Nintendo held their first live Nintendo Direct since the death of Satoru Iwata this afternoon at 2 Pacific. Most of what was covered were games we already knew about, except now most of them have release dates. Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam comes January 22. Star Fox Zero is slated for April 22. Pokken Tournament will be out Spring 2016, and the first print run of the game will come with a Shadow Mewtwo card, which you can hold up to the Wii U gamepad’s amiibo sensor to unlock him. Nintendo also stated the new Zelda would come in 2016, which is an improvement because until now we didn’t even know the year.
The biggest announcement, as per the usual, was saved for the end: a new third-party character is joining Super Smash Bros. soon, and he carries a big sword! Cloud Strife, arguably the Final Fantasy franchise’s most famous character, will become playable in 2016 and his DLC pack will come with a Midgar stage. And just to ease everyone’s nerves, a card was flashed at the end of Cloud’s trailer stating that the character fans voted in is not this one, and that it will be revealed next month in a special live video.
The original Pokemon generation is coming to 3DS — and I’m talking the authentic thing itself, not a remake! Red, Blue and Yellow will at last be added to the eShop’s Virtual Console February 27, 2016. And you WILL be able to trade, just like you would do with a Link Cable — only wireless this time! (No online stuff; these are old-school. Your friend must be in the room!) Also, I wouldn’t bet on Missingno turning up.
Sometimes Nintendo can really be tone-deaf to the concerns of fans, but with Super Mario Maker, they’ve really been listening. Not only has one of the game’s biggest problems been resolved (a lack of checkpoints) but another complaint is about to be addressed: the game’s less-than-adequate search function will be massively improved — that is, online. A new website and app will go up this December allowing Mario Makers to search the available levels with a wider variety of search options — hopefully, filtering out the more terrible levels and the “game plays itself” ones. Evidently the search could not be overhauled in the game itself, but any level you mark on the search app will become available to you in the game when you turn it on.
The rumors are true regarding the HD remaster of Twilight Princess. It’ll come to stores on March 4, 2016 in both regular form and a deluxe version that includes a Wolf Link amiibo (with Midna riding). The graphics look to be the same, just in 1080p — but I wouldn’t want them messed with anyway. Pre-ordering the game gets you the soundtrack.
If you’re a Fire Emblem fan, you’re going to be really taking it in the wallet this February. Fire Emblem Fates will be released in two versions: Birthright and Conquest. They will each tell a different side of the story, and will both connect with a bonus downloadable third chapter: Revelation. If you own one, you can get the other for a discount, but most fans are going to want something tangible and will be forced to pay the full price for both. Nintendo will be selling both versions of Fire Emblem Fates in a special package that includes a 3DS carrying case — but it’s no less money than buying them separately would be at $80.
Nintendo hasn’t joined the crowd of AAA developers that require gigantic installs just to get a physical disc to run….thank heaven. It’s not like they can, given they chose to make their internal drive a mere 35GB. But they did imply today Xenoblade Chronicles X might run slower if gig-sized packs of data were not on the hard drive. It’s only optional, but it is something to consider if you don’t mind having an external HD drive attached to the Wii U at all times.
Dragon Quest VII’s 3DS version WILL get an English translation, thanks to Nintendo, and not only that, the 3DS port of Dragon Quest VIII will be arriving here at around the same time! Both are scheduled for the summer of 2016. Final Fantasy Chronicles, an offshoot of the regular series, will also be released West, but with a ton of content included free that was DLC in Japan.
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