Wrapping Up Nintendo #2: The Happiness Is Retro Goodness Edition

Well, here we are.  Yeah, we didn't get any Wonderful 101 stuff today, but we will get that on the morning Friday, August 9th.  So, we'll hopefully have 2 Wrapping Up Nintendo columns in the same week.  Lucky me.  (Thankfully I live on the East Coast so I can wake up at a much less obscene hour on Nintendo Direct mornings)

So, what WAS discussed?  Funny you should ask.

Iwata-san started and ended this broadcast today, and the Treehouse information specifically for North America was sandwiched in the middle, and oh what a glorious sandwich it was.

But Iwata started with ... GASP... third party games.  He started off talking about Sonic Lost World for Wii U and 3DS, and they both look gooooooooood.  They are both coming out October 22nd.  Then he talked a little bit about Rayman Legends and we now know we'll get to play it on September 3, and with Rayman and... (I"m sorry Scooter I don't know the proper name of that blue guy) wearing Mario & Luigi outfits exclusively on the Wii U version!  Nice, right? (If you have a short memory of the middle finger Ubisoft flipped to Nintendo fans, then maybe.)

Next, they talked about the Art Academy Sketchpad app for Wii U, which they did not specify a release date for in the ND but it is coming later this week.

Then we got to hear from Erik Peterson of the Treehouse, and this one was where all the good megatons that usually come with these Nintendo Direct broadcasts came.  First, however, they broke their arms patting themselves on the back for how well people responded to Pikmin 3, and detailed this weird camera thing where you could take a picture from the perspective of a Pikmin, and showed fans' screenshots taken in this matter.  Maybe it was just me but this part was weird.  It's almost like they WANTED their fans to help promote Pikmin 3 for them, and they didn't acknowledge how poor the software releases have been for most of 2013.

Then, as expected, they discussed Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for 3DS.  I know some of you didn't like the idea of them showing off upgrading your gear and finally having multiple badge effects, but for me personally, that was a HUGE deal.  It's the biggest problem I have had with previous Mario & Luigi games, and the fact that they actually so much as fixed it with Dream Team makes me very confident about buying the game blind on the eShop as soon as possible.

Then they talked about the game Pokemon Rumble U... and I could care less about it.  The idea of using NFC (or near field communication) figurines so you can really experience the full game (and having them be exclusive to GameStop) is dumb, but if it makes Nintendo some more money and gets their investors off their backs... then so be it.

Then they talked about the retro classics like Shantae that are finally a download away after being notoriously hard to find for so long... and then they said that a legendary NES/Famicom shmup called Summer Carnival '92 Recca is coming to the Nintendo eShop soon.

Next they announced several other games that were coming to the 3DS Virtual Console, like the original NES Donkey Kong (still no full arcade version?  WTF Nintendo!) coming August 15th, TECMO BOWL coming this fall (no specific date but I'm so there with bells on), Wario Land 3 for GBC comes August 29th, and finally (but by no means the least important) Super Mario Bros. 3 coming to both the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Consoles later this year (this might be the "buy once, play on whatever" launch game... I hope this is coming to every Virtual Console title myself).

Then he discussed Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy which is coming in 2014, and then he said there was nothing else to discuss today... and a classic "OBJECTION!" exploded on our screens and dropped the megaton bomb that I had totally lost hope about: Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is actually being localized and is coming in 2014.

Then it was back to Iwata and he detailed Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (the Link To The Past followup/sequel on 3DS) with a cool looking Dark Triforce, and the new HD remake of Wind Waker! Both are coming in November and I cannot wait for both of them!

Then they talked a little bit about The Year Of Luigi... and revealed that Luigi IS confirmed to be in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS... which everyone went "called it" almost immediately, but I feel that this was a master stroke to not reveal that Luigi was in the game right away.  Maybe that's just me?

And the final announcement was... a new Animal Crossing Plaza overlay for the Wii U's WaraWara Plaza... My guess is that the 3DS/Wii U integration with regards to Miiverse are still coming but they aren't coming just yet.  Let's hope they finally do this before the end of the year.

Anyways, see you Nintendo fans Friday for another Wrapping Up Nintendo.