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.

oh no not the shadow link!

Fuck yes a combined account system! I hope this leads to a true account system like Steam's.

I'm dumbly excited that Rosalina's a playable character. What kinda crazy powers she got?!

Now they just need Steam sales...

They picked the wrong day to do this direct.

Nintendo inches ever closer to being a modern company that understands how the internet works.

Is it sad how excited I am about a combined account system? I thought I'd never see the day. I still doubt titles that appear on both e-shops transfer to both systems now but it's a start.

+1

I'm still having trouble digesting Nintendo DLC.

All good things. Wish they would get to these things sooner though.

Maybe I'm bad at reading comprehension, but is the combined account update coming this month, as well as YouTube support? Or is YouTube support coming this month, and then the other update sometime in the future?

I just want Netflix on my EU 3ds. :(

Will the "combined 3DS/Wii U accounts" allow me to buy one piece of software and use it across both systems? IE Will Virtual Console whatevers carry over?

@video_game_king:

The way it is worded it would seem that just the account balances are combining (for now). Anything beyond that would be speculative

@zforce915:

:(

@video_game_king said:

I feel like Alex has chosen a poor title for this article, though he does correct himself within the article itself. It doesn't sound like you're really creating a combined account in any meaningful way, just that both devices will refer to the same Nintendo ID for the purposes of sharing the wallet.

Nothing seems to have changed that would actually permanently tie your digital purchases to your Nintendo ID. No Virtual Console titles are "crossplay" or "crossbuy", and your Nintendo ID and its eShop purchases are still basically chained to the one 3DS/Wii U where you purchased that software and cannot be transferred to another system without Nintendo Support doing it for you.

@alex you forgot to mention the sizzle reel for a bunch of indie games coming to WiiU and 3DS.

IGN's been doing their darndest to spoil the crap out of Mario 3D World but I've been trying to avoid as much information as possible after the last trailer or two. I'm super psyched for that.

Did they ever mention when the 3DS update would drop? I tried to update just now and it's not there yet.

Yeah, Rosalina. I need to play that game now.

Oh, so that doesn't mean that I'll be able to register my 3DS purchases to an account instead of the physical device? Why is that so much to ask?

Wait, how come we're getting Bravely Default in the UK at the same time as Japan, but the US doesn't until Feb?

Mario Galaxy's spin move that lets her attack dudes on the ground and gives her a little more distance in mid-air.

Well at least Nintendo taking some steps to making prepare accounts for it online system.

HURRY UP MARIO

Smart move to combine the accounts, now if they can figure out a way to have the accounts not locked to a system that would be even better. Apart from that I'm happy that Rosalina is a playable character.

Pikmin 3 DLC, just like they said they'd add if they saw reasonable demand! Nintendo's slowly but surely moving into the modern era!

Awesome, combined accounts and Miiverse on 3DS

Nintendo is slowly getting there...about a year and a half and I don't think there will be any more major complaints about either of the two systems

I want news on WHEN MONSTER HUNTER 4 is coming to the US!!

Same here. Been wanting it since it was announced.

where's their smash bros release date? you know, the game every Nintendo fan is waiting for....

My thought exactly as I read this article too. I mean, its great they are doing this kind of stuff, but its lonnng overdue.

Yes! More Pikmin!!

@fat_tomato: Looks like she has a double jump in the video.

I'll definitely be getting the collector's edition of Bravely Default. Great to see NOA supporting an RPG like this after their arm had to be twisted to release Xenoblade. But man, Super Mario 3D World, I haven't been this jazzed for a Mario game in years.

What is with the sudden uptick in spam messages on the site

Not sure why we're getting so many of them, but their family members are loaded.

@gakon said:

Ooh! I'd love to see Wario and Waluigi in this. I'd even be ok with it being DLC ala Super Luigi U.

i still love the N64 Mario Party games, so it's a super bummer to see the hot garbage they became. can't Nintendo do what they always do and remake those games like 20 times?

They don't do that, though. Sure, they remake a game occasionally, but they don't constantly remake the same game over and over.

I love how this has been cemented into the canon of gaming history as fact. So crazy how much made up nonsense people believe.

Next week should be fun. Zelda 3ds, mario party for the 3ds, and 3d Mario for wii u. Interesting...