Back when President Iwata was still among us, Nintendo Direct was the number one source of all Nintendo news. However, ever since his passing, we have yet to get any news from Nintendo whatsoever. Sure, we’ve had a few rumours surrounding the new Nintendo NX console, but otherwise it’s been pretty quiet around the Internet when it comes to tangible information surrounding the gaming giant. So what’s going on in the world of Nintendo?
I did some snooping, and the news is a little brighter than I thought.
Nintendo Direct is coming back!
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tatsumi Mimishima has confirmed that Nintendo Direct will be returning sooner than later. The article (found here) states that we can expect to see a Nintendo Direct sometime before the end of 2015. The hopes here, of course, are that the newest Nintendo Direct will have some sort of good news for Nintendo’s holiday season. With Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda: Wii U no longer among the company’s holiday lineup, we can only pray that we get something other than Xenoblade Chronicles X that will be worth picking up.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Yo-Kai Watch
Yo-Kai Watch was a huge success in Japan, outselling Pokemon: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire by over 750,000 copies – and that’s without considering the sequels. While it is currently unclear how well the game will sell in the international market – seeing as the game is much more Japan-centric than Pokemon – it has already left a wake in the pool thanks to a rather silly advertising campaign.
I’m not sure about anyone else, but I’m not entirely sure if this will be marketable to anyone but the youngest of 3DS players in North America…
In other news, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has actually been releasing a number of short clips on YouTube that show gameplay modes and other bits of information. In the clips we have learned a number of things about the game, including:
- Playable characters, and hidden characters that have yet to be revealed
- Amiibo characters, training, and customization
- Multiplayer methods
- Single Player game modes
Although Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has not gone into too much detail about gameplay features, the new ads do shed some light onto what we can expect from the game as a whole. However, I must admit that I am a little underwhelmed right now. Unlike the Gamecube title Mario Power Tennis, Ultra Smash doesn’t really seem to change much in terms of gameplay – other than giving players an unfair advantage at random.
I guess we’ll just have two wait until November 20th to judge.
Twilight Princess HD and other unannounced titles
According to Nintendo Life, the CEO of Nintendo – Tatsumi Kimishima – has also gone on record as stating that there are still several titles lined up for the Wii U and 3DS this holiday season that have not yet been announced. During a special strategy briefing in Tokyo, Kimishima has told investors that these new games will be arriving on both consoles before the end of 2015.
Fans have been going crazy over this news, especially after the alleged data-mined image of Twilight Princess splash art on the Wii U eShop showed up. Speculation has all but unanimously come to the conclusion that one of these “unannounced titles” will be the rumoured Twilight Princess HD remake they have been expecting.
The excitement around a possible Twilight Princess remake has only been growing after this image (also in the header) was released in the company’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing seen here. The reason? Link’s pose is identical to that which is found in multiple pieces of Twilight Princess splash art.
Seen here on the right, Link is holding his sword inversely while holding the pommel up against his shield. This could simply be a coincidence, but perhaps there’s reason to believe that this might actually confirm a Twilight Princess remake, especially since the image is not a carbon copy. It should be noted that while Link is in a similar pose, the Link making the pose looks dissimilar to the original Twilight Princess one. While his hair color is similar, his tunic is lighter colored, and his hand positioning is a little higher up than in the original art from the Gamecube/Wii title. Interestingly, the Link model found in the briefing is not found in any other Legend of Zelda or Nintendo media.
This is all speculation, however, and so it should be taken with a grain of salt.
That’s it for now…
Sadly, Nintendo hasn’t been talking to the media at all. Without any information coming straight from the company almost all news surrounding Nintendo’s future has been filled with rumors, business reports, or pure speculation. All we can do as fans is come together and hope that 2016 brings a new golden age for Nintendo.
