Nintendo has confirmed that a remake of Xenoblade Chronicles is set to be released as an exclusive for the New 3DS consoles, which were announced earlier today.

With the upgraded hardware in the new handhelds, it is now possible for Monolith Soft’s open-world RPG to be run on Nintendo’s handheld, which is being ported over from the original 2010 Wii game.

At the moment, it’s only been announced that the game will be hitting Japan sometime next year, with no word on the Western release; however, as the game is not playable on the current models, we can only assume it will come some time after the New 3DS and De2 3DS XL are released in North America and Europe.

Before the game was announced during today’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, it was also revealed that Shulk - the main protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles - will be coming to the new Super Smash Bros. game, which is due for release later this year. Shulk’s presence in the game was leaked earlier this week after a youtube user posted footage of the 3DS game revealing him as a playable character.

It’s been a big year for Xenoblade fans, with the first look at the sequel to the Wii game, shown during this year’s E3 in June. Xenoblade Chronicles X is currently in development for the Wii U and due for release in 2015.

To keep up-to-date with all the latest Xenoblade news, follow us on Facebook and Twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed to be in-the-know.