Summary of Nintendo’s E3 Digital Event- 6-16-2015

Here we go! Here’s a summary of Nintendo’s Digital Event from E3 2015. Click here to watch the Digital Event for yourself or continue reading to see what it was all about.

• The first announcement of the Direct was a new StarFox game with a world premiere trailer for the game. The game is titled StarFox Zero and will be debuting during the holiday season of this year. The trailer was an overview that transitioned into a developer interview with Shigeru Miyamoto in which he discussed his inspiration for the series. The game will take advantage of the Wii U Gamepad’s gyroscope to control the camera and provide a cockpit view of the action. So, the game has both a first and third person perspective. The Arwing will also be able to transform into a Walker, a feature from Starfox 2. The Arwing can also become the Landmaster as well as a Gyrowing, which looks like a helicopter drone that can explore small areas.
• Next was a presentation from Reggie Fils-Aime. He explained that the theme of E3 was “transformation”. He also confirmed they will talk about the Nintendo NX next year.
• Super Mario Bros. is having its 30^th anniversary this year. Reggie explained how Mario has transformed himself and the face of gaming. After giving a brief overview of Mario Maker, Reggie explained ways that amiibo are going to impact Nintendo’s games.
• In a surprise announcement, Donkey Kong and Bowser will be making an appearance in the Skylanders franchise alongside their own vehicles in the next game Skylanders: Superchargers. Bowser and Donkey Kong will be fully playable and will given “turbo” figurines. The figurines will be both a Skylander figure and an amiibo via a turn of a dial on the bottom of the figure. The Skylanders team created “Magma Bowser” who will be able to set himself on fire and breathe fire onto Koopas to create Dry Bones that he can use to fight for him.

• The next game announced was The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes that looks very similar to Four Swords. This game will allow multiple players to work together to complete dungeons and solve puzzles. You can also dress up Link in a variety of outfits. The trailer featured gameplay and an overview of the game’s features. The game is slated for the 3DS in Fall 2015.
• In the developer’s interview following the trailer, the developers explain the game is more serious this time and will feature stylistic elements from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. There will also be a “totem mechanic” which allow players to stand on top of one another in order to accomplish objectives. They decided to limit the multiplayer to three players because the 4-player totem was too tall. For the single player adventure, you can use dolls in order to complete objectives. Link will be able to change outfits and each outfit will give you different abilities (Link can even dress like Zelda!).
• Following this, was the reveal of the 3DS version of Hyrule Warriors. This announcement was leaked a few days ago, but it’s still good to get an official confirmation from Nintendo. The game is very similar to the Wii U incarnation with a few changes—such as letting you switch between characters on the battlefield—and new characters the King of Red Lions and Tetra from Wind Waker. The game is titled Hyrule Warriors Legends and will be released in the first quarter of 2016.
• The next game featured was Metroid Prime: Federation Force. The game features 4-player co-op in the Metroid Prime We actually already saw part of this game when Nintendo debuted Blast Ball during the Nintendo World Tournament a couple days ago. Blast Ball is actually included within Federation Force. The game was given a vague release date of 2015.
• Next, was Fire Emblem: Fates, the next entry in the Fire Emblem series. The trailer featured an overview of the story and featured voice acted cut scenes. The game will be released in 2016.
• Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem got a very fast moving trailer featuring the game’s story and its characters. Each main character was shown off and the music/performance aspect of the game was heavily featured.
• Following this, Xenoblade Chronicles X was shown off next and given an epic trailer. It was highly cinematic that also featured gameplay of combat. The game was also revealed to release in North America on December 4^th, 2015.
• After this was Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer was featured first and more of the gameplay was shown off during a brand new trailer. The game introduced a new character (Lottie) and really showed how far the game is going to enhance the design aspect of Animal Crossing. There will even be yards, rugs, and ceiling decorations. The game will be released on September 25^th, 2015.
• In a weird, surprising announcement, Animal Crossing is debuting a party game for the Wii U. This game features K.K. Slider, Sable, Isabelle, and Tom Nook as playable characters on a large game board. It seems to play like a Mario Party game with some elements of The Game of Life and, of course, classic Animal Crossing. A variety of other characters were shown to make an appearance in the game as well. The game also utilizes brand new Animal Crossing amiibo figures of the four playable characters. Fittingly, the game is called Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival and will be released during the 2015 holiday season. (Additionally, some other Animal Crossing amiibo were announced as well for this game. These included Digby, Lottie, Reese, and Cyrus)
• Yoshi’s Wooly World was featured next. One of the members of the creative team of the game discussed designing the game and the amiibo. She explained how she developed the design of Yarn Yoshi and the games overall aesthetics. She also explained how the difficulty level is essentially up to the player based on how much they want to complete and explore. We also learn about how Yoshi can ride Poochy and how he will point out important objects by barking. The game is set to release on October 16^th, 2015.
• Yokai Watch, by developer Level-5, was featured next. The game allows you to use a watch to control a series of creatures in battle. The game is set to be released in the holiday season of this year.
• The next Mario game was a real surprise! It’s called Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam. The game features a cross-over of sorts between the Paper Mario and the Mario and Luigi games. The game will have the two worlds collide to form an exciting, dynamic adventure. The game showed off the battle system as well as over world play and exploration (such as using Paper Mario to fly). The game features Mario and Luigi control scheme while relying on the paper characters to spice up the gameplay. It’s due for release in 2016.
• Next, was a new Mario Tennis game that features the ability to allow players to grow on the court with the use of a mega mushroom. It’s called Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and will be released during the holiday season in 2015.
• Next was Super Mario Maker, which featured the game’s developers talking about the game’s inception. The talk also showed off some original concept art for the game’s levels. They show how some of the leftover ideas from the original game will be incorporated into Super Mario Maker. Compatible amiibo (such as Wii Fit Trainer) will allow Mario to transform into other amiibo. And he will be given a new appearance. Scanning the brand new 30^th Anniversary Mario amiibo will allow you to have a bigger Mario with altered game aesthetics. There will also be a Super Mario Maker booklet which will feature levels that you can design. They described the software as “game designing training software”. The game is set to be released on September 11^th, 2015.
• Concluding the presentation was a feature for Mario’s 30^th anniversary that celebrated the game’s long history and revealed off com where you will be able to submit your own Super Mario memories. Nintendo said that the website will support the charity Operation Smile.

Well, that’s about it for today’s Digital Even, but E3 is not over. If any more new information is announced, I’ll be sure to make a post about it. The Treehouse Event will be going on for the next few days. You can watch it by clicking here if you’re interested. Set to be featured is Super Mario Maker and Starfox Zero, so if you want to see more of those games be sure to check it out.

Until Then,

The Nintendo Nerd

P.S. As a bonus a new trailer for Pokémon: Super Mystery Dungeon was also released today. Click here to take a look at that.