Wii U News Explosion: New Zelda, Mario, More

[joshuaboy]

New HD Zelda Revealed for Wii U

This isn't what you saw at E3 2011...

Nearly two years after it unveiled an HD concept at E3 2011, Nintendo has revealed its early thoughts and visual intentions for The Legend of Zelda on Wii U.

Franchise producer Eiji Aonuma, citing the scope and ambition of this new project, declined to do a full unveiling of the Wii U Zelda entry, but provided some insight into his team's mission. In essence, Nintendo is "rethinking the conventions of Zelda." Ideas like dungeons needing to be completed in order, and Zelda adventures being single-player only, are being set aside as the team focuses on "returning to basics." The goal of all this, Aonuma said, was to create a reborn Zelda - and more details on this will be shared as the game comes together.

But that wasn't all Aonuma detailed about his new Zelda endeavor. He discussed Nintendo's new visual approach for the game, which apparently is completely unlike the HD demo shown at E3 2011, but wasn't ready to be shown at this time.

Aonuma noted this still-mysterious "new style" developed as his team experimented bringing Zelda's many graphical styles into HD. The producer said over time something entirely new and unique evolved. There are many questions - and it seems as though we have a while to wait. No release window of any kind was provided for this new game. But for now, we have a brief glimpse into the direction of the HD future of Zelda.

 

[joshuaboy]

Zelda: Wind Waker Remake Headed to Wii U

GameCube’s prettiest game is getting an HD makeover - and it's coming sooner than you'd think.



Wii U owners will be playing an HD Zelda game in just a handful of months

No, really.

As officially confirmed during today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, an HD remake of GameCube classic The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is coming to Wii U this Fall. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata noted that the game was meant to help ease the wait for the next big Zelda game (which was also revealed today and has no release estimate in sight).

See you soon, Jabun!

The game will give players the option to play entirely on the GamePad, and will feature both upgraded graphics and Miiverse integration. Nintendo also plans to tune up the original experience, though precisely what changes that might entail is a mystery at this point. On the visual side of things, the game definitely retains its core visual style, but with the addition of some noticeable visual flourishes (such as enhanced lighting to lend the cel-shading a more vibrant, dynamic look).

For more on Link and Zelda’s first steps into the world of HD, keep it here on IGN in the months to follow.

 

[joshuaboy]

Smash Bros, Mario, Mario Kart Confirmed for E3 2013

Expect the plumber to have a big show.

Nintendo has confirmed that the next Super Smash Bros. game, a new 3D Mario game and a Mario Kart for Wii U will all make their debut at E3 2013.

During a Nintendo Direct conference this morning, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said he’s aware that Nintendo fans have been waiting for more news on the next Smash Bros. game and confirmed that the “first screens” will be shown at E3. Iwata said development is “on track” for both Wii U and 3DS and asked fans to “wait just a little bit longer” for their first look at the ambitious sequel.

Iwata also announced a new 3D Mario game for Wii U in development from EAD Tokyo, the team that previously developed Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D Land. Iwata said the game is an “action game” and will be playable at E3. On top of that, Iwata revealed that a new Mario Kart game is in development for Wii U as well, and will also be playable at the show.

This is the first official confirmation of a new Mario or Mario Kart game for Wii U. Smash Bros., meanwhile, was first announced way back at E3 2011 and last year Nintendo confirmed that Namco Bandai will be handling development.

No specific names were announced for any of the games, but expect to find out more when E3 takes place in Los Angeles between June 11th and 13th (just over 138 days from now if you’re counting).

 

[joshuaboy]

Fire Emblem Crosses Over With Shin Megami Tensei

No, you haven’t died and gone to RPG heaven - this is actually happening.

It looks like the characters of SEGA, Capcom and Namco won’t be the only ones crossing over for a Nintendo system in the near future. In today’s Nintendo Direct, it was officially announced that Atlus and Intelligent Systems are working on a crossover project for Wii U featuring the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises.

The thematic trailer shown doesn’t give away much, but it does feature Fire Emblem characters such as Marth from the original game, as well as very SMT visuals. As for Nintendo’s partnership with Atlus on this one, company president Satoru Iwata commented that as development of games grows larger and larger, “Nintendo cannot use the same approaches we have in the past.” Iwata also hinted that the company has “many more partners,” ones that will apparently be revealed sometime soon (perhaps in future Nintendo Direct broadcasts).

 

[joshuaboy]

Monolith Soft Debuts New Wii U RPG

'X' marks the spot.

In a Nintendo Direct presentation packed with exclusives, company president Satoru Iwata saved one of the biggest for last - Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft's new, untitled RPG.

Few details were provided outside of a sizzle reel of footage, but the gameplay system seems to heavily call upon Xenoblade Chronicles, from its active battles to the command bar located at the bottom of the screen. Some clips featured up to three players listed on the left side of the screen, perhaps indicating a multiplayer component of some sort.

Thematically the realistic, gritty visuals not only embraced fantasy-based swords and creatures, but advanced technology, including mechs that can transform on the fly. Again, very much like Xenoblade Chronicles.

In fact, the game's teaser ends with a giant red "X." If we were betting men and women, we'd bet we're looking at a new entry in Xenoblade lore.

But Nintendo isn't talking - yet.

 

[joshuaboy]

Wii U Virtual Console, OS Upgrades Announced

Faster loading times and new Miiverse features are coming soon.

Nintendo has announced that Virtual Console is coming to Wii U this Spring. Due approximately in April, Wii U’s Virtual Console won’t offer all of the Wii’s Virtual Console library to start, but will begin with NES and SNES games.

Like on Wii, NES games will range from $4.99-$5.99, while SNES games will run $7.99-$8.99. If you already own the game on Wii, you’ll be able to purchase the Wii U version at a discounted price ($1 for NES games and $1.50 for SNES), provided you're willing to transfer your Wii VC titles to your Wii U. Wii U eShop games will offer features including save states (similar to 3DS), the option to play entirely on the GamePad and the ability to post to Miiverse.

To kick off the Virtual Console launch and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Famicom, Nintendo also announced the Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign, which begins today and runs through July. The campaign will offer one game each month at the heavily discounted price of $0.30 and will include the following:

January: Balloon Fight

February: F-Zero

March: Punch-Out Featuring Mr. Dream

April: Kirby’s Adventure

May: Super Metroid

June: Yoshi

July: Donkey Kong

Separately, Nintendo announced that new updates will be coming to Wii U’s operating system as well as to Miiverse. Two Wii U OS updates are coming in Spring and Summer and will, among other changes, improve loading times such as those when backing out from an application to the Wii U menu.

Miiverse, meanwhile, will soon allow users to create their own communities, will expand to more than one community per game and will add the ability to filter content. Miiverse will soon be available via smartphones and PCs as well (as Nintendo previously detailed), allowing players to log in with their Nintendo Network ID to access some Miiverse features via their browser. Nintendo said it plans to eventually release some kind of Miiverse app, though no other details were given.

All of these features are coming to Miiverse “in the near future,” though specific timing wasn’t announced. Nintendo also discussed new game-specific features for Miiverse -- Pikmin 3 will take advantage of the GamePad’s camera to let players take pictures of wildlife and post them to Miiverse, and Wii Fit U will get special communities that let players gather and compare fitness notes. Both games are due in the first half of 2013.

 

[joshuaboy]

Wii U Party Announced

Party like it’s Summer 2013.

During its Nintendo Direct conference this morning, Nintendo announced that a new game from the creators of Wii Party is headed to Wii U in Summer 2013.

The game (which doesn’t have an official title just yet) will offer a variety of different activities, including some that only use the GamePad. Examples shown during the presentation included a dice-rolling game and a baseball mini game that let two players use opposite sides of the GamePad (one using the face buttons and one using the D-Pad).

Nintendo revealed that the game will interact with Wiimotes as well, showing off a mini game that displays button prompts on the GamePad’s screen and makes players hit the corresponding buttons on their Wiimotes to follow along. According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, the goal is to showcase some of the new experiences that Wii U can offer, particularly those that can bring everyone together.

The game will allow players to use their Miis and essentially operates like a virtual board game. Expect more details to be revealed in the coming months.

For more, read our review of Wii Party from 2010, or see an example of that game’s mini games in the video below.

 

[joshuaboy]

Yoshi’s Land Wii U is Real

And it’s made of yarn!

Following months of rumor and speculation, the Big N finally announced the existence of a new Yoshi-centric game for Wii U during today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast. No specific name has been revealed as of yet, but we do know the title will be supervised by legendary Nintendo developer Takashi Tezuka (who, shockingly enough, directed both Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story).

It's been too long since we last heard Yoshi's side of the story.

Yoshi’s Wii U adventure is being developed by the team behind Kirby’s Epic Yarn (presumably meaning some folks from HAL Laboratory and/or Good-Feel). Stylistically that’s exactly what the game’s visuals reflect, with a yarn-made Yoshi acting as the main hero. It’s hard to tell exactly what the game will play like, but what little was shown seems to indicate it will be a 2D platformer, though even this has yet to be officially confirmed.

Keep it here on IGN for all things dinosaur.

 

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[focus]

Also...

Bayonetta 2 development diary


New Wonderful 101 Trailer

 

[ocelot]

Meh... Same shit as last gen and the gen before that.

 

[blackkevblazini]

I wasn't gonna cop a Wii U until somebody figured out how to hack that bitch so I could use my USBLoader on it,But I'm digging The Wonderful 101. Shit looks like a cross between Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe.

 

[focus]

 

[CeLLaR-DooR]

A new Zelda, Kart, SSB, Mario and Fire Emblem...Soon as one of those drops, I'm koppin' a Wii U and aforementioned game

 

[grumpy_new_yorker]

average development cycle for the last couple zelda games has been 5 years. zelda hd is years away.

new xeno game looks sick though. everything else :shrugs:

 

[focus]

New trailer

 

[blackkevblazini]

That looks like a sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles. same battle system and everything.

 

[focus]

 

[focus]

 

[VIBE]

Better be all new games, not no rehashed shit.