Nintendo announced that Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing mobile apps are in the works as part of its most recent financial results. At the time, the company didn’t say if they’d be paid or free-to-start downloads.

DeNA has now come forward with an official answer. Chief executive Isao Moriyasu told The Wall Street Journal that Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing will be free-to-start apps. A Nintendo spokeswoman confirmed this to the publication as well.

Moriyasu additionally mentioned that the new mobile titles are more “pure-game apps” compared to Miitomo.

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A special Nintendo Direct will be held for the Japanese 3DS title Culdcept Revolt in just a short while. The presentation should begin at 7:30 AM ET / 4:30 AM PT (an hour from now). You can watch the broadcast as it happens below.

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Seems that the Japanese demo of Ace Attorney 6 may have turned up some extra info on the game. The demo’s English file name is coded as “Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice”, which could very well be the title of the game. However, the text could just be a placeholder, a work-in-progress, or Capcom could even change the name if there are too many objections.

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Nintendo has unveiled a pair of color options for the New 3DS in Japan. On June 9, consumers will be able to pick up Lime x Black and Pink x White options. Each one is priced at 20,304 yen.

Here’s another look at both:

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Nintendo has a few hours of maintenance lined up for Miiverse next week. While it’s happening, all Miiverse features and services normally accessible within supported games won’t be available.

The maintenance period is set for the following times:

– 7 PM PT (May 17) – 3 AM PT (May 18)
– 10 PM ET (May 17) – 6 AM ET (May 18)
– 3 AM in the UK (May 17) – 11 AM in the UK (May 18)
– 4 AM in Europe (May 18) – 12 AM in Europe (May 18)

Note that Nintendo won’t be making changes or adding features, so this is just standard maintenance. We also know that more maintenance will take place next month.

Here’s the official notice from Nintendo:

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Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai returns to Famitsu this week with a new column. The full issue won’t be out until tomorrow, but as usual, some leaks have surfaced – including tidbits from Sakurai’s piece.

It seems that the latest Famitsu column is about Sakurai clearing up misconceptions, both in terms of his own work and his peers. There is some talk about Smash Bros. here.

Here’s what leaked out of Famitsu earlier today:

– There must be some favoritism from Sakurai since both Kirby and Pit are included in the boxart: In actuality it wasn’t even Sakurai who decided the boxart composition, but rather Nintendo.
– [Insert character here] is too strong, there must be some favoritism involved: The team balanced characters objectively by referring to results from monitoring versus battles.
– Kirby’s stages are all from games made by Sakurai: Sakurai tries to clarify that this isn’t always the case. Initially, there were plans to have a stage based on Kirby’s Epic Yarn (which wasn’t made by him), but with the arrival of Yoshi’s Woolly World, its theme and stage composition changed.
– Too many Fire Emblem characters, does Sakurai really likes the series that much? It may be indeed too many, but it was decided strategically (rather than raw favoritism).

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Capcom has brought out a demo for Ace Attorney 6 in Japan. Users can go through the game’s opening episode and watch the opening animation. Stereoscopic 3D is also supported.

Ace Attorney 6 is just a month away from launching in Japan, as it’s scheduled for June 9. We also know that Capcom will localize the title at some point for overseas fans.

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Today’s update on Battle of Elemental REBOOST covers rival characters and Survival Mode.

Regarding the new characters, four of them are the alter egos of the game’s previously announced playable characters. The lineup includes Sils (Celcius’ alter ego), Renzasilt (Fahrenheit’s alter ego), Mal (Mole’s alter ego), and Io (Biot’s alter ego). We’re yet to see the fifth, though it seems to unlock after meeting certain requirements.

We also have the first word on the new Survival Mode. Players win through fights as their favorite character to achieve a high score. The mode features a “Record” screen to view wins and losses, along with key configuration to change the controls to your liking.

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The latest episode of Nintendo’s Japanese show Nyannyan Neko Mario Time has now gone live. We’ve included it below.

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Several new 3DS themes are out now in Japan. Here’s the full lineup:

Shin Megami Tensei IV Final – 200 yen
Mega Man (x2) – 200 yen each
CHiCO with HoneyWorks – 200 yen
The Legend of Dark Witch 2 (x4) – 100 yen each
Finding Ojipockle + – 100 yen
Tea Dog – 200 yen
n-buna – 200 yen
Hitoshizuku x Yama: Bad ? End ? Night – 200 yen
Pokota / Egawa Naoki: message – 200 yen
Strange Rabbit Character TUZKI – 200 yen
Osomatsu-san – 250 yen
Asa feat. Kasane Teto: Yoshiwara Lament – 200 yen

Head past the break for videos for several of these themes.

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