Nintendo’s 3DS to See Even More Gaming Love this Year

Nintendo’s handheld console continues do to fairly well in the world of sales and gaming experiences it provides.  The recently released New 3DS continues to be popular and the original 3DS still sell too.  It’s amazing that a machine that people thought would be a “questionable” success continues to move along with solid games.

Nintendo has laid out it’s plan for what games are coming out in the near and far future, as well as some improvements on existing ones.  Nintendo Canada was kind enough to send us a list of announcements for the 3DS that were made on the April 1st Nintendo Direct and we have the summary below for you:

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

  • This new game in the Animal Crossing series focuses on the decorating and home-designing aspects of the Animal Crossing games. Animals will ask players to design houses for them, and it’s up to designers-in-the-making to meet the animals’ requests by furnishing and decorating their homes. By tapping a new Animal Crossing series amiibo card to the New Nintendo 3DS XL system or NFC reader/writer accessory, players can design a room for that specific character on the card and scan additional character cards to invite those characters to visit. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer will launch this fall.

BOXBOY!

  • From the platforming masters at HAL Laboratory, Inc., creators of the Kirby series, comes BOXBOY! The black-and-white charmer tasks players with creating, casting and hooking blocks to navigate more than 150 challenging stages. BOXBOY! launches exclusively in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS tomorrow, April 2.

A New Fire Emblem Game

  • For the first time in the series, the main playable character is not only a customizable avatar, but also the main hero or heroine of the game. Players must choose to take one of two major paths, resulting in two different experiences: the “Hoshido” side for a more traditional experience, or the “Nohr” side, which makes the story more complex and the difficulty level more challenging. The new Fire Emblem game will launch for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems in 2016.

Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition

  • Players get two gigantic, unique puzzle/RPG adventures when Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition launches on May 22. The two-in-one game can be pre-ordered starting today at http://puzzleanddragons.nintendo.com. For players who can’t wait until May 22 to play, a free demo for Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. Edition will be available in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS on April 30.

Pokémon Rumble World

  • The latest action-packed adventure in the Pokémon Rumble series is free to download (with paid content) and features more than 700 Pokémon, all the way from the original Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games to the recent Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire games. Square off against tons of these Toy Pokémon when Pokémon Rumble World launches exclusively in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS on April 8.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

  • An upcoming software update to Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. will add a fast-forward feature to drastically speed up enemy turns. In addition, a new online Public Tournament in honor of playable character Tom Sawyer called “Hijinks” launches today and runs until April 5.

New StreetPass Games

  • On April 16, two new StreetPass Mii Plaza games launch for $6.29 each, or $9.99 if purchased together. In Ultimate Angler, players visit the “StreetPass Islands” to try to catch more than 150 types of fish and legendary monsters with bait received from Mii characters via StreetPass. In Battleground Z, players receive items based on the hobbies of their Mii Plaza StreetPass characters to defeat a horde of zombies. A new paid service will also launch alongside these new games called “StreetPass Mii Plaza Premium,” adding features like “StreetPass Birthdays” and a new Mii character VIP Room for $6.29.

Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains

  • Based on the popular manga and anime, the Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains game features four-player local and online co-op game play and leaderboards as players take on the role of their favourite character to defend humanity from the giant Titans. In addition, the first two episodes of the hit anime series are now available to stream for free in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS. Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains from ATLUS will launch exclusively in the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems in May.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

  • A new trailer hones in on some of the mysteries of this epic role-playing game, the first game developed exclusively for the New Nintendo 3DS XL system. The game launches on April 10.

And as a final note, for those who have not upgraded to the New 3DS, an NFC Reader for the regular 3DS is planned and has been unveiled.  You can see a pic of it below.  We don’t have any information on availability in N. America, but this bodes well for regular 3DS owners.