So Nintendo Direct was this week and boy did we get a lot of info thrown at us. Now that we here at Zero1Gaming have had a bit more time to digest all this glorious gaming goodness, here are some of the highlights from the house that Mario built:

New 3DS is out this summer in North America and Europe

Continuing the trend of Nintendo having no idea how to name a console (Wii? Wii U? WTF?), the New 3DS console now has a release date of February 13. While this might sound like one of the numerous different brands of the 3DS already available, such as the 2DS and 3DS XL, this is in fact just short of a whole new console which will boast a graphics upgrade and an improved 3D screen, allowing it to be turned and tilted without making the user vomit uncontrollably. Some more graphic intensive games (such as the 3DS port of Xenoblade Chronicles) will only be playable on this new console, so expect it to slowly faze out the current version. It will also have Amibo capabilities if you are into that sort of thing and, oddly enough, no power adapter included with the console.

New Fire Emblem Game coming

While I am fairly new to the Fire Emblem series, I did massively enjoy the latest entry, Fire Emblem Awakening, and played it until my 3DS begged for a break. I can already hear it crying out in terror, because in a few short months it is going to have to bear the burden of yet another entry into the long running tactical RPG series. This newest entry, which doesn’t seem to have a name yet, is being developed by the Awakening team and is said to boast new challenges and the ability to have a far more direct impact on the world as the story plays out. Hopefully this will extend slightly beyond the previous “holy crap I have time travelling children!” of Awakening, but I’m game for just about anything.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is looking massive

Did you play Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii? If you’re a JRPG fan and answered no to that, then you really need to fix that before Xenoblade Chronicles comes out for the Wii U in 2015. I had a lot of fun with the original, which was easily one of the best RPGs released for the last generation of consoles, eating dozens of hours of my life while featuring some of the worst English accents outside of the Hellsing Ultimate anime. The sequel, which seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the original game, is looking prime to be even more massive than the original. I was more than a little bit sceptical of the whole thing when I first saw the sequel announced, but the trailer released this week has settled at least some of those fears.

Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3DS out next month

When Nintendo released an updated (and beautiful!) rerelease of the much loved Ocarina of Time for the 3DS in 2011, it didn’t take too much guesswork to realise that the sequel would get a remake sooner or later. Now, four years later, we’re just weeks away from seeing one of the divisive games in this legendary series recreated for the 3DS. Majora’s Mask was not the immediate smash hit that its predecessor was, but its more mature tone and rather striking departure from the Zelda formula has grown on fans of the series over the years. Considering that the special edition sold out at Gamestop within fifteen minutes of the pre-orders appearing online, this is probably going to be one of the big hits of the spring season.

Harvest Moon: my guiltiest of pleasures

I can already hear the derision in your voices at the thought of playing the most twee of farming simulators, but this is one of those series where every single game plays very similar and yet is just different enough that I will gladly shell out for each iteration. It is quiet and calm and relaxing, with no wrong way or right way to play. It’s just fun in a way that many games don’t quite manage, and the newest game, Harvest Moon: Story of Seasons for the 3DS, looks to continue this trend with the beautiful new trailer that was released this week. While it doesn’t look like there will be anything particularly different about this game compared to past games, it is still something that I always get excited about.

What were your highlights from the Nintendo Direct press conference? Let us know in the comments below!