Nintendo's upcoming The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for the Wii U won't be the same game you remember from the GameCube era.  The development team is fixing a few of the little problems from the original version that have persisted over the years as memorable issues.  In this Nintendo Developer Direct, producer Eiji Aonuma explains how he and his team have polished a few rough spots to make the overall experience better.  For instance, sailing across the ocean in the GameCube version often felt very slow since the ocean concealed the GameCube loading the next section of the game, so now that this extra loading time is unnecessary on the Wii U, Link can sail his King of Red Lions ship at a faster speed without the risk of falling off the edge of the world into unloaded data.  Aonuma also talks about playing the game on the Wii U GamePad and how the touchscreen will be used to control a few items in Link's inventory.  He even touches on the tedious Triforce hunt near the end of the game and how the next time we see it, it'll be a little different.  I trust Aonuma to do right by Wind Waker and look forward to the end result.  Anything that speeds up the sailing and cuts back on the excessive item hunting is OK with me.

Judging by what the director of the two upcoming Super Smash Bros. games for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS has to say, Smash is evolving and changing with interesting new additions.  Watch this fascinating Nintendo Developer Direct segment in which Masahiro Sakurai outlines the special attacks of new characters like the Animal Crossing villager, Mega Man, and the Wii Fit trainer and you'll see how much thought goes into creating a Smash game.  Mega Man especially has so much detail packed into his design.  Everything about him is created to be just so from his appearance to his weapon arsenal to his basic movements.  There's also some discussion on what differentiates the Wii U and 3DS versions in terms of visual styles and stage design.  It's enough of a challenge to develop one Smash game, but now Sakurai and his team are handling two at once.  The pressure to deliver yet another stellar product must be overwhelming.

After revisiting 2010's Donkey Kong Country Returns as a Nintendo 3DS port last month, Nintendo is ready to move on to the game's sequel for the Wii U.  Coming in November, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze follows the Kong clan as they fight to retake their island from a band of pillaging vikings that have invaded from the north.  Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are back, but so is Dixie Kong from the original DKC trilogy and she's brought her famous ponytail hair twirl helicopter maneuver.  The adventure takes the team across five areas of the island, each with its own unique challenges (and, unlike in Returns, underwater swimming sections are included).  Original DKC composer David Wise is even working on the soundtrack.  There's a lot to like in this announcement.  Watch this trailer and listen to the company's Satoru Iwata explain a few of the details from today's E3 Nintendo Direct.

Earlier this year it was announced that a proper sequel to 1992's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was on the way to the 3DS, and now Nintendo has shown more of the new game and announced its title.  The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (see what they did there?) harkens back to the old style of Zelda games with a familiar overworld, but includes some new gimmicks.  Link can now become a living drawing of sorts to shimmy across 2D surfaces such as walls to bypass obstacles and take advantage of alternate routes unavailable to him as a 3D flesh and blood person.  It's a cute effect that will surely play a large part of the new adventure.  A Link Between Worlds is due out this November in what is becoming a very busy gaming season.  Budget your time and your money appropriately.

It's been a few years since players have been able to babysit a crying infant with a hungry dinosaur, so we're due for a trip back to Yoshi's Island.  Nintendo is filling that need with a new adventure for the Nintendo 3DS entitled Yoshi's New Island which revamps the old concept with new visual styles that reference the original Super NES title such as oil, watercolor and pastels.  Watch the trailer to see how old mixes with new; throwing eggs is still required and collecting stars is a must, but there are also giant eggs to consider and fresh tricks with ricochet shots to learn.  Plus, if this title is anything like it's predecessors, it'll become gloriously difficult near the end.  That's also a Yoshi's Island tradition.  Yoshi's New Island is due out for the holidays.

Released in 2003, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube looked great as it was, but when the developers behind it can make a good thing even better, why not go for the enhancement?  Seeking to fill the Zelda-shaped hole in its Wii U release schedule, Nintendo is working hard to give Wind Waker a shiny high definition makeover, and a new trailer released as part of the E3 Nintendo Direct shows just how far the game has come since its native resolution topped out at 480p.  The game still looks wonderful after all these years, but do you think Nintendo will take advantage of the opportunity here to add new content?  The new trailer gives us a look at a "fast" button that pops up when sailing to take some of the tedium out of the endless ocean, and there's been talk of a reconfigured Tingle Tuner accessory (which, in the original game, required a Game Boy Advance and a special link cable to use).  We'll see the extent of the new additions when The Wind Waker HD releases in October.  It's been ten years since I've played the game, but I think I may finally be ready to go back into the water.

You didn't really expect Nintendo to not create a new Mario Kart title for its flagship home console, did you?  The company has announced that Mario Kart 8 is coming to the Wii U in spring 2014.  Combining elements of Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7, this new entry in the series looks to play it safe with familiar elements such as motorbikes, underwater racing, and hang-glider attachments for karts, but there's something new happening here as well.  Taking a nod from Doc Brown's beloved DeLorean from Back to the Future II, kart wheels can now flip up into a horizontal position to run parallel with the road allowing for travel up vertical surfaces and even upside down.  Mario and friends need no longer be slaves to gravity!  Adding this extra component adds a fresh new angle to a franchise that thrives on familiarity.  Watch this trailer to see the new trick in action.  It looks like more of the same overall, but more of the same is also really fun, so I'm fine with the repetition in this case.

After a scare over the weekend regarding the cancellation of some of the scheduled locations for Nintendo's Wii U demo experience at Best Buy stores in the United States and Canada, the company seems to have righted the ship and put things back on track.  Best Buy locations that had disappeared from the list of stores over the weekend are starting to return, so an event that may have been canceled near you could be back on now (that's the case for me, too).  Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime has announced which four games from Nintendo's E3 hit list fans can expect to play at a participating Best Buy near you and, honestly, I'm surprised.  I'd expected the company to play it safe with demos for games that the company wants you to buy that you may overlook like Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario, but I'm pleasantly surprised to find that New Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be in the spotlight for this event.  These are the heavy hitters that traditionally sell themselves on Nintendo platforms.  Nintendo wants to win back the hearts and minds of those who have held back on buying a Wii U.  This is the best demo slate I can imagine from currently available options.  We'll make the trip to try these demos later this week.  I hope you have a Best Buy near you to do the same.

Speaking of Super Smash Bros., Nintendo has revealed the first of what are hopefully a few more third-party guest starts in the next installment of the series.  After years of fans demanding his inclusion, Capcom's famed Mega Man is joining the Smash Bros. fight on both Wii U and 3DS.  Check out this bonus Smash trailer to see him in action as he calls upon years worth of collecting Robot Master weapons in order to kick Mario, Donkey Kong, and Kirby to the curb.

Mega Man is on my list of characters that I want to see in the next Smash Bros. game, so you know that I'm overjoyed to see him added to the roster.  Moreover, it looks as if he's being treated exactly as I'd hoped.  Just last week I said, "His powerful arsenal of weapons is famous for variety; just imagine his attacks stemming from a selection of the most popular and powerful Robot Master weapons that he's acquired over the years."  That's exactly what we're getting if this trailer is to be believed.  Weapons taken from Metal Man, Guts Man, Flame Man, Slash Man, and other Robot Masters are part of Mega Man's arsenal.  I can't wait to see just how many Mega Man elements are part of the next Smash.  2014 feels like a long way off, but I think it'll be worth the wait.

Nintendo has promised that new Super Smash Bros. titles for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS are on the way, and fans finally had a look at the first trailers for these games on today's special E3 Nintendo Direct.  As with Super Smash Bros. Brawl's development period, Nintendo has launched a Smash Bros. website to slowly and carefully tease which characters and elements will appear in the games.  You can expect to find iconic Nintendo stars like Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, and Samus Aran included plus a few surprises and at least one third-party guest star.  Check out the trailer to see action nostalgia unfold.

That's the Animal Crossing villager joining the fight, of course.  Both Smash sequels are due in 2014.  This series has always been known for its combination of colorful action, deep challenge, and heavy use of Nintendo's own history, so for people like me who were raised on this stuff, playing Smash is like overindulging on candy.  I can't get enough of the old Nintendo elements.  It's like comfort food in an uncertain world.  I'm patient and I can wait for these games for as long as it takes to make them excellent.  Here's hoping for an expanded single-player story mode for at least the Wii U sequel.  Brawl had some great ideas, but I want to journey through each character's iconic world and not a generic realm controlled by a new, generic villain.  Super Smash Bros. Melee's Adventure mode is actually closer to what I want in terms of theme and setting.  Give me that next time around and I'll be very pleased.