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Written by Dustin Murphy

Did you watch the Nintendo Direct this afternoon? If not, we got you covered. As of today, Nintendo dropped a moon sized bomb in our laps and let us relish in its explosion. They have officially announced that The Legends of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D is headed on its way to your Nintendo 3DS handhelds in Spring 2015. This also means that we will get to once more experience a new and fresh remake of a Nintendo 64 classic.

Within the same Nintendo Direct, they outlined a few new details regarding their upcoming amiibo functionality as well as the recently announced titles such as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Code Name S.T.E.A.M., Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Splatoon, and Xenoblade Chronicles X

“Now is the best time to be a Wii U and Nintendo 3DS owner,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “There’s something for everyone with a variety of quality, exclusive games already available and launching soon. From new IP in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker to unforgettable greats like The Legend of Zelda on the horizon, we have both classic and new franchises covered.”

So what can you look forward to in the near future? Today the company announced that Mario Kart 8 will be getting its first DLC pack on November 13th (next week). The features that will be included are new courses, and characters. Some of the characters will be from famed Nintendo franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, and Excitebike. Nintendo also announced that in addition to its launch in two weeks, amiibo has gotten a bit more polishing on the detials that have been released.

The Ambi figures will be compatible on launch with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario Kart 8, and Hyrule Warriors this fall. Later titles that will be compatible within 2015 include Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Yoshi’s Woolly World and Mario Party 10. When the amiibo figures launch on November 21st, Nintendo stated that when players place character figures such as Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Fox, Kirby, Link, Luigi, Mario, Peach, and Yoshi, players will be able to get a mii racing suit for Mario Kart 8 that is themed based upon those amiibo figurines. These suits can be worn when racing. As for Hyrule Warriors, a Link amiibo figure will give players a special “Spinner” weapon in the hack-and-slasher title brought to you by both Koei Tecmo and Nintendo. On top of that, any of the Super Smash Bros. amiibo figures will also grant random materials, weapons or rupees which can be used in game.

So what amiibo figures will launch on Novembrer 21st? For those looking to obtain them, Link, Mario, and Samus will be among the first to launch. This will coincide with the release date of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The second wave of characters will be launching within the month of December.

Are you looking forwards to Splatoon? If so, the four versus four person online multiplayer will be launching within 2015. The game will also launch with a single-player mode, which will allow players to go against an army of ink-based weapon armed octopi that will seek to hunt them down on this Wii U title in the second quarter of 2015. Following this announcement was the Wii U exclusive remake of Xenoblade Chronicles, which launched on the Wii back in 2010. In this new title, players will get to use New Los Angeles as a home base. Players will get to take on missions, collect items and take on missions from the cities residents. This game will also feature a much larger world from its predecessor known as Xenoblade Chronicles. The game is set to release sometime in 2015.

Along with these details, Nintendo also gave us a tidbit of them regarding Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, but also Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. Kirby will be the newest installment for that lovable pink ball of fluffiness. The game will require players to guide Kirby along a rainbow line that they will draw using their Wii U GamePad’s touch screen using the stylus. The game will also feature an all new four-player multiplayer mode that lets one player use Kirby so that a player may focus on drawing rainbow lines, while others control a group of characters that are shown as Waddle Dee. These characters will collect items and or carry that little pink ball of fluff around the game. The game is set to launch in February of 2015. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will feature a game that has 70+ levels that players will get to adventure through. The game will also feature different challenges, that once completed, will award players with more and new content. The game is set to launch exclusively on the Wii U on December 5th.

Along with the tidbits of information that Nintendo has announced, we were given a string of release dates that we are glad to share with you in preparation for their upcoming launches (below is Nintendo’s official release information for upcoming titles):

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.: From Intelligent Systems, the creators of the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars series, comes Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., a turn-based tactical action RPG that features characters like … Abraham Lincoln? That’s right: Abraham Lincoln leads a team of newly revealed playable characters like Tiger Lily and Tom Sawyer. Each character in the game possesses special abilities, like Tiger Lily’s healing and Tom Sawyer’s gadgets, that help players complete missions across well-designed battlefields. Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. will launch exclusively for Nintendo 3DS in spring 2015.

Ultimate NES Remix: The NES Remix series comes to Nintendo 3DS, combining 16 of the top NES games from the NES Remix and NES Remix 2 games on Wii U. Famicom Remix Mode offers challenges from the Japanese version of NES Remix, featuring slightly different sound effects and backgrounds, and in Speed Mario Bros., players can play through the original Super Mario Bros. ramped up to super speed. Ultimate NES Remix also features online leaderboards, allowing players to compare scores in challenges with others in their region. The nostalgic game launches for Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 5.

Persona Q Edition Nintendo 3DS XL: In honor of the Nov. 25 launch of the ATLUS role-playing gamePersona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, GameStop will be the exclusive retailer for the Persona Q Edition of the Nintendo 3DS hardware. The design evokes the essence of Persona Q with styling on the front of the iconic Grimoire – the tome used by the attendants of the Velvet Room and containing information on the many Personas – and the new style of character art represented on the back. It will be available at a suggested retail price of $199.99. (The Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth game will be sold separately. Both thePersona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Wild Cards Premium Edition and Limited Standard Edition versions of the game will be available for a limited time only.)

Wii U & Nintendo 3DS

PIKMIN Short Movies: Last month, Shigeru Miyamoto premiered PIKMIN Short Movies, a series of animated short films he directed that takes place in the Pikmin universe. These short films are now available as one paid download in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. As a supplement to the movies (in addition to popcorn, of course), a free demo version for Pikmin 3 is also now in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U.

Sonic Boom: A free demo for Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, the new Sonic the Hedgehog game launching exclusively for Nintendo 3DS on Nov. 11, is now available in the Nintendo eShop. The free demo for exclusive Wii U game Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (also launching on Nov. 11) will be available on Dec. 4. In addition, a new Nintendo 3DS Home Menu theme and Puzzle Swap panel inspired by Sonic Boom are both coming to Nintendo 3DS on Nov. 11.

Indie games!: Nintendo’s support for indie developers continues with a host of indie games coming to both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. In addition, fans will be able to discover a CommanderVideo trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U based on the classic character from the Bit.Trip series, as well as download a new Nintendo 3DS Home Menu theme based on hit indie game Shovel Knight. Many of the creative indie games coming to Wii U and Nintendo 3DS include the following:

• Runbow from 13AM Games (Wii U) – 2015
• Chromophore: The Two Brothers Director’s Cut from Ackk Studios LLC (Wii U) – Winter
• Citizens of Earth from ATLUS (Wii U, Nintendo 3DS) – Winter
• Nihilumbra from BeautiFun Games (Wii U) – Winter
• The Swapper from Curve Digital (Wii U) – Nov. 6
• Thomas Was Alone from Curve Digital (Wii U) – Nov. 25
• Proun+ from Engine Software (Wii U) – Winter
• Trine Enchanted Edition from Frozenbyte (Wii U) – Winter
• Chariot from Frima Studio Inc. (Wii U) – Winter
• A.N.N.E. from Gamesbymo (Wii U) – Winter
• Gunman Clive 2 from Hörberg Productions (Wii U) – Winter
• SteamWorld Heist from Image & Form (Wii U) – Spring 2015
• Affordable Space Adventures from KnapNok Games (Wii U) – Q1 2015
• Gone Home from Midnight City (Wii U) – Winter
• High Strangeness from Midnight City (Wii U) – Winter
• forma.8 from MixedBag (Wii U) – Winter
• A World of Keflings from NinjaBee (Wii U) – Nov. 13
• Tengami from Nyamyam Ltd. (Wii U) – Nov. 13
• Treasurenauts from Renegade Kid (Nintendo 3DS) – Q1 2015
• Xeodrifter from Renegade Kid (Nintendo 3DS) – Q4
• Swords & Soldiers II from Ronimo Games BV (Wii U) – Winter
• Beatbuddy from THREAKS (Wii U) – Q1 2015
• Sportsball from TOO DX (Wii U) – Nov. 6
• 6180 the moon from Turtle Cream (Wii U) – Winter
• Rive from Two Tribes (Wii U) – 2015

To view today’s Nintendo Direct please go here: http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/11-05-2014/

About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, MMO’s, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable and can’t be softened by even the biggest names in the gaming industry. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. To follow Dustin, hit him up on Twitter over at @GamingAnomaly, find him on his Google+. Wanna game with him? You can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.