[February 14, 2013] |
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Mario's Brother Gets Top Billing: Nintendo Introduces the 'Year of Luigi'
REDMOND, Wash. --(Business Wire)--
After decades of playing second fiddle to the No. 1 video game hero,
Luigi is getting some love from Nintendo. Nintendo has named 2013 the
"Year of Luigi," thanks to the numerous appearances that Mario's timid,
green-clad twin brother will be making in games this year. In a Nintendo
Direct video, Nintendo provided details about games on the way that
feature Luigi, as well as information about more than two dozen upcoming
games, including content for Wii
U and Nintendo
3DS across packaged and digital formats.
"Luigi is just the green tip of the iceberg of all the great news we
have to share with Nintendo fans this year and beyond," said Reggie
Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president and COO. "We're showing how
Nintendo 3DS and Wii U continue to be a source of fun, entertainment and
great surprises."
To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct.
Today's announcements included:
The Year of Luigi
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Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon: The game that kicks
off the Year of Luigi launches March 24 and will include additional
multiplayer modes beyond the previously revealed Hunter Mode. Up to
four players with their own Nintendo 3DS systems can team up via local
wireless, pair up in Download Play or connect over the Internet to
escape each floor within the time limit in Rush Mode and search for
the hidden ghost dogs in Polterpup Mode (up to four game cards may be
required).
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Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: A new installment
in the Mario & Luigi role-playing series is coming to
Nintendo 3DS this summer. The game takes place inside the mind of a
sleeping Luigi, who is a powerful, brave hero in his dreams.
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New Super Luigi U: To continue the fun of New
Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U, Nintendo is letting Luigi take over
in new downloadable content that is coming in the Year of Luigi that
provides alternate versions of the game's more than 80 stages. Players
can freely change between the New Super Luigi U and New
Super Mario Bros. U stages. These Luigi-focused stages provide a
whole new level of game-play challenge and will be available for
purchase as a single download.
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Fore!: Luigi and his Mushroom Kingdom neighbors are teeing up
once again in Mario Golf: World Tour. The Nintendo 3DS game
includes both simple controls and a deeper experience for golf fans,
plus courses that range from traditional to those inspired by the
Mushroom Kingdom. The game launches this summer.
Nintendo 3DS
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Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D: The smash-hit Wii
game is getting a portable 3D makeover that makes the already-amazing
layered graphics pop. The game launches this summer, but an exclusive
3D video is available now in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS.
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Turning Over a New Leaf: Animal Crossing: New Leaf
launches in North America on June 9. It is the definitive version of Animal
Crossing, with new features and general improvements across the
entire game, including new species of animal neighbors, new ways to
customize your house and town, and a new main street shopping area and
model home showcase.
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Animal Style: Style Savvy: Trendsetters is getting the
Gracie Grace line of clothes, inspired by the fashion-forward giraffe
from the Animal Crossing series. Owners of Style Savvy:
Trendsetters can download the trendy free clothes via SpotPass.
Additional fashions are planned to arrive via SpotPass, including
in-game fashions based on the popular Japanese brand Liz Lisa.
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The Chase Begins: LEGO® City Undercover:
The Chase Begins launches April 21. The game is set two years
prior to the action of the Wii U game, and follows the first case of
rookie cop Chase McCain in a still-growing and -developing LEGO City.
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Downloadable Games: Nintendo announced a number of new games
coming to the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS, including Mario and
Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (coming soon), Dillon's Rollig
Western: The Last Ranger (coming April 11), HarmoKnight
from Game Freak (demo available March 14, full game on March 28) and Kersploosh!
(coming March 7).
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Spreading Like Fire Emblem: Two new downloadable maps
are now available for purchase at the Outrealm Gate on the world map
in Fire Emblem Awakening. For $2.50, the Champions of Yore 3
map lets players battle against legendary characters such as Marth,
Roy and Ike. Players who have already purchased the Champions of Yore
map pack can now access this new map to earn a new playable character
named Michaiah and a special skill that will increase all of a
character's stats by two points. The Golden Gaffe map is the first in
a second set of three maps, and is also now available for $2.50. It
pits players against a group of very wealthy enemies, and is a great
way to earn gold. Nintendo plans to release fresh downloadable content
in the weeks and months ahead to keep the adventure going with more
playable characters and class types. The Champions of Yore 1 map is
available as a free download through March 6.
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Virtual Console: Two classic Game Boy Color games from Natsume, Harvest
Moon and Legend of the River King, are on their way to the
Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in the coming months.
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Buy and Register Nintendo 3DS XL, Get a Free Game: As a special
promotion for people who have not yet purchased a Nintendo 3DS XL
system, anyone who registers a Nintendo 3DS XL and either Luigi's
Mansion: Dark Moon or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
between March 21 and April 30 will receive a code to download one of
these five great games for free from the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo
3DS: Super Mario 3D Land, Professor Layton and the Miracle
Mask, Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone!, Star Fox 64 3D
or Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! For more
information, visit http://club2.nintendo.com/3ds-xl-promo.
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Nintendo eShop Sale: Nintendo 3DS owners can now buy and
download select games from the Nintendo eShop at a discounted price
for a limited time. These include BIT.TRIP SAGA from Aksys
Games; Crashmo, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword and Ketzal's
Corridors from Nintendo; Fractured Soul from Endgame
Studios; and Mutant Mudds from Renegade Kid. One game will be
available at the reduced price each week. Visit http://www.nintendo.com
to see the full schedule.
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Castlevania Demo: A demo of Konami's Castlevania:
Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate hits the Nintendo eShop for
Nintendo 3DS on Feb. 28. The full digital game download launches on
March 5.
Wii U
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Zelda Miiverse Community: Nintendo is launching a Miiverse
community dedicated to The Legend of Zelda series today,
letting fans discuss the past, present and future of this timeless
franchise.
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LEGO® City Comes to Life: LEGO City®
Undercover launches March 18. Nintendo revealed some new sections
of the game, including LEGO City Airport, Kings Court and Paradise
Sands.
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City Mapping: The Wii Street U powered by Google (News - Alert) application is
now available as a free download for a limited time from the Nintendo
eShop for Wii U. The application taps into the Google Maps service and
allows users to get a 360-degree view of locations around the world
using the Wii U GamePad.
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Razor's Update: A new, free update to Ninja Gaiden 3:
Razor's Edge later this month includes one new costume each for
Ryu Hayabusa, Ayane, Momiji and Kasumi, as well as 25 new Ninja Trials
missions.
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Third-Party Games:
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BIT.TRIP Presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
from Gaijin Games is coming to Wii U in February. It features
narration by Charles Martinet, and a demo is planned for the
Nintendo eShop soon.
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This month, Zen Pinball 2 from Zen Studios introduces a
number of pinball tables, including Marvel Pinball and Plants vs.
Zombies Pinball. The game will be available as a free download in
the Nintendo eShop for Wii U with additional tables available for
purchase.
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Soon Two Tribes will release Toki Tori 2, a
puzzle/platforming game that will support off-TV game play on the
Wii U GamePad. A level editor will be released at a later date.
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Need for Speed Most Wanted U from EA is arriving on Wii U
on March 19 as the first third-party title to incorporate Miiverse
functionality into the game play. Exclusive features include a new
Co-Driver mode for local co-op play, Off-TV mode to play on the
Wii U GamePad and the Ultimate Speed Pack included at no
additional charge. The Ultimate Speed Pack includes 25 additional
High Speed Races and Speed Runs, five of the world's fastest
production cars and more than 70 new speed-themed milestones, plus
stacks of additional rewards and unlocks.
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The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct from Activision (News - Alert) is
coming to Wii U on March 26 with a unique style of game play that
blends first-person action with resource management for a focus on
surviving the undead nightmare.
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Injustice: Gods Among Us from Warner Bros. Interactive
Entertainment launches on April 16. The game includes Off-TV play
and lets players battle as some of their favorite heroes and
villains, like Batman, The Flash, Superman, The Joker, Lex Luthor
and Wonder Woman.
Coming to Wii U and Nintendo 3DS
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Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate launches for both Wii U and
Nintendo 3DS on March 19. A Wii U player can connect with up to three
Nintendo 3DS players to create a hunting party. People can play the
game on Wii U and then transfer their data to the Nintendo 3DS to
continue the hunt. A demo will be available in the Nintendo eShop on
both platforms on Feb. 21.
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Disney (News - Alert) Infinity from Disney Interactive is coming to Wii U and
Wii this summer. For the first time, players will use real-world
interactive figures to activate original, story-driven adventures in
the game worlds, also known as "Play Sets." At any time, players can
also access their personal "Toy Box (News - Alert)" and use the items to create
one-of-a-kind Disney adventures featuring any combination of
characters, environments and items across all franchises featured in
the game. Disney Infinity will also be available on Nintendo
3DS.
Remember that Wii U and Nintendo 3DS feature parental controls that let
adults manage the content their children can access. For more
information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu
and http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of
interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan,
manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™
and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and
Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when
it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has
sold more than 4 billion video games and more than 651 million hardware
units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and
Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance,
Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™,
Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™
and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become
well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™,
Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly
owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash.,
serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western
Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the
company's website at http://www.nintendo.com.
Note to editors: Nintendo press materials are available at http://press.nintendo.com,
a password-protected site. To obtain a login, please contact Deanna
Avila at 213-438-8742 or [email protected].
Users can receive instant Nintendo information by subscribing to the
site's RSS feed.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130214005904/en/
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