Thursday’s impromptu and brief Nintendo Direct came with happy news for Earthbound fans, as the classic Super Nintendo RPG finally …
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Earthbound getting a U.S. release? Pikmin 3 receiving a shipping date, finally? Jump on in as we dive into the latest news from this week’s Nintendo Direct.
Sound the Nintendo Direct horn, because this Wednesday morning Nintendo dropped another batch of Wii U/3DS related announcements – and a heavy hitting one ...
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Looking forward to the Wii U's incoming Virtual Console update? No need to wait -- despite the service's post-spring update launch announcement, Nintendo is already rolling out fully functional (and Wii U enhanced) Virtual Console games to the eShop. It's part of the Famicom's 30th anniversary celebration, and gives gamers a chance to sample a handful of Nintendo's best at a hefty discount -- only 30 cents a pop. We tossed a few dimes toward a copy of Balloon Fight to give the upcoming service a quick look.
Like all Wii U downloadables, Virtual Console games take up residence on the system menu, flaunting a thumbnail of the game's title screen underlined with a Virtual Console banner. While loading, players are treated to a preview of the game's vitals -- year released, originating console and number of players supported. Easy enough for Balloon Fight: 1984, the Nintendo Entertainment System and two. Within 15 seconds (we're looking forward to that speed update, Nintendo) the game's title screen is mirrored across the gamepad and TV. This is the basic, pure experience -- press start, twiddle the thumbsticks and play the game.
Tapping the gamepad's screen or pressing the ZR button brings up the Virtual Console menu, laying bare the Wii U enhanced features Iwata told us about: restore points and controller settings. 3DS owners should be familiar with the former -- restore points allow you to save your game at any moment and restore it without penalty. Little has changed in the feature's jump to the home console, and usage is straightforward -- just tap the onscreen buttons to save or restore. The Controller settings menu, on the other hand, is new, allowing users to remap the game's controls to their liking. The menu's capabilities are limited, however -- analog sticks and the d-pads won't tolerate reassignment. As promised, playing on the Wii U gamepad is an option, but it isn't necessary. Traditional Wii remotes work just fine (for both single and multiplayer), and the tablet-controller's screen can be disabled through the regular Wii U menu. Miiverse is supported too, of course, dropping users into a Balloon Fight community when launched from the game.
The Wii U Virtual Console's official launch may still be a few months off, but based on the first game in the Famicom 30th Anniversary Virtual Console trial campaign, it's shaping up to be a strong evolution of its predecessor. Controller mapping allows users to manually sidestep control issues -- something select games suffered from on the Wii VC when paired with a Gamecube controller. Save states have been a boon to 3DS owners not accustomed to the challenges of classic Nintendo games, and is a welcome addition to the full-sized Virtual Console setup -- after all, how else are we supposed to get a decent score in Balloon Trip mode?
Nintendo's Satoru Iwata just announced via Nintendo Direct that Virtual Console will be available on the Wii U this spring. Previously, the service was only accessible via the Wii emulator on Nintendo's new console, but will now arrive on the eShop at some unspecified time in Q2 and feature GameBoy Advance titles for the first time. Before that can happen, however, the company wants to implement two key software updates designed to address system performance issues. Nintendo's also devised a pricing scheme to offer users who've amassed a retro gaming library a more affordable way to re-download past VC purchases (as opposed to that clunky transfer system). For any previously downloaded NES ($4.99 - $5.99) and SNES ($7.99 - $8.99) titles, users will have to fork over $1.00 and $1.50, respectively.
And, as part of a celebration of the Famicom's 30th anniversary, Nintendo's offering up a trial campaign that'll make certain titles available to download for 30 cents over a 30 day period. Starting in January and running through July, users will be able to demo one select title per month from the eShop: Balloon Fight, F-Zero, Punch-Out featuring Mr. Dream, Kirby's Adventure, Super Metroid, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. But, take heed, these teases will only last for the month they're offered and, hopefully, entice you to pay full price when the service officially launches on Wii U.
Jan. 23, 2013 14:41 UTC
Two Zelda Games, Mario, Mario Kart and Other Fan-Favorite Franchises Planned for Wii U
Nintendo Outlines Its Vision for Wii U, Including Launching Virtual Console and How Miiverse and Second-Screen Gaming Features Will Continue to Evolve
NOTE: Multimedia available here
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nintendo President Satoru Iwata unleashed Wii U news in an installment of Nintendo Direct today as he outlined Nintendo's future plans for the console. Iwata revealed how the Wii U launch lineup will be bolstered by a long list of top game franchises headed for the new console. These are games that longtime players and newcomers alike will love to play, and everyone will be experiencing them in new ways, thanks to the integrated second-screen experiences enabled by the Wii U GamePad controller. Iwata also detailed a number of enhancements designed to make the Wii U game experience more social, even if people are not playing in the same room.
"The fun of video games is not only just playing games, but also sharing experiences together with people - even though they live far away, their skill levels are different or their experience does not happen at the same time," Iwata said. "We want Wii U to be the system that brings everyone together."
To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct. The many announcements included:
Game News
Two Zelda Games: Eiji Aonuma, the producer of The Legend of Zelda series, revealed two entries in the series for Wii U.
Super Mario is on His Way: The Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development team that created the Super Mario Galaxy games for Wii and Super Mario 3D Land for Nintendo 3DS is working on a new 3D Mario action game for Wii U. The game is scheduled to be playable at this year's E3.
Buckle Up!: Nintendo is also working on a new installment of the hit Mario Kart franchise. This game is also planned to be playable at E3.
Yarn Yoshi: The team that created Kirby's Epic Yarn is hard at work on the first console game to feature Yoshi as the main character since 1998's Yoshi's Story for Nintendo 64. Takashi Tezuka, director of Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Story, is supervising the development of the new game, which is set in a fanciful world of yarn and textiles.
Wii Fit U Communities: New features coming to Wii Fit U include letting players create user communities on Miiverse from within the game. Community members can discuss exercises, BMI or weight changes and other health topics with other players as a way to encourage one another to reach their fitness goals. Similar functionality for other games is also planned.
Pikmin 3 Photos: The upcoming Pikmin 3 game includes a feature that lets players use the Wii U GamePad as a camera to share the same perspective as Pikmin and take close-up pictures of landscapes and creatures in the game and share them in Miiverse.
The Party Continues: A new installment in the Wii Party franchise is planned to launch this summer. The game features various play styles, including one that lets both players compete head-to-head using just the GamePad.
RPG Mashup: Nintendo has begun many collaborations with outside development partners to bring the best franchises and experiences to Wii U. In one such partnership, Nintendo and Atlus are working on a collaboration that features the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises. A video trailer for the game was shown in the Nintendo Direct.
A New Game from Monolith Soft: Tetsuya Takahashi and the team at Monolith Soft that worked on Xenoblade for Wii are working on a new game. A video trailer for the game was shown in the Nintendo Direct.
More on the Way: Iwata shared a new trailer for The Wonderful 101. That game and GAME & WARIO are scheduled to launch in the first half of 2013. Iwata also showed a new video for Bayonetta 2. That game and the new Super Smash Bros. installment are still on the way, but will need more development time before details can be revealed.
Virtual Console
Virtual Console for Wii U: A spring system update will add Virtual Console software to the Nintendo eShop for Wii U. The service will launch right after the spring update and will include a selection of NES and Super NES games, with Game Boy Advance games to be added in the future. The prices for NES and Super NES Virtual Console games for Wii U will be the same as they were for the Virtual Console on Wii. People who have already purchased the Wii version of a certain NES or Super NES Virtual Console game and transferred it to their Wii U console can buy the enhanced Wii U version of the same game for the reduced price of $1 for NES games and $1.50 for Super NES games.
Classic Games for 30 Cents! To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the Famicom in Japan (which was known as the NES in the United States), Nintendo is making one NES or Super NES game available each month now through July at the anniversary price of just 30 cents. Each game will be available at that price for 30 days, and the first is the NES game Balloon Fight, which is now available in the Nintendo eShop for Wii U.
Social and System Enhancements
Miiverse Expands to Smartphones: Starting this spring, people will be able to browse Miiverse from their smartphones. Initially the experience will be browser-based, but Nintendo plans to create a dedicated Miiverse app in the future.
System Updates: Two major updates are on the way, one in the spring and one in the summer. The updates will introduce a wide range of functionality, such as Virtual Console capabilities and shortening the time it takes users to launch software or return to the menu screen.
Remember that Wii U features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu. Standalone versions of the trailers for The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, the new game from Monolith Soft and the collaboration featuring the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises can be found at http://www.youtube.com/nintendo.
Source: Nintendo Direct
If your 3DS is hungry for eShop games, Nintendo is making sure that the handheld gets its full for 2012′s remaining months.
Oh, mercy! Nintendo has made the current population of 3DS users happier than a pig in mud today by revealing a large menu of eShop games that will be ...
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