Today's announcements included:

Sega and Nintendo partner to bring upcoming Sonic games exclusively to Wii U/3DS

To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct.

Full press release:
http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=39009

Wii U News

• Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games: The game includes a variety of events from the Winter Games, including curling, skiing, figure skating pairs and snowboard slopestyle – which will make its Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia. Different events might use the Wii Remote Plus controller, Wii U GamePad controller or both. In addition to realistic events, the game also includes those set in the worlds of Sonic and Mario that let players perform moves not possible in real life. Launch details and timing will be announced at a later date.


• Experience Games from Nintendo's E3 Booth at Best Buy: Exclusively at participating Best Buy locations in the United States and Canada, consumers will be able to play some of the unreleased Wii U games featured at E3 while the event is occurring in Los Angeles. Details about locations and which games will be featured will be revealed in the coming weeks.

• New Super Luigi U: The Year of Luigi-themed downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U offers players 82 updated courses. But it also includes a new playable character in multiplayer mode: Nabbit, who steals items from Toad Houses. Nabbit can't power up, but also won't take damage when he touches enemies. New Super Luigi U will be released as downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U in the Nintendo eShop on June 20 for $19.99. But in honor of the Year of Luigi, Nintendo is also offering a standalone packaged version of New Super Luigi U that doesn't require New Super Mario Bros. U on Aug. 25 at a suggested retail price of $29.99.


• The Wonderful 101: The mass-action adventure from Platinum Games launches Sept. 15. Additional details will be announced after E3.

• Pikmin 3: New playable characters Alph, Brittany and Charlie recruit the Pikmin creatures to help them gather fruit so that they can return with the seeds to save their home, Planet Koppai. Players can divide activities among the different characters, and explore separate areas in the same map with different groups of Pikmin. Using the GamePad (known as the KopPad in the game), players can view the overall map and grasp what each character and Pikmin are up to. Players also can choose their preferred control option: GamePad in conjunction with the TV, Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk combo or GamePad only in off-TV mode. Players can also use the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk with the GamePad as a second-screen monitor. Pikmin 3 launches Aug. 4.


• GAME & WARIO: The game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop June 23 at a suggested retail price of $39.99, and includes a number of games from WarioWare, Inc., that use the GamePad in different ways. Newly revealed games include: Island, which lets two to five people launch little creatures called Fronks onto islands in the sea to score points; Patchwork, a puzzle game that tests players' pattern-recognition skills; and Kung-Fu, which challenges players to help Young Cricket navigate a course safely using the forward-looking view on the TV and the top-down view on the GamePad. A new Iwata Asks feature offers more details about the game at http://iwataasks.nintendo.com.


• Resident Evil Revelations: Capcom's horror-survival game is launching in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on May 21. The game originally released for Nintendo 3DS, and the Wii U version offers players updated HD graphics, GamePad controls and new game content. Players can use the GamePad to view the map and change items using the touch screen without pausing their progress. Or they can play the full game on the GamePad in off-TV mode, or play with the Wii U Pro Controller. The game is Miiverse-compatible, and a demo version is currently available in the Nintendo eShop.

Nintendo 3DS News

• SEGA Game Gear: Games from the classic hand-held system are headed to the Virtual Console service. These include:
• Columns
• Crystal Warriors
• Defenders of Oasis
• Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
• G-LOC: Air Battles
• Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya
• Sonic Blast
• Sonic Drift 2
• Sonic Labyrinth
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Tails Adventure
• Vampire: Master of Darkness

• Inside the Treehouse with Animal Crossing: New Leaf: Because of the vast amount of content in the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Leaf game, Nintendo's Treehouse localization team is hosting an ongoing video series to talk about the franchise and many of the fun features of the new game. The videos will be available on Nintendo's YouTube channel and in the Nintendo eShop on a regular basis leading up to the game's June 9 launch. Additionally, a new Animal Crossing panel for Puzzle Swap is now available for StreetPass Mii Plaza, and fans also might find a special Animal Crossing-themed message on Swapnote.

• Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D: This game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on May 24 and includes all the fun of the original Wii game, now optimized for portable play. It also includes eight new unlockable levels that are each based on one of the eight worlds from the original game. These levels will challenge players with new elements like platforms that force them to move at a faster pace, large drops of tar falling from the ceiling and giant rotating stone gears that can alter the level itself.

• A Legendary Sale: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons arrive on the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS on May 30. Because playing the games together unlocks so much additional content, Nintendo is offering them for just $4.99 each for the first three weeks after launch. After this promotion expires, the games will be available for $5.99 each.

• Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move: The game, which launched May 9 exclusively in the Nintendo eShop, challenges players to place tiles on the bottom screen to guide the Minis to their goal on the top screen. The game includes more than 180 stages, but also dramatically extends the fun of the game by letting players create their own stages and share them with others. Players can opt to try a random user-created level or one created by their friends. They can also select from the most popular levels overall or search the top levels of the week.

Another Nintendo Direct focused on future Wii U content will air around the time of E3 2013.

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Thanks for putting this all in one place! To be honest from all the talk, I thought they only thing they talked about was "Three Sonic games are coming" and that one was Sonic and Mario Olympics. Great to hear we got a W101 date and that Pikmin 3 has Off Screen play! Just went from a must-buy to a... well still a must-buy and now I'm even more excited. :)

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 05/18/13, 15:45

wow....exclusive sonic games. Maybe Sega is finally learning that he usually sells the best on Nintendo systems? I guess I don't understand why they can't let current Wii U owners and 3DS owners play these e3 demos on their system....and let Best Buy have the demos still for people who don't have a Wii U yet, which I'd think is the biggest reason why they're doing this

Posted by

Wellsy529

on: 05/18/13, 17:57

I think this exclusivity is being blown out of proportion a bit. It's three games, one of which is an obvious sequel that features Mario... Sega already made three exclusive Sonic games for the original Wii. It just makes good sense considering the fact that the games sell better on Nintendo systems and that there is such a gap in power between Nintendo consoles and the competition. Nobody is saying that there won't be a Sonic game on the next Sony and MS consoles. I'm sure that there will be.

I am interested to find out more details on Lost World and the unannounced title. Sonic quality is on the rise and possible Nintendo input could help.

Posted by

Hinph

on: 05/18/13, 18:44

carlosrox said:

WHOA! That's a megaton!! E3 games/demos at Best Buy???

You should've been in chat when everyone was bitching about how lame that was. I thought it was cool.

EDIT- Read: Its fine to wait in line at E3 for hours, apparently, but NOT ok to wait in line for 0 minutes at Best Buy. I understand people wanting to download / play at home, but a second before this announcement there was NO ACCESS WHATSOEVER to these games. Haha, c'mon people!

@Mop it up

Anon_Mastermind remarked (in another thread) that it was cool.

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 05/18/13, 18:57

Edited:

05/18/13, 18:59

Its a megaton because no one has ever done it before.... and I'm hoping Nintendo changes that!! You want to get people even more hyped for games thats a great way to do it. Or a good way to get input on whats wrong with it

Posted by

Wellsy529

on: 05/18/13, 19:02

The E3 games at Best Buy thing is really exciting, which makes it all the more disappointing that my Best Buy doesn't even have a Wii U set up yet...

Posted by

V_s

on: 05/18/13, 19:03

yea I don't like the "select best buys" since that probably means malls and major cities. Too bad they can't make it mandatory all best buys

Posted by

Wellsy529

on: 05/18/13, 19:07

It would be fun if E3 became a nationwide event of sorts! Then those of us on the other coast could enjoy the new game demos. :)

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 05/18/13, 19:47

Yeah, I don't understand why it has to be limited to only 100 Best Buy locations. It can't be that much of a hassle to send a software disc to more locations. But it's still a very good thing... let the public experience the E3 software without having to attend the show. Why has it taken so long for this to be a thing?

Posted by

Hinph

on: 05/18/13, 21:53

@Mr_Mustache
Who the hell was complaining about this? It's actually a really forward move for Nintendo. I don't think anyone's really done anything like this, at least in the console space.

And if they don't let us play Mario/Mario Kart (which is a very real possibility) then what's the point? It's got to be their big games that are playable, not Spongebob's Crazy Hamburger Adventure.


Oh and one thing I must mention cuz I'm surprised no one here has said shit about it yet:

Mario in HD!! Look at him! Looks gorgeous!! And that's just some offshoot sports game! Imagine the real 3D Mario! Seeing Mario look so good is a fucking treat. He looks nice and round with little details being much more obvious. Also, the lighting on him looks pretty nice. This has got me so hyped for Mario's true game.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 05/19/13, 00:16

Edited:

05/19/13, 00:19

I doubt that any Best Buys around here will be selected, but if they are, I'll probably go check it out. I still have yet to touch a Wii U.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 05/19/13, 00:19

@carlosrox

Canadians, Australians, etc. I thought it was a GREAT idea even if I won't be able to / choose not to play myself. And yes, I don't remember anyone else doing anything like this either. People are pooping on Nintendo for their new E3 stance, and people are all bonkers about it, as if Nintendo doesn't know what they're doing. They say "hey, we'll have the demos for you all over the place, and you don't even need to be at E3 to do it." BRILLIANT. I think its genius.

@Mop it up

How many Best Buys do you think are going to feature stuff? 5? I'd figure it would be a hefty amount, actually.

250 stores?

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 05/19/13, 01:13

Mop it up said:

I still have yet to touch a Wii U.

I just thought of a hilarious joke considering that the name of the console is Wii U and you mentioned touching one! Ho ho, I imagine I must be the first to come up with such a naughty pun!

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 05/19/13, 01:19

Mr_Mustache said:

carlosrox said:

WHOA! That's a megaton!! E3 games/demos at Best Buy???

You should've been in chat when everyone was bitching about how lame that was..

That was me probably. And I have very good reasons for bitching.

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 05/19/13, 02:24

@Shadowlink

I think Gui was underwhelmed as well.

--If Nintendo didn't say ANYTHING there, you STILL wouldn't be able to play, and you wouldn't even THINK about complaining. Are you going to be at E3? No, you're not. Then you can't play games.

Where is the loss?

Posted by

Mr_Mustache

on: 05/19/13, 03:08

@Mr_Mustache

I'm not bitching at a loss

Let's look at this another way. If NoE didn't say ANYTHING about releasing Xenoblade in Europe, you STILL wouldn't have got to play. So where was the loss? Why all the Rainfall stuff?

Posted by

Shadowlink

on: 05/19/13, 03:14

Edited:

05/19/13, 03:16

@Mr_Mustache

I don't recall that. I don't see why I would complain: I'm going to E3.

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 05/19/13, 03:41

@Mr_Mustache I guess it doesn't mention it here, but 100 stores will have the demos. That isn't very many for the entire country.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 05/19/13, 05:07

Yeah, it'd be great if it came to more than 100 stores. But, still, I'm really liking Nintendo's full frontal assault on E3. This is a way more populist approach and I love it. Get the games into the hands of the people! Corporate Video-Game Sites Still Suck!

Seriously, great move, Nintendo.

Posted by

kriswright

on: 05/19/13, 05:32

@carlosrox

Hah. I thought about it in my head. It is technically the first time we've seen Mario in HD, huh? I expect him to look even better in Super Mario U, of course.

Posted by

Hinph

on: 05/19/13, 05:35