Nintendo Direct Highlights: 11/13/13 Edition

Another edition of Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and as promised, we left with a ton of new details on numerous 3DS titles. From Zelda, to Layton and Mario’s latest party, handheld owners will have their hands full within the coming months. With that said, the Wii U got a few bones thrown at it as well! Without further ado, here are the highlights from this morning’s conference Be warned: some of the content below contains spoilers.

– The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds has a new trailer! If you weren’t hyped enough, new details about new characters like Irene the witch, (who is essentially used for fast travel,) and Seres, (essentially the game’s Zelda replacement,) were shown, as well as Zora Flippers, which allow Link to swim.

– Zelda Street Pass functionality was revealed and it sounds really awesome! Players will create their own Shadow Link, complete with an item loadout and a set amount of hearts. The stronger the Link, the higher the bounty, which will be awarded to others who can find the shadow on the map and take him down.

– Mario Party Island Tour is also coming on November 22nd and allows download play for all seven of the game’s boards! Street Pass was also detailed, letting players compete in mini games against up to 10 ghost Mii’s. If you’re more of a loner, a single player “Bowser’s Tower” will have us competing in 30 floors worth of games, each one getting progressively harder until the boss fights that take place once every five floors.

– Bravely Default features a wide variety of customization for the in game party, including abilities, jobs, spells and appearances. Some new mechanics include the Default System, a defensive stance that builds Brave Points that can be used to unleash powerful attacks when switched to the Brave System,  Sleep Points, which can be built up using a time stopping ability or while the system is in sleep mode, than can be exchanged for more powerful moves, and Street Pass, which brings other characters into battles to aid you, (if they’re not chosen to help rebuild your town.)

– Bravely Default is releasing on February 7th, complete with a collectors edition. This contains the game, a set of AR cards, a soundtrack and an art book. Pricing has yet to be announced.

– Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy will close out the second, (and presumably last,) Layton trilogy when it arrives on the 3DS on February 28th. It’ll be fun to see Layton, Luke an Emmy’s final adventure through, but I can’t say I’m ready to say goodbye to the professor. At least we have the Phoenix Wright crossover to look forward to!

– Nintendo Zone locations will be distributing the (formerly,) exclusive Best Buy Animal Crossing: New Leaf items throughout November, as well as a special item block for Super Mario 3D Land. Contents are unknown, but it might be worth checking out the next time you’re at a Starbucks.

– Possibly the biggest news of the day, a December system update will allow Wii U and 3DS currency to be combined. So if you have $5 burning a hole in your Wii U wallet, transfer it over to the 3DS! Because if this presentation has taught me anything, it’s that the 3DS has way more content to use it on.

– Miiverse support will also be added along with this update, so now you’ll be able to take your awkward screenshots and witty commentary with you, assuming you can access the Internet of course.

– Other updates include YouTube on the handheld and an upgraded YouTube app for Wii U, both of which will be available later this month.

– Finally, we shift to the Wii U. In addition to the two packs already released, Pikmin 3 will receive a third wave of downloadable content. Unlike the previous downloads, which were made up of remixed stages from the on disc story and mission content, this wave contains all new stages not found anywhere else in the game. Taking Olimar to stages like construction sites, the inside of homes, beaches and factories, the first Pikmin protagonist will be tasked with finding Louie on the map, who will then be playable, allowing them to take on multiple tasks at once.

– The DLC will be released on December 2nd and consist of eight total stages. These four treasure stages and four battle stages didn’t have a price tag attached to them, but one of each type will be free to all players who download the update for the content, both of which take place in the “Fortress of Festivity.”

– The Animal Crossing Plaza is getting a slew of updates! 50 Miiverse stamps are being added, so those who can’t draw to save their life, (like me,) can post decent pictures of the cast. Polls are also being introduced, letting the community vote on such important issues as, “who is the best secretary?” or, “who is the neighbor of the year?” Considering the game has only one secretary, I’m expecting a landslide. The update will go live later this evening.

– Future updates will include resident registration, so you can keep track of who is in your in game town, a function allowing Miiverse posts to be saved in the photo album and the ability to move and delete multiple photos at once. When they will be available is unknown, but I’d guess 2014 since that’s when the app is scheduled to go down.

– An indie game sizzle reel showed off a ton of content, including 1001 Spikes, Jett Rocket 2, the new Shantae and Retro City Rampage for the 3DS. You can check out the video showing off all of the indie game goodness below.

– And finally, we have 10 new things in Super Mario 3D World. From bonus modes to kart themed stages and 3D puzzles, it seems like the game will feature a ton of content we were never expecting, including one big reveal that I won’t post here. Watch the trailer below if you’re feeling adventurous, but trust me when I say it’s a great reason to get excited.

And… that’s about it? What news was the most exciting part for you all? I know I’m hyped about 3D World more than ever, but even games like Mario Party and Zelda, which I was planning on waiting on, sound hard to resist. But I’ve talked enough. Sound off and let us know what Nintendo content you’re most excited about leading into 2014!