Nintendo has uploaded a new installment of their news series Ninendo Direct earlier today; the first time the program has aired since the tragic passing of Satoru Iwata. During the program, there were quite a few announcements concerning releases on both the Wii U and 3DS and upcoming DLC updates.
On the Wii U side of things, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics will be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Wii U (he will also be made playable in the 3DS version). The next installment in the storied The Legend of Zelda series will be coming out at some point in 2016 (this has been a known quantity for some time). A high definition remastering of LoZ: Twilight Princess has also been announced and is being prepared for release on March 4, 2016.
Star Fox Zero’s release date has been pushed back yet again. In this past September, Shigeru Miyamoto made the decision to postpone SF Zero’s release until Q1 of 2016. Fortunately, Nintendo has given the specific date of April 22, 2016. It is alleged by Platinum Games, co-developers of SF Zero, that some time was needed to make sure that the game had “that Platinum feel.”
Mother 3, also known as Earthbound 2 by North American fans of the series, will be seeing an official release on the Virtual Console. According to the announcement banner shown above, it will launch on December 17, 2015. Unfortunately, this release is a Japan exclusive. No plans to officially localize Mother 3 for North America or Europe have been announced.
Pictured here is a photo of a reproduction cartridge containing the unofficial fan translation of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance. So far, this has been the only way for game players in North America and Europe. Many of these ROM hack repro carts have been floating around the internet in online auctions and other unofficial game vendors for a couple of years now.
Many hold on to hope that Mother 3 will eventually get a chance to shine in the west because of the eventual release of Earthbound: Beginnings. EB: Beginnings is essentially the North American localization of the first Mother game that was finished in its software and physical prototyping stages for release, but was cancelled before it could be officially mass produced for consumption. Taking this work that had already been completed years before and making it work with an emulator wrapper is more feasible that what is required to give Mother 3 the same official treatment for the Virtual Console in the west.
An old photograph of one Earthbound NES prototype cartridges. Roughly five of these are known to exit in the entire world.
As mentioned before, Mother 3 still has no official English translation or localization as far as the gaming world knows. With that, the game will still require the time, money and manpower necessary to translate and localize an extremely text heavy role playing game that cannot be sold at the same price point as AAA high profile titles.
New free content will be available for the critically acclaimed third person shooter Splatoon. There are two new stages in the form of Muse D’d Alfonsino and Mahi Mahi Resort. Muse D’d Alfonsino features environmental hazards in the form of rotating objects and Mahi Mahi Resort, taking place in a pool resort, will reveal more surface area to cover in ink when a time sensitive switch forces the pools to drain. As of today, 40 new pieces of gear and equipment were made available via an update. Nintendo has state that the company will continue to support Splatoon with new DLC at least until January 2016.
Nintendo Announced a special Wii U bundle for Black Friday, which includes the 32GB Deluxe model of the console. The system comes with digital copies of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Splatoon pre-installed. Though no price point has been formally announced, one of Walmart’s Black Friday ads show this bundle retailing at $250. The company is also working on a website companion to Super Mario Maker that will allow players to find custom levels of their liking more easily.
Here is a composite image showing some of the concept art of the female version of Link dubbed Linkle or Linkelle.
On the 3DS side of the Nintendo Direct program, a few new characters will be making their debut on Hyrule Warriors: Legends. One of these new playable characters, contrary to clamber among many in the gaming community, is a female iteration of Link named Linkle. Concept art of this mystery lady was first seen in an art book for Hyrule Warriors under the section of early concepts that were rejected for the final retail release of the game. Some of these pieces depict Linkle as a Hylian warrior who wields a sword or a crossbow. However, her weapon will be the crossbow and a spinning kick attack will replace the sword spin attack.
Pokemon Picross!
The 3DS will getting a large RPG injection with quite a few releases hitting the portable. Both Dragon Quest VII & VIII remakes will see release in North America at some point in 2016, with Dragon Quest VII coming during next summer. Remakes of the Pokemon red, blue and red versions will be available on the 3DS eShop on February 27, 2016. Other news for the franchise includes a “free-to-start” Pokemon Picross game launching sometime this December. Fire Emblem Fates will launch February 19 next year and will have three retail versions including a special edition. Lastly, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes is seeing DLC in the form of The Den of Trials. Unlike most of the other dungeons seen in the game thus far that have only four stages, this new labyrinth has 30. This new DLC launches on December 2, 2016.
From this installment of Nintendo Direct, it looks like the company has a solid game plan for this next year and a steady transition from this slow time to the next year. Hopefully, nothing else gets pushed back and the Wii U can some more solid software and current game with great online communities like Splatoon will be given continued support in the months to come.
The Solid State Gamer 