Tomorrow, Nintendo will be having a 3DS Nintendo Direct event scheduled for 7am PT/10am ET in North America and 3pm GMT in the UK. This has gotten me very excited as I absolutely love my 3DS, and am impressed with the line-up and recent releases that the handheld has seen. So, I decided to try my hand at speculating on what Nintendo may be showing. I will also provide the reasons that have brought me to the conclusions that I make. So without further ado, in my best Mario impression, I say to you, Here we go!
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3DS has been scheduled to release May 24th. It will be a direct port of the Wii version. I think that Nintendo will take this chance to further promote the game, and maybe provide insight on how some features have been changed to utilize the unique functions of the 3DS.
- The one topic that has been hot among everyone is the impending Super Smash Bros. However, I don’t see Nintendo offering any real information on the game. My reason being, this is a huge franchise, and I think it’s better suited for a stage such as E3. I also believe that Super Smash Bros., and any information on it, has the potential to help steal the show from Sony and Microsoft.
- 2013 has been officially dubbed “The Year of Luigi” which kicked off with Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. We have also learned that Nintendo are working on New Luigi U and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. My prediction is that we may get a release date for both titles, as well as pricing for New Luigi U. I also think, that perhaps alongside a release date, we will get new information on Mario and Luigi: Dream Team. I do understand that the latter is a Wii U title but given that both play into the same marketing concept, I believe it will get a mention.
- There have been some rumors of a Kirby title being developed for the 3DS and I am prone to believe that the rumors have some truth. Reason being, Kirby has seen releases in all of Nintendo’s consoles with the Wii U and 3DS being the exceptions. I believe that we might be introduced to a Kirby title with this 3DS Nintendo Direct.
- Sadly, I do not expect there to be any new information on Pokemon X and Y. My reason for this is that beneath official photos of “NewMew” is a date, suggesting new information on April 18th. I don’t see Nintendo stealing the Pokemon Company’s thunder by revealing details. Although this could be a platform to raise massive hype on both Pokemon X and Y by having two days packed with juicy information. But I do strongly stand by my speculation that we will not hear anything about Pokemon until April 18th.
- Along with Super Smash Bros., a lot of people have been excited for the new Zelda game that is under development. Sadly, I do not think that Nintendo will be announcing anything about that title. My reason being the same as for Super Smash Bros. It is a huge franchise for Nintendo and has the popularity to easily steal the show at E3. However, I do expect some Zelda news in the forms of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Ages being made available in the eShop. That said, I think we can expect a release date.
- With the localization of the Pikachu 3DS XL, I think that perhaps we might see the Charizard exclusive 3DS XL coming to North America and Europe. Among my circle of friends, the Pikachu 3DS has been hugely popular, and everyone rushed out to purchase it. And as I mentioned before, with the impressive line-up that the 3DS boasts, I see the Charizard 3DS XL selling very well. Plus, let’s be honest; Charizard is much cooler in my eyes, and it isn’t as “bright” as the Pikachu 3DS.
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been a game that has been on everyone’s mind and recently we finally received a release date of June 9th, 2013. Not much is known about the title, but with an Animal Crossing 3DS bundle being spotted on a UK retailer’s listing, I suspect that we will get confirmation of this and perhaps further information on the title.
- My last prediction is that Nintendo will come out and announce that Namco Bandai have agreed to port more Tales games to the 3DS. Namco themselves announced that the Tales will be getting more support here in North America. Another reason is that Nintendo and Namco seem to have a great relationship, with the latter being involved in several projects (Project X Zone , Smash Brothers, Tales of the Abyss, etc). It does seem that Namco have been more then happy to support the 3DS, and with several DS Tales titles that have only been released in Japan, the port options are there.
Do you agree with my speculations for the 3DS Nintendo Direct conference? Maybe you think they will be revealing something that I didn’t even mention. If so, I’d love to hear your theories so drop a comment below or on our Facebook.