Nintendo blew all Zelda fans away this morning on their 3DS direct stream when they announced The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2, a true sequel to the SNES classic. The game will be releasing this holiday for the 3DS. A video will be made available later on the Nintendo eShop and we will have it for you here as soon as we get it.
The game takes place in the same world as A Link to the Past and features new locations and dungeons. Link will possess the ability to turn himself into a 2D sticker to make his way into various places by clinging to walls.
May I personally just say that I apologize to Nintendo for wondering why they would have a direct stream this morning to focus mainly on the 3DS. You have given me new Zelda. I am sorry sir.
One of the big announcements from yesterday’s Nintendo Direct Stream is that this fall we will be getting a full HD remake of the classic The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker as a placeholder of sorts while Nintendo works on Link’s next adventure for the Wii U. Take a look at some of the HD-ified screens and go “oohh” and “aahh”, maybe even “look at all the pretty”.
It is funny how time changes people’s perception of things. I remember when Wind Waker was first shown and people lost their minds at the change in art style and that it was not a Zelda game at all. Fast forward ten years and it is one of the most beloved of the Zelda games and we are awaiting a chance to play it again.
At this morning’s Nintendo Direct Stream, the company revealed their plans for the Wii U leading into 2013. Games for the system are slowly trickling out and people were wondering just what Nintendo had up their sleeve to get Wii U’s into as many homes as possible before Microsoft and Sony take the spotlight and it turns out they have quite a lot. The video conference this morning should give Wii U early adopters and ones thinking of taking the plunge (raises hand) a better feeling about the future of the console, at least for the rest of the year. Let’s take a look at what Nintendo announced this morning and see if it will sway you into buying a Wii U.
1. Look at all the pretty games!! Smash Bros., Mario Kart, a new 3D Mario and so much more!!
-We knew about Smash Bros. already but the fact it will be playable at this year’s E3 is a huge deal. Mario Kart is always a staple on any Nintendo system and is always a insta-buy for me. The biggest news of the games is that a new 3D Mario is not only coming, but will be shown and played at E3. Whether this is a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy is unknown. I would hope for a new direction for Mario on the Wii U but won’t complain as long as we are getting a true 3D Mario game.
-The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is getting a full-HD re-release on the Wii U this fall complete with off-screen Gamepad play. It’s Zelda, so we’ll call that a win.
-Along with those biggies, it was also announced that Yoshi Yarn would be making its way onto the Wii U. It is being developed by the team that handled Kirby’s Epic Yarn on the Wii.
-Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem are joining together for a crossover game. Atlus and Intelligent Systems are working together on the Wii U project and had a short trailer to show off.
-The Wonderful 101 showed off a new trailer including more unique Gamepad play and aerial gameplay. It will be released by June, 2013.
-The latest game from Monolith (Xenoblade) was shown. No name was given for the title. A red X was shown at the end of the preview.
-Bayonetta 2 had a behind the scenes trailer but no gameplay was shown which says to me that this game is still a way off.
2. Nintendo Virtual Console coming to Wii U this spring.
Starting this spring you will be able to download original Nintendo and Super Nintendo games onto your Wii U and will be able to play on the Gamepad as well. People that already own the same games on their Wii Virtual Console can get the games for reduced amounts ($1-NES, $1.50- SNES).
3. Miiverse app coming to smartphones.
This will also launch in the spring and allow you to look at and make changes on you Miivers via your smartphone.
4. Updates are coming to improve Wii U’s load times.
A spring update and another in the summer will boost the Wii U’s load times which have been described as too long.
Dark Horse Comics will finally be bringing [amazon_link id=”1616550414″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia[/amazon_link] to the U.S. on January 29th, a little more than a year after release in Japan.
This book celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series and is 274 pages full of artwork, developer interviews and finally (for the first time I believe) has a complete chronological history of Hyrule. So you can finally stop arguing with your friends about whether Ocarina of Time happens before or after Skyward Sword (it’s after btw).
Any Zelda fan will definitely want to pick this up.
File this under more childhood memories that are dead. News today has surfaced that Nintendo Power is going the way of the Virtual Boy. Future Publishing said they were going to halt the monthly magazine and that Nintendo showed no interest in picking up the licence again to try and save it. Now granted I didn’t read Nintendo Power on a regular basis anymore but this is sad news still because it was such a huge part of my childhood.
Who didn’t love reading about the awesome new Zelda game that was promised to be out by the end of the year and wasn’t seen for three years more (i.e. every Zelda game) or keeping up with the continuing adventures of Captain N? Memories….light the corners of my mind. Misty, water colored memories. of the way we were.
So let’s all shed a single Indian tear and pour a 40 for our dear departed childhood friend Nintendo Power.
Here’s some old Nintendo Power covers for your time of mourning.
