Summary of the Latest Nintendo Headlines-End of July 2015

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS

The biggest news coming out of Nintendo last week was the reveal of a big Super Smash Bros. update available now that includes Tournament Mode, new stages, and new Mii Fighter Costumes! By purchasing some of the latest DLC, you will now be able to play on the classic N64 Stages Hyrule Castle and Peach’s Castle. Finally, the new Mii Fighter Costumes available for purchase in eShop include outfits of some beloved characters such as King K. Rool, Chrom, Lloyd, Black Knight, and the Flying Man in addition to a few others.

Splatoon

Splatoon is set to receive its long awaited August update on the fifth of next week. In this update are two new modes: Squad Battle and Private Battle. Both of these modes will make it easier for players to join their friends in battle and ensure that they can play on a team with them. The game is also set to receive an increase to its Turf War level cap (from 20 to 50) and an increase to the maximum rank in Ranked  Battle (S and S+). 40 new gear items will also be made available to unlock. Finally, this update will also include two new weapon types: the bucket-like Sloshers and the Splatling. They also released on the official Splatoon U.S. tumblr that the update will come with new music as well.

Additionally, the official tumblr page has also announced that two new weapons will be made available at 7 p.m. PST tonight. These weapons are the Inkbrush Nouveau and the Ranged Blaster. The tumblr page also mentioned last week that the stage Urchin Underpass will be going offline from the 2^nd of August to the 5^th in order to be updated.

From “Squid Research Lab”- The Splatoon U.S. Tumblr

Amiibo

The Dark Pit amiibo is available for purchase today from Best Buy. Additionally, it’s been stated that Animal Crossing will be receiving 400 (whoa!) amiibo cards. Finally, there’s also a rumor circulating that GameStop will be soon hosting an amiibo event in which a special 3-pack of amiibo (rumored to contain R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, and Duck Hunt) will be available for purchase.

Additionally, in amiibo related news, it’s been said that 99 amiibo costumes will available in Super Mario Maker ranging from Isabelle to Marth. However, it’s been stated that you might not necessarily need the amiibo in order to unlock the costumes.

That about covers it for now. I’ll be back next week with another news summary much like this one.

Until Then,

The Nintendo Nerd

Summary of Super Smash Bros. Mini Direct 6-14-15

To coincide with the release of Lucas for Smash Bros. and the upcoming E3, Sakurai held a mini Nintendo Direct today to cover some of the new content that will be arriving for the games. Though a lot of the information was leaked out early yesterday, the Direct still provided a lot more of an in-depth look at what’s coming for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Click here to check out the Direct for yourself or continue reading for a recap of all the highlights from this Direct.

• The Direct opened with the reveal of Roy from the Fire Emblem series as a returning fighter for the game. Following this, Sakurai explained the differences between this incarnation of Roy and the Melee one including that his Final Smash will be the fiery Critical Hit move.
• Following this, some New Mii Fighter Costumes were released including Megaman.EXE, Zero, Isabelle, the Inkling Boy and Girl, a Squid Hat, Jacky and Akira from Virtua Fighter.
• There will also be new trophies including Inkling Girl.
• Next there was the reveal of some new amiibo figures: the Mii Fighters with the Sword Fighter, Gunner, and Brawler all receiving separate figurines. It was also revealed that amiibo figures for R.O.B., Duck Hunt, Mr. Game & Watch, and Falco will be released soon as well.
• The Game & Watch amiibo will be special for it will not only be 2D, but will come with a variety of poses that you can swap out interchangeably. Game & Watch, as well as R.O.B., Duck Hunt, and the Mii Fighters will be released in September.

Summary of Nintendo Direct – 4/1/15

It may be April Fool’s Day, but Nintendo wasn’t kidding around with this Direct. It was a long one, so keep on reading if you want to find out about the highlights from the Direct. Click here if you want to watch it for yourself. Without any further ado, here’s the summary:

• To start off, Mewtwo is on his way to Smash Bros.! An awesome new trailer showed off the Mewtwo DLC in Super Smash Bros for the Wii U and 3DS and even featured his brand new Final Smash attack! It was also revealed he will be available on the 28^th of April! If you registered both versions of Smash Bros. you will receive the download code on the 15^th.
• Smash Bros. will also be getting brand new Mii costumes, even some inspired by video game characters including Dunban, Link, and Proto Man which will be available on April 15^th as well!
• But there’s more! In a surprising announcement coupled with the tag “Lucas Comes Out of Nowhere”! Mother 3 protagonist Lucas will be coming back to the Smash Bros. series! He will be available via DLC in June!
• And a brand new Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot will be open to help submit ideas for new Smash Bros. fighters! They will not be able to listen to all requests, of course, but they will take suggestions into consideration.
• In amiibo news, the Wave 3 of amiibos will be released on May 29^th, and the next wave of Smash Bros. figures was also announced! These include: Dark Pit and Palutena (due for release in July) and Olimar, Bowser Jr. Dr. Mario, Zero Suit Samus, and Ganondorf (due for release in September). Some of these amiibos will also be retailer-exclusive. And, as a bonus, Mewtwo and Lucas figures are stated to be on their way in the future as well.

New Update For Smash Bros. for Wii U Brings New 8-Player Stages

This is just a quick post to let you know that if you download the latest update for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a total of 15 8-Player versions of familiar stages will open up to you with some appearing in their “normal” form and others appearing in the Omega/Final Destination form. These new 8-player stages include, but are not limited to: Luigi’s Mansion, Town and City, Lylat Cruise, Pokemon Stadium 2, and Wii Fit Studio! Here’s hoping this is a sign of even more content in the future!

Until Then,

-The Nintendo Nerd

Five Things I Thought About Super Smash Bros for Wii U.

Well, it’s been about a month now since Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was released and I finally feel like I’ve finally played enough of the game to be able to write my style of review for it. As you can probably expect, I am a fan of the series and I really enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy, this new Smash Bros. game. The following are just some of the things that stuck out to me the most while playing the new game.

1. The Graphics Are Spectacular

Not very surprisingly, the first thing that stuck out to me about this new installment was just how beautiful it was. The graphics in this game are wonderful. The characters are expressive and are modeled well, the stages are all expansive and detailed, and the additions of some visual cues during the fights really help make this game both amazing to look at while not being too hard on the eyes. Though in Smash Bros. for 3DS I would once in a while lose track of my character, I didn’t have this happen during any of my fights on the Wii U version despite the amount of detail present in every stage and the sheer size of some of them. Simply put, the game is just beautiful all around.

2. There’s So Much To Do!

There are a lot of things to do in this game. Aside from doing matches with your friends in local and online multiplayer, you can take on challenges, collect trophies, take on Master or Crazy orders, play Classic, Event, and All Star mode, and so much more. My personal favorite mode of the bunch is Event Mode as most of the challenges are fun and some are kind of difficult, especially if you go for the special reward on all of them. Regardless, clearing each Event feels like an accomplishment and it’s nice to get a little reward (whether it is equipment or a trophy) after each one. I also like that you can play many different modes with two players, which only doubles the fun. Though the 3DS version left you with a lot to do, this version really seems to top its portable predecessor in all the various ways you can play.

Summary of Nintendo Direct- 11-5-14

There was another exciting Direct today and just like we’ve come to expect from Nintendo it was full of cool new information and a couple surprises. Click here if you want to watch the Direct for yourself before reading.

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The first surprise—though this has been long speculated—was the reveal of The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask 3D for the 3DS and 2DS. The much anticipated remake of the N64 classic is due to release in Spring of 2015. It seems to be rather faithful to the original, but it’s said that the game will be accessible to new players as well.

The next game discussed was Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. Almost all of the talk about this game was focused on the battle mechanics and explaining the depth that each fight can have. Additionally, they also highlighted four of the game’s characters: the main character Henry Fleming, the Lion from Oz, Tiger Lilly (from Peter Pan, I believe), and Tom Sawyer (from, of course, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). The game is slated for a release in Spring 2015 which is soon shaping up to be a busy time of the year for Nintendo.

Summary of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Direct: 50-Fact Extravaganza

Wow, this was a big Direct! There was so much stuff revealed for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U it’s almost hard to keep track of! Below I’ve comprised a summary of the highlights of the Direct and I included some of my thoughts as well. If you want to see the Direct, but haven’t gotten a chance to yet, click here to see it on YouTube. Otherwise, here’s a not-so-quick recap of what was talked about.

• Speaking of big stages, these larger stages are said to be less likely to appear online.
• Some stages will also have Danger Zones that deal damage. One of the stages said to have this feature is the Great Cave Offensive from the Kirby series. Additionally, Danger Zones will KO opponents with over 100% damage.
• Some stages will also feature Dual Planes! T
• First of all, the long rumored 8-Player matches have been confirmed! 8-Player matches can be played on special stages and cannot be played online. Honestly, though I’m still unclear as to how these matches are to be set up controller wise. Regardless, it looks pretty fun, especially on those big stages.
• his means you can battle both in the foreground and the background (it reminds me of some Paper Mario levels). One new stage that will feature this kind of fight is the Donkey Kong level Jungle Hijinxs. You can travel between the two planes via a cannon that actually sets you on fire and may cause you to explode if you travel between the planes too much. Ouch! That definitely will require some brand new strategy.
• In addition to Jungle Hijinxs one, there were a whole bunch of stages that were shown off. Some of them include: the Kalos Pokémon League, Windy Hill Zone, WuHu Island, Wrecking Crew, Onett, and the Miiverse Stage! My favorites are the Kalos Pokémon League and WuHu Island.

5 Things I Thought About Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS

So, it’s finally here! Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS is out world-wide and we finally have the ability to play the game that we’ve been anticipating for months. I’ve been playing the game myself over the last few days and, I’ll say it up front, so far I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a great game and if you’ve liked the previous entries in the Smash Bros. series, you’ll very likely enjoy this one.

Like I did for Tomodachi Life, I’ll provide you with five key thoughts about the game in lieu of a traditional review that will give a broad, spoiler-free opinion on the game and its features.

5. Being a Handheld Game Has its Pros

I typically don’t have a preference either way when it comes to handheld or home consoles, though I know some games are more suited to being portable than others—like Pokémon main series games, for example. One of the first things people thought of when they heard Smash Bros. would be coming to the 3DS was whether or not it would work. Simply put, it does. The game’s graphics still are crisp and detailed, the animations are smooth, and the game overall runs pretty quickly without any super long loading screens or anything of the sort. Another pro is the fact that the game’s portability gives you the chance to link up to someone and battle from anywhere there’s an Internet connection. Truthfully, the Internet connection can be not-so-great at times and lag during matches is very annoying, but I’ve had only a few instances in which I noticed significant slow-down. Most of the time, everything ran smoothly and quickly and I had no problems and the issues people have been having with their connections may solved over time. And even if you don’t to go on the Internet and do a traditional match, many of the games modes are set up so that they can be played quickly and in short spurts. A round of Classic Mode takes about 10-20 minutes, Smash Run takes about 5-7 minutes, and the mini games such as Home-Run Contest and Target Smash are short and have a mobile game feel when they’re being played on the 3DS. However, even with all these pros it’s important to keep in mind…

4. The 3DS Screen is Kinda Small

The hardest thing to get used to for me was the size of the screen. Since there is so much detail and a lot going on all at once, the screen size may make it hard to play the way that you’re used to playing on a television. Thankfully, the game has features like the outlines around the characters and the damage percentages being moved to the bottom screen in order to help. These features do their job, but the game really benefits from a larger screen. If you’re having a hard time seeing the action on the smaller 3DS screen, I recommend trying the game on a 3DS XL if you can and seeing if your experience improves there. The game is frequently showed off on the 3DS XL and for good reason. It definitely benefits the game, though if you don’t have an XL and you aren’t planning on getting one, the game is still playable on the smaller screen, it just takes some getting used to.

Nintendo Direct Announces New 3DS, Shulk for Smash, and More!

Today was another big news day for Nintendo! During today’s Japanese Nintendo Direct for the 3DS, not only did we got some much wanted information about Smash and future titles, but we were shown a new system—the New 3DS and New 3DS LL.

The New 3DS systems look pretty much the same as its predecessor, but with a few upgrades. These updates include:  a new circle pad on the right hand side, a relocated power button, the addition of a ZR and ZL button on the back, improved speed, enhanced 3D viewing capabilities, and most notably built-in functionality with the Amiibo figures. Apparently all we’ll have to do to use them on our 3DS is just set them down on the touch screen. Cool. They showed off an accessory for the current 3DS model before to give it the ability to read the figures, but it seems that this new model won’t need that extra hardware.

It seems as if some new titles will be developed with this system in mind. Most specifically, the direct showed off a port of Xenoblade Chronicles for the New 3DS. This title seems ideal for showing off what the new system is capable of and it’s sure to excite many fans of the series.

A new game, Bravely Second, a sequel to Bravely Default, was also announced for the 3DS and was given the Japanese release date of Winter.

Finally, we also got confirmation that a newcomer is headed to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. It’s the highly anticipated and long speculated Shulk! Xenoblade fans had a lot to cheer for today. Shulk was shown off in an awesome new trailer. The trailer showed off his moveset as well as his home stage. The end of the trailer also suggested that the stage will likely feature a boss—much like how Wily Castle features the Yellow Devil—in the form of a Faced Mechon. Additionally the trailer also showed off Dunban and Riki who either feature in the game in Shulk’s final smash or as Assist Trophies. They’re even shown off in some of his screenshots on the official website, so it’s hard to tell what exactly they’re doing here. Nonetheless, I’m excited to find out.

Check out the Direct for yourself by clicking here.

I’ll be back with more Nintendo news as its revealed.

Until then,

The Nintendo Nerd

Smash Bros. for 3DS Leaks

I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but there have been a TON of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS leaks over the last few days. Characters, stages, trophies, and much more have been popping up on a few websites both in videos and screenshots. The videos, leaked most recently, are almost nowhere to be seen now as Nintendo has removed them—only adding to the belief that these leaks are legit—but the information they contained is still out there.

I would comment on these potential leaks, but because there’s still some question on whether or not these are real or not, I’m just going to wait and see for now. There’s a very real possibility that some or all of these are fake, so I’m holding off for now.

Until Then,

-The Nintendo Nerd