Nintendo reveals its spring 2012 slate, from Kid Icarus to eShop

Nintendo has unveiled its line-up of games coming for early 2012, and the list includes some long-awaited titles.

Kid Icarus: Uprising, the portable game that was considered one of the flagship titles for the Japanese company’s 3DS handheld, will debut on March 23.

Nintendo said that Capcom’s Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS launches on Feb. 7. Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater from Konami will arrive in the first quarter.

Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo is also offering a series of downloadable offerings via its eShop store for the 3DS. Those include Dillon’s Rolling Western, a tower-defense strategy game, and Kirby’s Block Ball.

Other third-party eShop titles include Nicalis’s Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, a samurai game, and NightSky; Collecting Smiles’ Colors! 3D and VVVVVV; Mighty Switch Force from WayForward; Shin’en Multimedia’s Jett Rocket Super Surf; Zen Studios’ Zen Pinball and Mutant Mudds and Fun! Fun! Minigolf Touch from Renegade Kid. All of the eShop titles are coming out in the first quarter.

Just in time to head off Sony’s PlayStation Vita — which has two analog sticks for console-like play — Nintendo is also introducing an accessory for the 3Ds that gives players a second analog stick. The Circle Pad Pro will launch on Feb. 7 at GameStop for $19.99. It works with the Resident Evil and Metal Gear games.

On the Wii, Konami will launch Rhythm Fever on Feb. 13 at a low price of $29.99. Nintendo will launch PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond on Feb. 27 and Mario Party 9 on March 11.

Other 3Ds titles include 2K Play’s Nicktoons MLB 3D coming in March; Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 coming in January; Namco Bandai’s Tekken 3D in February and Tales of the Abyss on Feb. 14; Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games on Feb. 14 and Crush 3D in the first quarter.

Ubisoft is launching NCIS The Video Game on March 6; Horses 3D on March 6; Funky Barn in the first quarter, and Rayman Origins in the first quarter.

Wii titles include 2K Sports MLB 2K12 on March 6; GameMill Entertainment’s Country Dance Special Edition on Feb. 1; Konami’s Karaoke Joysound and Rhythm Heaven Fever on Feb. 13. WiiWare titles include La Mulana in the first quarter from Nicalis. There are also a bunch of DS and DSiWare titles coming too.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.