Today's Nintendo Direct video unleashed a pantheon of upcoming titles along with long term plans for the Miiverse and the Virtual Console which might have, understandably, been lost amidst the chatter of the new game announcements.
First, in an effort to bring more access to the Miiverse, Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata, announced that the Miiverse will be accessible from other smart devices shortly. A Smartphone app will also be available shortly. The Miiverse will also be improved as Nintendo seeks to add filtering and more communities to each games. Using the Gamepad as a camera, Pikmin 3 will benefit from a new screenshot function to show off the wildlife in the Miiverse. Also regarding the noticeable lag in between launching software and returning to the home page, Mr. Iwata assured that two updates, one in spring and the other in summer, will rectify that.
The spring update will also make the Virtual Console available thru the Nintendo E-Shop on the Wii but for previous users this means that the VC library would have to be rebuilt. The old WII VC controller will be supported and the VC will feature all previous consoles including, for the first time, the Gameboy Advance, but at the initial update only NES and SNES titles will be available. Since the VC library must be rebuilt, all previous titles owned on the Wii have to be purchased again, but those who currently own VC titles can repurchase the same titles at a reduced price. The prices for those who will be rebuilding their VC library will be 1$ for NES games and 1.50$ for SNES games while the price for first time buyers will range from 3$ to 15$ depending on the console game purchased. Also VC games will feature off screen play on the gamepad and will also have their own dedicated Miiverse community.
There is also a trial program to encourage more people to buy Virtual Console games on the Wii U in honor of the Famicom's 30 year anniversary. Starting today with Balloon Fight, certain games can be bought for just 30 cents. That price will only last a month after its release and goes back to its regular price when the window is over. Till July, one game per month will be a part of this trial program. F-Zero next month, Punch-Out in March, Kirby's Adventure in April, Super Metroid in May, Yoshi in June, and Donkey Kong in July are the games that are planned to be released as part of this program.
All these features will be implemented shortly along with the promised TVii updates thus Nintendo will be one step closer to fulfilling the many ambitions sought by the Wii U. If you missed today's Nintendo Direct video, it is available to watch below.
