Nintendo announced a new Nintendo Direct yesterday, and said the intention was to discuss already announced Wii U and 3DS titles. That was mostly the case, but the company can never resist announcing new titles as well.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata kicked off the Direct with new information regarding third party titles hitting the Wii U later this year. First up was Sonic Lost World. He said that the game will feature connectivity between the Wii U and 3DS versions. Players will be able to build a RC helicopter in the 3DS version and then bring it into the Wii U version to help players interact with the game world. Both versions will be available on October 22.
The other third party title to receive mention was Rayman Legends. There wasn’t a lot of new information available, but Iwata did announce that the Wii U version of the title will include Mario and Luigi outfits for Rayman and Globox. Rayman Legends is still on schedule to launch on September 3.
During the last Nintendo Direct, Iwata mentioned that they would be launching a scaled down version of Art Academy for the Wii U. Today he announced that the game is called Art Academy Sketchpad and that it will be available on August 9. There will also be a Miiverse community for aspiring artists to share their creations.
Iwata turned things over to Erik Peterson at Nintendo of America where he announced that Pokemon Rumble U would be coming to the Wii U eShop on August 29. The title is similar to the past Pokemon Rumble games, but now you can unlock characters in the title by buying NFC figurines similar to Skylanders or Disney Infinity. There will be 18 figurines available in all and they will be exclusively sold at GameStop.
Peterson also announced a number of eShop titles for the 3DS. These include Summer Festival 92, Donkey Kong for the NES, Tecmo Bowl, Wario Land 3 and Super Mario Bros. 3. These will be available in the coming weeks and months.
On a final note, Peterson announced that Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, and Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright will be both be coming to the 3DS in 2014.
Iwata came back to make some final announcements regarding The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros. and Animal Crossing. For Zelda, he divulged new details on The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. He revealed that the title will feature the world from A Link to the Past alongside an alternate world that’s not exactly like the Dark World from the SNES classic. He also revealed that the title takes place many years after A Link to the Past.
As for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Iwata said that they will be fine tuning the Triforce shard quest to make it more palatable to gamers who complained that the quest took too long on the Gamecube.
It was also announced during the Nintendo Direct that Luigi will be in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. It’s not exactly surprising, but it’s nice to know that Luigi will be back in the latest title.
Finally, Iwata announced that Animal Crossing will open to players from all over the world. You should start to see players from Europe and Asia soon. He also announced that the Wii U will be getting a new app called the Animal Crossing Plaza that will feature all of your friends as well as the animals that populate your Animal Crossing town. It’s available now and will remain available until the end of 2014.
You can check out the entire Nintendo Direct in its entirety below:
