Nintendo Scene

Today at Nintendo’s Tokyo Earnings Brief, details have been disclosed about Nintendo’s future line-up and schedule. Inside Games (Japan) are reporting today the information on the briefing. However, bear in mind, as andriasang.com notes, that there will be no confirmation until “Nintendo shares its presentation and Q&A transcript”, but provides us with a preview of what to expect to be confirmed later today:

• Kid Icarus: Uprising is said to be released in the summer or shortly after. I personally can’t wait, Kid Icarus was definitely one of the games that influenced me the most to buy the 3DS, and the visuals are incredible.
• A 3D classic edition of 1984 NES launch game ExciteBike will be provided as a free download with the 3DS’ May firmware update – free pure retro gold!
• The update will also provide 3DS owners with the highly anticipated 3DS Virtual Console, which will start distributing Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. Nintendo are also looking into the possibility of finding other platforms to include on the 3DS Virtual Console; ONM have stated that Nintendo are using the Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress titles which will arrive in the 3DS shop at a later date.
• The Wii Vitality Sensor is also still under development. Remember this? It was announced at E3 a few years back. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said concerning the Vitality Sensor, “Everyone under pressure in our stressful society could use this to help us relax in videogame. Videogames could be made for people to unwind or even fall asleep.” Well I dare say Iwata that if you stopped pushing this rather odd peripheral and put more men on the Wii2 development then at least the Nintendo team would be under less stress!
• Nintendo will be releasing one Wii title every month, starting in May. The schedule includes Pandora’s Tower, an interesting looking game which has caused uproar after pictures of the main character Ende were released, who looks extremely similar to Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) character Noctis. Pandora’s Tower is expected in May. Zelda Skyward Sword is of course still due for release in 2011.

With still no word on the release date for Skyward Sword, it’s looking likely that Nintendo will release the game both on the original Wii and Wii2, as they did with Twilight Princess which was launched on both GameCube and Wii.

Related Articles

• Iwata Gives Brief Insight into Reason for Device and what it can Offer (nintendoscene.com)
• What can we expect from Wii 2? (nintendoscene.com)
• Nintendo investor meeting – unconfirmed info (3DS eShop, Vitality Sensor and more) (gonintendo.com)