Nintendo 2015 E3 Press Conference Recap
amiibo Everywhere
Nintendo started strong with a completely new game with a beloved IP: “Star Fox: Zero” is coming to stores this holiday season. Your Arwing can transform between its normal configuration, as well as Land Master, Gyro Wing, and Walker. Gyro controls with the Wii U Gamepad Controller, which comes as no surprise the way Nintendo has strongly integrated gamepad functionality with all of its last major releases including “Smash,” “Mario Party,” and “Splatoon.”
Nintendo also confirmed an 8-bit amiibo for “Super Mario Maker.” In-game, the amiibo enlarges your Mario just like a mushroom does. It can also transform into other characters. There are two different versions available: Classic Color and Modern Color.
The “Super Mario Maker” announcement was followed by another amiibo announcement – sort of. A hybrid between Skylanders Superchargers and Amiibo bring a Turbocharged Donkey Kong and Barrel Blaster, Hammerslam Bowser, and Clown Cruiser Skylanders. The base can be twisted and configured to allow amiibo functionality. While the new figures look like an interesting take on what are fairly well-established brands at this point – and a really unexpected choice to cooperate rather than compete – there wasn’t much in the way of release dates or other information.
“The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes,” a multiplayer game in the “Zelda” universe, is coming to 3DS in Fall 2015. You and your friends can control three different colored Links and stack up as a “totem” (think “Power Rangers”) to help clear objectives together. You can also change outfits, similar to “Kirby,” to gain different abilities.
A couple of days ago, “Hyrule Warriors Legends” for 3DS was leaked to the masses, and Nintendo officially confirmed the leak today. All DLC characters from the Wii U version will be available for the 3DS version, as well as new characters specifically for the hand-held version.
“Metroid Prime: Federation Force,” a four-player co-op, is slated for release on the 3DS in 2016. The title includes “Metroid Prime: Blast Ball” (as seen at the Nintendo World Championships).
Nintendo also announced “Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer” for Sept. 25 on the 3DS. They showed off the Isabelle card, and it looks just as thin as a standard playing/trading card. More cards are available on the Nintendo E3 2015 page. They claim they have developed “hundreds of character cards to collect and trade with friends.”
"Tap your favorite villager's card to call them to your game and have fun designing their homes. You can even use special cards to call in Animal Crossing characters like Isabelle and DJ KK. Get five villager cards plus a special character card in every pack." Nintendo
“Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival,” set for Holiday 2015, confirmed physical/traditional amiibo leaked a couple of days ago: Isabelle, KK Slider, Ton Nook, and Mabel. They have also added Lottie, Cyrus, Reese, and Digby. “Animal Crossing” looks like an Animal Crossing version of “Mario Party.”
“Yoshi's Woolly World,” set for October, doesn't look to add any more color variations for the “Yarn Yoshi” amiibo collection – just the original three (green, pink, and blue). Cooperative has been confirmed.
More releases include:
- “Fire Emblem Fates” (2016).
- “Shin Megami Tensi X FE” (2016).
- “Xenoblade Chronicles X (Dec 4, 2015).
- “Yo-kai Watch!” (Holiday 2015).
- “Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam” (Spring 2016) (3DS).
- “Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash” (Holiday 2015) (Wii U).
