Everything to know about Janaury 2015’s Nintendo Direct |

By Alex Nikodin

Nintendo has just broadcasted its first Nintendo Direct of 2015, highlighting game previews, debuting trailers, and revealing release dates from now until the spring. As always, there’s a lot of information in these press releases so we’ll split the news into Wii U and Nintendo 3DS content.

(New) Nintendo 3DS XS
• The new Nintendo 3DS XL has been given a release date of February 13th; its main features include a a C-stick, a faster processor, and super-stable 3D that tracks your eyes while maintaining the 3D effect regardless ofviewing angle. In addition, there’s also Amiibo support, which is great because it extends their functionality. By contrast, the biggest blunder of the New Nintendo 3DS XL is that it will not include an AC adapter; I don’t understand Nintendo’s logic on this move.

• Xenoblade Chronicles, the New Nintendo 3DS XL re-make of the Wii version, is slated to release this April and yes, it’s only available for the new version of the 3DS.

• Ironfall: Invasion, an over the shoulder 3rd person shooter, is releasing in February. Its strong suit is the impressive graphics it boasts and the fact that in runs at a stable 60 FPS.

• A new title in the Fire Emblem series was announced with a trailer that included beautiful pre-rendered cut scenes and gameplay footage. Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo Ltd., emphasized that the choices you make in this specific entry will have an even greater impacton the world than ever before. Considering Fire Emblem: Awakening was one of the best games of 2012, so I’m looking forward to see how they improve the formula.

• Puzzles and Dragons Z, a popular puzzle game in Japan, is coming to Europe and North America, bundled with Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario edition. As you would expect, the Super Mario edition replaces the assets with those relative to the mushroom kingdom. Traverse levels through a SMB style over world, recruit enemies like koopa troopas and goombas, and match puzzle pieces that now take the forms of stars, fire flowers, mushrooms and power ups. For those not familiar with the Puzzle and Dragons series, it’s a puzzle game mixed with RPG elements and dungeon crawling.

• Pokemon Shuffle, the next title announced, is another puzzle game that will be available on the Nintendo e-shop for free in February. Its gameplay consists of matching 3 orbs, which take the form of Pokemon, and attacking your opponent in a set number of moves. Matching up different Pokemon allows you to perform different attacks. A nice twist is that you can level up your Pokemon and eventually make them evolve, giving you different moves.

• Gunman Clive 2, a sequel to the great platformer that gained a cult following on the 3DS and PC, has had its launched confirmed for this January 2015 but no exact date has been specified.

• Moon Chronicles episodes 2, 3, and 4 are also launching this month, concluding Renegade Kid’s sci-fi FPS; episodes can be purchased individually or as a bundle.

• The titles in the next wave of the excellent SEGA 3D classics were revealed. This first 3D remake will be Afterburner 2, followed by Fantasy Zone, Fantasy Zone 2, Outrun, and Thunder Blade. Like the last wave, these titles will be recreated in full 3D from the ground up and start being released this month.

• Etrian Mystery Dungeon, combining the game play of Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon, is launching this spring.

• A new entry in the Fossil Fighters series, Fossil Fighters: Frontier is releasing on March 20^th. Gameplay consists of digging up fossils, turning them into dinosaurs, and using them in three on three fights.

• Story of Seasons is the rebirth of farming and relationship simulator Bokujō Monogatari, a massive hit in Japan that sold over ten million copies. No confirmed release date yet.

• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is releasing with a special edition New Nintendo 3DS XL hardware bundle on February 13^th, exclusively through Gamespot.

• Majora’s Mask has finally been confirmed for a February 13^th release date alongside a special edition New Nintendo 3DS XL hardare bundle, but it’s already sold out at every major retailer in North America.

Wii U
• A major enhancement has been made concerning the backwards compatibility of the Wii U;you will now be able to download Wii games directly through the Wii U instead of hunting for (some extremely overpriced and rare) physical copies. In addition, the Wii U gamepad is now usable with games that support the Classic Controller on the Wii. This is huge news because it negates the need to purchase a separate Wii Classic Controller.

• Super Mario Galaxy 2 is currently available on the e-shop for $9.99. Punch-Out is launching on January 22 and Metroid Prime: Trilogy on January 29. All three titles will be half-price for a week after their release. To put the price saving in perspective, a new copy of Metroid Prime: Trilogy goes for $250.00.

• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will now have Amiibo support. Once per day, you can touch a Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight Amiibo to your Wii U game pad and power up Kirby. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will be released on February 20^th.

• A new wave of Super Smash Bros series Amiibos will launch in the spring, which will include Robin, Lucina, Pac-man, Wario, Ness and Charizard.

• Mario Party 10 is launching on March 20 bundled with Super Mario themed Amiibos that include Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, and Toad. There will be a specific game mode in Mario Party 10, properly titled “Amiibo Party,” that takes advantage of the figures.

• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will now support the Toad Amiibo from the Super Mario series wave.

• A central hub was added to game Splatoon’s, which connecting all the game modes together in a single location and is populated with other player’s Miiverse avatars. But it’s not clear if these are actual players or just copies of their characters. Character customization was also highlighted, indicating that there will be shops that sell weapons , headgear , Clothing , and a Shoes. Choosing the right combination of gear grant you different stat bonuses. In addition, weapons and apparel are purchased with currency earned from playing Splatoon’s multiplayer modes. You can have three weapons equipped at a time; a main weapon, sub weapon, and a special weapon.

• To celebrate the release of Majora’s Mask for the 3DS, Hyrule Warriors will receive two new characters from its universe. This includes the bizarre Tingle, with his equally bizarre attacks, and the Fierce Deity Link that Young Link can transform into by putting the mask on. The characters, , an Adventure mode map, and three skins will all be available in a “Majora’s Mask” DLC launching on February 5^th.

• A new Xenoblade Chronicles X trailer debuted that showed off some beautiful locales and gave deeper insight into the storyline; however, no specific release date was mentioned other than the vague indication that the title remains on track for a 2015 release.

• Mario vs. Donkey: Tipping Stars will now be a cross-buy title (the first Nintendo cross-buy title) between the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Whichever version you buy, you will receive the other one for free. You can even share levels between both versions, which is a cool touch. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars will be released on March 5^th.

• A free-to-play, four player Co-op action game was revealed by famed Tekken Director/producer, Katsuhiro Harada. There were no images, trailers or even a release date shown, only a tentative title, “Project Treasure”.