Hasta La Gadget!

There’s a lot of Nintendo news to cover this morning thanks to their Nintendo Direct streaming video that aired just a few moments ago. During the video stream, they announced some new games, the return of old games and they also announced some upcoming improvements to the Wii U’s Miiverse social network.

One of the first features that was announced this morning was its Miiverse will be finally making its way to mobile phones in the form of dedicated applications sometime in 2013. Before the dedicated applications, NIntendo will allow for a browser-based experience, but ultimately the company plans to create dedicated applications for you to keep tabs on Miiverse while you’re away from your Wii U.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Angry Birds Rio Free On iTunes, Temple Run 2 Dashes To The Top Of App Store,

When the Wii U launched just a few months ago, New Super Mario Bros. Wii U was the only Mario game available. It certainly served its purpose as Mario fans were able to play a traditional side-scrolling game with their friends, but seeing as 3D Mario games have been the most popular titles on Nintendo systems ever since Mario 64, it’s undeniable fans are waiting impatiently for news for the Wii U 3D Mario game.

During today’s Nintendo Direct streaming video showcase, we didn’t get to see or hear much about the upcoming 3D Mario title. What we did learn is whatever is being developed will make its debut at E3 this year, and will also be completely playable at the media-only show. Many people are speculating it’ll be another Mario Galaxy title, since both the original and Mario Galaxy 2 sold extremely well on the Wii.

We’ll be attending E3 again this year, so we’ll be be sure to swing by Nintendo’s press booth to check out the new 3D Mario game ourselves.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: PS4 To Run On Eight-Core AMD CPU; Includes Touchscreen Controller [Rumor], Wii U Receiving System Updates In Spring, Summer 2013 To Address Speed Issues,

Nintendo came out strong this morning with its 2013 gaming preview for the Wii U, opening with an apology from president Satoru Iwata for the delay in new titles, and now you can watch the whole event over again. The Japanese company certainly packed in the news, even if specific details on each individual title were often in short supply. Among the meat: a new Zelda, specially written for the Wii U, as well as a Mario Kart game, and gameplay previewed from The Wonderful 101. Read on for all the details!

In addition to the new Zelda title, there’s the promise of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, expected in the fall. On the topic of classic Nintendo characters, Yoshi will make an appearance – his first central role since 1998 on the N64, in fact – in a new game by the same team that created Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

Elsewhere, the Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development team responsible for the Super Mario Galaxy series are putting together a 3D Mario action game. That, as well as a new Mario Kart title, will be playable at E3 2013, Nintendo promises.

Some titles will use more the GamePad in more unusual ways, such as Pikmin 3. That will turn the GamePad into a camera, sharing the same perspective as Pikmin, and letting players take close-up shots of landscapes and creatures within the game, and then share them in Miiverse. A new Wii Party game, due this summer, will offer head-to-head play on a single GamePad, while Wii Fit U will support Miiverse communities in an update to the console’s social features.

As for third-party titles, Nintendo and Atlus are collaborating on a game including the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, while the team at Monolith Soft – responsible for Xenoblade for Wii – also has a new title in the pipeline.

Bayonetta 2 was also previewed, as was gameplay from The Wonderful 101, which will launch in the first half of this year alongside GAME & WARIO. Bayonetta 2 fans, as well as those keen to get the new Super Smash Bros. title, will have to wait for more details later on as to release dates.

There’s all that, plus news on the Wii U Virtual Console, the two updates expected to speed up the Wii U itself, and the incoming Miiverse smartphone app, in the video below.

Watch Nintendo’s Wii U 2013 game preview all over again is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nintendo has promised a new Zelda title, specially written for the Wii U, though eager gamers will have to wait until after the Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has been released. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is due this fall, and will see all-new graphics thanks to the extra visual grunt the Wii U puts under your TV. However, it’s the brand new Zelda game that has enthusiasts really keen.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the new Zelda was still too early in the production process to be previewed in today’s webcast, and so there was no footage from the game. Speaking of the ethos of the title, however, there were suggestions that it would support a multiplayer mode, as well as free-form roaming around the landscape rather than necessarily completing challenges in order.

However, the chief exec was a little more talkative about The Wind Waker HD, which will see more than just a graphics update. In addition to the new visuals, Nintendo will “tune up” the game’s experience all-round, it says, as well as introduce Miiverse support.

Finally, there’ll be explicit GamePad support, allowing players to pull the title off the TV and play it solely on the Wii U’s tablet-style controller.

The new Legend of Zelda game isn’t the only classic to be resurrected for the Wii U. Nintendo also confirmed today that it would be releasing a new Yoshi game, the first in many years, for the motion-gaming console, putting the character in a 3D environment. Meanwhile, there’ll also be a new Mario Kart.

Nintendo: Zelda for Wii U coming, plus Wind Waker HD this fall is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has apologized for the absence of Wii U games in early 2013, insisting that the team needed more time to refine the gameplay, but saying that new titles would arrive from late March. First up will be Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, on March 22, followed by LEGO City Undercover at the end of the month. However, that should start a minor rush of new games, including The Wonderful 101 and some freshly-announced titles. Update: Now with gameplay demo videos after the cut!

The Wonderful 101:

The Wonderful 101 is one of the more eagerly anticipated titles from Nintendo, and Iwata showed a brief video demo of the gameplay people can look forward to. The president will also sit down with developers for a number of interviews about the upcoming titles in-between now and their release.

Beyond that, however, there will be a new 3D Mario action game, Iwata confirmed, along with a new Mario Kart game for Wii U. They’ll both be shown off – in playable form – at E3 2013. There’ll also be a new party game, which involves various mini-titles and using the GamePad and Wiimotes in unusual ways, such as this dual-player Pong-style game:

Nintendo also revealed that there was a new Yoshi title in the works, developed by the team behind Kirby’s Epic Yarn. That will feature the underused character in a new, 3D title.

Finally, there’ll be Shin Magami Tensei meets Fire Emblem, a fighting game that Nintendo is yet to detail completely, and Xenoblade Wii U, from Monolith, who created the original Xenoblade game.

Monolift RPG:

Also, the Bayonetta 2 team has released a video detailing the design process behind the upcoming title:

Wii U game roadmap revealed: Wonderful 101, Yoshi, Mario Kart and more is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.