Nintendo Direct: Valentine's Highlights

There was a plethora of announcements from the latest instalment of Nintendo Direct. Satoru Iwata was on hand (wearing a fetching green Luigi hat) to reveal several juicy bits of info. Here's the highlights:

It's the Year of Luigi

That's according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata at least. Plans were revealed for a major DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U entitled New Super Luigi U. The new DLC will rid the game of brother Mario and bring all new tweaked levels for players to explore. In fact the whole campaign is transformed to fit with the Luigi theme. Expect the DLC to release later this year.

Luigi will also be appearing in a completely new game. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team was announced for the 3DS. Head this way for more details on this dreamy handheld title.

Luigi's Mansion, set for release on March 28, was also a major focus during the showcase with Shigeru Miyamoto detailing a new multiplayer mode.

Mario and Friends Take Over the 3DS

Luigi will play second fiddle to Mario the announced Mario Golf which was also announced for 3DS.

Donkey Kong is going to get the 3D treatment in a new version of Donkey Kong Country Returns, also on the 3DS.

The Mario vs. Donkey Kong franchise returns in Mario & Donkey Kong, once again for 3DS. What makes this announcement particularly exciting is the news that the game will come complete with a level editor, meaning increased longevity.

The Best of the Rest

We've got an official release date for Fire Emblem: Awakening. It's going to hit on April 19, and there's to be an exclusive European bundle up for grabs.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf finally got dated. Head this way for more details.

And last, but definitely not least, bundles were announced for both the Wii U and 3DS versions of Capcom's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

There were a couple of other titles mentioned, including Splash or Crash - an interesting puzzle game due out on eShop on February 28 and beat 'em up Code Princess due out this spring.

Nintendo also confirmed Wii Street U - basically an application that let's you use Google maps on your Wii U. This application is currently available as a free download, but will be a paid-for download later on, so get on it early!