Nintendo Direct April 1st: Everything You Need to Know

Christmas comes a few times a year for Nintendo fans, and the jolly giant gave us a little visit today. Okay, it wasn’t Santa, it was Satoru Iwata, but he did come bearing gifts, revealing tons of news for upcoming titles. You can either watch the video or read on to see everything you need to know from the April 1st Nintendo Direct: 

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS

• Mewtwo DLC will be available as a free download on April 15th for those who registered both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game on Club Nintendo before March 31st.  
• Mewtwo DLC will be available for everyone on April 28th. He’s $3.99 for either version, or $4.99 to get him on both on 3DS and WiiU. 
• Lucas was announced as DLC and is coming June 2015
• Mii Fighter game-inspired Costumes (Majora’s Mask, Cat Mario, Megaman  X’s Armor, etc.) offered as DLC starting April 15 for $0.75 for either version or $1.15 for both versions
• Update Ver. 1.0.6 coming April 15th allowing use of DLC, tweaking character balance, and adding sharing functionality of Photos, Mii Fighters, Replays, Custom Stages, and more on Wii U version.
• Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot at smashbros.com will allow fans to suggest characters for future DLC
• Next wave of Amiibo announced, with Dark Pit and Palutena coming in July and Olimar, Bowser Jr., Dr. Mario, Zero Suit Samus, and Ganondorf coming in September

[New] Amiibo Tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits

• Tap amiibo on WiiU’s gamepad to play highlights from select NES and SNES games. Games aren’t tied to specific amiibo; the highlights are chosen at random and from random virtual console games. 

Mario Maker

• Commemorates 30th Anniversary of Mario and launches September 2015.

Yoshi’s Woolly World

• Classic and Mellow Mode announced. Classic mode plays normally, Mellow Mode allows Yoshi to fly, which makes the game easier. Players can switch between the two modes during gameplay. 
• Special yarn Yoshi amiibo announced. It allows you to play with Double Yoshi, a second Yoshi that you can use to solve puzzles and progress in game. Will be available in Green, Pink, and Blue.
• Launches Fall 2015 along with Yarn Yoshi amiibo

Splatoon

• Launches May 29th
• Ranked Battle mode announced for online play. Like Turf Wars, but uses specific rule-set and gives players rankings. 
• Battle Dojo mode announced for local play. One player uses the gamepad, and the other uses the TV, competing to pop the most balloons. 
• Inkling amiibo will be launched alongside the game. Gives additional missions based on the amiibo you tap in, and completing these missions gives you special gear. Will be available as pack of 3: Inkling girl, Inkling boy, and Squid, or you can purchase the Inkling boy and girl separately

Code Name: Steam

• Demo available on Nintendo eShop now
• More Marth amiibo will be released in May 2015 (Fire Emblem amiibo compatible with game)
• Update coming that allows players to speed up enemy turns (date will be announced on social media)
• Death Match tournament announced: running from 4/1 to 4/5

Virtual Console

• Nintendo 64 and DS games coming to Wii U with customizable controller options. 
• N64 games will be $9.99 – $11.99 and DS games will be $6.99 – $9.99 OR only $2 if you have them downloaded on Wii 
• Yoshi’s Island DS and Super Mario 64 are both available now for $9.99
• Yoshi Touch & Go and Wario Ware Touched! will be available on April 9th for $9.99
• Donkey Kong 64, Mario Kart DS, and Paper Mario are coming April 16th for $9.99

MiiPlaza

• Two new games coming to MiiPlaza on April 16: Ultimate Angler and Battleground Z, available together for $7.99 or separately for $4.99 each
• StreetPass MiiPlaza Premium to launch April 16, which allows players to add Mii’s birthdays and store up to 100 Mii’s in a VIP room–will cost $4.99.

 [New] Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

• Launching Fall 2015
• New game focusing on decorating aspects of Animal Crossing series
• Design animals’ homes based on their requests
• The first game to use amiibo cards, which launch alongside the game. Using new cards will give you new animals for whom you can build a house, and have visit other animals houses
• External NFC reader for 3DS will launch alongside the game

Mario Kart 8

•  DLC Pack 2 available April 23rd for $7.99, includes:
  – 3 Characters: Isabelle, boy and girl Villager, and Dry Bowser
  – 4 Vehicles:  City Tripper, Streetle, +2 unannounced
  – 8 Courses/ 2 Cups:  Crossing Cup and Bell Cup
• New Animal Crossing course from Pack 2 features alternating seasons and a studio-recorded remix of the animal crossing theme
• More Mii Racing suits added with use of Mega Man, Pac-Man, Sonic, Toad, Wario, Villager, Rosalina, Bowser, and Olimar amiibos
• 200cc will become available for free on April 23rd through an update 

 Everything Else:

• There was a segment on indie games coming this summer, including forma.8, Dementium Remastered, Don’t Starve: Giant Edition, Affordable Space Adventures, Starwhal, Never Alone, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Ninja Pizza Girl, Antipole DX, Life of Pixel, Badland: Game of the Year Edition, Slain!, Runbow, Adventures of Pip, Back to Bed, Space Hulk, Race the Sun, Dooors, Dot Arcade, Swords and Soldiers II, Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails, Toto Temple Deluxe, The Bridge, Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, Shutshimi, Nova-111, and Windup Knight 2
• Showed a trailer of Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover
• Fatal Frame Wii U coming to US later in 2015
• Hal Laboratory bringing new title Box Boy! to Nintendo eShop April 2nd
• Pokémon Rumble World available for free download starting April 8th on Nintendo 3DS
• Puzzle and Dragons Z + Puzzle and Dragons Super Mario Edition will be released in stores on May 22nd, with a demo of Puzzle and Dragons Super Mario Edition available April 30th in the 3DS eShop
• Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains by Atlus coming to the 3DS eShop in May, and the first two episodes of the anime are available in the eshop
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3D trailer shown, coming April 10th 2015
• The Fire Emblem game for Nintendo 3DS will launch in 2016 and a trailer was shown revealing your choice of two paths that will affect gameplay (Hoshido vs. Nohr)

Thanks, Santa! I mean, Iwata!