Nintendo 3DS Categories

Today's Nintendo Direct shed a lot of light on the newest wave of amiibo, as well as other amiibo that will be launching later this year in conjunction with a number of games. Here are the highlights (courtesy of my viewing, and Nintendo of Canada's Press Release):

If you are platinum, own a Wii U, and have never played Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, I believe that is a no brainer. On 3DS for Platinum members, Animal Crossing New Leaf is attractive, as is Mario Golf: World Tour. Gold members also get some interesting offers; although they are not all on the level of the Platinum offerings (for obvious reasons), there are still a ton of great options. What will you be getting?

I was promised in the email from Nintendo of Canada that tomorrows Nintendo Direct was not an April Fools joke. The direct is aimed at updating games that Nintendo is working on, particularly those coming in 2015. A Nintendo Treehouse presentation is to follow outlining a 2015 Spring title.

Rumors have surface about a Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake for 3DS. A 4Chan user posted both a video and screenshot of the game being played on the New 3DS XL. The screenshot clearly shows the game being played across both screens: action on the top, important menu stuff on the bottom.

Before you jump all over me for this opinion, hear me out. Nintendo cannot release a dedicated amiibo title without replenishing stock on almost all of their amiibo line up. No one will buy a game - or, they will and inevitably will be disappointed in their experience - if they cannot be guaranteed that content won't be locked behind impossible to find amiibos.

Being in media, it is my job to know whats going on with Nintendo. So obviously, I felt a little out-of-the-loop when a review code for Fossil Fighters: Frontiers for 3DS come across my desk. Fossil Fighters is one of those tricky games to review, if only because it's not meant for adults. Fortunately, I had a younger opinion on this title.

A new wave of developers is taking over the consoles and they are releasing polished and interesting games. Some companies do it from a central office - Image and Form Games is based in Sweden, and are best known for SteamWorld Dig and the upcoming SteamWorld Heist - while others are pulling from the best talent around the planets, such as Moon Studios, the company behind Ori and the Blind Forest.

Nintendo was busy today with two big announcements at a press conference. First, Nintendo is partnering with Japanese mobile developer DeNa to release games and apps that feature Nintendo IP. Nintendo's CEO was quick to explain that this would not simply be ports of games already available on other Nintendo platforms, but new and original games and apps.

What you find in Code Name S.T.E.A.M*. is not your usual London. Instead, you'll find a London powered by steam, full of aliens and...Abraham Lincoln? Yup, this iconic America hero, as well as many other real and fictional characters, all team up to rid London of the nasty alien pests; while this sounds completely wacky - which it is - it also works really well, making it one of the best turn based games I've played in a long time.

Unless you have been living under a rock, it's fairly obvious that amiibos appear to be the must have 'toy' since late November. Within my Nintendo circle of gamers, I've heard far less about Skylanders and Disney Infinity and more about amiibos. So, has Nintendo done well with amiibo by making them collectible, or are they losing hundreds of thousands of dollars because of supply issues?