A few thoughts on this morning's Japanese and North American Nintendo Direct broadcasts

Let's get this out of the way right at the beginning: Nintendo revealed during this morning's Nintendo Direct broadcast (watch it here) that it's finally bringing the New 3DS to North America on Feb. 13.

Unfortunately, it appears the company's only giving us the XL version of this stopgap system, as the smaller New 3DS--the one that can be personalized with all sorts of fun and colorful "cover plates"--was completely ignored.

I'm hopeful we'll get the non-XL New 3DS eventually, but I'm not sure I care one way or the other at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own one of the smaller New 3DSes some day, but I'm plenty happy with my pink-and-white XL and I'm not in any particular hurry to replace it (or my red OG 3DS)--especially since I have yet to buy a Vita.



Anyway, four New 3DS XLs will hit North American store shelves on Feb. 13: a black one, a red one and two special editions (one of which is gold and features a Majora's Mask design and the other of which is silver and features a Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate design).

Oh, and speaking of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, both of those 3DS games will launch alongside the New 3DS XL in North America. Sounds good to me.

A few other 3DS games were revealed during this morning's North American Nintendo Direct, namely the New 3DS port of Xenoblade Chronicles (due out in this region in April), Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (coming in May) and a new entry in the Fire Emblem series (see screenshot below) that's being called Fire Emblem If in Japan and supposedly will see the light of day sometime between now and the end of 2015.



I'll be picking up the latter two titles, no question, although I'll very likely pass on Xenoblade Chronicles 3D even if I change my mind and pick up a New 3DS XL at some point down the road. (I liked what I played of the Wii version of Xenoblade Chronicles a year or two ago, but I don't have much interest in revisiting the experience.)

The Japanese Nintendo Direct (watch it here) was far more thrilling for me thanks to a single announcement--that being that a new Rhythm Tengoku game will be released for the 3DS this year.

As far as I can tell, it doesn't yet have an official name or a solid release date. What is known is that it will feature more than 100 mini-games, with around 70 of them being taken from earlier Rhythm Tengoku titles and 30 of them being new (including the one seen below).



I'll be pre-ordering this sucker as soon as amiami.com allows me to do so, of course.

Another interesting 3DS-related announcement made during the Japanese Nintendo Direct revolved around the Girls Mode series, known as Style Savvy in North America. Specifically, the 3DS' home region will be getting Girls Mode 3 on April 16.

It's been a while since I played my copy of Style Savvy: Trendsetters (the North American version of the second Girls Mode), so I can't really say what's new about this entry, but it looks interesting all the same, so fingers crossed that it somehow makes its way to our shores in the coming months.

Other than the above, I continue to be impressed by a trio of upcoming Wii U games--Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Splatoon and Xenoblade Chronicles X--that were shown as part of the North American Nintendo Direct.

All three look absolutely marvelous, although I have no idea when I'll actually get to experience any of them myself, as my home remains a Wii U-free environment. Who knows, maybe that finally will change later this year.

Now that I've had my say, what did all of you think about this morning's broadcasts? Did they satisfy you? Anger you? Or maybe they made you feel some other emotion entirely?

Hello, Fire Emblem: Awakening; goodbye, holiday weekend

Guess what our pipe-smoking, shorts-wearing (even in winter) mailman plopped onto our doorstep the other morning? If you guessed a brand new copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening for the 3DS, pat yourself on the back. Don't let your head get too big, though--after all, I basically spoiled the surprise in the headline above.

Anyway, the game's cover art (below) is pretty nifty, don't you think? In person it looks even nicer than it does in the photo below, actually, as the gray/silver background has an appealing shimmer to it.

Fire Emblem: Awakening's cart art is similarly noteworthy thanks to the pixelated reworkings of what I'm guessing are the game's main characters. Yes, I just admitted that I know next-to-nothing about this title at the moment.

Why did I buy it if I know little about it (and if I've never before played a Fire Emblem game)? Because I really liked the looks of the battle scenes that were shown off when it was first announced.

Also, I've long been a fan of tactical RPGs, and this is supposed to be one of the best, so the question really should be: how could I not buy it?

As of now, I've yet to even stick the Fire Emblem: Awakening cartridge into my trusty pink-and-white 3DS XL, but that's only because I'm completely obsessed with Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime right now. (More on that tomorrow or Monday.)

I promise to tear myself away from Rocket Slime sometime today (or maybe tomorrow), though, so expect to hear me gushing--either here or on Twitter--about my experience with Fire Emblem: Awakening shortly. In the meantime, are any of you playing it? If so, what do you think of it so far?

A few thoughts on this morning's Nintendo Direct

As any long-suffering Nintendo fan knows, the company's "Nintendo Direct" broadcasts tend to be hit-or-miss affairs. Although some of them have produced bonafide megatons (like when Bayonetta 2 was announced), just as many others have been utter snoozefests.

Given that, I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this morning's trio of Wii U-focused Nintendo Directs (one for Europe, one for Japan and one for North America). I had a feeling at least a few bombs would be dropped thanks to the rather ho-hum launch of company's latest console, but would they be "we're working on a sequel to Wii Party" bombs or would they be "Bayonetta 2 will hit store shelves in May" bombs?

Interestingly enough, Nintendo is working on a sequel (of sorts) to Wii Party. That was about the least interesting of all of the announcements that were part of this Nintendo Direct, though, so I think it's safe to say that this particular broadcast was far more "hit" than "miss."

Specifically, here are what I considered to be the high points of this morning's address:

* The look inside Platinum Games' office, where the company's staffers seem to be hard at work on Bayonetta 2, was all sorts of awesome. Sure, we didn't get to see any actual gameplay footage, but we were given enough glimpses of in-the-works enemies and environments to know the final product probably is going to rock our respective worlds.

* OK, so it wasn't all that surprising to hear that new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games are being prepped for Wii U. To hear that both games will be shown in playable form at E3 2013, though, was pretty shocking--as was Satoru Iwata's utterance that we'll finally get to see some screens of the next Smash Bros. title at the same event.

* Considering it's been rumored for a while now, I doubt many people fainted or felt heart palpitations after Iwata revealed that the Wii U will receive a Yoshi-focused platformer in the near future. My own heart certainly starting racing, though, when I heard that it's being developed by the geniuses at Good-Feel and saw that it's going to look more than a bit like that group's Kirby's Epic Yarn.

* So, let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: Atlus is working with Nintendo to produce a Wii U game that brings together the characters and settings of the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem series? If so, uh, I'm not sure what to think, to tell you the truth. I mean, it certainly sounds interesting, and I'm sure the resulting game will be stellar, but I can't quite picture it yet, you know?

* What I can picture: making my way through Monolith Soft's next game--which looks a lot like their last one (that being Xenoblade Chronicles), actually, but about a million times better--with a humungous grin on my face. You know, because of the gorgeous visuals. And the huge environments. Oh, and the transforming mechas.

The best piece of 3DS box art yet? I think so.

Quite a few pieces of 3DS box art have impressed me since the system was launched early last year. Among them: The box art created for Beyond the Labyrinth and Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die (aka Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward).

I think the piece of cover art below may have them both beat, to tell you the truth. What game was it created for, you ask? Fire Emblem: Kakusei (aka Fire Emblem: Awakening).

I'm not entirely in love with the game's logo, although I do appreciate its rather understated elegance. The illustration that resides behind said logo, though, is where it's at. I especially love its diagonal focus and movement.

This fabulous piece of cover art will appear on Japanese store shelves on April 19. Here's hoping both the game and the above-mentioned box art (and maybe this bundle, too) make it out of Japan and into other territories sooner than later.

(Via tinycartridge.com)

Five reasons I'll definitely be buying a 3DS in 2012 (if not before)

Until last night's Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011, I was bound and determined to hold off on buying a 3DS until Kyoto-based company released a DS Lite-esque redesign.

Although I still may play that agonizing waiting game, I think it's more likely than ever that I'll buy a 3DS before then thanks to the following announcements that were made during last night's conference:

1. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy--Yes, the title of this Square Enix game is absurd. Who cares, though, when it looks so amazing? (Go here to check out a few screenshots and a pair of trailers of the game.) Really, it seems this game could (should?) have been called Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light 2--which means I'm going to be on it like white on rice.

2. A new Fire Emblem--I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've played a Fire Emblem title. That didn't stop me from cheering when this game was mentioned during last night's conference, though. Both the battle and overworld graphics--highlighted in the title's "debut trailer"--look pretty darn great, don't you think?

3. A Girls Mode (aka Style Savvy) sequel--I've yet to play Nintendo's fashion-focused DS title, Style Savvy, but I've read enough positive reviews of it to know that it's worth checking out regardless of your gender or sexual orientation. As such, I'm very much hoping this sequel follows in its predecessor's footsteps and makes its way to North America sooner rather than later.

4. Mario Tennis--Along with Fire Emblem, this game was the surprise of the Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011 for me. After overlooking the Mario Tennis series during the DS and Wii "eras," I thought Nintendo had given up on it. Although I hope this installment includes an RPG-ish mode just like the series' previous portable iterations, I'll buy it even if it doesn't.

5. "Misty Pink" 3DS system--All of the handheld systems I've ever owned have been either black (GameBoy Advance SP and PSP), grey (GameBoy) or white (DS Lite). As such, I'd love to add a bit of color to my handheld collection. Buying a pink 3DS would be a great way to do that, don't you think? Now Nintendo just has to give it a North American release date. (It'll be released in Japan on Oct. 20.)

Three additional titles that could push me to buy a 3DS before the inevitable redesign: Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 2 and Paper Mario, all of which will be released in (early?) 2012.

For more information on the accessories, games and systems that were announced and/or discussed during last night's Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011, check out andriasang.com's coverage of the event here.