News Bites from the June 21, 2012 Nintendo Direct Event

 

The big news from this evening’s Nintendo Direct event was the announcement of the 3DS XL, and the revelation that the next Super Smash Bros. title is currently in development and will be published by Namco Bandai.  Nintendo also had plenty of other news from this event that weren’t necessarily big enough for their own blog posts.  Luckily for you, dear readers, I’ve still got a bit of time before my head hits the pillow, so here is the other big news from Nintendo tonight.  In no particular order:

• New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS will be the first Nintendo game to feature post-release downloadable content available for purchase.  Sometime after the game launches on August 19, you will be able to purchase additional stages for NSMB2’s Coin Rush mode, the new challenge mode being introduced in New Super Mario Bros. 2.  No timetable was set for this content, as it will not be developed until after the release of the game.
• A new Fire Emblem title will be coming out for the 3DS in 2013, and will also feature post-release DLC
• While Pokemon Black and White Version 2 will be releasing on the Nintendo DS this fall, 3DS owners will still have some Pokemon content exclusive to them.  Pokedex 3D Pro features pretty much the same features as the original Pokedex 3D, presumably with the new Pokemon from the upcoming title added in.  A new game called Pokemon Dream Radar will also be releasing in the 3DS e-shop this Fall.  It will feature the ability to use the 3DS’ AR feature to catch Pokemon in the world around you and then import them to your Pokemon Black/White V2 game.  It looked very similar in concept to the PSP title Invizimals.
• Speaking of the 3DS e-shop, Nintendo announced that every week from July 5 – August 1 there will be two new Virtual Console titles releasing, including The Legend of Zelda, Kirby’s Pinball Land, and Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.  Also, the e-shop discounts its first game, as you can get Super Mario Land for a whole $1 off this weekend only.
• Kirby celebrates his 20th Anniversary this year, and much like they did for Mario, Nintendo will be releasing Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition this September.  It will include 6 retro Kirby titles, new challenge mode stages from last year’s Kirby: Return to Dreamland, a “History of Kirby” gallery, art book, and soundtrack CD.
• Finally, a new Professor Layton game was announced for the 3DS entitled Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.  It will be available for the 3DS this November (much to the excitement of my wife).  As an added bonus, a new puzzle will be made available as a free download every day for one year after the game’s release.  Previous Layton games added new puzzles on a weekly basis.  This is an enormous value for fans of the series.

Whew!  That was quite a bit of info from a 25-minute video.  Any news here you readers are really excited about?  Confab below!

Wii U Controller Might Have Changed for the Better; Adds Actual Analog Sticks

There are many unanswered questions about Nintendo’s upcoming WiiU, but if a recent leaked picture from Telltale Games is to be believed, they might have addressed one of the biggest percieved flaws seen when they first debuted the console at last year’s E3.  When the tablet controller was first seen last year, it had two circle pads very similar to that of the 3DS (see below)

What was seen at E3 last year

Below is the leaked picture from Traveller’s Tales.  Notice two actual analog sticks on the controller instead of the circle pads.  They actually look very similar to the sticks on the Wii’s Classic Controller.

Note the different analog sticks

I am not a huge fan of the 3DS’ circle pad, so I personally hope this is the real deal.  There are still a lot of questions I have about the console and the controller (no multi-touch?  Really?), but having analog sticks, as opposed to nubs, is a step in the right direction.  We will find out for sure in just a few short weeks at E3.

Source: IGN