Nintendo Direct Recap: The Year of Luigi

Today’s Nintendo Direct shared a wealth of information about upcoming games, with a heavy emphasis on the 3DS. Nintendo is deeming 2013 the Year of Luigi, and the focus of Nintendo Direct was to announce some upcoming games featuring Mario’s cowardly brother.

After showing off some new footage of Luigi’s Mansion:Dark Moon, releasing on March 24, Satoru Iwata announced a new entry in the acclaimed Mario & Luigi series. Titled Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the game takes place inside Luigi’s mind as he dreams he is a brave hero. The game will hit the 3DS this summer.

Mario Golf: World Tour was announced to be hitting 3DS this summer from developer Camelot, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf received a North American release date of June 9 – June 14 in Europe. In addition, the highly acclaimed Wii title Donkey Kong Country Returns is getting a 3D makeover and coming to 3DS this summer.

Several eShop games were unveiled and/or given release dates as well. Kerploosh!, a game literally about dropping rocks down a well, will drop on March 7. Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger arrives on March 11 and sees the armadillo defending a fast-moving train from attack. GameFreak’s impressive-looking rhythm platformer HarmoKnight arrives March 28, with a demo coming two weeks earlier on March 14. Finally, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move will hit the 3DS eShop later this year.

In the midst of the new game announcements, Nintendo also announced it’s temporarily slashing some prices for popular eShop titles. A new title will be discounted each week, beginning today with Bit.Trip Saga, which includes all six games in that series, being slashed from $14.99 to $9.99. Below is a schedule for the upcoming discounts:

• 2/14 – Bit.Trip Saga $9.99 (reg. $14.99)
• 2/21 – Crashmo $5.99 (reg. $8.99)
• 2/28 – Fractured Soul $7.99 (reg. $11.99)
• 3/7 – Sakura Samurai $4.99 (reg. $6.99)
• 3/14 – Ketzal’s Corridors $4.99 (reg. $6.99)
• 3/21 – Mutant Mudds $5.99 (reg. $8.99)

On top of all that, starting March 21, anyone who purchases both a 3DS XL and either Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity upon their release will be able to choose and receive a free downloadable copy of either Super Mario 3D Land, Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, Freakyforms Deluxe, or Star Fox 64 3D after registering the game and system on the Club Nintendo website.

News was slim on the Wii U front, with the only major announcement coming in the form of a new campaign for New Super Mario Bros. U. Titled New Super Luigi U, the extended DLC adds new levels to the game that revolve around the green brother. No release date or other information was given, except that it will take “a while” to release due to the scope of the DLC.

Wii Street U, a version of Google Maps for Wii U, is also available for limited time free download starting today.

It may not have been as full of announcements as the last Nintendo Direct, but this presentation still yielded a wealth of news for Nintendo fans.

Source: 2/14/13 Nintendo Direct