New 3DS Console: Nintendo Direct 29/08/14

August 29, 2014

Nintendo aired their latest Nintendo Direct presentation tonight. It focused on the 3DS, and was for game news specific to Japan. It ran for 32 minutes and revealed a number of fresh game details and even a whole new console! Yes, you read that correctly. Read on to find out what was announced.

The direct opened with a trailer showing off Shulk, the main character of Xenoblade Chronicles (my favourite game of all time), now confirmed to be in the next Smash game. His final smash will have him summon party members to his aid in a chain attack, and the Bionis’ Leg (or maybe a stage which travels between different areas?) looks to be his playable stage. It was interesting seeing him flick through his Monado arts; is each an inidividual attack, or do they constitute different modes that affect his powers when they’re activated? We’ll find out when the game releases here in October.

Next we saw a trailer for Bravely Second, the sequel to Square Enix’s 3DS RPG Bravely Default. It was a gorgeous trailer which showed off both gameplay and cinematics. It ended with a confirmation of a Japanese winter release (which is our summer).

Final Fantasy Explorers was the next game to be shown. It’s a real-time RPG being developed by Square Enix as a spin-off to the main series. We saw some gameplay, and special summons which will be familiar to veterans of the series. There will be a “Trance” system in the game, which will allow the players to execute powerful abilities in combat. A release date of December 18th was confirmed for Japan.

The latest One Piece title got a gameplay trailer and had some of its mechanics explained. It will be out November 13th in Japan.

The remake of the DS game Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard, got a trailer showing off its new story mode and a release date of November 27th for the 3DS. They also announced it would be getting a CD to go with its release.

The 3DS console itself will will be getting some backgrounds to personalise your experience. Shown off in the trailer was a Mario theme that saw the red plumber himself jumping around the icons on the home screen, while a Zelda one set a nice background inspired by A Link Between Worlds. The update for this will ne releasing in October in Japan.

A new 3DS console was announced, and I mean totally new. These consoles will replace the older ones, so we’re effectively seeing the next generation.

The regular sized consoles will come in white and metallic black, and the XLs will be available in metallic blue and metallic black. They will feature colourful ABXY buttons, reminiscent of the SNES controller. Nintendo also announced that these new consoles will have a C stick on the right-hand side and will include ZX and ZL buttons, making the circle bad pro attachement obselete. The stick is handily located right next to the ABXY buttons for easy access. Monster Hunter 4G, Dragon Quest X, Final Fantasy Explorers and Super Smash Brothers were specifically named as games that will make use of the attachement. These consoles will use micro SD cards to make it easier to transfer your media to other places. They’re powering up the console, making downloads faster, and improving the console’s web browser to make it easier to surf the internet. These consoles, as well as a special edition one for Monster Hunter 4G, will be released on October 11th in Japan. A note was made that these consoles aren’t likely to see a Western release this year.

Xenoblade Chronicles was announced to be receiving a 3DS release on the newly announced consoles. From my understanding, this means it will not be playable on current 3DS consoles. No release date was given, but for those of you who have been finding it difficult to get ahold of a copy, here’s your chance, assuming it gets a Western release. It’s a perfect excuse to play through the game again.

The new 3DS’ will be receiving a number of official skins from Nintendo, so you can give yours its very own appearance. They will also be making use of amiibos; real-life figurines that interact with the 3DS and its games.

Watch the full presentation here:

Thanks for translating, Siliconera and Gematsu.