Nintendo Wii U Direct Highlights: System update, new games, and more!

Today was Nintendo's highly anticipated Wii U Direct presentation. Prior to the event, the company promised information about new and upcoming Wii U games — and boy did they not disappoint. Today's presentation was chock full of details about the latest Wii U offerings including The Legend of Zelda series, three new Mario-related games, and an entirely new game from Monolith Soft, among several other games.

Basically, this was about as good of a industry show as you can get prior to E3 — and even then, E3 promises more details about the games Nintendo teased us with today. As I said, a ton of information about the Wii U was relayed to fans today — new games, system updates, and more.

We have been covering the news throughout the day, but to better help you (and us) stay organized, we have decided to list the key notes and highlights of the Nintendo Direct Wii U edition. Below you can find the top stories from the presentation:

'Significant system updates' coming in spring and summer 2013 AND the arrival of the Virtual Console

Two separate updates will roll out for the Wii U in spring and summer of 2013. These updates will add new features, but will primarily make your Wii U faster. Following the spring update, Nintendo will be bringing the Virtual Console to the Wii U. Read more here.

A brand new Zelda

Nintendo confirmed a new Zelda game is being made, but admitted it is going to take "some time" to complete. Rather than show us what they do have, franchise producer Eiji Aonuma discussed the scope and "driving theme" behind the development. Read more here.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker remade

To help Zelda fans cope with the long wait, Nintendo will re-release the fan-favorite Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.  As a re-release on the Wii U, The Wind Waker will undergo a complete overhaul with upgraded graphics and an overall tune up to the game experience. Read more here.

Behind-the-scenes of Bayonetta 2

Once again, no gameplay here, but Platinum Games has released a fresh developer video going behind-the-scenes. Watch the video here.

Monolith Soft's untitled game

Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft is working on a new Wii U game. We don't know exactly what it's called, but judging by the large red "X" at the end of the trailer, we assume it could fit into the Xeno series. The trailer, which you can watch here, was simply spectacular.

Super Smash Bros. to make grand debut at E3 2013

Expect the first screenshots for Nintendo's highly anticipated fighter to debut at E3 2013. It certainly sets the stage for what looks to be a promising press conference for Nintendo. Read more here.

New Miiverse features

Miiverse is expanding to smartphones! Although it will start as a browser-based experience, an app will be developed in the future. Also coming to Miiverse is the ability to create user communities, there can be more than one official community per title, usability improvements and a filtering function will be added. Read more here.

Two new Mario games

Two new games: a new 3D Mario action game and a new installment of Mario Kart will both be released on Wii U. Furthermore, both games will be shown off in playable form at E3 2013. Read more here.

And a third game in the Mario universe

This one isn't quite a Mario game, but does feature the iconic character of Yoshi. For the first time since 1998, the loveable dinosaur will star as the main character of a game in Yarn Yoshi, a game set in a "fanciful world of yarn and textiles." Read more here.

Use your GamePad as a camera in Pikmin 3

A new camera feature for Pikmin 3 will allow you to take close-up photos of your gameplay and share them with your friends in Miiverse. Read more here.

That's all, folks. It certainly was a great day for Wii U owners and Nintendo supporters. What started off as a slow 2013 quickly escalated into massive hype for E3. We can't wait to see what Nintendo has to show us this year at E3 2013. As always, we will continue to bring you the latest Wii U news as we get it.