Game & Wario explores fruit thieves and in-game gaming on Wii U

Game & Wario, the upcoming Wii U party game first announced by Nintendo in June, was detailed for the first time during today's Nintendo Direct conference.

The WarioWare series spin-off will feature 16 mini-games in total, all of which can be played by up to five players at the same time. As showcased by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, one of these mini-games — the previously confirmed Fruit" — has one user on the Wii U GamePad playing the role of a fruit thief.

The fruit thief picks up fruit and uses manholes to move about the town, while all four other players attempt to spot them in an audience of NPCs, not knowing which is controlled by the other user. Once the time limit is up, the four players must pick the thief out of a line-up.

Also presented was the mini-game "Gamer" in which players attempt to hide that they are gaming on their GamePad from their digital parents. Parents repeatedly check in to the player's in-game bedroom, at which point the user must hide their in-game GamePad.

Game & Wario will launch in Q1 of 2013.