Nintendo Announced Some Things

Yesterday saw yet another Nintendo Direct wherein Nintendo saw it fit to throw even more things on the 3DS, finer-tuning their laser focus while....mostly ignoring the Wii U still.  Which is kind of the exact opposite priorities they should probably have at the moment considering the 3DS can probably carry on its own momentum for a while, whereas the Wii U needs help desperately, but hey, what do I know.  I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the disparity of success between the -other- things in the respective markets or anything like that.  Regardless, like most Directs, there was some reiteration of some points while also providing a few rather large announcements that deserve a mention.

The biggest news, certainly, is that a sequel to The Legend of Zelda:  A Link to the Past is in the works for 3DS.  Yes, a sequel.  A direct sequel.  In Legend of Zelda.  (Yeah, it's happened before, but that was a -while- ago)  Or at least a game that takes place in the exact same world as A Link to the Past, albeit with a brand new story, new dungeons and the like.  Something else that it adds that I'm a little undecided about is Link's ability to turn paper-thin and walk along walls which is, obviously new to the series and a decided reference to Paper Mario.  While it is an interesting mechanic, I can't help but look at it, scratch my head and say "Why? because it is...more than a little confusing.  It seems superfluous at best and the only thing I can figure is that it's the answer to the "Dark World" transformation that, for a little while, turned Link into a bunny.  But that was not a mechanics thing and it wasn't permanent, so I don't even know what to think.

Those aren't the only sequels that are now heading for the 3DS however!  Joining LTTP2 is yet another Mario Party and a sequel to Yoshi's Island, also known as "That game with Baby Mario".  And yes, Baby Mario returns and yes, he probably cries very horribly once again.  Possibly.  From what I can tell, there is damn near no information on either game except a screenshot of Yoshi's Island 2 (probably not the title) showing Yoshi with Baby Mario on his back in an area similar to the original with a slightly different aesthetic.  One comment states that it looks more watercolor than crayon which is very astute.  Yoshi's Island, I can understand since that was a game that people liked, despite its issues, but when has Mario Party been relevant after the first three iterations?  No online play was mentioned which probably means there will be none which means....there is very little incentive to buy it unless you are constantly around people who have 3DSes and you all want to play what amounts to a board game on them, I suppose.

It's not like there wasn't -any- Wii U news announced at this Direct thing, however!  Next week, the oft-mentioned Spring System Update is hitting, which brings a lot of little improvements to the Wii U's overall workings.  Faster Load times, the ability to boot right into Wii Mode and some fancy things with downloading games and updates for said games in the background are all included as well as the actual, really real Wii U Virtual Console.  As in the platform that will allow you to buy NES, SNES and eventually GBA and N64 (and possibly other systems) games and play them with full integration to the Wii U's features, including the ability to play directly on the tablet to free up your TV.  Also Miiverse stuff, which I suppose is good since it is apparently to thank for Earthbound getting a VC release.  Apparently a flood of Miiverse posts and the like wanting Earthbound is what inspired them to do that.  That's...you know, probably not true, since doing something like this isn't a magic wand type of deal, but it's nice all the same.

Of course, the bit I'm most interested in, if you couldn't tell, is that the Animal Crossing 3DS XL Bundle is coming to NA, which is the thing at the top of this post.  It's not exactly what I want, and I know I'm going to be disappointed by New Leaf, but I want a 3DS XL and my only other options are Washed-out Red or Blue, maybe pink, and the special Pika-Nipples Yellow unit.  (Seriously, I bet you can't unsee it now)  So I figure, I'm getting New Leaf, I'm getting a 3DS XL and that one's not -bad-.  Besides, the version of the game is digital, coming pre-loaded on a 4 gig SD stick (that is easily moved to a bigger stick which is exactly what I'm going to do), so I'll be able to have it available whenever in case I feel like just hopping into it for a bit between Harvest Moon sessions.

There were a few other announcements, but those are the main ones that grabbed me in any way, so they're the only ones I'm really concerning myself with bringing up.  It seems pretty divisive, with either people being in the "oh shit the is all of the amazing at the same time" camp or people being in the "meh" camp about it.  With the people from the former camp being absolutely disgusted at the people in the latter, it seems.  Obviously, I'm more in the latter camp since even a sequel to my favorite Legend of Zelda game only has me wary instead of excited, but maybe that'll change when we start getting some more information about it.  Still, I guess it's a successful Direct, since they've finally convinced me to part with 220 of my dollars come June 9th, and I'm probably going to pick up a few 3DS games between then and now in preparation for when I actually get my system.

Oh, Right, There Was a Nintendo Direct Thing

So, because Nintendo is in panic mode because they are not used to selling less than a hojillion (it is a number, totally) consoles at any given moment in time, despite the Wii U's sales being...well, completely reasonable for what it is, we have some new announcements.  New announcements that are....mostly unnecessary.  Popular media might be saying that Nintendo is 'failing' with the Wii U (which is impossible to tell at this early juncture and it pains me to have to make this a fucking point to talk about) and while they're perhaps not advertising it well enough it is, as I said, selling fine enough.  Remember, once upon a time the 3DS was considered "failing" as well and boy oh boy, that happened, didn't it?  Really, I think Nintendo's panic is stemming from a sense that there is actually competition now - let's face it, the Wii was in its own league in more ways than one so they haven't been on this front in a long time.  But they decided to enter a different ring this go around and I don't think they were prepared for it at all.

If you've got the muscle, then you might as well flaunt it, is the thought process I'm going with here and while Nintendo's 'muscle' is a little flimsy with me, I am not in the majority here.  So let's go over that first and get it out of the way.  Possibly the only thing I would care about in all of this is the above-pictured Yoshi's Island game that is, clearly, being helmed by the Kirby's Epic Yarn team.  It looks absolutely wonderful for what it is, and while I don't really hold a particularly different spot for the Yoshi's Island games over any of Nintendo's other series, it's good fun and with this art style, I can only hope to see some real good things.  Kirby's Epic Yarn, from what I was told, brought some rather neat things to the table, really taking hold of that fabric universe concept and running with it.  Maybe I'll find out myself one day if I pick up a Wii U and a copy of the game, but that's basically all the information that I found about it - It is a Yoshi game and it is being done up in Epic Yarn style.  And that's probably enough for now.

Actually, I lied.  If there was -anything- I cared about at all from the Nintendo Direct, it would be the news that Xenoblade Chronicles is probably (definitely) getting a sequel for the Wii U, of course.  I am in the slightly awkward position of knowing absolutely nothing about any of this, however, beyond the fact that I friggin' -want- to play Xenoblade Chronicles and the only thing standing in my way is owning a Wii outright (or, again, a Wii U) and the game which currently retails for $50 if you can find it in a store and good luck with that.  My excitement stems from the dangerous, perilous place of being told that it is, in fact, a fantastic RPG.  That sort of information had led me astray in the past (no, I'm not linking it this time, you know what I'm talking about) and it could very well be the case here.  But....I doubt it, considering the team that's behind the games.  So if anything, I'm just glad they're getting a push to do what they do - make good RPGs.  Hopefully one day I will be able to say I have played both.

Another 'no info, just a thing that says it's happening' tidbit was the announced Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem game which is, yes, Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem in the same game.  Why?  I don't know.  How?  Beats the hell out of me.  There was absolutely no information beyond a thing showing that they were in this thing and that development is 'in progress'.  Personally, I'm not at all -what- kind of sense this makes....because it's not really striking me any right now.  Maybe it's just because I've been considering both series by their previous years, but both seemed to have been in a transition away from Consoles, moving on to handhelds.  Indeed, the latest entries to -both- series are being released on the 3DS in the coming future and the last console releases for either series was in 2007 (Fire Emblem on the Wii) and 2003/4 (SMT 3:  Nocturne) respectively.  So to combine them both -and- put them on a console is a little wonky.  Perhaps it's because of the off-screen play that kinda sorta makes it like a handheld that you can't take anywhere, but that's flimsy.  It all is, kind of.

Speaking of flimsy, after all the hurr-durring and grumbling about Sony's line of HD up-makes, I'm seriously waiting for some people to eat crow after The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD became a thing.  Because this is the exact scenario, and it's not even one that Nintendo's new at.  Excusing the 'Nintendo selling the same game to you over and over again' (more on that in a moment) meme, I need only point at The Legend of Zelda:  Ocarina of Time 3D and Starfox 64 3D to show that Nintendo has absolutely no qualms pimping out their old titles with shinier graphics.  Yet you never ever hear those titled 'cash-grabs' or anything of the sort.  It's a bit petty of me to harp on, I realize, but well, somebody's gotta.  Anyways, aside from the announcement of Wind Waker HD, there was a little bit said confirming the existence of a new Zelda title for the Wii U in development that will 'challenge the old conventions' to sort of reinvent the series a bit, but that's literally all that was said about it.  There might be info about it at E3, but I would highly doubt it.

Finishing out the Wii U news from the direct, the important bits, at least, it was mentioned that the Virtual Console is headed towards the Wii U proper, for full implementation rather than simply from Wii Mode.  There is a slight caveat here, however:  if you're planning on being able to off-screen play your favorite Nintendo or Super Nintendo games that are supported, then expect to pay for the privilege.  It should be noted that when the Virtual Console launches, it will only support Nintendo and Super Nintendo titles and not all of the ones that the Wii's Virtual Console supports.  Because Backwards Compatibility isn't just a flip to switch and we've all been aware of that already, but I somehow think people will manage to be patient, considering it's Nintendo behind this which isn't unfair at all, no sir.  Anyways, if you've purchased an NES game or SNES game through the Wii's VC then you've probably already played it by now and if you want to use it in Wii U, as mentioned, you'll have to pay for that.

Now, I've heard tell that this is because the VC games are packed in their own individual emulators, thus it requires a new emulator for the Wii U which is incomparably stupid, for the record.  It seems like a smart enough idea at first - packing the game with the emulator basically all-but ensures that it'll work with it because they've obviously been tested with one another.  That's fine.  It does, however, completely kill the possibility of a quick-n-dirty solution in the future and, if there's anything we've learned from the combined efforts of the VC and the PS1/2 Classics over these last years, it's that if a quick-n-dirty doesn't exist, neither does the game anymore.  Developers simply don't have time, nor the drive, to put anything into repackaging old games that sell for a pittance, and even signing off on making it a thing and paying a slight cost is far too much to ask in many cases.

So what does this mean?  Well, if that's the case, then don't expect to see much of the meager selection of the NES/SNES games on the Wii's VC to make the jump to the Wii U's VC, for one.  They might get a good portion, hell they might surprise me and get more than half, all-told, but there's no way the Wii U's VC will be 1:1 for the Wii's.  Beyond that, thanks to the $1/$1.50 Wii U tax (For NES and SNES respectively) either expect similar things for the next Nintendo console (which is admittedly -years- away), or expect that the next this whole thing comes around, there won't be even an option - Wii U mode or bust.  For what it's worth, it seems like the extra dollar and change has been built-in to the pricing of the NES/SNES games for the Wii U VC (NES games run around $5 on Wii VC, and will be $5-6 on the Wii U, SNES generally run $8, will be $8-9 on the Wii U VC) so at least Nintendo (probably) isn't singling out the folks who have actually supported them previously with these purchases and demanding an extra buck for a full-featured experience.  Of course, if they were, who would honestly raise a fuss about it?  I'm genuinely curious on that.

On top of that, Nintendo basically made a lot of promises to unveil some Mario things at E3, Super Smash Bros. U and probably elaborate on some of the already mentioned pieces here.  So really, they're flaunting their big guns for no other reason than they can.  Mostly because, if we've heard right, E3 will be a big deal for Sony and Microsoft as well and Nintendo just loves trying to steal thunder whenever possible.  Well, they generally succeed at that anyway, so it's not really 'trying' so much as it's Nintendo not letting anyone else have a fair shake.  It's good business to be sure, but it's also just kind of a dick move.  A mountain of dick moves by this point.  Yet every other company is 'the jerk company', always trying to screw over everyone else, including you, up-charging you for the shiny new thing and offering what is clearly sub-standard service.  Nintendo never does that, clearly!