Nintendo 3DS Direct: The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent

The internet and fans alike have had a full 24 hours to digest the recent Nintendo 3DS Direct. Nintendo offered its fans over a half an hour of news on what the future holds for the world’s most popular handheld. There is some information that fans of Nintendo can take, both good and bad.

The Good

Considering Nintendo had announced earlier in the week the New Galaxy Style New 3DS XL (more than a mouthful), it is nice to know that the company plans on supporting the 3DS into 2017. Speculation has run rampant that the new system codenamed the NX is set to be a hybrid system. With the possibilities of NX being a portable platform, some analysts had considered that the 3DS may not be supported any longer than the Wii U, Nintendo’s current home console.

Nintendo announced no less than four new games that will be available for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. Most of these games just had a 2017 date attached to them. This should put the release dates sometime after March 2017 when Nintendo currently plans to launch the NX.

One game people had hoped to get on the 3DS was Super Mario Maker for the 3DS. Nintendo surprised everyone with the announcement that the game would, in fact, be making its way to the handheld, and surprisingly enough, it would be this year (December 2). While not all features from the Wii U will be available for the 3DS, the idea of collaborating on levels was something that has TechRadar excited.

Pikmin is also making its way to a handheld for the first time. At the moment, the working title is simply Pikmin. It is a side-scrolling adventure featuring Olimar and the everyone’s favorite little creatures. In it, players use the power of each Pikmin (red – fire, blue – water, yellow – electricity) to help clear obstacles in the path. A short boss battle utilizing both 3DS screens was shown. As of this writing, Pikmin made fans more excited than anything else during the Direct, according to a poll from Nintendo Life.

The Bad

More than anything, most Nintendo fans are hungry for any kind of information when it comes to the NX. While Nintendo of America stated specifically that this was only a Nintendo 3DS Direct, a lot of fans held out hope that we would hear at least some sort of an announcement concerning when the Nintendo NX Direct would be, including the recent NintendoDads podcast. More than one source has stated that September would most likely be the date of that announcement.

Over the course of the Direct, there was not a single mention of the NX. Even the Wii U had a brief mention thanks impart to the release of Skyward Sword and Axiom Verge releasing for the home console after the show.

Speaking of Skyward Sword, many fans had assumed that The Legend of Zelda adventure for the Wii would get an HD treatment the way Wind Waker and Twilight Princess had. However, that does not seem to be the case. It was simply made available in the Wii version via Nintendo’s eShop.

The Indifferent

This was most likely everyone’s category when it comes to this 3DS Direct. Another Mario Sports title compilation was announced in Mario Sports Superstars. The vast majority of the sports in this title have standalone games that are more fleshed out.

Yoshi’s Wooly World will also get the 3DS treatment. This time, bonus levels involving Yoshi’s pet dog Poochy will be added. Poochy will also get an Amiibo plush similar to the ones that Yoshi received. For this reason, the 3DS title will be known as Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World.

Still, other information was made available in this Nintendo 3DS Direct. A lot of it centered on games that most fans had known about. It’s safe to say that this was a welcome surprise to most Nintendo fans, but it most likely wasn’t the Direct they were hoping for.

[Image via Nintendo of America]