Console giant increasing collaborations with other studios 'as the scope of development is getting larger'

Nintendo reveals new 3D Mario and Zelda Wii U games

Nintendo has revealed a wave of new games including a new 3D Mario platformer, Mario Kart and Legend of Zelda title for the Wii U.

Although light on details, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the company would officially unveil a new Mario Kart and 3D Mario at the E3 exhibition in June.

Other titles Nintendo is currently working on include a new Yoshi game based on Kirby’s Epic Yarn, with Takashi Tezuka supervising development of the title.

Iwata admitted that a new Legend of Zelda would “take some time to complete”, suggesting exact details will not be released at E3 or in the near future.

Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said that the developer had been experimenting with a number of visual styles for Zelda Wii U based on past games, and was also looking to re-invent the game’s conventions.

He added that although Nintendo had tried to re-imagine Zelda with Skyward Sword, it still hadn’t managed “to change the linear nature of the game”.

In the meantime however, Nintendo will release a HD remake of Wind Waker, which it said can be played on the TV or gamepad and would also be MiiVerse compatible.

The console giant also hinted that it would be taking a new approach to developing its Nintendo-exclusive games, and would be collaborating with a number of external developers on many of its projects.

"Because the scope of development is getting larger and larger we cannot take on the same approaches we had in the past,” said Iwata.

One such collaboration is with developer Atlus on a title described as “Shin Megami Tensei meets Fire Emblem”.

He added: “This collaboration is an example of one of our new approaches. We are working with many more partners on additional collaborations. I will discuss those at other Nintendo Direct’s or other opportunities.”

Nintendo is already collaborating with Namco Bandai on the next instalment of the Super Smash Bros franchise, and appears to be a sign that Nintendo is looking to ship out its franchises to numerous other developers in an effort to increase its output and make content available for the Wii U.

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