Nintendo Direct: Amiibo Update, New Fire Emblem, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate Goodness And More!

Its 2015 and you know what that means right? It means its time for Nintendo to hold their Direct presentation, showcasing titles to be released this year and in the future? We get to see the new 3DS, a plethora of Amiibo's and a new Fire Emblem?

It's a new year and Nintendo have started off strong by bringing the latest news for Wii U and 3DS. While the main thing in the Direct was more information on the New 3DS, there was also a lot of games listed and I mean A LOT, so let's get started!

The Direct kicked off with a look at a new Fire Emblem game for 3DS, following up on the success of Fire Emblem: Awakening, this new turn based strategy features some striking visuals and promises to bring more of the traditional gameplay. I'm hoping more details of this game come soon as Awakening was one of my favourite games that's appeared on the handheld to date.

Much fire... much emblems... wow.

Next up was Puzzle & Dragons Z and Puzzle & Dragon Super Mario Bros Edition, these two games are bundled onto one cartridge and involve you playing through an RPG, but with a twist on the traditional battle system. You play a tile matching puzzle game, by joining three or more tiles in a row, you deal damage to your opponents, the more sets of tiles matched up the harder your attacks hit. This one is due in May 2015, so not too far off.

Next was Pokemon Shuffle, another match 3 or more game, but with a Pokemon twist, similar to Pokemon Link Battle that is already available on the eShop. The difference with Pokemon Shuffle is you have a limit on how many turns you can take as you play which adds an extra layer of challenge to clearing each battle. Pokemon Shuffle will be free to download from the eShop in February 2015.

See the direct video below!


Over to Wii U news, 3 games from the Wii will now be made available to download onto the Wii U for the first time. The Wii U has always had backward compatibility with discs for Wii games, but would have to boot into a Wii mode to be able to use those titles, now with the digital versions available, you can load them straight from the console dashboard. The first three titles available are Super Mario Galaxy 2, Punch Out and the Metroid Prime Trilogy. All of these titles will be available in January 2015 and will be half price for one week after their initial launch, so if you've missed out on any of these classics, get them while they're cheap!

Next up was Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, a visual treat for anyone who likes something a little different! The game itself is a 2D side scroller, but with everything in the game looking like it's made out of colourful clay. You don't directly control Kirby in this game, rather Kirby rolls along by himself and you draw lines on the touch screen to guide him where you want to go. Kirby will also be compatible with select Amiibo that will give you special power ups to use in the game. Kirby is due for release on February 20th.

Visually unique.

A lot of Amiibo news here, this comes in the form of new figurines that will all be available soon. Just a refresher for anyone who's forgotten, Wave 3 is due in February and features King Dedede, Rosalina and Luma, Bowser, Sonic, Megaman, Toon Link, Sheik, Ike, Shulk, Lucario and Meta Knight. Also announced was Wave 4s Amiibo, these include Robin and Lucina from Fire Emblem, Pac Man, Wario, Ness and Charizard all due in Spring 2015. As well as all the Smash Bros Amiibo, newly announced Super Mario Bros Amiibo will be hitting shelves on March 20th, these include a redesigned Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Bowser, also available for the first time is the much requested Toad. They'll be launching alongside Mario Party 10. Now everyone likes a party right?

As for Mario Party itself, this game has 3 different game modes, the traditional party mode, the Bowser mode that was unveiled at E3 and the new Amiibo mode. In this third mode you use your Amiibo as a game piece around a board themed after your character of choice. Finally an update to Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, which recently hit shelves will be available on March 20th that will add compatibility with the Toad Amiibo. This Amiibo will add a well hidden pixel Toad to every level in the main game as an extra collectable for you to find. Nintendo has set up www.nintendo.com/amiibo/compatibility so you can easily see which Amiibo work with what games.

Now it’s the Wii U's turn to get some love and we kick off with the exclusive title Splatoon, a game where you play as a Squidling, a half human, half squid person. New details about the hub world that connects the Single and Multiplayer sections of the game. When you start up you'll be standing in a plaza with a whole bunch of other Squidlings, if you talk to them, you can see what they're saying via the Miiverse. Also announced is all the clothing customisation options for your Squidling as well as weapon loadouts for in game battling. Clothes affect your in game stats such as speed, defense and attack and the weapons effect the way you tackle the level and your opponents. Splatoon is due out on Wii U in May 2015.

Hyrule Warriors news is up next, with the imminent launch of Majoras Mask for 3DS, Hyrule Warriors is getting yet more DLC, this time around it will add 2 new characters to play as, Tingle and Young Link. Tingle looks like a weird character to play with an even wierder move set that involves balloons and dancing, as well as blowing deadly kisses. Young Link battles using his Kokiri sword and his special attack has him don the Fierce Deity Mask transforming him into a fearsome warrior. Also in the DLC is a further mission mode set in Termina and features 3 costumes for existing characters. This DLC for Hyrule Warriors is set to drop in February 5th 2015.

Looks like we'll be exploring a vast world.

Next up was a trailer for Xenoblade Chronicle X, while only a trailer, it showcased some of the amazing looking visuals, expansive environments as well as some huge monsters that inhabit those areas. I've never played Xenoblade myself, but after donning Shulk as my main character in Smash Bros, I actually want to see where he's come from and luckily Xenoblade is coming to the New 3DS, but more on that later.

Coming along now is Mario vs Donkey Kong Tipping Stars, in this game you have to guide a wind up toy Mario through levels to reach the goal using the touch screen to manipulate platforms. There's also a level editor mode to create you own stages and this is where the tipping stars come into play as every level you beat can earn you up to three stars and you use the stars to buy parts for your custom stages, if you play someone else's stage and like it, you can tip them some of your stars as a way of saying you liked their level design. The game will be available March 5th 2015 on both the Wii U and 3DS and finally taking a leaf out of PlayStation's crossbuy, if you buy the Wii U game you get the 3DS version for free and vice versa.

Next up was a video from Tekken creator Katsuhiro Hirada from Bandai Namco teasing a new Wii U exclusive 4 player treasure hunting game. Information is pretty slim, but it looks like a title to keep an eye on, I'm sure this will pop up again on a future Direct later in the year.

A whole bunch of eShop games were then shown, Elliot Quest, Blek, Citizens of Earth, Gunmen Clive 2, Moon Chronicles, Sega 3D Classics, Etrian Mystery Dungeon, Story of Seasons and Fossil Fighters Frontier were all announced to be coming within the next couple of months.

Now we get to the big news, the New 3DS gets a release date of February 13th available in either New Red or New Black. With the original 3DS now hitting a few years old, the unit now has a few upgrades in the form of a second analogue nub, two extra shoulder buttons as well as a lot of internal changes to make everything run faster, and the NFC capabilities of the Wii U Gamepad, so you can use Amiibos with the system. The New 3DS boasts a longer battery life than the standard 3DS, but the console won't come bundled with a plug adaptor so if you're trading in an old 3DS to buy a new one, make sure to keep your cables! The New 3DS also has different memory card storage, opting to use smaller Micro SD cards rather than the standard SD cards.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. was then shown off, from the makers of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, this game has a hybrid of turn based strategy and real time gameplay. You must select a squad of steampunk soldiers to fend off an alien invasion. The game is also Amiibo compatible, using any of the 4 Fire Emblem Amiibos will add those characters to your roster. Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is due for release on March 13th 2015.

Bit of a mouthful for the next game, Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy Plus puts you in the cockpit of some of the fastest jets and let's you roam the skies and dogfight to your hearts content. Amiibos also work with this title giving your jet a special paint job dependant on which Amiibo you use. Ace Combat is exclusive to the New 3DS also has and is available February 13th 2015.

Next up was the remake of Xenoblade Chronicles, new features include maps on the touch screen as well as the new 3D visuals, there's also a character viewer which lets you look at all the models in the game up close and from any angle. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will be available exclusively for the New 3DS in April 2015.

A short trailer then played for Iron Fall Invasion, an interesting looking 3rd person action shooter coming soon to the eShop across the full 2DS and 3DS range.

For some reason, the Hobbit came to mind immediately.

Monster Hunter was revealed to have a special edition New 3DS XL which will be available on February 13th along with the standard coloured New 3DS. As well as the new handheld, more details about Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate were also announced. 2 new weapon classes have been added to the game bringing the total amount of weapons to 14, also announced was the online mode, for the first time in handheld history, Monster Hunter can now be played online with up to 4 hunters at a time. If you're a Club Nintendo user and you're lucky enough to be selected, codes for a demo version of the game have been sent out via email. The demo has a much better tutorial system for new players than any previous MH game and features all 14 weapon classes for you to try out against 3 different monsters, the demo will be opened up to everyone soon. A new Streetpass Puzzle is also now available, so get street passing and exchange those puzzle pieces! Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is dropping on February 13th 2015.

Finally news on Zelda Majora's Mask 3D, the game itself now features a fully controllable in game camera using the C-stick on the New 3DS, so you can fully explore every corner of the World of Termina. As well as the game itself, a gold Majora's Mask New 3DS will also be available on February 13th 2015.

Phew! That was a lot of information, but we got there in the end. Leave a comment below about what you're looking forward to most or find me on twitter - @ChaosRiotZero

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