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Nintendo fans had some exciting news to wake up to today. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata began this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation with a bevy of announcements for the Wii U. Here’s a list of what we heard about this morning.
First up was the announcement of not one, but two HD Zelda games for Wii U. Franchise producer Eiji Aonuma hasn’t divulged too many details in regards to the newest Zelda title, but he did indicate that the game could see some radical changes to the Zelda formula. Among those potential changes are the series’ traditional focus on playing alone, and the way gamers have had little choice in which dungeons to play and when. Will we see a more social, co-operative Zelda? Only time will tell.
While details were slim in regards to the the newest iteration in the Zelda franchise, fans will be very familiar with the other upcoming Zelda title: an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker! In addition to improved visuals, Nintendo promises that the remake will see optimization for the Wii U GamePad, Miiverse compatibility, and other tune-ups to the gameplay. Fans won’t have to wait long to find out what exactly those tune-ups will be, either! The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker will see its Wii U debut this August.
Zelda wasn’t the only classic franchise we heard about this morning. Monolith Soft, developers of the much beloved Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles, have announced an upcoming RPG for the Wii U. Whether or not this will be a sequel to that game remains to be seen. The similarity in the visuals and red “X” at the end of the trailer may indicate just that, but you be the judge:
Yoshi’s Land, a new 2D platformer starring everyone’s favorite denizen of Dinosaur Land, is also on the way to Wii U. The game will be be coming courtesy of the team behind Kirby’s Epic Yarn (with a similar design style), as well as Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story developer Takashi Tezuka, in a supervisory role.
Fans of Fire Emblem weren’t left in the cold, either! A crossover between Fire Emblem and Atlus’ strategy RPG franchise Shin Megami Tensei was also announced. No other details for Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei have been given at this time.
For those excited to see more news about Bayonetta 2, Nintendo also gave us a brand new trailer for the game:
For the casual gamers out there, Nintendo announced a follow-up to the Wii best-seller Wii Party. The game will use both the GamePad as well as Wii remotes, and it promises a slew of new mini-games, including a dice-rolling game and a baseball-influenced mini game.
With all of these announcements, what’s left for E3? Well, we already know! Nintendo has confirmed that a new 3D Mario title and the next games in the Mario Kart and Smash Bros. franchises will all be there.
What do you guys think about today’s announcements? Let us know in the comments below, and stayed tuned to Nintendojo for more updates about today’s announcements!
Really excited to see this years E3 now that we will get to see a new mario kart and the new super smash bros brawl.
I second that, I love seeing Nintendo showing so much love for their franchises. So Excited for wind waker! Plus the monolith soft game looks amazing. I feel truly sorry for those people who won’t even give the Wii U a chance. The system is going to have some truly epic games on it!
I never thought E3 would come this early! So excited for many of those games. I’m really interested to see how this strategy of “spoiling” a big chunk of a sure-to-be-awesome E3 conference will play out. I’m actually not disappointed to have so much to look forward to, versus just speculating what it will entail.
Going to finally pick up a Wii U now, Noah? ;)
Something about those updated Wind Waker environment screenshots (not the characters of course) makes me think of a vibrant Miyazaki film. The art style has really aged well.
I actually think this update is waaaay more than just an HD one. Comparing this HD remake with those Sony has done, it’s night and day really. The art style actually seems different and not quite as cell-shaded.
Hey Kathrine, remember last week when I said I’d probably never play The Wind Waker again? Ummm, about that… :)
So it’s a remake rather than a re-release. I wonder how they’re going to handle the Tingle Tuner. Make it so one player can be Tingle on the GamePad while the other plays with a Wiimote or Pro controller? Some sort of 3DS connectivity?
Also, that Monolith game is just beautiful looking. Really get the impression this is Nintendo’s year, especially with other blessings like Wii U VC.
If the HD Wind Waker has DLC for the missing dungeons that was cut to meet the release date. I would would be interested this is more of a demo or rent game for the graphics alone. Mario Kart series needs a break or change it a SSB character style roster.
Awesome news about the Zelda titles. Glad to hear that the WW remake is coming out. Hopefully it won’t suffer from the art-style backlash when it was originally revealed. I’m betting, though, that Zelda U is going to be announced for 2015 and then pushed pack twice to fall 2016.
All these new games are great but did you guys see the trailer for The Wonderful 101?!?! It’s crazy!!
Ah-ah-ah-ah-I WANT A WII U!
This Nintendo Direct was fantastic. I really didn’t expect Iwata to go all out with these game announcements, but you won’t hear me complaining!
This E3 is shaping up to be an exciting one too. Not only do we have a new 3D Mario and a Mario Kart to look forward to, but we’ll get to see the first footage of Smash Bros., and maybe FINALLY get a look at Retro’s new project. Between those games and all of the titles announced today (especially the new RPG from Monolith), Wii U is really coming into its own.
This was an awesome day, thanks ninte do for making my life happier! So many great games announced, im totally hyped for the monolith soft game, i can only imagine the posibilities, also the wonderful 101 looks very awesome and a new yoshi game developed by good feel, omg so many news!. I made a promise tonever get hyped for an e3 again. Today i broke that promise.
GET N OR GET OUT!
Where’s mah Wave Race!?!?
Never expected Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei. Can’t wait. The new Xeno game looks awesome, too.