Delayed Nintendo Direct promises new Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 3 and more
Here comes the pile of good news Nintendo didn't want to see distract players from Smash Bros. at this year's E3.
Nintendo today streamed its promised Nintendo Direct, which was originally supposed to arrive on September 3, 2018 but was delayed a week due to the earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. A number of announcements from the stream had already made their way online, but Nintendo still had a lot to say about upcoming games that one might have anticipated would be revealed at a larger event.
A key announcement was that a new Animal Crossing is in development. Due to launch sometime in 2019, it will serve as the first proper update to that series since 2013's extraordinarily popular Animal Crossing: New Leaf arrived on the Nintendo 3DS. Fans have been clamoring for official confirmation a new installment was coming--even though less official signs have pointed to it--and today they got it.
Luigi's Mansion 3 (a working title) is also on the way and slated for 2019. Nintendo didn't have a lot to share, other than that it is the next in the "spooky" series. As you may recall, the first installment is also coming to 3DS on October 12 of this year, as one of the last Nintendo-published titles the platform will see.
One 3DS title due to arrive a little later than Luigi's Mansion is Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, a remake of the Wii title from 2010. The game marked the crafty start of several such games for developer Good-Feel, and was highly regarded in general. It could fit nicely on the 3DS as a way to keep content coming to a platform consumers still seem to like a fair bit even though many others have moved onto the Nintendo Switch.
Yoshi's Crafted World is another Good-Feel title, in the works for Nintendo Switch release in Spring of 2019. It's the follow-up to Yoshi's Woolly World, which is available in one form or another on Wii U and 3DS. The new game has been in the works for quite some time and already looked promising two E3 showings ago. Time will tell whether that extensive development period has worked in its favor.
A slightly more surprising reveal came in the form of word that New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is coming to Nintendo Switch on January 11, 2019, which most likely will make it the first of today's revealed titles to arrive in consumers' hands. It includes New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U, which arrived separately on Wii U but were eventually bundled. The expanded content offers a challenge the original game did not and introduced a mischievous character named Nabbit.
Today's stream also revealed a new RPG in the works at Game Freak, the studio otherwise best known for its work on the Pokémon series. The game is simply called TOWN for now, and will probably inspire a more evocative title at some point further down the road. It has players "take up arms against invading monsters, all within the walls of a single village." Given the developer's pedigree, it could be a surprise hit when it launches in 2019.
The Nintendo Direct stream also included other announcements and product updates, including word that Isabelle (from the Animal Crossing franchise) will join Villager to represent her franchise in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Also, Nintendo revealed wireless NES controllers that will launch in pairs of two and be available for $59.99 USD, but only to members of the forthcoming Nintendo Switch Online membership. They can charge if you attach them to a docked Nintendo Switch system. As for availability, members of the aforementioned service will be available to pre-order them starting September 18, 2018.
"The announcements for Nintendo Switch keep coming," said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "With the additions of new games in the Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion series, as well as a surge of new games from our development partners, there really is something for everyone in the ever-growing Nintendo Switch library."
The games from partners that Bowser mentioned surely warrant their own news articles, so look for word on a few of those to go live on the site as I can manage such a feat, probably later today and maybe spilling into the next day. There's a lot to cover!
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Staff article by Jason Venter (September 13, 2018)
Jason Venter has been playing games for 30 years, since discovering the Apple IIe version of Mario Bros. in his elementary school days. Now he writes about them, here at HonestGamers and also at other sites that agree to pay him for his words. |
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