It’s been a rough couple of months to be a Nintendo fan, but yesterday’s Nintendo Direct had plenty of good news to go around—at least for the 3DS. While the WiiU got a few “info morsels” regarding the Virtual Console, the impending major system update, and some New Super Luigi U details, the main reveal was that the cult-classic Earthbound will finally get a Virtual Console release this year. While “kind of a big deal” to Nintendo-heads—and a great game, to boot—I doubt it will sell many systems. Oh yeah, they are…uhm…still working on Pikmin 3.
For all the WiiU’s troubles this year, the 3DS has been on a roll. With the one-two punch of Fire Emblem Awakening and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Nintendo has already released a pair of personal “must have” games for me in early 2013, and with Animal Crossing: New Leaf around the corner I was already pretty much set until fall, if not the rest of the year.
Then this week, we got updates on:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D – May 24
- Shin Megami Tensei 4 – July 16
- Mario & Luigi: Dream Team – August 11
- Mario Golf: World Tour – Summer
And a few new announcements:
- New Mario Party
- New Yoshi’s Island
Now with the exception of Shin Megami Tensei 4, very little of the above really interests me, but it seems like a well rounded line-up.
But what I haven’t mentioned yet is that Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, a beautiful looking, old-school RPG by Square-Enix, will be published by Nintendo next year and ON TOP OF THAT…we’re getting a NEW 3DS Zelda title, presumably this year! Set in the world of The Link to the Past, it already looks great! I rarely go out and buy games on day one, but a proper “overhead view” Zelda may be too tempting to pass up! Add in Atlus’ current line-up of Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers and it’s a great time to own a 3DS. (BTW it’s official, ALL games require a subtitle. You have to have TWO subtitles to even stand out now.)
Cheers,
Ben