3DS integration may be key part of Wii U strategy

The ability to connect a 3DS to Nintendo’s upcoming console might give Nintendo an edge in the console wars.

This is being demonstrated as details of one of the company’s most heralded franchises – Super Smash Bros – come forward.

Nintendo feels the most logical way to expand the Super Smash Bros franchise is to have 3DS integration. The company confirmed at last year’s E3 conference in June that a new Super Smash Bros title was in development for its upcoming console, the Wii U.

But president Satoru Iwata admitted it was only just in the beginning stages of development. As such, there have been virtually no details about the title.

And the announcement that such a game was in the works probably came as a surprise to no one. Now, a new detail is finally starting to emerge. Franchise creator Masahiro Sakurai said in a recent interview, “I intend to change direction a little as we go. The key to that’s going to be its dual support for 3DS and Wii U.”

He noted that the series would come to a “certain dead end we come to if we just expand the volume of the game.”

The Wii game Super Smash Bros Brawl by all accounts met everything that fans could have asked for. It was an incredible addition and it will be very difficult to make something better than that.

Just improving graphics won’t be enough. “I’m really just getting started on this so it’s going to take time, but I’ll come up with something that uses [the Wii U/3DS link] as the game’s central axis, so I hope you’re looking forward to it,” Sakurai said. In addition, with the LCD screen on the Wii U controller, there could be a lot of integration going on between multiple displays.