Nintendo announced at its Nintendo Direct video briefing in Japan that they will soon release a new firmware update for its handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS. New games for the platform were also announced, though the company has remained quiet on western release dates.

The update, scheduled to be released on April 25, will bring folders to the Home Screen of the 3DS. Each folder will be able to hold up 60 items, and names can be customized. For the Nintendo 3DS ambassador games - Nintendo pushed the games to sell the console when sales were flagging - these folders should be useful for those gamers. The update also brings a new feature to the console: software patches. One of the first titles to receive an update will be Mario Kart 7, which has shortcut glitches.

Nintendo also showed two new games at the briefing. The first is a new Animal Crossing title - called "Tobidase Doubutsu no Mori" (or "Jump Out Animal Crossing").

The final announcement of the event was New Super Mario Bros. 2, which will come to the 3DS in August in Japan and is the sequel to the Nintendo DS's New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata previously teased a new 2D Super Mario game, leaving many to speculate Nintendo would release a new Super Mario World title.

Further, a Pokemon software will be available for download, and will tie into the upcoming Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 that will release on June 23 in Japan. Pokemon AR Searcher is a shooting game that allows players to 'capture' Pokemon with the handheld's camera, and includes a Pokedex Pro, which is an expanded version of the original Pokemon database software.

A 20th anniversary Kirby compilation has also been announced for the Wii. Information during the briefing for the Kirby compilation and the other titles was for Japan, but expect the Mario titles (at least) to arrive in the U.S. and Europe.

Also expect Nintendo to show off more of the games during E3, where the company is expected to reveal its next-gen console, the Wii U.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)