7 New Wii U, 3DS Games From Today’s Nintendo Direct
During today’s Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo revealed big new games like Paper Mario: Color Splash and Kirby: Planet Robobot, but also highlighted a collection of games that are headed to the eShop for Wii U and 3DS in the months to come.
Here’s a roundup:
Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge offers minigames involving scanning your amiibo figures. Starting March 25, you’ll get the game for free with the purchase of any amiibo.
On April 28, it will be available for free from the eShop.
Pocket Card Jockey is a Solitaire-like card game including the management of a stable of adorable horses.
It’ll be available on the 3DS eShop beginning in May.
NASA Astronaut Grew 2 Inches In Space
NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly is back from spending 340 days in space, on the ISS, and has grown 2 inches in that period of time.
Kelly's trip to space was part of NASA's "Twin Study", which is a year-long investigation into the subtle changes that may have occurred to Scott Kelly, analyzed in comparison to his twin brother - Mark Kelly - who remained on Earth.
The study is comprised of 10 different investigations in total, but, most obviously, Scott Kelly is now 2 inches taller than his twin brother. NASA's Jeff Williams said, "Astronauts get taller in space as the spine elongates, but they return to preflight height after a short time back on Earth.”
Twin Study is part of NASA's preparation for a crewed mission to Mars, and closely looks at effects on vision, bones and muscles, space radiation, potential shrinking of the heart and the effects that long-term isolation can have on mental health.
Ghost in the Shell Movie Casts Takeshi Kitano
Japanese movie star Takeshi "Beat" Kitano has been cast in the upcoming live-action film Ghost in the Shell.
Ghost in the Shell will be a remake of the original anime film of the same name. Taking place in a technologically advanced future, a special unit within the government called Section 9 hunts the most dangerous tech criminals.
Kitano has been cast as Daisuke Aramaki, the chief of Public Security Section 9 and boss to Scarlett Johansson's Kusanagi and Pilou Asbæk's Batou. Michael Pitt was recently cast as the film's villain, the iconic Laughing Man.
Agents of SHIELD Renewed Along With 14 More Series
A couple months away from the Upfronts in May, ABC has given 15 early renewals, including Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, which will be coming back for Season 4.
Also renewed today are America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, black-ish, Dancing with the Stars, Fresh Off the Boat, The Goldbergs, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, The Middle, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Shark Tank and Quantico - the last of which stands out as the one new series this year that got the early renewal.
Said ABC's new Entertainment President, Channing Dungey, in a statement, “We’re very proud of our strong roster of performers, and we’re excited about what they will bring us creatively next season."
Marvel’s Heroes Choose Their Sides for Civil War 2
Marvel is currently gearing up for Civil War II, and they've started releasing a new series of teaser images that hint as to what role various heroes will play in the conflict. As a new superhuman emerges who can predict future disasters before they happen, the Avengers will be divided over the question of whether criminals can be held accountable for crimes before they're committed and whether the future can, or should, be altered. The tagline for this Civil War sequel is "Protect the future. Change the future."
5 Big Questions About Star Fox Zero Answered
Star Fox Zero re-emerged today after an unfortunate delay knocked the game into a spring 2016 release and rocked Nintendo’s holiday lineup. It’s been awhile, but Nintendo finally has a new flight plan for Fox McCloud and company. Lauded video game designer and Star Fox Zero producer Shigeru Miyamoto met with IGN last month to chat about the improvements made to his shoot ‘em up sequel. Watch our conversation below so you can get a quick recap of what’s new.
Now let’s talk about the changes Nintendo made to Star Fox Zero and what it’s like to play the most recent version. I decided to answer five big questions about what I saw, so please read on for detailed impressions. Do you have a question I missed about Star Fox Zero? Leave it in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer you.
Why Federation Force Deserves the Metroid Prime Name
Metroid Prime: Federation Force received a negative reception from series’ fans back at E3 2015 but, in all fairness, Nintendo didn’t show us the game proper. Instead, the game maker focused on Blast Ball, a 3v3 multiplayer sport diversion that bore no resemblance to the labyrinthine, atmosphere settings of the Metroid universe. While it’s true that this co-op driven approach is a departure from the traditional adventures of the Galaxy’s favorite Bounty Hunter Samus Aran, what I recently played of Federation Force itself taps into the right stuff, effectively remixing Metroid Prime’s first-person formula into a fairly fun shooter for up to four friends.
The riding-around-inside-of-mechs concept of Federation Force is the same, but this a much better game. Each soldier takes a seat inside of a power suit, but don’t underestimate these chibi-fied troops. The suits pack some interesting features that help them stand on a par with Samus. Even on the 3DS, Federation Force has a snappy control setup of the Metroid Prime games.
Kirby: Planet Robobot Announced for 3DS
During its Nintendo Direct today, Nintendo announced Kirby: Planet Robobot, a new game for 3DS coming on June 10.
Planet Robobot includes a new robot suit for Kirby, plus Team Kirby Clash, a four-player multiplayer mode where players can collect tablets to unlock team moves.
Players can scan amiibos for special unlocks, including the Fire ability for scanning Mario, the Sword ability for scanning Link, and a mysterious “Smash Bros” ability for scanning Kirby.
A new line of Kirby amiibos was also revealed.
Stay tuned to IGN for more news from the Nintendo Direct.
Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and wants a new Pacific Rim-style film starring Kirby. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter.
Monster Hunter X Headed West
During a Nintendo Direct today, Nintendo confirmed that Monster Hunter X is headed West under a new title, Monster Hunter Generations.
Generations will launch on 3DS this summer. Players with a save file from monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will be able to unlock extra bonus content.
Players will also be able to get Marth from Fire Emblem.
For anyone who doesn’t already own Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, the game will be on sale for $19.99 on the 3DS eShop starting today at 3:00pm Pacific Time. The sale will last for 48 hours.
Monster Hunter X was released in Japan in November 2015 and more than 3 million copies were shipped.
Hyrule Warriors Legends Season Pass Announced
During a Nintendo Direct presentation today, Nintendo announced a Season Pass for Hyrule Warriors Legends on 3DS.
The Season Pass will include four content drops total.
Anyone who buys the season pass will also receive an exclusive bonus costume for Ganondorf.
A new character is heading to #HyruleWarriorsLegends as DLC: Medli from #Zelda The Wind Waker! #NintendoDirectNA pic.twitter.com/2eMVeNACaJ