Nintendo Announces New Games For The Wii U
Satoru Iwata, in his early morning Nintendo Direct video from early this morning gave Nintendo fans and Wii U what we have been waiting for since first picking up the console: the promise of games.
Iwata first teased that Nintendo EAD (Nintendo’s team behind the Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D Land titles) has been hard at work on a new 3D Mario title for the Wii U, and also teased that a new Mario Kart is in development. Both of these titles as well as the new Super Smash Bros. title will all be at E3 this year.
Next, Iwata dropped the bombshell! But not really. He actually just announced that there is a new party game that looks a lot like a Mii version of Mario Party coming out soon. IT had an interesting looking game where you use Wii-motes and the Gamepad as a game of Twister for your fingers. It may be fun, as Nintendoland surprised us as actually being a great game at launch, but we want the goods. And Iwata delivered.
Next, we finally got to see Nintendo’s next iteration of one of their beloved IPs in the form of Yoshi’s Epic Yarn (an official title wasn’t given, but that’s what I’m calling it!), a game developed by the team that gave us the often under-appreciated Kirby’s Epic Yarn, as well as the project director of Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story. The mash-ups of the Epic Yarn aesthetic and traditional Yoshi mechanics all with a greater sense of depth than Kirby’s fabric adventure and even more breathtaking visuals.
Next, Iwata revealed Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem title. No gameplay details were given yet, but he says he’ll talk about it, and more games, in greater depth at a future event or in another Nintendo Direct.
Iwata then allowed Eiji Aunoma to come out and talk about the new Zelda Wii U title that is in development. He outright said no visuals could be shown yet (E3???) but talked about the team’s goals for the title, as well as the game’s themes. Mr. Aunoma says that the team’s main goal for the game is to rethink the conventions of Zelda; specifically “playing through dungeons in a specific order” and “playing by yourself.” He then showed us still of what Nintendo is offering to bide the time until we get this new Zelda entry: an HD remake of Wind Waker!
Finally, Iwata showed us a trailer of X, an absolutely gorgeous new title from Monolith Soft, the creators of Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos, that looks very much alike a Monster Hunter-type game, where you and a group of friends will fight giant monsters and dinosaurs and bugs (i.e. possibly the best game ever).
For those keeping track, that’s 7 new titles we have to look forward to from Nintendo. New 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Wii U Party, Yoshi’s Epic Yarn, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem, a new unconventional Zelda, and X. Top that off with an HD remake of one of the best games Nintendo’s ever released and finally getting to see a new Smash Bros., it’s hard to deny that the Wii U has a bright future ahead of it.
