The next title in Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will be exclusive to Nintendo platforms, the companies announced this morning. The news of Sonic Lost World, a new action-platforming game, coming exclusively to the Wii U console and Nintendo 3DS handheld was unveiled during the Nintendo Direct proceedings earlier today. More information about Sonic Lost World will be announced before E3 2013 kicks off next month.
The Nintendo Direct also announced Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Wii U, and revealed that additional SEGA Game Gear games would be coming to the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS.
Outside of Sega news, Nintendo announced that select Wii U games featured at E3 2013 will soon be playable at participating Best Buy stores. Nintendo also announced the launch date for New Super Luigi U, as well as new Pikmin 3 game details.
Exclusively at participating Best Buy locations in the United States and Canada, consumers will be able to play some of the unreleased Wii U games featured at E3 while the event is occurring in Los Angeles. Details about locations and which games will be featured will be revealed in the coming weeks.
As for New Super Luigi U, the Year of Luigi-themed DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U offers 82 updated courses, as well as a new playable character in multiplayer mode: Nabbit. Nabbit, who steals items from Toad Houses, can’t power up, but also won’t take damage when he touches enemies. New Super Luigi U will be released as DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U on June 20 for $19.99. Nintendo will also offer a standalone, packaged version of New Super Luigi U that won’t require New Super Mario Bros. U, although it won’t appear until Aug. 25 for $29.99.
Nintendo’s Pikmin 3 info included the revelation of new playable characters Alph, Brittany and Charlie, who recruit the Pikmin creatures to help them gather fruit so that they can return with the seeds to save their home, Planet Koppai. Players can divide activities among the different characters, and explore separate areas in the same map with different groups of Pikmin. Using the GamePad (known as the KopPad in the game), players can view the overall map and grasp what each character and Pikmin are up to. Players also can choose their preferred control option: GamePad in conjunction with the TV, Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk combo or GamePad only in off-TV mode. Players can also use the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk with the GamePad as a second-screen monitor. Pikmin 3 launches Aug. 4.
We also learned more information about Game & Wario, which launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on June 23. The $39.99 game includes a number of games from WarioWare, Inc., that use the GamePad in different ways. Newly revealed games include: Island, which lets two to five people launch little creatures called Fronks onto islands in the sea to score points; Patchwork, a puzzle game that tests players’ pattern-recognition skills; and Kung-Fu, which challenges players to help Young Cricket navigate a course safely using the forward-looking view on the TV and the top-down view on the GamePad.
Showing that Nintendo’s partnership with Sega wasn’t just a one-trick pony on Wii U, the companies also shared more information about Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The upcoming game will include a variety of events from the Winter Games, including curling, skiing, figure skating pairs and snowboard slopestyle, which will make its Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia. Different events might use the Wii Remote Plus controller, Wii U GamePad controller or both. In addition to realistic events, the game also includes those set in the worlds of Sonic and Mario that let players perform moves not possible in real life. Launch details and timing will be announced at a later date.
The 3DS info revolved around a few old news items that were mere reminders, as well as two new announcements:
- Sega Game Gear games from the classic handheld system are headed to the 3DS Virtual Console service. These include: Columns, Crystal Warriors, Defenders of Oasis, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, G-LOC: Air Battles, Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya, Sonic Blast, Sonic Drift 2, Sonic Labyrinth, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tails Adventure, and Vampire: Master of Darkness.
- A Legendary Sale: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons arrive on the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS on May 30. Because playing the games together unlocks so much additional content, Nintendo is offering them for just $4.99 each for the first three weeks after launch. After this promotion expires, the games will be available for $5.99 each.
Another Nintendo Direct focused on future Wii U content will air around the time of E3.
