Satoru Iwata of Nintendo Announces Future of Wii U
2013 HAS BEEN A PROFITABLE YEAR FOR NINTENDO, which has a 52 percent increase of profits in first-party games compared to last year. They have an impressive lineup of games to be released in 2013, which include: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D on May 24th, Animal Crossing: New Leaf on June 9th, Disney’s Planes on August 6th, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team on August 11th, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist on August 20th, Pokémon, Mario Golf and the always popular Legend of Zelda franchises. Now that there is a new Nintendo and Sega Partnership on the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Nintendo is likely to have the most profitable year of sales ever. Sonic Lost World is the next action/adventure game in the Sonic series and will launch exclusively for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. More information on the game will be released prior to E3.
GLOBAL PRESIDENT of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, announced more game launches in the recent Nintendo Direct presentation. A lot of focus was put on the Wii U Plus controller where the interactive screen on the controller provides a sometimes distracting supplement to the game.
Here is a brief overview of the games mentioned in the Nintendo Direct presentation:
MARIO & SONIC AT THE SOCHI 2014 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, what a mouth-full.The game takes place in the Russian city of Sochi where players compete in a variety of Olympic sports and can even combine different events in a single race. It includes events set in the Sonic and Mario universe which lets players perform moves that defy the laws of physics. No release date was given.
GAME & WARIO will be released on the Wii U June 28th. The game is similar to the predeceasing Warioware Games but has sixteen new mini games which incorporate the Wii U Plus controller.
RESIDENT EVIL: REVELATIONS will be re-released on the Wii U May 24th with new game content, updated graphics and unique control using the Wii U Plus controller. There will also be a new difficulty mode called ‘Inferno’ where enemies and items are placed in new locations. Capcom has also added two popular characters, Hank and Rachel, to the game’s raid mode. A free demo is available in the Nintendo eShop for download.
NEW SUPER LUIGI U is the start of the Luigi overthrow. Luigi has declared his independence from his popular brother Mario– who does not appear in the game. Nabbit is now a playable character in multiplayer mode. He is the odd looking purple rabbit with a bear trap mouth from “New Super Mario Bros. U.” He would steal items from the player who would then have to chase him down to retrieve them. A bonus of playing Nabbit, he is completely immune to damage from enemies. Downside is the game requires ‘New Super Mario U’ to play. Iwata announced, for a limited time, they will release a stand-alone version of ‘New Super Luigi U’ which will be available July 26th as a packaged product. New Super Luigi U will be available to download June 20th on the Nintendo eShop.
THE WONDERFUL 101 is a mass superhero action adventure game that will be released August 23rd on the Wii U. Earth is on the verge of being dominated by alien invaders, and the fate of mankind is left up to a ragtag group of heroes each with their own unique weapon and morphing capabilities. Platinum games, the developers for Bayonetta and MadWorld, have teamed with Nintendo to apply their distinctive ideas to game’s development. More details will be announced gradually between now and launch.
PIKMIN 3 has three new characters to replace Olimar. Alph, Brittany and Captain Charlie’s home planet is facing a dark age due to lack of food. They set out in search of food that can be returned to their home via seeds. They crash land on a planet and discover Pikmin, with the Pikmin’s help they are able to harvest the gigantic fruits found on the planet. One plus side to Pikmin 3 is its day by day reset. Instead of starting over from scratch you can reset the game by day or revert it to a previous time. The Wii U Plus remote becomes a valuable information resource called the ‘KopPad,’ revealing the map, player locations, Pikmin locations and a map scrolling function where you can assign characters and Pikmin to tasks. You can also play the game using the Wii nun chuck remote or on the Plus remote by itself.
Stay tuned for further information. Iwata announced his plan to release another Nintendo Direct presentation with further news on the future of Wii U. It will be released in time for this summer’s E3 convention which takes place June 11th-13th in Los Angeles.
So what do you think about the games coming to Wii U? Are you excited about the new Sonic partnership? Let us know in the comments below!
