the 3DS. Hit the jump to see the news. I’m gonna break them up in segments.
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