Nintendo Direct - September 1 2016

Hey guys, [member='Aura'] here with your latest news coverage.

Nintendo, after a very long hiatus, has finally released a new Nintendo Direct. September 1st's Nintendo Direct was mainly focused on Nintendo 3DS titles, both previously announced and newly revealed, but there was some Wii U news sprinkled in as well. So, allow me to quickly summarise what happened in all versions of the stream (US, EU and JP had different streams). Note that these won't be in the order shown in the stream.

Nintendo 3DS

• A new Pikmin game is confirmed for the 3DS. It's a side-scroller that involves the touch screen to utilise the Pikmin. It currently has no title and is set to release some time on 2017.
• A port of Super Mario Maker is coming to the 3DS, titled "Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS". It works exactly like it's Wii U counterpart, except it has a big focus on local wireless and StreetPass. Some features have been removed from this version, most notably the Mystery Mushroom and it's many costumes, as well as amiibo compatibility. It is set to release on December 2nd.
• A 3DS port of Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U) titled "Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World" is coming to the 3DS. It has all the same levels as the Wii U version, but has some added features and new levels featuring the titular Poochy. A Yarn Poochy amiibo, similar to the Yarn Yoshi amiibo of the past, will be released along side it, both separately and in a bundle, starting from February 3rd 2017.
• Probably the most important news for us as a Pokémon-based forum, new information has been revealed for Pokémon Sun and Moon. Ratatta is confirmed to have an Alolan form, taking on a Normal / Dark typing, and Z-Crystals have been revealed to not only to connect with types, but certain Pokémon. There will be more details on this in a separate thread. As a side note, the Official Japanese Pokémon Twitter account sent out a tweet mere minutes after the Direct's stream ended stating that more news was to arrive on the 6th of September.
• Mario Sports Superstars, a new Nintendo 3DS title, features Mario and co. participating in a collection of five sports; baseball, tennis, golf, horse-racing and 11-on-11 soccer. It is set to release sometime in Spring of 2017, so approximately 6 months from now.
• Picross 3D Round 2 is a game that was announced during the direct. In the US, it is already available for purchase and is a Nintendo eShop exclusive. Europe will be receiving the game both digitally and physically on December 2nd. The games also has confirmed amiibo compatibility.
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a popular Nintendo 3DS title released in 2013 and the currently most-recent of the main-series Animal Crossing games, is going to receive an update sometime this season. The game will work with all Animal Crossing-based amiibo, including the amiibo cards, as well as a select few others. There will also be a new series of Animal Crossing amiibo cards released that will work with this game, and a new edition of the game; "Animal Crossing: New Leaf: Welcome to amiibo" will be released that has the update pre-installed onto the cart. More information regarding this is to come in an Animal Crossing mini-Direct, which is set to broadcast in Japan on November 2nd, and in other regions at a currently unspecified time.
• StreetPass has also recieved an update, which went live shortly after the Direct ended, allowing players to now rifle through their StreetPasses using the new Quick PlazaEU / SwiftPlay PlazaUS modes. Premium members can now also receive up to 100 individual Mii characters at once, instead of the regular 10. There are also a handful of new games being released; StreetPass Slot RacerEU / Slot Car RivalsUS, StreetPass TraderEU / Market CrashersUS, StreetPass ChefEU / Feed MiiUS, StreetPass ExplorersEU / Mii TrekUS, and StreetPass NinjaEU / Ninja LauncherUS. The first two titles on this list can be downloaded for free, but you can only choose one, and the rest can be purchased separately or as a bundle.
• The previously announced Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Souls & Fleshy Spirits have had a confirmed demo release before their full release on September 30th in the US. There has been no demo confirmed for Europe, and the game is set to release there in August 2017.
• Mario Party: Star Rush, a game first announced at this year's E3 event, has had a few more details announced about it's game modes. The main point of the announcement was for the announcement of "Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest", a free download that will launch alongside the game. This software allows for up to four people to play the game using local wireless, but only have 1 copy of the game.
• TANK TROOPERS is a newly announced game for the Nintendo 3DS. This game will allow players to customise their very own tank via special characteristics of tank-pilot troopers. The characters in your tank will enable special abilities such as being able to hit enemies with a freeze attack, launch paint balls to block opponents' views or use electric shocks to halt the progress of an enemy tank. It is set to release in Winter 2016US / sometime in 2017EU
• A demo for Rhythm Paradise Megamix has been made live on the Nintendo eShop for Europe, with the game being released October 21st. The US has already received this title as Rhythm Heaven Megamix.
• 3DS titles Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and 7th Dragon III Code: VFD were both confirmed as part of the news, but no release date was given.

Nintendo Wii U

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and New Play Control! Pikmin are two Wii titles that have been released on the Nintendo eShop as of today. New Play Control! Pikmin is currently exclusive to Europe.

Nintendo 3DS & Wii U

• Hyrule Warriors (Wii U) and Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS) have finally received their 3rd DLC pack; the "Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks" DLC pack. This pack contains a new weapon for Toon Link, the Sand Wand, as well as a new playable character, Toon Zelda, who inhabits a Phantom as she did in The Legend of Zelda, Spirit Tracks. This pack also includes some other features, such as more levels to play in certain modes.
• A wave of new Legend of Zelda series amiibo was announced. To celebrate Zelda's 30th Anniversary, which so ahppens to fall on 2016, four new amiibo are being released as of December 2nd, 2016. There will be an 8-Bit Link, similar to the 8-Bit Mario bundled with Super Mario Maker, Link from Ocarina of Time, and Toon Link and Toon Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, which will be sold as a 2-pack. These amiibo have also been confirmed to have compatibility with the new Zelda title; The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Well, that it's for this lengthy news bomb! Feel free to discuss any of the information above in the comments below, and keep a look out for the article regarding the new Pokémon news from this direct, as well as the news arriving to us for the rest of this month, starting with the September 6th announcement.

As always, this is [member='Aura'], signing out until next time!