Feature: The Big Nintendo Direct Summary - 1st April 2015

A lot of Amiibo and DLC

You guys have got to understand, every single Direct since it was first announced, I've been wanting N64 VC. And finally, it came! Along with DS and also some new Streetpass games. Solid Direct for me.

Whew, a lot to take in!

So many things to look forward to. Now I can't wait for E3!

As a 3DS owner I cannot say that this Direct was brilliant. Great they showed a few games but there was not really anything new and amazing. Hopefully there will be some heavy hitters at E3's Direct

ummm...some of the links above are not working.

I knew it, I said that we'd see nothing new to announce (N64 doesn't count because they said it was coming a long time ago), no star fox and a long time ago, I said Smash DLC was coming, people denied it and argued with me and well, here it is.

Though as I came in expecting nothing, I was happy to see that the N64 titles coming were actually good ones. Donkey Kong I've never really played so I will be excited to get that. I might pick up Super Mario 64 and paper Mario for $2. I am also excited for 200cc. it will make it so light weights are much more useful. Before it was the speed and weight are all you need but handling will be key in 200cc

For the Wii U this Direct was a flawless victory!
I saw a ton of great games way beyond what I was initially hoping for.
Localization of Fatal Frame 5 is proof that the Wii U's banners continue to move for the top of the pole.

All you need to do is jump for that gold flag!

Digital downloaders won't get the squidmiibo without buying a bundle in Europe? Come on that's unfair!

Very chock full ND, w/o a "please understand" - glad they got that Zelda U delay out iof the way earlier - or long drawn out segment of people walking around town. Just pretty much non-stop games, games, games.

Of course Im still bummed about the wait for MM and Yoshi in the fall, leaving the Wii U line-up for April, May, June, July and August w/ only Splatoon. Splatoon may be good, but can it carry Wii U sales for 5 months on its own? Seems a lot to ask for a new IP online strategy game lacking voice chat. Amiibo set is real cute though.

Well 3DS is still going strong, the old 3DS portal is coming, a few surprise new game announcemts like more free Pokemon.

No DeNa or NX was good. No Starfox or XCX was probably bad.

So thats 2 ND in a row easily won by 3DS coverage while Wii U is releagated to DLC for year old games.

For nintendo to redeem themselves, they need to start putting ALOT of 64 games on the VC, like libraries worth, Of course we havent even heard one word about gamecube. 64 games were on the wii. The wii u can finally play games we could play on the wii. One of the reasons I got the wii u were from vague mentions of the wii u having gamecube and 64 games on its vc. That would have been awesome. Mario 64 was my favorite game of all times (until mario galaxy 2). Now if we can just put resident evil 4 up, my prayers for the past 7 years will finally be completely answered!

Good Direct, liked it.

I'm a happy Wii U owner with the Direct though. My N3DS will take a backseat.

@Aneira @DiscoGentleman - You guys must really like Fatal Frame.

I wasn't too impressed with this direct until seeing the MarioKart stuff.

Barring that and Mario Maker there isn't much at all for me now on Wii U.

Do the N64 games look like a low def muddy mess on modern TVs?

Good Direct apart from no Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold for Europe...

I was surprised by the lack of Hatsune Miku Project MIRAI DX as that's out in May, but pleased to hear that Fatal Frame is coming.

I was hoping we'd see Something to fill the Zelda sized hole at the end of the year, but there was nothing.

I'm super glad Nintendo did a Direct and that they showed off as much exciting things as they did.

I wonder if some of these reveals such as Fatal Frame had initially been planned for E3 but after the smartphone games and NX announcement, along with Zelda's delay, Nintendo realised they needed to keep their fans confident that the Wii U (which seemed to be the major focus yesterday) was not being abandoned.

I am so excited for the N64 VC...especially with DK64 coming. I've been waiting a looooooong time to play that again.

This Nintendo Direct was really nice, looks like I'll be busy with the upcoming games/DLC this year.

Have to admit I'm worried about the pricing for the Smash DLC. A bundle of all the DLC would be good, a la MK8, but individually they're quite dear.

Best surprises: knitted Yoshi, Splatoon amiibo, The Binding of Isaac on 3DS, Smash DLC, Fatal Frame and the amazing looking SMTxFE.

I NEED all of these yarn Yoshi amiibo in my life RIGHT NOW

Fatal Frame is actually being localized (about damn time), Lucas is back, and Shin Megami X Fire Emblem actually exists--but looks a little "eh" so far.

Splatoon Amiibos that, like every non-Mario themed Amiibo, will no-doubt be impossible to find and fed straight to resellers.

This is pretty much all I found of value in this Direct. N64 games on the VC. Wow, nobody's ever played Super Mario 64 before--it's only available on four platforms. I know, I know, people wanted this and it should've been there from the start, but still what a lame way to announce it. If they wanted to really blow my mind, they'd have introduced the N64 with the obvious Mario, but then showed a list of totally unexpected games like the Turok trilogy. DS games on the Wii U--I do not see the point in this at all, especially when the GameCube is still absent--and for that matter, the Saturn and Dreamcast and any other 3rd party platform this time. Nintendo was more focused on reselling VC games already available on the Wii U via the Wii than actually offering a wealth of new games.

Very annoying how many games they showed of and just said "coming later" instead of, you know, dates or release windows. Also annoying that they called Shin Megami X Fire Emblem "a new game" when it was already announced.

That Smash Bros voting site has probably already devolved into a bunch of jokes, asinine Goku begging, and people spamming the same thing over and over again. I think Nintendo put that up just to keep fans from continually harassing Sakurai on Miiverse or Twitter.

@YouGotOwend There is at least a bundle for all the Mii customes at a slight discount.

@Quorthon Watch as we get Super Mario 64 DS in a couple of months.

Overall, a very lame ND.

the bad

-A lot of DLC and amiibo stuff. Not interested.
-Streetpass? People still use that?
-Nintendo hawking trading cards and toys? No thanks.
-A bunch of games based off Japanese RPGS and cartoons I don't watch
-Animal Crossing interior decorator simulator

the good

-The presentation itself wasn't very long

showing that Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem has actually been in development this whole time was a highlight for me and the mario kart 8 bit at the end was the coup de gras - 200cc, hell yeah !!

@MasterBlaster
"The presentation itself wasn't very long"

Ehm okay? This was one of the longest Directs ever with almost 50 min.

@manu0

It was? I must have fallen asleep around the point they were showing off a three pack of action figures then

I was pretty dissapointed, only things that interested me was the STEAM update (which seemed to be a point of critique for many), the 200cc and Octodad.

I was so pleased with the ND that I didn't mind the absence of Zelda and Xenoblade X.

@manu0

I wouldn't put it past them. They put Super Mario Advance 3 (Yoshi's Island) on there instead of the actual SNES Yoshi's Island, and Super Mario Advance, which is the SNES update of Super Mario Bros 2 by itself instead of being part of the Super Mario All-Stars set.

It's like they pick VC releases by throwing a dart at a wall that just has a print-out list of all their games.

Hey, did anybody else notice that the guy in the NES controller T-shirt was wearing a small Metroid pin?

Well, apparently there will be two new Amiibos to be purchased (Splatoon and Yarn Yoshi) for me. Also happy to see Splatoon in detail, along with the updates to the Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8. It was also great to see that Fatal Frame is being localized (it fills another genre hole in the library) and there are more eShop games making the transition finally.

I think I am ok with the DLC for Smash. $0.75 for a single outfit and $6 for a pack is fine for me (no 3DS to worry about), and I will probably pass on the fighters for now. I was never a huge N64 fan, but I probably will pick up some of the DS titles (especially if one of y favorites, Clubhouse Games, arrives).

This was my favorite Direct in a long time. SMT x FE was my personal highlight, but N64 Virtual Console comes close.

Plus, Fatal Frame, DS VC and Lucas. Life is good.

I'm pretty certain now that we will see a Mario Paint VC release in the vicinity of the Mario Maker release. If they can rework Duck Hunt to work with the Wii Remote, I'm sure they can make Mario Paint work with pointer and/or touch controls.

@Quorthon I really think the SNES Yoshi's Island is not on there more due to licensing issues with the FX chip than anything else. Synopsys owns the ARC chip (and patents) and Nintendo probably would need to license the tech from them before emulating it in a Virtual Console game.

It sucks because I prefer the original Star Fox to the N64 version.

@manu0 Don't bother, you always get the usual trolls when some good news comes up. It happens with every company, mind, not just Nintendo.

@mrchills : the n64 has a rich catalog. Can they even release a lot of these games? I'm unaware of what could be holding back games like Turok ,Shadowman, and such. If it has to do with licensing, then we'll miss out on the best the system had. WWF No Mercy, Goldeneye, Jet Force Gemini, even NBA Courtside: (

Um, let's see...

Code Name STEAM fast-forward enemy turns
N64 virtual console games (including DK64!)
DS virtual console games (with as many options as DS emulators)
MK8 DLC out in mere weeks with 200cc + more costumes
Smash DLC and new characters
Amiibo up the yin-yang
Yoshi's Wooly World info + yarn amiibo
Mario Maker release month
FE14 info (and Jap summer release date means it could come early 2016)
Fatal Frame V announced for this year
SMT x Fire Emblem revealed (more Persona than FE but looks great!)
Attack on Titan announced

Ya, this Direct was a blowout. And think, all these announcements so close to E3- they must have a good hand this year if they can afford to show all that so close to the expo

@Goomba77 actually on my screen looked pretty good. Kinda amazed by how different it looks cleaner and plays better in Wii U than original Wii

They had me at SMT x FE... It Liiiiiiives! But the amiibo almost caused tears when I saw the retail exclusives.

@Darknyht

I just looked this up to confirm/debunk your post, and what I see is pointing to confirmation. Both Yoshi's Island and StarFox skipped the Wii Virtual Console as well. You may have a point.

I'm glad I have the original FX-powered versions of both of those games, and my 100% completion file for Yoshi's Island, which got my name printed in Nintendo Power back in the day. That was a really hard game to finish 100%.

@MasterBlaster

For the bad, you forgot to mention that they're now selling Smash Bros characters that should've and could've been in the game from the beginning, and that Amiibos are apparently, essentially now being used to unlock on-disk DLC. So buy the game, but if you want the whole experience, you better buy the toys that no one can find and that Nintendo refuses to make in reasonable quantities.

This is slightly worse than when Capcom put on-disk content behind an additional paywall. At least there, you weren't dependent on impossible-to-find plastic figures.

No new games.

For the good, you forgot Fatal Frame is actually being localized "sometime."

@Goomba77

They're supposed to scale to 720, but the textures will still be the same ultra-low resolution, blurry crap they used to be. They'll just be blurry and low-res in HD.

Remember, for the most part, these things are just emulations of the original titles. They are not improved, remade, or updated.

People seem generally pleased with the Direct which is a good thing. Personally, Mario Kart 8 announcement at the end saved it for me. Nothing else really grabbed me. Nice to see N64 games finally arriving.

I wonder if we will see Animal Crossing on the Wii U?

Explain to me why Europe gets Woolly World first among ANY region?

Considering the timing of this Direct, I think it was a solid showing. Nintendo Direct is mostly created to reach out to the Nintendo die-hards, and generate concentrated buzz on gaming sites. And I think it did a great job accomplishing that.
Now, E3 is a different animal altogether. The full spectrum of the gaming community is all ears for that one weekend. Its the best opportunity for the XBox, Sony, and PC gamers to pay attention to any worthwhile press releases. Any major announcements from Nintendo will be heard loud and clear.
With that in mind, I think Nintendo did a great job of whetting the appetites within their own communities while still saving the big guns for when it counts. They did such a great job in 2014, so I know they have it in them. However, if their E3 showing is weak, then the gaping hole that Zelda left for the holiday season can cause some major damage. And I fear that it might push them more heavily to tap into that new mobile market money DeNA is throwing at them.

Fairly disappointing direct for me. Fatal Frame coming west is cool, though not really my cup of meat. The two Wii U games I've been excited about most, Mario Maker and Yoshi, are later than I expected. N64 and DS VC is cool, but, in America at least, the launch line-up is underwhelming (will save my Yoshi enthusiasm for Woolly World and I just played through Mario 64). Will jump on DK64, MKDS and WarioWare:Touched when they arrive though. Most of the other stuff I didn't care much about, never got into Amiibo collecting, SMT x FE may turn out great, but we'll see...

Biggest win for me was MK8 dlc releasing early, with the 200cc added. I'm working on 3-starring Mirror Mode right now so that works out. Don't mind that they only showed one new course. I've bought it allready and don't mind being surprised.

It wasn't at all clear to me what the Splatoon amiibo would do, but I was distracted at the time. Was there anything significant? I mean, I'd like the squid one, but I'm not going to knock myself out unless they do something really meaningful.

Pretty disappointing in all honesty. Any game that was interesting was slapped with a "not coming anytime soon" sticker. Yarn Yoshi amiibos were awesome, though.

The N64 VC is neat, even if it should have been there from the beginning and was already available through wii mode.

And there will always be the people saying "Well you expected too much!". Not really, all I expected was a release window for XBX. But since they didn't show it, that tells me that they're saving it to pad out their E3 direct, as well as StarFox. What I saw in this direct was Nintendo struggling to get interesting content out. Why waste time on Xenoblade 3DS? BoxBoy? And streetpass mini games?

And their DLC practices are starting to become terrible. Those smash costumes are just... disappointing to say the least. They are becoming "modern" in all the wrong ways in my honest opinion.

But that isn't to say I'm not happy for those who enjoyed the direct. I'm glad you guys got what you wanted!

all around very solid Nintendo Direct for me, I was kinda hoping for a vague launch window announcement for Xenoblade Chronicles X, but they might be leaving that till E3 time. The big new for me was the Yoshi woolly world amiibo, Splatoon coming in May with 3-pack amiibo, Fatal Frame coming to Wii U, and screens from the SMT x Fire Emblem Wii U game!

@ikki5

I knew it, I said that we'd see nothing new to announce (N64 doesn't count because they said it was coming a long time ago), no star fox and a long time ago, I said Smash DLC was coming, people denied it and argued with me and well, here it is.

You didn't get SMT xFE and Fatal Frame announced in your territory?

Sometimes I wonder if people just enjoy being negative or looking for negatives to point out.

I'm still not impressed.

I'm very curious about the SMTxFE bit, wondering if Intelligent Systems is still involved with the project. It seems like SMT with a few Fire Emblem characters chucked in somewhere.

Wow, tough crowd here!

Can most of us at least now admit that the Wii U will not be discontinued in 2016? ...Or are we still going to be going back to that?

Let's see:
-no mention of a unified, more friendly account system
-no info on rare amiibo restock
-no seppuku from Iwata for the zelda delay

There, now that I've bashed Nintnedo a bit I can say nice things without being branded a drooling fanboy.

Enjoyed the direct, was excited to see smtxfe was alive but wasn't thrilled with what I saw. Atlus has earned giving them a chance tho.

Good to see fatal frame coming. That game intrigued me. As I don't have a n64 the VC offerings I will pick up as they come, tho I have the ds mario64 so I will sale wait the original. I don't see the appeal of the ds games. Are they that hard to find still?

Dlc for smash is fine with me. Fighters cost money to make. This is industry standard (check out the MK X pricing, if anything it is still cheap!). Mk8 looks good, excited for 200 cc and I hope we see more dlc for it.

Other news didn't do much for me, but overall a good direct. As was mentioned already in comments, I think nintendo was careful not to spoil their e3 info with this.

I personally thought this was a great direct, but then I'm a huge RPG fan, and fan of Atlus and Intelligent System (esp Fire Emblem) games, so it was awesome for me.

It was nice to see a lot of support for Wii U and thet they actually listened to a lot of fan demand: Localizing Fatal Frame and Splatoon Amiibo to start with!

@Yorumi : I do have to agree with the Amiibo part. I can't imagine having these toys lying around to unlock content. It feels as if they're pushing all their games toward this junk. The DLC is interesting because it looks as if they will keep supporting these games moving forward. Of note though, I have never bought any Nintendo DLC yet. My biggest issue is the VC again. They might put some stuff up now, but it could be barren again in a month. I want some Genesis, Atari, Saturn, Dreamcast, Game Gear, Commodore games to play on my gamepad. Are they holding this stuff back to implement with their new reward system?

Iwata is looking really ill

@Cyberbotv2 I'm imagining, like a lot of the third-party games on existing VC systems, it's a matter of licensing.

@MasterBlaster Agreed, it was so lame.

@rjejr I'm hoping they have something set for immediate release for E3 but I'm not holding my breath.

Xbox one looks anemic for that same time frame while PS4 seems to have a steady stream lined up.

As soon as they announced the character request form for Smash, I started imagining all the dumb kids who are going to get on there and abuse it. I personally put in a request for Shovel Knight. It would be a minor travesty if he didn't find his way in.

DS games look laughably clunky running on the Wii U. Makes you wonder why they didn't just put downloadable DS games on the 3DS store. Since, I don't know, the 3DS was actually meant to run them? Just a suggestion.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around how it took Nintendo 2 years and 3 months after announcing N64 games to actually introduce them to the Virtual Console. They could've done that anytime in the numerous software droughts since launch, but I guess that would've been too logical. Then again, I guess they're going to need them now because the Wii U's software lineup is only going to get worse and worse.

@Quorthon I wish I could say the same. I only borrowed Star Fox back then and have never played any of the Yoshi games. Yoshi's Wooly World may be my introduction to the series as I really like the art style and these days I have more patience for puzzle platformers.

While that is the most likely reason, it should also be less of a problem as most of their 1993 (FX 1) and 1995 patents (FX 2) should be running out in the US (and I believe the rest of the world). A simpler explanation is that Nintendo has been unable to do what hackers have, build a stable emulation of the FX technology.

All in all...I thought this Direct was a little underwhelming. I guess I was just expecting a bit more from it but I suppose they are saving the bigger stuff for E3.

@Yorumi : If Nintendo is not actively reaching out to the publishers of those older games, they are dumber than I suspected. And thinking about it further, I bet they're sitting back expecting companies to come to them. Perfect example was when WWE network launched. Every system was supported except anything Nintendo related. Nintendo could have reached out said, we have a lot of older fans from the N64 era, that enjoyed your games. Let's get this on the VC, we'll add online to it, and you can get 50 percent, and at the same time run a cross promotion discount on the Network. But instead nothing. These directs tend to satisfy the hardcore like myself temporarily, but the same mismanagement always crops up. Maybe I will stay away from any purchases (including Mario 64 which I wanted) for now until they show a membership/reward system, and much more of a dedicated and consistent release schedule.

@Yorumi
Licensing is a nightmare. Not sure it's as bad as the music industry but just go look up an article about the process of getting a song into a game like Rock Band. It's pretty insane.

Emulators on PC just live in the gray areas so they get away with everything easily. Once you go legal, it's a rats nest.

I can only speculate, but I'm sure deals they made for Wii VC were strictly for the Wii and if companies weren't happy with the results (little to no profits for them) then it would take a lot to get them again.

@lkm More like older and thinner to me.

@Yorumi : Are those Rare games available on the Xbox? I have an N64 but my controllers have just gotten too old at this point.

I thought it was a pretty great direct. The pace held up while previous directs felt stilted and slow and there was plenty of new things to show with a few more surprises than I expected. Some delays were a bummer, for sure, but since I really like the look of that indie sizzle reel, I feel like I'm going to get plenty out of my Wii U. Plus, the arrival of N64 and DS VC is exciting to me.

Particularly DS games which have been trapped in a tiny cramped machine for too long and on the Wii U which is uniquely suited to support them due to the increasingly versatile GamePad.

Amiibo is coming into its own now, too but needs those card alternatives ASAP, even though I'll be buying plenty of the toys, too. Still holding out hope for a restock of all the amiibo released so far.

Really excited about Splatoon as it is getting fleshed out.

@Vineleaf
Splatoon Amiibo give you missions that you complete to get unique costume options.

FIRE EMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!!!!! that's all.

@Action51 These are not new, These are games we already knew about, seen/ announced. The only thing about them is the fact we didn't know Fatal frame was going to get localized and that SMT xFE just... vanished for a long time. These are not new.

No word on club nintendo replacement nor mobile games deal

Pretty disappointing direct for me. Fatal Frame localization was the big hit for me. And really, do we really have to beg and put up petitions to get a game like this localized still?
Mariokart 200cc was another nice surprise, nothing mind blowing though.
The rest was basically games coming out in the fall with no set release dates and re-releasing old games once again.
Hopefully e3 will be an incredible showing for them.

@Action51

To be fair, those are not new game announcements. It's only news here because Nintendo is terrible at localizing games and no one expected Fatal Frame to actually see a Western release. SMTxFE was originally announced two years ago. The significance here is that is actually exists, and looks rather gaudy, and nothing like the gritty SMTIV or FE:A games--which is disappointing.

@Darknyht

Since Yoshi's Island, I have grown annoyed with Yoshi as a character. I dare say, I hate him. I find him obnoxious in most cases. I loved Yoshi's Island--it was brilliant, fresh, and totally unique when it came out all those years ago. I saw a site once that claimed it was so well designed, it should be taught in game design courses. I'd have a hard time disagreeing with that.

Per your other point, I hope it's the former (the patents) and not the latter (Nintendo technical limitations) preventing those games from being released. The former at least sounds plausible, the latter just makes Nintendo look bad.

StarFox was one of those titles that, in part, defined the 16-bit era for me, long before I owned it. I remember the lines of people waiting to play it in Wal-Marts at the time, and how insanely advanced it looked to our 16-bit-addled eyes. There really was nothing else like it.

But, it's another franchise where my interest waned after going all-in on a title. I completed StarFox64 at 100% (medals on all levels, both difficulties) on the N64 and after that, gradually lost interest in it. I never noticed that before, two games where I put in all my effort, after which, the franchises simply lost appeal to me. There must be some psychological element to that.

@aaronsullivan

I'm becoming annoyed with the Amiibo integration, because it's turning into a "DLC on the disk" problem where content already in the game is stuipdly locked behind a paywall. And it's a little worse than what Capcom did, since the way to unlock this content is to buy toys that are routinely impossible to find, never in decent supply, and which are seemingly fed directly into the hands of resellers.

Whoever that first jerk was who was willing to pay over retail for an Amiibo, started a trend that ruined the whole thing.

Nintendo fans have long championed Nintendo as "superior" for not doing things like day-one DLC, DLC in general, on-disk DLC, or locking content behind paywalls. Here, they're doing all of that, and simply making it harder to get that content, but the fans are cheering for the very concepts they used to demonize anyone else. I expect the Splatoon Amiibos to be nearly impossible to find--for no good reason.

@Yorumi : I definitely need to replace the joystick. And the button responsiveness has gone away. I see a lot of 3rd party n64 controllers online. Any recommendations?

@Quorthon

...I've never played Super Mario 64

I don't really care for Mario Maker..

But oh Yoshi and its woolly amiibos! Fire Emblem!

Price for Mewtwo was pretty... uh

I normally don't want to sound like a sour grape but are we going to get a trickle of these VCs? I love Nintendo but look at that track record when it comes to that. I almost thought they were going to release Mother 3 that was a let down. I have XENOBLADE, Atlus Game, XWiiU, and Fire Emlem this year.

The Mario Kart DLC is promising.

So Nintendo taunts us AGAIN about Mother 3 not being officially released, hope a Lucas Amiibo can change that to not fully released at least

@Quorthon With Yoshi, I think the character evolved into what it is today. I can take him or leave him (Kirby is the annoying one to me). Perhaps being constantly thrown away into pits to save Mario's life caused mental damage.

Star Fox is something that disappoints me, although I enjoyed Assault for what it was. I wish they would have put Factor 5 on the franchise as they understood the genre better than most. I also think it would be cool to see someone make a Scrolling Shooter or Bullet Hell Shmup with Star Fox as an eShop game.

@Action51 What was announced to move into 2016 for the Wii U other than we know Zelda will...?

@Darknyht

Very interesting. For some reason, I still like Kirby. Probably because I'm old-school in that regard. My brother and I were playing those games when they started, as he had Dream Land 1 and 2 on his Game Boy, and later I got Kirby's Adventure on the NES.

Fun fact: Kirby's Adventure was the first game I ever finished the first time I played it. I borrowed it from a friend, started playing it after school, and finished it 4 hours later.

Although, it's entirely possible that Rampage was the first game I finished the first time I played it. It didn't seem like you could fail at it and I played it once, finished it, and never played it again. I don't remember the timeline between when I played these two.

Later, I bought Kirby's Adventure, and finished it 100%... Holy crap, this is another one. I finished Kirby's Adventure 100%, and then did not buy another Kirby game for myself--and I'm not kidding--until Mass Attack on the DS.

Holy crap. I think when I go for 100% in a game, I effectively burn myself out on the franchise--and it lasts for years!

Well, I learned something weird about myself today.

@ikki5

Shin Megami X Fire Emblem.

I also don't think Nintendo actually said 2016 for Zelda U, only that it'll "miss 2015." Which is kind of suspicious if you ask me.

Zelda NX?

I found this Nintendo direct very disappointing

I'm not excited for VC N64 games on Wii U, they're going to look terrible. VC DS games should be on 3DS not Wii U. Other than that just a bunch of DLC and a couple of freaky looken anime games.

@Finntendo

No way. I don't believe you. Everyone's played Super Mario 64 at some point.

I'd say to go play it, but the impact of how impressive and memorable it is may not work on you if you've played any of the modern games. The nostalgia of that game still takes me back to the winter when the N64 released, and all I had was Super Mario 64, Shadows of the Empire, and Cruis'n USA.

**SadFace** No announcement of Dragon Quest X on Wii-U or 3DS........ The ship may have sailed for North America.

@Tazcat2011 - Honestly I don't follow X1 that much. I know Halo, Scalebound, Tomb Raider exclusive, Batman, MGSV and FFXV some day. So basically the AAA stuff, Madden, COD et al. I do know PS4 just had a good run of FF Type 0 HD, Bloodbourne, MLB The Show and a DMC Remaster just before that.

Meanwhile Wii U had Mario Party 10 and now we have to wait until May 29 for Splatoon, and then wait again until September for Mario Maker.

So there's slow, and then there's 1 game in 5 months slow. And PS4 is still selling better than Wii U last I checked so I'm not too worried about it.

I agree w/ you, these are the slow months, for every system, but Wii U seems especially slow. And it didn't need to be if Ntinedo just put it's games out in a reasonable timely manner:

March - MP10
April - MK8 and SSBU DLC (I'll give them that)
May - Splatoon
June - Yoshi (as in the EU)
July - Mario Maker
Aug - Xenoblade
Sept - Starfox (they told us before Zelda during an awards show)
Oct - Fatal Frame
Nov - Zelda U (I know it's delayed)
Dec - some HD remake, Super Mario Sunshine or Galaxy

Nintendo has the games to make Wii U sell, but they have to release them. And advertise them, too many Clash of Clan type commercials on tv these days. And Mortal Kombat X, not getting that 1 either.

@rjejr no doubt there. I have they have some big reveals at E3 and at least one game that will ship shortly after. Spot on about the advertising, they need to step it up.

@Quorthon Yeah, I am already suspecting it to pull a Twilight Princess and go cross platform between Wii U and the NX

I liked the Direct. It provided a lot of good news for many different types of Nintendo fans and left a little intrigue. We can all speculate about Mother 3 coming in June with the release of Smash DLC. We still don't know what Retro and Level 5 are doing. Intelligent Systems seems to have little to do with SMT v FE so what are they working on for Wii U? For no general 3rd party support it looks like a number of Wii U exclusives will arrive fall and Winter. Fatal Frame, Rodao Sky Soldier, Devils 3rd and whatever else is unknown. E3 will have a lot of rumors and speculation starting.......NOW!

@Quorthon
From your comment: "I'm becoming annoyed with the Amiibo integration, because it's turning into a "DLC on the disk" problem where content already in the game is stuipdly locked behind a paywall."

I really don't understand this "problem". Work is work. You do it and you charge what you can get for it. Why should anyone care if it's "on the disk", in a toy or just activated by it. Most games are downloaded and updated all the time for free with dlc that is paid along side it. This imaginary betrayal at the dawn of DLC is just a misunderstanding of business basics. The confusion and frustration of consumers is real and something to deal with, but holding onto that old "DLC is bad if it's on disk" is just irrational.

Speaking of irrational, I'm surprised you are bringing up arguments about "fans who once said this, but now those fans say the opposite" as if you are keeping a running record of all the individuals in that group of "fans" and are able to compare them one to one. I know it's far easier just to characterize a whole group in one wide sweep, picking out examples to make them look hypocritical, right?

In addition there's no allowance for the simple change in opinion over time as people get used to things. Some weren't ready for a certain way of things yet and over time have adjusted to it by way of their experience and are more agreeable to something. Nothing wrong with that, it was an inferior choice for them at the time but they are agreeable to it now. Fine.

@Yorumi Actually, just like it's the older music that is more difficult to license for Rock Band, I imagine it's the games made earlier without any allowance for future distribution methods that are harder to license.

@Yorumi
I very much disagree with your simplistic summary and understanding of dlc on disk and it's especially non-applicable today. The "only two options" is an especially barren argument.

I don't disagree that there are ways to do it right and wrong but they all boil down to what the consumer is willing to pay and how satisfied they are with their purchases.

"What should have been on there in the first place" is a subjective perception by some miffed consumers that is based on almost no knowledge of how a game is produced and how much work went into it. To further complicate the issue the actual market value of the game to a consumer is often not remotely related to the amount of actual work that went into a game.

There are all sorts of intangibles involved which is why this issue so often devolves into hurt feelings and anger and complete lack of rational thought.

Was overall very pleased with the Direct. They addressed a few things fans have been asking for (N64 and DS games on the VC, speeding up enemy turns in Code Name STEAM, Fatal Frame being localized, SMT x FE being shown).

Very happy to see Lucas returning to Smash. Not sure who I'm going to vote for on the fighter ballot.

Also, totally called there not being a major Wii U retail release in April with the Smash stuff coming instead. I predicted that months ago. The MK8 DLC coming in April sweetens that. Looking forward to Mewtwo and 200cc.

The Wii U's updated release schedule for NA:

Splatoon - May 29th
Mario Maker - September
Then there's Star Fox, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Devil's Third, Yoshis Woolly World, Fatal Frame V, and Rodea the Sky Soldier in the fall.

@aaronsullivan

It's a general observation, and you are free to disagree if you wish. But the problem is that Amiibos are being used to unlock game content that consumers have technically already paid for when they bought the game. That is BS.

Gamers were adamantly, and rightly pissed when Capcom did this (some with a little too much hyperbole), but now Nintendo is doing it, and making it harder since you have to try to pre-order a damn toy to do it because Nintendo can't be bothered to make enough of them.

You don't see the problem here?

The content Amiibos unlock isn't downloaded when you "tap" them. It's already on the disk.

The content is already in the game data.
When you bought the game, you paid for all the data on that disk. To do otherwise is shady.
So you buy the game and have a bunch of content locked away behind a paywall.
You need to buy a toy to unlock that content.
The toys are nearly impossible to find.

It's completely asinine, rather shady, and surprisingly cruel to fans. It's one thing to just unlock a skin, but Nintendo seems ready to start locking away more content. I would not be surprised to see this worsen over the year. When will they lock away entire gameplay modes? At what point will it no longer be acceptable?

@aaronsullivan

If I were to keep a running tab on the ways Nintendo fans have changed their tune to support whatever the company says, indicating they have no values of their own, but will blindly follow whatever Dear Leader says, it would be a truly exhausting endeavor that would, I'm quite confident, fully support my case.

Why, on this very site we have seen legions of people proudly proclaiming that "Nintendo would never do mobile, Nintendo would never do that!" "I don't want Mario on mobile!" But the very moment that Nintendo announced their mobile deal, the Dear Leader had forced them to change--now those same groups are "yay! Mario will be played by more people! Nintendo will make tons of money!" Or attempting to clarify it with silly beliefs like "it'll only be simple games" or "it's only for advertising."

It's good for people to grow and change their minds--when they do it on their own. But all too often we've seen Nintendo fans instantly change their tune to whatever Nintendo is doing--now it's acceptable! No, you can have your own views and standards, and you can admit Nintendo's mistakes--there are quite a few these days.

How often do we see a simple hand-wave of "I'm sure that it'll turn out great because Nintendo" as the only opinion of so many? You'll see it at least once in almost every article about some wacky new idea from the company. A blind faith that, no matter what, Nintendo makes no mistake--and if they did, the faithful will just change their tune to say it's good anyway.

Don't act like these people don't exist. They clutter this site.

@Yorumi

Did they seriously lock a mode in Mario Party? I never play those, so I wouldn't know first-hand.

"I don't disagree that there are ways to do it right and wrong but they all boil down to what the consumer is willing to pay and how satisfied they are with their purchases."

Oh wow... I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone who isn't a marketing business person seriously and wholeheartedly defend on-disc DLC before. First time for everything, I guess...

I'm looking forward to the SMT/FE stuff, but with bated breath... Persona isn't my favorite spinoff of the series. (Yeah yeah, I know, they chose it because Persona is what sells the most.) FE If looks good, but I'm not keen on how they're setting it up almost Pokemon style... it goes against the traditional Fire Emblem structure of multiple paths leading to a final conclusion in a single title. The "different versions" schtick works for Pokemon because of the series' inherent trading and communication aspects. It makes no sense for Fire Emblem, other than as a... oh... a logical extension from the DLC for Awakening that people bought in droves...sigh

Good to see more information on other things. However, I'm highly disappointed to see Nintendo sink further into modern methods of charging extra for basic content with no good reason to do so; content of which was once expected by player and developer alike to be included with your purchase of the game. Well, if you give corporations an inch, they'll take a mile. It's just like the President of EA said, publishers keep doing this stuff because not enough people can resist the temptation; people just keep buying into it like automatons.

For digital additions, I think Nintendo should go the CD Projekt Red / GOG route- provide that extra content as a bonus for free! Reward your customers for buying your product, don't punish them with barriers of entry just because it's legal!

@Quorthon @Yorumi
Yes amiibo Party in MP10 is locked to anyone who doesn't own a compatible amiibo. You need to scan the amiibo to be able to access the mode on the menu.
You don't need every single amiibo to be able to play all the amiibo boards though, just one amiibo grants you access to all the boards when you unlock that board's token.

Project Zero 5, Yoshi's Woolly World, and SMT X FE made the direct for me.
DLC, amiibo, VC, and Smash do nothing for me.

@Quorthon
"The content Amiibos unlock isn't downloaded when you "tap" them. It's already on the disk."

@Yorumi
"The big problem is that it's on disc dlc. If this was a patch I wouldn't really care."

So what? Seriously. What magic are you worried about here? The storage media? The ones and zeros and where they are stored? On disk, finished yesterday, finished today what's the difference? In the end you are paying someone to give you something you want. You pay and get it or you don't pay and you don't.

Now, if Nintendo told you that you were getting some feature or content but then pulled a bait and switch and said "nope" you have to pay more money first, you'd have a point. But Nintendo didn't do that as far as I've seen.

I'm serious about this. If I do x amount of work and spend x amount of money getting it done and I decide to sell 90% of the content at one price that matches what people want to pay but I need to sell the extra 10% of what I've done separately to make it worthwhile, why does it matter that 100% was on the disk when I sold it? What is the difference if I decide to take that already finished work and make people wait longer and download it instead? How is that somehow better?

If it was done before the game released that does not mean it didn't cost more to make. Those who think it does have created an imaginary line in their heads that can't be crossed. It has nothing to do with any market reality, or business reality.

Sure it felt like a betrayal early on when people didn't understand. People also felt betrayed when they found out CDs only cost a few pennies each to produce. Consumers get confused when they buy things that aren't physical. They feel they should be attached somehow so they don't understand they are trading the work they have done for the work that others have done in the form of something they want. The manner in which digital content is delivered is about as important as what color the truck is that delivers something physical you buy. You still get what you want or you don't.

I hate to add more, but the chief problem with Amiibo is a real one that Nintendo needs to fix. It's that there are shortages making it impossible for consumers to play with some features they'd gladly pay for.

Nintendo needs to have card alternatives to the Amiibo statues as soon as possible or get to restocking all the sold out Amiibo. Preferably, I'd like to see both.

"If I do x amount of work and spend x amount of money getting it done and I decide to sell 90% of the content at one price that matches what people want to pay but I need to sell the extra 10% of what I've done separately to make it worthwhile, why does it matter that 100% was on the disk when I sold it? What is the difference if I decide to take that already finished work and make people wait longer and download it instead? How is that somehow better?"

The economic imperative to shortchange the customer in this way used to not exist. It used to be, the customer paid 100% of the price, and got 100% of the content, no questions asked.

Maybe you would get expansions, updated releases, or patches, and the game might be good or bad or meh, but never would one be charged extra for something that is already part of the physical media. That is just an opportunistic measure made to take advantage of the limits of digital technology and human psychology. There is no fair trade off of services or products being made, it's just trickery.

It's the company's responsibility to make ends meet and ensure they maintain profitability, not ours. The citizens should not be footing an extra bill for the corporation's ledger; that's the company's responsibility to make the work worthwhile. The extra money we would pay for something like on-disc DLC won't even go directly into the workers' salaries anyways (unless it's an indie game on a PC platform, in which case it might not be salaried work), nor even strictly to keep the lights on. It just gets sent to the bankers and managers who distribute funds as they see fit from the company coffers. (First dibs going to their own personal bank accounts, of course)

@Quorthon

I've had SNES with few games, but I bought N64 used from a friend in 2000 or 2001 - three controllers, four games (V-Rally, F1, Goldeneye and NHL97) - then boght Perfect Dark and both Zeldas for it (and recently F-Zero X). That time games just were difficult to obtain and I'd never ask my parents (I was 15 at 2000) to buy me a game and money I got from work was used to other stuff. I bought Perfect Dark locally (we somehow had Nintendo retailer near but I disliked that couple and still do) and it cost damn 75e! (But ha! THey were selling GC Zelda bundle+memory+two used games for 70e. I bought it, noticed no memorycard so they let me choose from new games. I chose Zelda Four Swords and sold the console for 45e since I already had one (Read: WW and LoZ Four Swords for 35e) And 2013 I went to see if they still have Nintygames, so for 10e I got Metroid Prime and F-Zero GX (platinium, but still new) )
So even Gamecube I got bit late since it was given by my sis 2006 or 2007, Wii I did buy on 2007. And first DS was the Fire Emblem Awakening edition

So yes, I will buy the game and I think being old isn't problem. I am still enyoying SMW (even I borrowed cartridge to one boy and never got it back * sob * )

Very good Direct in my opinion. But, Iwata, isn't he much skinnier than the last time we see him? He wears a rather large tuxedo, so that hide his figure, but you can tell he's skinnier. I hope he keeps his well-being, please stay healthy Iwata!

On the Direct itself, as I'm only the owner of 3DS, it doesn't offer much to me, but I'm happy for the attention on the Wii U, as it's a console I would likely to buy someday. My impression overall:

Smash Bros DLC: While I play Smash occasionally, it's not a game I'm a fan of and I don't plan to get the DLC.

Mario Maker: Looks good... but not impressed.

Splatoon: The Amiibo looks awesome and the game looks great! It's a game that makes me tempted to get a Wii U sooner than later.

Fatal Frame localisation: A game that's requested a lot and I'm glad it's coming. Definitely a game I'll get when I get a Wii U... I hope it sell well and more localisation incoming, both Wii U and 3DS.

Yoshi Wolly World: Damn, that Yoshi Amiibo is so cute!

Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem: When the trailer play, I don't know what game it is but I sit tight during the whole trailer, so awesome! At one point, I thought it was a 3DS game, then another I see it's not something possible with 3DS, then I see a glance of Fire Emblem-like outfit, but I don't recognize any characters from the series. Having played SMT IV and FE:A, the crossover is not what I expected, but looks awesome nonetheless. Another game that makes me want a Wii U!

N64 and DS VC: Good for Wii U owners, but... why not retail DS game for 3DS eShop??? I missed the DS generation, and I would love to play some retail DS game on my 3DS, especially some rare one like Fire Emblem and some RPGs. Wii U could have Wii retail release on eShop, so why not 3DS? And GBA VC for 3DS please... Come on Nintendo!

Streetpass Mii Plaza game and update: Umm... looks good but not interested, I rarely got streetpass here, and I can't even complete the puzzle (so far only 2 puzzle completed), so the game will be mostly useless to me.

Pokemon Rumble World: Another F2P experiment from Nintendo, not a fan of that. I skipped Pokemon Shuffle, but this one looks more interesting, so I'll download this.

BOXBOY: Looks pretty good, but not sure if I'll get it. Maybe if there's discount... or if it's included in royalty reward someday.

Code Name S.T.E.A.M update: Awesome, the enemy waiting turn is what annoyed me from the demo. I still plan to get it eventually, but with this update, I'll definitely get it soon!

Attack on Titan localisation: YES!!! This is the game I never expected would come here, but I'm happy it's coming! Unfortunately, the game got mediocre review, but I wanted this game since it's announcment in Japan. So definitely get it.

Fire Emblem: AWE...SOME...NESS!!! I have watched the trailer multiple times now and I can't wait for the game to come. There's a raised concern over the game being split-up into two release in Japan and I'm sure it'll also happen here, but I'll trust Nintendo and Intelligent System that each storyline offer as much content as Awakening. In fact, if what they claimed is true, then we'll get 2 game at the price of 1.5 (as the other storyline has 50% discount as DLC if I'm not mistaken). Personally, I'm happy, even if I have to pay more, having more Fire Emblem in my life is better.

Animal Crossing spin-off: Umm... OK.

Mario Kart 8 update: The 200cc mode looks epic! But listen Nintendo, why don't you give some love to Mario Kart 7 too? A DLC with new tracks and 200cc mode will bring another live to the game. I'm sure MK7 DLC will sell as much, if not better, than the MK8.

Phew, that's long...

@Quorthon With the Smash Ballot, Goku begging will be quite hilarious as there is a game character called Goku from a game developed by Nintendo released for the original Famicom in Japan only:

http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Goku

@kiigu

Mr. Iwata has been skinnier since his operation last year.

Sometimes I wish even he could do his presentations in Japanese and there would be subtitles, but I guess that is not ok for the Americans

I'm not one of those that claims after every Direct that it was the best one ever, but I was very pleased with this. They were never going to announce new games with E3 so close, but the N64 titles on VC alone made it better than most directs where they just show us more footage of games we've known about for ages. It was a little concerning how much they're focusing on micro transaction DLC and pushing amiibo into everything, but they have to make money somehow.

@A01

That's the strangest claim I've heard in a long time.

First of all. The english translation of Fatal Frame was already in the works.
Secondly... what has a localization of one game to do with Zelda being delayed? It's not only in the west it's delayed. So your point makes no sense whatsoever.

@Flopsy86

That's staggeringly asinine.

@aaronsullivan

Apologetics into overdrive.

I take it you would be fine if you bought a car, but it couldn't go into reverse unless you bought extra equipment that merely told the computer to "unlock" the Reverse function that was already built in.

That is what you are defending.

@IceClimbers

Well, then, by all means, I hope Nintendo trolls hard on the Goku requests. I hope they include Goku--and it's this guy.

@Quorthon
Except that cars are not trivial to copy, deliver, or made of information. All the factors that make the distribution of games and software so hard for some people to accept or understand.

Let's try another angle:
Why does anyone pay for any game? Is it because it's on a disk? If as a developer I make two games in a year and both are basically done but I decide to sell one halfway through the year to market it better is that somehow wronging my customers? Would it matter if I even had it on a disk that people could pay for and instantly play halfway through the year to align with my marketing? Why?

@PlywoodStick
"The economic imperative to shortchange the customer in this way used to not exist. It used to be, the customer paid 100% of the price, and got 100% of the content, no questions asked."
How is it shortchanging the customer? If there is a miscommunication or a bait and switch that is a real issue, but that isn't a part of DLC or even DLC on disk, it's just an age old tactic.
The customer pays 100% of the price to pay for 100% of what the company is offering at that price. As you suggested people complain about not getting enough content in retail games using traditional sales all the time. Doesn't make DLC (on disk or not) somehow inherently wrong.

"The extra money we would pay for something like on-disc DLC won't even go directly into the workers' salaries anyways "
What does this mean? You can't be suggesting that people who work on the "DLC" portion of the game aren't paid for their work. Seems like you're predicating this idea on DLC just asking customers to pay for nothing. But DLC is not nothing whether it is on disk or not. Is it sometimes overpriced? Yes. Does it sometimes fail to satisfy? Yes. Same as traditional sales techniques.

This is where I think there is a big disconnect in people's minds about DLC. All the DLC, even if it is done at the time of the original game release cost a certain amount of money to create. If they set out to make some additional content targeted at those who are fan enough to pay more money for it why does it matter when or where it is available?

You think DLC is too expensive or gives you too little or damages the main game? That's certainly a legitimate complaint. Too expensive, oh well. That's life and mistakes are made on this in retail games w/out DLC all the time. If it damages the main game, now let's all make some justified noise about it.

When DLC is done right it's a way to sell content to those who really want it and give those who only want the core game a way to pay for only as much as they want. Whether it was on the disk at the time of release is and has always been irrelevant in my mind. I get why customers were confused by it early on, but I don't really understand the disconnect now.