Nintendo Direct, which went live earlier this morning, shared a few welcome surprises with North American viewers. Who else is glad they woke up for this one?

Reggie shared some choice information with Nintendo fans this fine morning. An eShop exclusive got some screen time, Mario Tennis for the 3DS was confirmed, and The Last Story is officially headed our way. First things first, though.

The tower defense game Dillon’s Rolling Western, an eShop exclusive which combines touch screen and circle pad controls, was showcased briefly and is apparently available now on the eShop for download. Initial previews for the game were…not so great, but it might still be worth a look. I didn’t think it looked all that bad, though it does look a bit bland in the aesthetics department. A demo might sell it, if only Nintendo offered more of them. Hint, hint.

Mario Tennis Open was a welcome surprise, and the final game will be hitting shelves on May 20th of this year. Mario Tennis has always been one of my personal favorite Mario sports titles to play in passing, but the installments have done little to warrant a full-priced purchase in recent years. Yeah, they’re fun, but multiplayer is where it’s at, and local play just doesn’t get the job done anymore. Luckily, the big N knows this and has included a full online mode to satisfy our multiplayer needs. Players can compete against friends, as usual, or against random players instantly. It’s worth noting that random matchup pits similarly skilled players against one another, so matches won’t become too one-sided and rating progression will be fair. This is huge news as far as I’m concerned. Mario Tennis is heading online for the first time, and on a handheld no less. It’s going to be great. Nintendo’s finally getting the hang of online multiplayer, it seems. Day one purchase, anyone?

Finally, Reggie dropped a bomb in the final minutes of the video – The Last Story. It’s on its way to North America, proving that Nintendo is listening to the players (or at least their money). He didn’t reveal any more details than that. We simply know that it’s coming this year. Fine by me.

That covers all the major news, but one more thing stood out for me regarding the Kid Icarus Uprising portion of the video. Jon Yeckley, the Associate Localization Producer for NoA, was asked how he prefers playing the game, and even he uses the included stand regularly. Comfort over portability would be my preferred choice as well, and I only wish Nintendo could have realized this necessity back in the days of Metroid Prime Hunters. Ah well, at least Pit’s new adventure will come bundled with options for our sore hands.

So, was this Nintendo Direct installment everything you hoped for and more? Was it lacking? What would you have liked to see Reggie discuss? What were everyone’s reactions? Let us know.