It was all about the games again for Nintendo at their pre-Tokyo Game Show conference. Offering more specific release windows for games revealed at E3, as well as announcing new games in beloved franchises, the Big N set the stage for an even more software-laden year at for Tokyo’s big convention. Noticeably absent from the festivities were all of the rumored redesigns of Nintendo hardware (unless you count a new pink 3DS). For our conclusive summary for all of the Nintendo going’s on, please follow the jump.
Starting off with the expected Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword footage (both gameplay and not), Miyamoto dropped a bombshell when he revealed a single playthrough of Link’s last action-adventure to clock from “50 to 100 hours”. The highlight of the event, especially for a Japanese audience, was the announcement of Monster Hunter 4. Even bigger was the reveal that it will be coming to the 3DS, not the Wii U.
Other than that, the only talking points outside of trailers and vague releases was the lack of any indication that Shinrei Camera – an AR horror game from the Fatal Frame team – and the 25th anniversary Dragon Quest collection would come to the West. That and a September 28th release date for the free Legend of Zelda: Four Swords anniversary edition for DSi and 3DS.
Picture courtesy of Game Usagi
With that, the show got into a footage and/or release window rhythm with a ton of upcoming games, a full list of the specifics you can find below:
Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble – Winter (Japan)
Animal Crossing – 2012
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy [new, 4 Heroes of Light-esque “crafted RPG” from Square Enix] – 2012
Culchobit [sprite-based online soccer game] – Release TBA
Culdcept [AR strategy RPG card game] – Release TBA
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 3 – 11/02/2011 (Japan)
Dynasty Warriors VS – Release TBA
Fire Emblem [now features 2-on-1 battles] – Spring (Japan)
Girls Mode [fashion designer game] – 2012
Hatsune Miku Project Mirai [music rhythm game centering around chibi diva character, now with AR] – 03/2012 (Japan)
Kid Icarus – 01/2012 (Japan)
Kingdom Hearts 3D – Release TBA
Love Plus – 12/08/2011 (Japan-Only)
Luigi’s Mansion 2 – 2012
Mario Kart 7 [adds Lakitu as playable character, new “metal” power up and gyroscope control functionality] – 12/07/2011 (Japan)
Mario Tennis 3D [adds optional gyroscope controls] – 2012
Monster Hunter 3G [3D-ified, tweaked version of Monster Hunter Tri] – 12/10/2011 (Japan)
Monster Hunter 4 – Release TBA
Paper Mario – 2012
Poke Park 2 – Winter 2011 (Japan), Wii
Resident Evil: Revelations – Delayed until early 2012 (Japan)
SD Gundam 3D Generation – 12/22/2011 (Japan)
Shinrei Camera – Release TBA, Wii
Single Life [dating RPG from Level-5] – Release TBA
Super Mario 3D Land – 11/03/2011 (Japan)
Tekken 3D: Prime Edition -Winter (Japan)
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy – Winter (Japan)
Tomodachi Collection – Release TBA, Japan Only