Nintendo is positioning itself to bounce back from a disappointing year; on Tuesday it announced a big lineup of new games for the Wii and the 3DS for early 2012.
Nintendo will launch three new 3DS titles in the first few months of next year, starting with Capcom's Resident Evil Revelations on Feb. 7. Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, a re-imagining of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, will drop sometime in the first quarter.
However, perhaps the most notable 3DS launch is Kid Icarus: Uprising, a long-awaited new chapter in the classic Kid Icarus series, set to hit stores on March 23. In this game, players must help the winged, angelic protagonist Pit battle Medusa and her Underworld Army from both the air and the ground.
Nintendo will also offer a bunch of new downloadable games through the Nintendo eShop, including Dillon's Rolling Western, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, VVVVVV, NightSky, Mighty Switch Force, and Mutant Mudds.
The company will also debut the Circle Pad Pro, a new 3DS accessory that gives players a second stick control for certain games. It goes on sale Feb. 7 for $19.99 and will be available at GameStop, online and in stores.
The Wii will also get a trio of new titles. Launching on Feb. 13, Rhythm Heaven Fever tests players' rhythm in more than 50 mini-games. PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond will let players take on the role of Pickachu and company to navigate the PokePark. It debuts Feb. 27. Mario and his pals get back together for Mario Party 9, which comes out on March 11 and adds new features to the game like boss battles, Nintendo said.
This has been a difficult year for Nintendo, from the disappointing launch of its 3DS device to losing nearly $1 billion in the last six months. Between March and September, it sold just 3 million units of the 3DS, much less than Nintendo originally anticipated. In the same period, it sold 3.4 million Wii consoles, down from 5 million during those months in 2010.
Last week, meanwhile, Nintendo denied that legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto would retire. Despite his comments in an interview with Wired, the company insisted that Miyamoto's "role at Nintendo is not changing [and] he will continue to be a driving force in Nintendo's development efforts."