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Nintendo Direct Micro Features Big 3DS Announcements

by Donald Theriault - June 1, 2015, 8:05 am EDT
Total comments: 27 Source: Nintendo Direct

Let the localizations flow like wine as Bravely Second, Chibi-Robo, and more are announced for western release.

Nintendo of America dropped some big announcements for the 3DS in a surprise Nintendo Direct Micro today starring Miniature Bill Trinen.

  • As was rumored last week, the big end reveal was that Bravely Second: End Layer will come to both North America and Europe in 2016. Nintendo appears to be handling western publishing duties for the sequel.
  • Yesterday's Chibi-Robo announcement for Japan was followed up by a confirmation of the game coming to North America as Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash. The game will release this October and the Chibi-Robo Amiibo will be sold exclusively in a bundle with the game.
  • Also first shown yesterday, the new 3DS Dr. Mario game was announced as Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure. The game is available for preload on the eShop and will unlock on June 11.
  • A long-running series from Level 5 in Japan is also coming west. LBX: Little Battlers eXperience, due out on August 21, is a robot-building RPG that features six-player local multiplayer and over 4000parts to create your own robots with.
  • Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games also had its reveal for North America, which confirmed the Rugby Sevens event would be Wii U exclusive and golf would be 3DS exclusive.

Although the focus was on 3DS, there were a few Wii U announcements aside from Splatoon and Mario/Sonic:

  • A new trailer was announced for Project Treasure, similar to the one shown in yesterday's Japanese Direct
  • Art Acadmey Atelier will release in North America as Art Academy: Home Studio on June 25. As with the European release, owners of Art Academy Sketchpad will receive a $4 discount. Unlike Europe, the game is an eShop exclusive.

The videos from the Direct can be found here:

Talkback

fred13June 01, 2015

I would've expected these to come at E3. Why did they decide to announce now?

SorenJune 01, 2015

Because people would lose it if they spent time talking about Dr. Mario, Art Academy and yet another Mario and Sonic game during the Digital Event.


Also, golf on 3DS? C'mon...

broodwarsJune 01, 2015

*yawn* Just a bunch of 3DS **** and inevitably literal **** with another Sonic & Mario game. Chibi-Robo could be interesting, but overall I don't see much here to get excited for. Hopefully, E3 will be more interesting and Nintendo will actually remember that they have a console.

TOPHATANT123June 01, 2015

I imagine publishers are realising annoucing games at E3 can do more harm than good since things just get lost in the shuffle. XCOM 2 for instance was announced today even though we are two weeks out from E3.

broodwarsJune 01, 2015

Quote from: TOPHATANT123

I imagine publishers are realising annoucing games at E3 can do more harm than good since things just get lost in the shuffle. XCOM 2 for instance was announced today even though we are two weeks out from E3.

Well, XCOM 2 is also a PC-only game (for now), and E3 is console-centric so the game really wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't announced it earlier.

Evan_BJune 01, 2015

I'm baffled as to their decision to announce these games outside of E3, but I suppose I can understand- these are just a few more games they don't have to waste time introducing at E3, but it makes me wonder... what the hell is going to be at E3?

Is Nintendo going to push Mario Maker that hard? What's worse, are they going to push Starfox so hard, too? They can't expect to wow us with Xenoblade or Wooly World- those titles have been floating around for too long now and they have no excitement factor. And what about 3DS? It's great to see this third party support (and I'm actually pretty excited about LBX- it's got a Medabots vibe that makes me yearn for those games), but what sort of bomb are they planning on dropping in two weeks?

I'm was trying my best to keep my expectations low, but now I have no expectations, plain and simple- either Nintendo is going to totally blow it with stuff we've already seen, or... well, I don't know what.

TOPHATANT123June 01, 2015

Quote from: broodwars

Quote from: TOPHATANT123

I imagine publishers are realising annoucing games at E3 can do more harm than good since things just get lost in the shuffle. XCOM 2 for instance was announced today even though we are two weeks out from E3.

Well, XCOM 2 is also a PC-only game (for now), and E3 is console-centric so the game really wouldn't have mattered if they hadn't announced it earlier.

Well there is the 3 hour (what are they thinking!?) PC conference on the 16th, but I agree that E3 should be reserved for the big guns and announcing something "niche" for the first time at E3 is a surefire way to make people forget about it.

kokumakerJune 01, 2015

That Chibi-Robo amiibo is awesome, but I'm unconvinced that I want to buy the game in order to get him. Damn it, Nintendo really knows how badly we want to collect these things...

Evan_BJune 01, 2015

Chibi Robo is so niche, he needs to be packaged with his own game.

EnnerJune 01, 2015

Since it looks like we won't get a new Custom Robo anytime soon, I hope LBX will suffice. LBX being part of the Level-5 machine is good and bad. Good because there's a above-average chance that the game will be solid. Bad because... well, I've read a few criticisms of Level-5's recent body of work being well-made mediocrity. Fantasy Life seems to have become a big hit with some people while boring the heck out of others.


Bravely Second releasing in 2016 is a bummer, but maybe it's for the best? Fantasy Life released in October of 2014 and was lost. In my mind, that was a fairly high-profile RPG from a reputable developer/publisher that got buried. Perhaps Nintendo of America took the lesson of not releasing high-profile handheld JRPGs in the Fall. Still, when I said this much to James Jones on Twitter, he reminded me of the sales and critical success of Bravely Default and felt that Bravely Second could have hanged out in the Fall of 2015 (assuming there are no other big 3DS titles). Ah! I just don't know.

Ian SaneJune 01, 2015

You know I realize I keep getting Custom Robo and Chibi Robo mixed up when I just see them in writing.  That's a bit of a branding snafu on Nintendo's part.

Nintendo doesn't actually have to deliver at E3.  What matters is that they have a good lineup for the next year.  Bad E3s don't really matter in terms of the event.  Bad E3s have mattered because they signified the start of a bad year of releases.  If Nintendo doesn't have something that really knocks your socks off at E3 what it really means is that at Christmas you're not really going to be interested in what's available.

Announcing everything ahead of time would be weird since E3 attracts a lot of media attention and hype so from a marketing perspective it makes sense to drop a big announcement there.  But if they announced something huge tomorrow that was due out late this year and E3 didn't have anything really new, would you care in the long run?  You would be a little disappointed that E3 wasn't as exciting but things will have worked out in terms of games which is why any of this matters.

As for Nintendo remembering they have a console... the Wii U is finished so that creates a weird situation where it would seem that moving existing projects to the NX to help ensure it has a bright future would make sense.  But it would be a disservice to existing Wii U owners to outright abandon it.  It also would make it that much harder for Nintendo to get people to pay attention to the NX if they went "dark" for a little while between consoles.  It's tricky.

Oh and Bravely Second confirmation?  YAY!!!

KhushrenadaJune 01, 2015

It's not unusual for Nintendo to have an E3 with very little surprises. I'm prepared for an E3 in which it is just business as usual. Truthfully, I don't have a major problem with that aside from the fact it gives no tantalizing carrot for the future that people can use as a way to say there will be good times ahead.

The fact is that with Yoshi's Woolly World, Star Fox and Xenoblade Chronicles X, these 3 games appeal to me more than other games released over the past Wii U holidays. Guitar Hero I'm on the fence about as I would prefer Rock Band 4 than it. Add in the fact that I still want to get Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Captain Toad, Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart 8 at some point and a lack of big or surprise titles isn't an issue for me like it might be for other gamers.

I'm more surprised at how 3DS support seems to be drying up. Or perhaps it is more that most games being released for it don't interest me that much. Chibi-Robo is now my most wanted 3DS game. I love that Chibi-Robo. I might be one of the few who also owns Chibi-Robo Photo Finder. I'll buy all his stuff. Other than that, there's the AC: Happy Home Maker which I'm still on the fence about. There's the upcoming Fire Emblem game which seems to be making no one happy with every news items released about it. There's a Phoenix Wright game set in Sherlock times which I hope will be released here but who knows with that series these days. While Bravely Second interests me, so does the first game and I've yet to buy that. There's always Fantasy Life to try out I suppose. All in all, 3DS has been rather weak to me for awhile and I thought it was the money making system for Nintendo. I'm more curious to see what E3 might bring for it as it should be faster to put together a 3DS game than Wii U game so it has the better potential for surprises than Wii U.

Still, all I'd really like shown as a surprise is a new ambitious Paper Mario at this point. (Or a return to the F-Zero greatness shown in F-Zero GX as well as a new Metroid title. I'm a Nintendo fan like everyone else so I can't leave out those two series.)

Evan_BJune 01, 2015

Actually, not gonna lie- if Nintendo ended up showing off a new, traditional Paper Mario game it would automatically raise my spirits. The Wii U is starved for RPGs and it's also my favorite series despite recent mediocrity.

I suppose last E3 delivered very much, and the E3 before that was lackluster aside from the Smash Bros. reveal. Before that was even more miserable, so I was hoping Nintendo had learned their lesson last year and would bring as much intrigue to this E3 as well. But last year was so successful because they showed so much material, and in doing so, probably forced their own hand. It's hard to imagine another E3 as successful.

Nintendo's largely ignored the 3DS in their primary E3 events in recent years, so I imagine this was done to get the 3DS stuff out of the way before a (hopefully) Wii U-heavy E3 presence.

AdrockJune 02, 2015

Besides maybe Bravely Second, none of these are games I'd want Nintendo to spend a significant amount of time on during its E3 Digital Event. We may see off-screen footage at the show, and that's enough. Right now, Nintendo has Xenoblade Chhronicles X, Star Fox, Yoshi's Wooly World, Mario Maker, Pokken, and DLC for Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon. Animal Crossing and Paper Mario are rumored. We don't know if Nintendo will unveil a surprise game like Splatoon last year. That's a lot of ground to cover. This is the right time to announce Dr. Mario: Diploma Mill Miracle Cure.

Evan_BJune 02, 2015

I don't think Nintendo has the ability to drop another Splatoon-like bombshell this year- I'd be happy with more traditional franchises like Paper Mario making an appearance.

But honestly, there's nothing left to focus on for some of those titles. XCX could maybe have some English voice acting but aside from that we know everything there is to know about that game aside from a release date, and I can't imagine Mario Maker being a huge focus- they can only show modes and neat features. If they honestly think E3 is the place to talk about games that are ALREADY OUT like Smash Bros., they're underestimating the event. The truth is, Wii U already has a great lineup this year IF XCX comes out in 2015. If it doesn't, then I don't really think Nintendo has a core, powerhouse title in its roster- Devil's Third is too niche, Fatal Frame is too niche, Wooly World is too standard, and there's no way Star Fox is going to be a full game.

Also, Pokken ain't coming to consoles before they have milked the arcade crowd dry.

I find it funny and sad that Nintendo has essentiall abandoned developing anything outside of eShop games for 3DS in favor of Wii U. Now I'm dissatisfied with both platforms.

AdrockJune 02, 2015

Quote from: Evan_B

I can't imagine Mario Maker being a huge focus- they can only show modes and neat features.

You can say that about every game because that's what previewing a game is. If you're complaining about this, that's like saying there shouldn't even be an expo. "Gawd, all they're going to do is show modes and features of games. Hmph." That's what companies do at these events.

It doesn't matter if Pokken comes out in arcades first. Nintendo can still show the game at E3 because again, that's the point of E3.

Also, I forgot about Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem IF.

Evan_BJune 02, 2015

Fine then- there's only so much of Mario Maker that can prove to me the general gist of the game- which is, "you can make crazy Mario levels!"

KhushrenadaJune 02, 2015

Quote from: Evan_B

If they honestly think E3 is the place to talk about games that are ALREADY OUT like Smash Bros., they're underestimating the event.

There are always going to be a lot of Nintendo fans excited at new fighters or stages released for this game. Nintendo is probably expecting that any Smash announcements will also bring up a hype factor for the presentation.

I suppose Animal Crossing Wii U is possible as a new announcement but with the Happy Home Maker release for the 3DS later this year, I feel like that is all they are doing with the franchise right now. Just like people predicting Zelda U will be moved and released on the NX later, at this point in time, it wouldn't surprise me if development for A.C. has begun but they may decide to hold onto it for a later release depending on what they do with the franchise and gameplay as well. Considering how long the development time was from when New Leaf was first shown to it's release date, even if Animal Crossing U were shown, I'd be surprised if it was released in a year. If it is going to take longer than a year to release then we are at end of 2016 start of 2017. Will they really want to release it for the Wii U at that point? We know that development has begun for a new Mario game for their next console. What about a console that launches with Mario, Animal Crossing and Zelda? It's fun to speculate with absolutely no facts to back it up.

Evan_BJune 02, 2015

A console that launches with Mario, Zelda, and Animal crossing equates to roughly 7-9 million people disappointed with the Wii U library. If there is no exclusive Zelda title for Wii U then it truly is on par with Nintendo's worst consoles ever.

Ian SaneJune 02, 2015

Quote from: Evan_B

A console that launches with Mario, Zelda, and Animal crossing equates to roughly 7-9 million people disappointed with the Wii U library. If there is no exclusive Zelda title for Wii U then it truly is on par with Nintendo's worst consoles ever.

Isn't it already one of Nintendo's worst consoles ever?  They've only released six of them unless you're counting the handhelds as well and the Virtual Boy.  SOMETHING has to be the worst.  Nintendo just happens to have a really good track record and, aside from the Virtual Boy (which even that is debatable), they haven't released a system that is totally worthless like a Game.Com or CD-I.

Wii U owners will justifiably be upset if their console gets abandoned prematurely.  But how many will be so mad that they won't buy the NX?  I would say the Wii U userbase is probably the more loyal and devoted Nintendo fans that probably don't have the willpower to reject the NX if it's got a Zelda game on it.  A much larger figure is the amount of gamers that still buy videogame consoles that owned a Wii but have not bought a Wii U and don't intend to.  The more years they go without Nintendo the more they'll get used to it and the less need they'll have of fulfilling any Nintendo fix.  The longer they have to wait for a Nintendo console that will interest them, the less interested they'll be in the concept at all.  What is worse?  Pissing off the relatively small amount of existing Wii U owners or letting the rest of the gaming market forget all about Nintendo as a console maker?.

I might buy the Mario and Sonic Olympics just for the rugby mode. Probably the closest we'll get to Mario American Football.

KhushrenadaJune 03, 2015

Actually, thanks to the Mario and Sonic announcement, I now know golf and rugby will be sports played at the 2016 Olympics. Something I did not know prior to that. Thanks Nintendo for being so educational about current world events! *thumbs up*

SorenJune 03, 2015

Last Mario & Sonic game I played was 2012, do they have proper online now?

Mop it upJune 05, 2015

Quote from: Enner

Fantasy Life seems to have become a big hit with some people while boring the heck out of others.

I feel like this describes every RPG ever. They're niche for a reason.

EnnerJune 06, 2015

Quote from: Mop

Quote from: Enner

Fantasy Life seems to have become a big hit with some people while boring the heck out of others.

I feel like this describes every RPG ever. They're niche for a reason.

Probably why more games are taking the compulsive/addictive systems of an RPG (ex. leveling up, acquiring loot, building equipment, character progression) and merging it with immediately-gratifying action and narrative.

Mop it upJune 07, 2015

That sounds more like developers running out of ideas. :P:

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