I had no idea this was happening, but I caught most of it! This is a live reaction, so excuse typos.

Valentine's Day Nintendo Direct
See it yourself, here:
http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct ... 2-14-2013/

IWATA IN A LUIGI HAT. PLEASE REGGIE HAVE A MARIO HAT.

Iwata wearing the Luigi hat. They mention a history of Luigi. About 30 years ago.
He mentions Luigi has appeared a lot, but mainly in a supporting role and is still timid after so many years. So... 2013 is the Year of Luigi.

Luigi has been a great partner/rival for Mario. 18 years after his 1st appearance, he starred in Luigi's Mansion. Despite this, he soon returned to his sidekick role. But this great supporting actor is finally getting another shot in the limelight. Miyamoto discusses the game, since he is the producer. 1st appearance of Miyamoto in a Nintendo Direct, too.

Miyamoto Talks Luigi's Mansion 2(Dark Moon)
Showing off game mechanics, you reel them in like you're fishing with the strobe bulb as a stun.
Ghost dog! He loves gold and runs off with anything made of it. You need the darklight device to follow his foot prints. You can see how he plays into things when you get the game.

It is a lighthearted game, not meant to be scary.

Imagine yourself as Luigi and immerse yourself in the haunted mansion and enjoy the game.

4-Player Co-op for a mode in Luigi's Mansion 2. Supports online play! And it's a tower mode.
Suck up all ghosts, or chase ghost dogs.

Coming out March 24th.

1st Title: Mess with Luigi while he is sleeping!

Mario and Luigi series of Roleplaying games- a new one! Luigi's Dream Acts are the setting for the game. Sometimes the player must touch Luigi's face to solve puzzles. Or have multiple Luigis appear in battle to defeat many enemies.

Mario is also involved obviously. You mess with Luigi's face like the Mario in Mario 64 title screen somewhat.
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
It will be released this summer.

NEW MARIO GOLF GAME ON THE 3DS!!! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD YOU GUYS!!! I NEVER EXPECTED SUCH A SURPRISE. Summer release date!

2013 is the year of Luigi!
DLC for New Super Mario Bros. Wii U turns all courses into new courses. They are developing a new adventure starring Luigi called New Super Luigi U. Brothers is excluded from the title since it's Luigi only. Large-scale similar to the development of full software. Wii U eShop, will be coming.

New news for our character that dresses in green too- Link!
Miiverse- No community yet to discuss The Legend of Zelda or the two new games announced in the last Nintendo Direct. They appreciate the enthusiasm of the fans, and want to make a place for fans to discuss the series on Miiverse. There will be one today available for the whole franchise, and Mr. Nomura will make posts from time to time- so please welcome him!

Bill Trinen of the Nintendo Tree House.
Fire Emblem got rave reviews. Get the free DLC map for 3 weeks before the price changes. Map pack will also change from $4 to $6 then.
New Fire Emblem content will continue to come by way of more maps- with new stories and new challenges- in today's… battle Marth, Roy, and Ike. Makaia(?) is a new character that can increase stats. There is also the Golden Gaffe map that pits you against wealthy enemies to power up your gold for the main game.
If you already have the game, you may receive Swap Notes from some people involved with the game.

We know you are eagerly awaiting Animal Crossing New Leaf.
Dev teams considers this the definitive version of AC. It is coming in a couple months.
You are quickly appointed as mayor… and your first big decision is choosing where to build your house.
You only have to complete one thing- planting a memorial tree in town square.
You're the boss now. No more Tom Nook. Take control and customize.
Loan is much smaller this time initially. Actually customize your house much more fully with topiaries and more varied architecture. Many new animal characters.
You spend a lot less time running around, so get errands done easily.
There is a street of model homes from players your connected with via Streetpass.
A new feature is being added just for the NA version of the game involving WiFi.
Game is coming in a few months.

Style Saavy Trendsetters is getting the AC Gracie dress, haha.

Lego City Undercover is done! Coming March 18th.
A new perspective to open world gaming. And it's also coming in a form on 3DS on April 21st.

Ninja Gaiden Wii U released a game update recently. And there's more updates on the way from Team Ninja. More costumes and tons of new ninja trial missions. It is free.

Wii Street U is now available as a free download in the eShop. It employs Google Maps to create 3D views of just about anywhere in the world. Take some time to try it our and take a virtual tour of a city without having to leave the living room.

A few games coming soon to the eShop.

Kit Ellis

Harmo Knight, Game Freak platformer. Rhythm-based! Easy to play, but deeply rich.
Your actions create the music harmonies. You using attacking, and jumping. Think Bit Trip Runner.
Multiple music themes from marches to rock… and there's speed modes. You can also challenge yourself against bonus tracks like some of the Pokemon OST. Available on March 28th, demo on March 14th.

Kersploosh! You are the stone navigating down the well, aiming for a splash. Dodge odd objects like pizzas and donuts. March 7th.

Action Puzzle Gameplay fans- Mario and Donkey Kong Minis on the Move is coming to the eShop on 3DS soon. Game features multiple puzzle modes based on the core concept and multiple minigames. You can also create and share your own puzzle content with the community.

Dillon's Rolling Western: The Last Ranger
Action Tower Defense game. Dillon can directly attack as well. Now he can recruit new allies by defeating them throughout the game. Available April 11th.

2 upcoming launches for the 3DS Virtual Console

Harvest Moon GBC and Legend of the River King!!!!! Yes! Obviously from Natsume.:)

2 new promotions for the 3DS.

Get 1 of 5 games for free(digital download) by registering a new 3DS XL and either the new Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity game between March 21st and April 30th.

The games you can get for free with purchases(only 1):
Super Mario 3D Land
Art Academy: Lessons For Everyone(actually a really nifty game- it gets the Fay bump)
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Starfox 64 3D
Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive!

Some eShop games on sale- not much of note.

They mention the Wii U Deluxe 10% back on any purchase. Boooo.

Damon Baker reading some Hyrule Historia. Oh yeah.

New Wii U bundle on Feb 17th coming with Zombi U and Wii U Deluxe. A Black Wii U Pro controller, art booklet, and Nintendoland on there as a digital game.

Bit Trip Presents Runner 2- new Bit Trip Runner! Wii U eShop title.

Zen Pinball 2 on WiiU. Advanced ball physics. Hee hee. Free download this month.

Toki Tori 2. A cute platformer-type game. Off-TV gameplay and a level editor.

Nintendo 3DS- Konami Castlevania on March 5th. Game is looking stunning. Demo on Feb 28th.

Capcom is bringing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to BOTH platforms on March 19th. Complete with voice chat. Compatible with cross platform play- Wii U and 3DS can play. Transfer your data to continue the hunt anywhere. Nice.

Need for Speed Most Wanted U. A friend can help you to evade the cops. I used to love this series, haha. 1st to incorporate Miiverse in the game directly during free drive mode.

March 26th, Activision Walking Dead Survival Instinct. Resource management is super critical. Decisions matter.

April 16th Injustice Gods Among Us. Play as DC super heroes in this fighting game. Eh….

Disney Infinity. Announced last month- coming to Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. It looks like Skylanders with super varied playset styles and figures.

Reggie OH SNAP. As you can see, we are kicking ass.
Oh Luigi just scooted out, haha. Shuffled back.

Donkey Kong has yet to star in anything for a while. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D! NO MORE CRAP CONTROLS. YES. I will actually buy this one. 3D video about this today on the eShop.

And a thank you for watching. Nice.

Stuff like these directs make me super excited for v6. It will be a ton of fun to make articles about this sort of thing, with various people's reactions and recaps and stuff.

I also almost want a 3DS XL finally, but moola. But if you don't even own a 3DS... that deal looks sweet. The XL is a huge improvement over the regular 3DS. I think it's almost as much a jump as the DS to the DS Lite. It looks super sturdy(sometimes my reg Zelda 3DS feels a teensy bit flimsy), and I do think the display probably got upgraded, too. But yeah... even as someone with a 3DS- I want the Luigi's Mansion game anyways, and I don't have any of those digital titles aside from Art Academy.

YEAR OF LUIGI! IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!

This was great. Finally cool to see Luigi get his due, OH YEH.

Luigi's Mansion looks really promising, they did a good job keeping the original gameplay and improving it. The vacuum feature in LM provided some really satisfying moments, especially when sucking up ghosts. I really like the Mario & Luigi RPGs, and this new entry seems really unique. Pulling on Luigi's stache, hah. Also, Monster Hunter! YES! Can't wait to get into online co-op.

My reaction when I saw Donkey Kong Country 3D:



I NEED A 3DS NOW.

DLC on Nintendo games? What?

Most of this stuff is interesting, but at the same time, none of it is really anything I can play. I just watched it out of curiosity. I am glad that DKCR is heading to the 3DS. No way they'll be able to skrew it up with gimmicky controls there. Right?

But they can still make a sterile and lifeless world ripping out half of what make the DKC series iconic. Namely the kremlings and K. Rool himself. Who cares about a plank of wood?

Edit: Just did a little more looking. DKCR3D is a port. If you already played the Wii version, you won't be getting anything new out of this aside from proper controls.

...I don't have the Wii version. Mainly because the controls sucked ass. So I am perfectly content with a more recent game getting proper controls since I didn't buy it yet.

I'm not gonna lie- a ton of the 3rd party stuff doesn't interest me. I worry about the battle and style of the new Mario Bros. RPG even if it looks hilarious. I think DLC maps just for the sake of being able to make easier money in the game are casual and stupid. Defeats the point of an RPG game(coughFireEmblemcough).

However, at the same time- Nintendo is actually patching games now, and more times than not, the DLC is free for like two months after the game comes out so there's no excuse. Also, the proportion of permanent free things from WiFi and SpotPass WAY outweighs any sort of paid DLC at this point.

But, I think the 1st party is picking up. Wii U and 3DS will be huge successes over this next year. I'd put all my bank on it. I'm actually thinking of finally getting into Monster Hunter more, since I don't have to be glued to a home console to play it. I find myself wanting to play handheld games more anyways, it's nicer to relax in bed and play right before I go to sleep I think. The wide variety and great quality of handhelds now in general has spoiled me.

Here's my one piece of wild speculation:

I think the DKCR 3DS port is a test. I really do. It's a test to see how people like the controls, and to gauge interest in the DKC franchise. I think we may very well see the next DKC game on the 3DS in the same style, but with Kremlings. That's my bet, man.