Dec. 7 to 13 Nintendo News Roundup

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS

During the latest Nintendo Direct in November, it was announced that a special Super Smash Bros. broadcast would be held sometime this month. Nintendo has now shared a time and date for the broadcast in question.

You’ll be able to watch the presentation on December 15 at the following times:

– 2 PM PT
– 5 PM ET
– 10 PM in the UK
– 11 PM in Europe

Masahiro Sakurai will be hosting the presentation and revealing details on Cloud and more. That said, we will likely hear about other DLC characters and what happened in the Fighter Ballot, so stay tuned.

Sakurai was also recently interviewed for the Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary Book and talked about the presence of Fire Emblem characters in Smash and how the DLC is soon coming to an end. If you would like to take a look at a translation of the interview by SourceGaming, check it out over here.

Splatoon

Splatoon was recently updated with another new weapon, the Zink Mini Splatling. You can find some screenshots and a video overview of the weapon below:

Splatoon’s 9th North American Splatfest has also been announced for next weekend. In the event, players will have to choose between Naughty or Nice. The Splatfest is scheduled to begin at 9 PM PT on December 18 / 12 AM ET on December 19.

The results of the 8th European Splatfest are now in too. Check them out below:

Europe (8th Splatfest) – Pro-Pineapple vs. Anti-Pineapple

– Votes – 38% / 62%

– Wins – 46% / 54%

– Final Results – 314 / 386 – Anti-Pineapple Wins

Super Mario Maker

During the week, Nintendo and Mercedes-Benz announced a new collaboration. After the collaboration for Mario Kart 8, Mercedes-Benz has now made an Event Course for Super Mario Maker that comes with a new costume showing Mario in the driver’s seat of a GLA. Players can download the Mercedes-Benz Jump’n’Drive course at no extra cost. You can find the announcement of the collaboration below, followed by a promotional video for it and another video showcasing the costume.

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Mercedes-Benz has created an original Super Mario Maker Event Course that will be delivered with a special costume for players to unlock at no additional charge. The course, called Mercedes-Benz Jump’n’Drive, arrives today and includes an unlockable Mercedes-Benz GLA costume that shows Mario in the driver’s seat. Once players unlock it by completing the level, they can add it to their collection of Mystery Mushroom costumes.

“Super Mario Maker continues to grow and evolve with new courses and content,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “It’s great that a luxury car brand like Mercedes-Benz recognizes the ability to create fun courses and share them with others.”

This special content marks the second time that Mercedes-Benz has made fun additions to a Nintendo game: The GLA is one of multiple free downloadable vehicles in Mario Kart 8. The new Super Mario Maker Event Course was created by Mario fans at Mercedes-Benz who were inspired by the GLA’s appearance in Mario Kart 8 and wanted to build a level with Mario taking the GLA on a road trip. The Mercedes-Benz Event Course takes players through a variety of automotive-related areas, including being at the dealership, taking a test drive through a city and eventually cruising down the autobahn. And as with any good Mario level, some surprises wait to be discovered.

“We are delighted to once again be represented in a blockbuster game like Super Mario Maker,” says Dr. Jens Thiemer, Vice President Marketing Mercedes-Benz cars. “Mercedes-Benz and Super Mario have a lot in common. Above all, they share the same vision: to inspire their customers and fans.”

The Super Mario Maker game lets players create, play and share their own Mario courses using a wide array of enemies, objects and power-ups. Millions of courses have been uploaded for people to play, many using elements of the Mushroom Kingdom in ways never before encountered. Nintendo also has previously added a course designed by Facebook, the course featured in the final round of the 2015 PAX Prime Omegathon and other courses designed by Nintendo.

The Mercedes-Benz Jump’n’Drive level is available in the “Event Courses” section of Super Mario Maker, which showcases special levels presented by Nintendo and partners. The level from Mercedes-Benz, the game’s exclusive automotive partner, can be downloaded for free by everyone who owns the game.

Also, on Saturday, GameCenter CX held a new episode dedicated to Super Mario Maker. Shinya Arino, the show’s host, played through several levels submitted by players for roughly two hours. Check it out below:

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Nintendo has recently released a couple of Xenoblade Chronicle X music videos on its YouTube page containing are comments from composer Hiroyuki Sawano. You can find them below:

Nintendo has also been sharing some design details on Twitter. This week, they talked about Tatsu’s design and some of the inspiration behind the game’s armor, as you can see below:

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Nintendo recently released a new trailer for Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and a translated Japanese TV commercial for UK. Give them a look below:

Devil’s Third

Devil’s Third is now out in North America, so Nintendo released a new launch trailer. Check it out below:

Animal Crossing Amiibo

It was recently announced by Nintendo UK that the Animal Crossing amiibo based on Blathers, Celeste, Kicks and Mr. Resetti will be available in Europe on January 29. You can find their package shots below:

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Game Informer recently released a new interview with Zelda: Tri Force Heroes director Hiromasa Shikata and Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma. During the interview, the two developers talked about various things such as using the same engine as A Link Between Worlds and the cut Emperor’s New Clothes costume, among other things. If you want to check out the interview, you can do so here.

Hyrule Warriors Legends

The latest issue of Famitsu magazine highlights a new “My Fairy” system and the addition of the Great Sea map in Adventure Mode to Hyrule Warriors Legends. You can find a roundup of the details below:

– Fairies act as partners on your journey in Adventure Mode;
– When befriended, they will be added to the “My Fairy” menu;
– Fairies can unleash devastating attacks using fairy magic, and you can also customize their special attributes;
– You can only take one at a time into battle;
– You have the freedom to raise/customize fairies as you please;
– Fairies can level up and gain new special skills. Fairy magic also increases as their levels rise, letting them accompany you on harder missions;
– There are various types of food to find in Adventure Mode, which can increase certain attributes and unlock new skills. The player can decide whether to make the faeries balanced in all stats or a specialist in one. Lonlon Milk, Magic Beans, Rock Sirloin, and more are included as food. It’s possible to find more powerful food in higher difficulty levels;
– Players can also find “Fairy Wear” (clothes), and faeries can be dressed in different ways;
– This selection of “Fairy Wear” consists of various clothes and accessories similar to those worn by other characters throughout the Zelda series. Examples include the Korok Mask, Sheikah Suit, Zora Skirt and Pirate’s Bandanna;
– Rental skills allow fairies to support you in battle, and only a maximum of three slots can be filled with these;
– Fairies learn new skills by leveling up parameters, but players can also rent skills from other fairies that others have raised;
– Because the rented skills only last one day, when faced with a hard mission, you should borrow powerful skills from friends and aim to clear it on that very day;
– The “My Fairy” system includes the following options:
1. Dining – Raise your Fairy by feeding it certain foods.
2. Salon – Change your Fairy’s clothing/equipment.
3. School – Gain “rental skills” for your Fairy.
4. Party – Interact with players via local wireless. You can then rental skills from them.
– The Great Sea is included as a new map in Adventure Mode. The main map is the sea with various islands spanning the waters;
– You can fulfill certain criteria to unlock special character outfits across the Great Sea and gain other goodies;
– Ten new items featured in The Great Sea map are described:
1. Wind Waker – Can break down walls of wind to allow passage.
2. Salvage Arm – Can hoist up buried treasure and other rewards.
3. Seachart – Fish men can update the chart for you to help discover new battles.
4. Cannon – When used to destroy the enemy forts, it removes unfair rules/handicaps from the very start of the resulting battle.
5. Hero’s Bow – When used to remove Cyclones, it will also remove unfair rules/handicaps from the very start of the resulting battle.
6. Boomerang – Can defeat the Large Octopus, removing any unfair rules/handicaps from the very start of the resulting battle.
7. Hyoi Pear – Allows use of Seagulls to find hidden treasure. Useful for gaining great rewards.
8. Power Bracelets – Can lift up heavy boulders to clear the way to a new battle.
9. Hammer – Can use the hammer on switches to clear the way to a new battle.
10. Deku Leaf – Can glide on the wind to hidden areas to discover new rewards.
– Famitsu points out that the 3DS has a “StreetPass Link” in place of the Wii U’s “Network Link” mode;
– A special DLC costume that will be revealed at another time is also teased.

During the week, Koei Tecmo also released a new trailer and a batch of screenshots and artwork that complements the newly revealed information. You can find them below:

Moreover, some footage of the game was shown in a livestream, focusing on Linkle’s story. Check it out below:

Reddit user solarsaturn9 even did a translation of Linkle’s opening cinematic and narrative seen in the video above. You can find it here.

Finally, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Koei Tecmo producer Yosuke Hayashi were recently interviewed by IGN, and the two talked about Linkle’s origins, how the response from fans motivated the team to reconsider her inclusion in the game, and the character’s personality. You can find the interview in question over here.

Pokkén Tournament

Sceptile has now been confirmed as the next Pokémon to be joining the Pokkén Tournament roster of playable fighters. Electrode and Farfetch’d have also been confirmed to be added as support Pokémon. Check them out in the new trailer below:

Pokémon

This month’s issue of CoroCoro shares a first look at Volcanion, the final Mythical Pokémon from this generation. It also confirms that Volcanion will be starring in the upcoming movie, which is tentatively known as Pokémon The Movie XY & Z 2016. You can find some scans from the magazine below:

Genei Ibun Roku #FE

The latest issue of Famitsu brings us new information about Genei Ibun Roku #FE, in this case, new details about enemy Mirages. You can find some details rounded up below, as translated by Doki Doki Kusoge.

– Heroes from the Fire Emblem series will also be present as enemy Mirages invading Japan. Examples of this include Abel and Lon’qu;
– Abel is Cain’s rival and close friend, but due to a curse of some kind, he holds fierce jealousy toward his partner Cain;
– Having become a dark knight, he stands before the party;
– Lon’qu remains cool and stoic despite his turn to the dark side;
– For some reason, he wanders endlessly through the deepness of the Idolosphere;
– Aversa is reimagined in a big way from a visual perspective;
– She has a cold and ruthless personality;
– She strikes at the weakness in Tsubasa’s older sister’s heart and seems to enjoy controlling her;
– It seems she knows something about the truth behind the enemy’s motivations;
– Gangrel has a giant upper body that takes up most of the screen;
– Despite his size, he specializes in controlling the desires of humanity, and making them run wild;
– Garrick appears before the main character just after he becomes a Mirage Master;
– He’s wild, destructive and proud of his immense power, and wields a giant axe-like weapon;
– Excellus looks at humans as pawns in her messed up game;
– She’ll do anything to accomplish her goals, even though she’s a total coward;
– Feels attracted to Tsubasa’s qualities.

Besides the Famitsu details, a listing for Genei Ibun Roku #FE on Nintendo’s Japanese website confirms a few extra details about the title.

First, we get a confirmation that while the GamePad is naturally compatible, off-TV play will not be supported. Players can also to use the Wii U Pro Controller instead. DLC also seems to be an upcoming feature in Genei Ibun Roku #FE, and can be accessed through the main menu by selecting “Shop”. There will be additional costumes like previously thought, and there will also be more quests offered to help strengthen your characters.

Moreover, Persona Central has now translated another blog post by producer Hitoshi Yamagami, where he spoke about the project’s development, lengthy production, origins, and more. You can find it here.

Finally, a brand new commercial released by Nintendo contains a few new peaks at cutscenes and gameplay footage. You can find it below:

Virtual Console Trailers

Below you can find several trailers for recent Virtual Console titles. These include Game & Watch Gallery 4 and Polarium Advance for the European VC and Metal Slader Glory and Kururin Paradise for the Japanese VC.

Nintendo Minute

The latest episodes of Nintendo Minute include the continuation to Kit and Krysta’s Game of the Year video series and an overview of the comments at the 2015 Nintendo Holiday Mall Experience. in the Game of the Year episode, they focus on the categories for best 3DS game, best moment and best character. You can find both Nintendo Minute videos below:

Reggie on Mobile, Miitomo, My Nintendo and IP leveraging

In a recent interview with TIME, Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime chatted about mobile experiences, the sense behind Miitomo, My Nintendo in contrast with Club Nintendo, and how the amiibo’s success is reflective of where the company is heading in terms of leveraging IP. If you are interested in these topics and feel like reading it, check it out over here.

Nintendo Patent – Controller with Free-form Display

Another patent by Nintendo has recently been uncovered. Apparently, a few months ago, Nintendo filed a trademark for what looks like a controller with a free-form display. Although you might think the GamePad offers something slightly similar, this would be something completely different.

Here’s an abstract of what is proposed:

“A non-limiting example information processing apparatus comprises a housing, and a first portion of the housing is formed in an elliptical form when viewing from the front. A display panel and a touch panel constitute one main surface of the first portion. Holes are formed in left and right end portions of the display panel and the touch panel, and two operation sticks are provided through the two holes. When viewing the first portion from the front, an area except key tops of the operation sticks becomes a display area.”

The patent makes note of a few interesting things, including:

– The use of a display panel that allows for stereoscopic view;
– Can make an aspect ratio thereof comparable to a ratio (16:9) of a wide screen;
– Touch panel on the front surface of the display panel;
– A touch panel of an electrostatic capacitance system or a resistance film system can be used;
– A card slot.

Here are a few images used to illustrate the concept:

The patent above seems to fit in with previous Sankei rumors about Sharp working with Nintendo to provide them with a special Free-Form Display, an LCD screen that “can be shaped to meet a wide range of user needs”. In the filing, it’s essentially an elliptical touch screen covering the device’s entire top surface area.

As always, keep in mind this is just a patented idea and doesn’t mean there will be anything exactly like it coming in the future. But it’s an interesting idea when we think about the possibilities the NX might hold.