Nintendo ran its latest Nintendo Direct livestream this morning. Ahead of time, the company noted that today's showing would primarily be about 3DS games set to release between now and early 2014, and by and large, that was exactly correct. However, company reps Reggie Fils-Aime and Bill Trinen did let a few other pieces of info related to the Wii U and Nintendo account management drop as well. Here's the breakdown of what we learned today.
- By far the most significant piece of news was that following a forthcoming update to the 3DS, you will be able to register your Wii U's Nintendo Network ID on the system, which will then combine your account balance on both systems into one handy Nintendo-branded wallet. If you have a 3DS but no Wii U, you will be able to register a new Nintendo Network ID as well. This update will additionally bring Miiverse support to the 3DS, and YouTube support will be coming for the handheld this month as well.
- A bunch of footage was shown for this month's 3DS releases, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Mario Party: Island Tour. Yes, there is a Mario Party game releasing this month. I had forgotten all about that too. You are not alone.
- Release dates for early 2014 3DS titles Bravely Default and Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy were set. Bravely Default will launch February 7, while Professor Layton will complete its current trilogy on February 28.
- On the Wii U front, Nintendo showed off a ton of new details regarding Super Mario 3D World, including a fifth playable character (Mario Galaxy's Rosalina), a new Luigi-themed minigame designed to look an awful lot like the old Mario Bros. arcade game, and a set of new "Captain Toad" levels, in which you must collect a series of stars without jumping.
- On December 2, Pikmin 3 will be getting eight new mission mode stages with varying settings and new characters to play (including Captain Olimar!). These stages will be available for $4.99.
- A Wii Fit U free trial is available now through January 31 on the eShop. The full game will launch on January 10.
That was all the most noteworthy stuff. To view the full Nintendo Direct stream, you can check out the archive here.