New Mario, Smash Bros & Mario Kart Titles Tipped

Nintendo has announced a global Nintendo Direct broadcast for 11th June at 15:00 GMT, which will replace their usual E3 press conference. They'll use this international platform to "provide updates about future Wii U games," and almost certainly unveil three heavy-hitting first party franchises. "We will discuss new Smash Bros., 3D Mario game, Mario Kart and other Wii U titles in our #NintendoDirectNA before the start of E3," reads a recent tweet from Nintendo Of America, which got us rather excited on Monday. No pressure, but this needs to deliver.

We'll look to host the presentation on-site, but you'll also be able to watch it on the Nintendo Direct website.

"But Not Anywhere Near As Many" As PlayStation & Xbox

Despite recently stating that they have "no games in development for the Wii U," EA has suggested that they are still "building titles" for Nintendo platforms. Just, erm, not very many.

In a delightful change of pace, Nintendo actually seems to be doing some Wii U marketing. Aping the rise of crowd funding initiatives, a new website for Game & Wario encourages you to 'donate' by liking it on Facebook or tweeting about the game, which may result in an extra trailer or two (if the campaign reaches an unlikely "25 bajillion" coins).

It's called Crowdfarter. Obviously.

Game & Wario has been dated for June 28th. We've stashed the latest trailer after the break.

Just to reinforce the point, when EA said they had no games in the pipeline for the Wii U, they meant it.

Despite FIFA 13 being a launch release for Nintendo's rather lonely console, EA have confirmed that there'll be no FIFA 14 for Nintendo fans.

Despite somewhat screwing the proverbial pooch by delaying the now-multiplatform Rayman Legends, Ubisoft has shown a renewed commitment to the Wii U, and is confident that Nintendo will turn things around for the slow-selling console.

According to a new tweet from Nintendo, they plan to properly reveal three of their biggest first-party Wii U titles in a Nintendo Direct presentation before E3. "We will discuss new Smash Bros., 3D Mario game, Mario Kart and other Wii U titles in our #NintendoDirectNA before the start of E3," reads the missive, which is music to our ears since the console doesn't really have any confirmed system sellers on the horizon as yet (sorry Pikmin 3).

We'll naturally keep you posted with the date, links and on-site embed code for the presentation. There's less than a month to go until E3, so expect firm details soon. Also this.

It's just Jon and myself this week as Carl was off investigating WildStar (stay tuned for some big articles on that very soon). We eviscerate Nintendo's depressingly meagre Wii U Direct this week and discuss the implications of Ninty's new deal with SEGA; we take a look at EA's abdication of Nintendo's ailing console; we dance on the grave of the Online Pass and delight in the news of GT6 and Putty Squad's return, 20 years after it was never released for the Amiga; and we take a look at the recent formation of DICE LA, and what it might mean for EA and Star Wars.

Game Buzz | Episode 32 - So Long, Online Pass! Recorded 17th May, 2013.

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be some instances of strong language.

Click the banner or the title link above to play the podcast, or right click and select 'Save Link As' to download the file onto your hard drive.

Want more? Check out the rest of our PWNCAST posts onsite, hit us up on iTunes, or subscribe to the PWNCAST Feed here.

Platform: 3DS

Developer: Spike Chunsoft

Publisher: Nintendo

Pokemon and Rogue make for strange bedfellows, but I've always had a soft spot for the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. There's something inexplicably compelling about becoming a Pokemon in a world where humans are just bedtime stories, and interacting with an adorable society run by the critters themselves. Chunsoft's spin-off (technically crossover, but we can argue semantics in the comments) marries the persistent levelling of the core Pokemon games with the dangerous randomly-generated dungeons of Rogue and its descendants, offering a mash-up of two disparate genres that typically overcomes cumbersome mechanics with playful personality and charm.

Gates To Infinity is the first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon title on 3DS, and as such, comes with some interesting new tweaks to the formula. Gorgeous 3D visuals, intriguing AR functionality and an exciting city-building element gave younger fans plenty to be excited about - and us older lapsed Pokemaniacs something else to look forward to.

Sadly, a confused attempt to simplify the dungeon crawling makes this the weakest series entry to date.

Nintendo has finally put a firm release date on Pikmin 3, one of the Wii U's most anticipated (and annoyingly delayed) first-party heavy hitters. The approachable strategy game has been slated for July 26th, while a few new details about storyline and features were also outed by today's Nintendo Direct presentation.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced during today's Nintendo Direct presentation that Nintendo and SEGA have entered into a worldwide partnership for Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

I wouldn't worry if you missed today's Nintendo Direct presentation, you really didn't miss much. However, on the off chance that you'd like to watch the 20 min vid (there's lots for Pikmin fans to be excited for), we've embedded it after the jump.

The Wonderful 101 Platinum's bonkers action-arcade-platforming extravaganza has finally got a release date: August 23rd!

Stick it in your diaries.

If you don't know what The Wonderful 101 is, well Nintendo don't really care, as they completely failed to explain or market or draw any kind of attention to it whatsoever.

Thankfully we have you covered. Read this immediately.

The US will have to wit until September 15th.

Game & Wario and Resident Evil: Revelations were each handed new trailers  in today's Nintendo Direct presentation.

Check them out after the jump.

EA's lack of confidence in the Wii U has been blatantly obvious over the last few months, and has lead them to completely abandon the platform for the time being.

Nintendo have announced that there'll be a special Wii U Direct presentation coming tomorrow that will take a look at the line-up of games coming for Wii U this spring and summer.

You'll be able to watch the presentation right here on Dealspwn from 3pm tomorrow.

Game & Wario Pre-Order | ShopTo | £29.86 (Save £15) | Wii U price comparison

Thanks to MrZjman @ HUKD!

Q-Games' studio president Dylan Cuthbert has cast his eye forward in a new interview to the next console generation, and the Pixeljunk developer is hoping that "core gaming" will make a resurgence -- that is to say innovative games that can sell "for more than a dollar".

Do you love Super Metroid? Of course | Yes | HAHAHAHAHA, what a dumb question!

Do you have a Wii U and teh internetz? Yes | No | What's a Wii U?

If you answered in the affirmative to both of those questions, then prep your loincloths for supreme ecstasy as SNES classic Super Metroid will be available from the Wii U eShop this Thursday for just 30p, according to Nintendo.

Assassin’s Creed III | GAME / Amazon | £15.99 (Save £2) | Wii U price comparison
Assassin’s Creed III (Wii U Version) Review

Thanks to DestinyCalls815 @ HUKD!

Low Install Base Hurting The Console

The studio behind Just Cause were sent some Wii U dev kits, but haven't used them because they feel the audience is currently too small to make the extra work worthwhile.