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.

Oh, look, another reason to buy a Wii U

I don't know about you, but my "Reasons I Want a Wii U" list already is chock-full of "launch window" releases--like New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3 and Wii Fit U. (Yes, I actually want Wii Fit U.)

Well, another first-party, launch-window game was not only added to that list but placed atop it over the weekend after watching the following video of the Pikmin-meets-Viewtiful Joe Wii U title that's currently known as Project P-100.



Although I first learned about this Platinum Games-developed title shortly after Nintendo's E3 2012 press conference ended early last week, I only paid attention to screenshots of it at that time. Those screenshots were nice enough, of course, but I'd be hard pressed to say they did much to pique my interest in the game.

The video above, though, did that and then some--as did this video, which shows what happens when you take your hoard of heroes insides one of Project P-100's many buildings, and this one, which features Nintendo's Bill Trinen.

Anyway, as strange as it may sound, Project P-100, or whatever it ends up being called, is now at the top of my Wii U wish list. Here's hoping it's either released alongside Nintendo's next console or shortly afterwards, as I'm extremely eager to give it a go.

(Via tinycartridge.com)