Nintendo Direct: The Announcements Guide

Satoru Iwata confirms what we were all thinking- 2013 is the Year Of Luigi!
Nintendo can be quite unpredictable when it comes to the announcements they promote at their Nintendo Direct conferences on an irregular basis, yet today they didn't lie, bringing us a strong handful of big reveals. Satoru Iwata called 2013 the 'Year Of Luigi' based on a handful of new WiiU and 3DS projects relating to Mario's considerably taller green brother, yet that wasn't all there was for us to look forward to by a long way.

Here's our full round-up of all of the big announcements from this month's Nintendo Direct conference:

• LUIGI'S MANSION 2 RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED- First up, Nintendo revealed exclusively in their European conference that the much-anticipated platforming mock-horror sequel Luigi's Mansion 2 will release on 3DS in the UK on March 28th.
• NEW SUPER LUIGI U DLC PACK ANNOUNCED- Another Luigi-themed announcement came with the revelation of the first big DLC expansion for WiiU exclusive New Super Mario Bros U. Released last November, the new entry proved a major hit with fans, and now all of its challenge courses will get big refits for the New Super Luigi U pack. It's due in the WiiU eShop this Summer.
• ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED- A second big European exclusive, Animal Crossing 3DS has been out in Japan for a while now. Thankfully, we now know for sure that Animal Crossing: New Leaf will release on the 3DS in the UK on June 14th (cor, blimey, that day is a busy one- E3 2013 kicks off, plus this, The Last Of Us and Man Of Steel are all releasing together!).
• DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS 3DS ANNOUNCED- Nintendo announced a fully-fledged Nintendo 3DS port of their hit Wii game Donkey Kong Country Returns too. Featuring all of the original title's levels and more with 3D functionality, the new version will ship as a retail product for 3DS this Summer.
• MARIO & LUIGI: DREAM TEAM ANNOUNCED- As if all of the other Mario/Luigi platforming announcements weren't enough, Iwata then went on to reveal that a new Mario & Luigi game has quietly been in the works for some time now. Titled Dream Team, it involves an adventure in the dreamscape of Luigi's mind, and is again due to ship this Summer.
• MARIO GOLF: WORLD TOUR ANNOUNCED- Perhaps the only 'oddball' announcement of the day, Iwata finally revealed that Mario Golf: World Tour would debut exclusively for Nintendo 3DS on the system's eShop too. And...relax!

For all the latest Nintendo announcements in the slow-but-sure run up to E3, keep it On-Screen!