Nintendo Direct Recap

Nintendo dropped the latest Nintendo Direct today, so we thought we would put together this handy recap of what went down. Lets get started, shall we?

To start off, I’ll cover the Smash amiibo news first. If you aren’t aware by now, amiibo have taken the world by storm and sell out almost instantly when they hit store shelves. Nintendo took today’s Direct as an opportunity to unleash even more of these plastic figures onto the world.

Wave 4 of the Smash Brothers Lineup will be arriving May 29, and will contain Charizard, Pac-Man, Wario, Jigglypuff, Greninja, Robin, Lucina and Ness. Ness has been confirmed to be a Gamestop exclusive and preorders will be going up tomorrow at 3PM EST, keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested in picking any of these up.

Also unveiled was some of the future amiibo, which will be launching in two separate waves. The one in July will feature Dark Pit and Palutena, while the September wave will contain Olimar, Bowser Jr., Dr. Mario, Zero Suit Samus and Ganondorf.

While we are on the topic of Smash Brothers, there were also some pretty big announcements regarding the game including upcoming DLC. First, Mewtwo was confirmed to be launching April 28 for 3.99 on both 3DS and Wii U, or as a bundle for both at $4.99. If you purchased and registered both versions before March 31st, you will be receiving your code to use him on April 15th.

Up next, update 1.0.6 was announced to be coming April 15 and will include tweaks to fighters and some additional sharing functionality. Upcoming DLC was mentioned, and Nintendo surprised us with a brand new trailer for Lucas, a returning fighter from Brawl. Lucas will be launching sometime this June. Also, Lucas and Mewtwo have been confirmed to receive amiibo in the future!

Also announced was that new costumes for Mii fighters will be added, available to be purchased individually for $0.75 or $1.25 for both Wii U and 3DS versions of that costume.

One other thing! Nintendo will be accepting suggestions for characters to be added to the Smash roster via a Smash Bros. Roster Ballot. Be sure to let them know who you want in game here: https://cp.nintendo.co.jp/us/.

Phew! Alot of Smash news to cover, hopefully we haven’t lost you yet!

Up next is Amiibo Tap, a free download which allows you to scan amiibo figures to the Wii U gamepad to unlock 3 minute trials of different scenes from past Nintendo titles on NES and SNES. This will be launching this Spring on the eShop!

Mario Maker was also confirmed to be releasing this September for Wii U. Mario Maker allows you to create Mario levels however you’d like, in a variety of different themes. I expect to see some crazy creations that the community will create!

Yoshi’s Wooly World was also touched on in this Direct. They announced two modes, Classic and Mellow. Classic plays just like traditional Yoshi games and is considerably more challenging, while Mellow allows the player to control a winged Yoshi who can glide through the level. Players can switch between the modes if they find a certain section challenging. Also announced were Yoshi Wooly World amiibo made out of yarn! They will be releasing alongside the game and when scanned, a new Yoshi is added to your game to make it feel like you have a co-op partner. This will allow you to discover new puzzles and find new ways to complete the levels! The Yoshi amiibo will come in three different colors when released and look absolutely fantastic!

Splatoon, the new shooter from Nintendo will be launching May 29 for Wii U. Announced was a new local 1v1 mode where one player uses the gamepad and the other uses the TV. A ranked mode was also announced which will allow for competitive play online. Splatoon amiibo were also announced to be launching alongside the game and will unlock new missions that can unlock exclusive costumes only available through the amiibo.

New Virtual Console announcements were also made. Starting today, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games were added to the eShop. Super Mario 64 and Yoshi’s Island DS started the lineup off, with new titles coming soon such as Mario Kart DS and Donkey Kong 64!

A new trailer for the Shin Megami Tensei & Fire Emblem crossover game was also shown off. The game was announced back in a 2013 direct so it’s nice to see the project hasn’t been scrapped! You can check it out below.

A wide variety of indie titles were also shown off, with titles like Octodad: Dadliest Catch and Don’t Starve coming to the eShop this year. You can check out this montage of indie titles releasing below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtmkAXTxTk8

Nintendo also announced some new details on the upcoming Fatal Frame title making it’s way to Wii U. The gamepad is used as the camera, and it can also be used as a weapon.  The game allows you to play as three different characters, each with their own story. The game is set to release sometime this year, and looks to be an interesting title to add to the lineup of Wii U games.

Some new eShop titles such as BoxBoy!, Pokemon Rumble World(a free to play title) and Puzzles and Dragons were also announced to be released this month. BoxBoy! will be released April 2, Pokemon Rumble on April 8, and Puzzles and Dragons on April 30.

A new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D was released and it showcases some new gameplay. The game is only playable on the New 3DS due to the processing power required, and it launches April 10.

A new Streetpass update will be making it’s way to the 3DS April 16. It comes with two new streetpass games, Ultimate Angler and Battleground Z.  It also comes with a new premium plaza that offers some new features like storing 100 Mii’s in a private area. You can also fill up a calendar with birthdays of your streetpass acquaintances. Ultimate Angler, Battleground Z, and StreetPass Mii Plaza Premium will sell for $4.99 each, while a premium bundle will cost $7.99 and include both Ultimate Angler and Battleground Z.

A new Fire Emblem trailer was also shown, and some news was unveiled. The title will allow you to choose between two different paths, each with a separate story.  The game will launch in 2016.

A new Animal Crossing game will be launching later this year for 3DS, complete with some new amiibo card support. The amiibo cards act like the amiibo, just without an actual figure. Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer is the name of the game, and it will have you decorating and designing villagers homes to their liking. For example, you may have to make the home suited for a bookworm, and you will be rewarded for doing so. The game launches later this Fall.

Last up was Mario Kart 8 DLC. DLC pack 2 will launch April 23 and features 3 new drivers, 4 new vehicles, and 8 new tracks. Check out the trailer full of Animal Crossing x Mario Kart goodness!

Also announced was support for new amiibo to unlock costumes for your Mii racer in Mario Kart 8.

Lastly, a new 200cc mode was announced to be coming for free. This mode will be the most challenging yet, and completing the game on this difficulty will prove that you are the ultimate racer! The free update launches April 23, along with DLC pack 2.

All in all, a huge direct full of some great news. Let’s hope Nintendo keeps up the momentum and comes out swinging at E3. We’ll keep you up to date on it all as it approaches. Stay tuned and let us know what you thought of all the announcements!