Iwata Direct

The first Nintendo Direct of 2014 is down and, at this stage, it's tricky to digest and 'grade'. On the surface it was actually packed with announcements — some unique between North America and Europe — with a number of new titles shown, while footage was revealed for major titles such as Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2 and Monolith Soft's X; oh, there was a new challenger revealed for Super Smash Bros., too.

There were also, it must be said, issues with the streams, perhaps the worst we've seen to date. Those focused on the North American broadcast had a solid alternative with Nintendo's YouTube channel, but gamers in Europe were stuck with Ustream and what was the shoddiest performance to date — whether trying to view in the lowest resolution here on Nintendo Life or Nintendo's official page, performance was either choppy or non-existent. We missed large swathes of information and had to catch up with the YouTube video that was posted at the end, but it certainly sucked some of the enjoyment out of the experience. Whether the fault of Nintendo or Ustream, the big N will hopefully resolve the issues for next time.

But still, quite a lot actually happened, even if all-important release windows were excluded and there may have been a lack of Hyrule Warriors-style shocks. As there were actually so many details and stories have already fallen well off the front page, here's our usual summary with all of the links you need; the broadcasts are also included at the end, including the Japanese version.

Wii U

3DS

Wii U and 3DS

Miscellaneous

Nintendo Direct Broadcasts

Nintendo of America

Nintendo of Europe

Nintendo Japan

So there you have it, what did you think overall? Were you delighted, quite pleased, underwhelmed, disappointed? Sound off in the comments below.