Nintendo drops Wii U $50 due to poor sales (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

I'd love to see a 4th major Zelda release for the 3DS, but firmly believe this will be its swan song where this franchise is concerned.

Still, you might be right that what we spoke about last summer might be for something else. But if it is, my money is on it being for a next generation Nintendo system.

I'd be surprised if even the New 3DS saw something, such as a Twilight Princess port, before that apparent stopgap is finished although I'll at least grant that it's a possibility if it sticks around long enough and ends up more like the Game Boy Color than the DSi (Remember those DSi only games? Neither does anyone else).

But for regular 3DS, I think this is it and I wouldn't be surprised if by the time 2016 arrives, major development on it will have largely ceased. Certainly seems to be where we're heading.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Given that console generations have been getting longer and the New 3DS is actually a power upgrade from the 3DS, I think Nintendo will give the New 3DS at least 2 years, minimum, before even announcing any new handheld hardware. They released 2 original Zelda games on the DS, so I can see them doing 2 remakes and 2 new ones on the 3DS.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Disappointed I couldn't find a Wii U bundle for $250. I noticed they just added games to bundles this year. Unfortunately I don't want Nintendoland or Smash Bros.

 

[LeoA]

The new trend these days that MS and Sony pioneered during the previous generation, unless absolutely necessary, is to add value to a console bundle to justify maintaining the price. It's why 360's and PS3's still go for so much. Instead of price drops, they just change out games, add accessories, add subscription cards, up hard drive sizes, etc.

I'm kind of surprised we didn't see an official price drop for this Christmas. But I'm glad that Nintendo apparently felt that sales were doing well enough to not call for the change.

I'm surprised that you couldn't find a Black Friday promotion for $250 though.

 

[laser]

I noticed they just added games to bundles this year. Unfortunately I don't want...Smash Bros.

I've never seen an actual Smash Bros. bundle, though. Some retailers add it as a purchase bonus.

 

[LeoA]

The only thing that I saw that I found interesting with the recent release of Super Smash Brothers 4 on the Wii U was the inclusion of two Game Boy games in its masterpiece mode (I.e., a bunch of Virtual Console demos).

While they're marketing the 3DS versions for the two Game Boy titles that were represented, the fact that they have a Game Boy emulator up and running on the Wii U is what intrigues me.

I'd love to see Game Boy/Game Boy Color downloads come to the Wii U Virtual Console. They clearly have the work already done for such a thing, so I hope they fly with it and take full advantage of it.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

They have a bunch of GBA games on Wii U VC and there are GB/GBC games on the 3DS VC.

 

[LeoA]

I know

I was talking specifically about Game Boy and Game Boy Color releases for the Wii U Virtual Console, which it currently has none of.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Yeah, and I doubt that will change soon. If Nintendo had every game between Game and Watch and Wii available on the VC for Wii U, it would be bought up by people as a nostalgia device. The fact that they haven't done so shows that they really believe people don't care THAT MUCH about it. Which is sad.

That said, a ton of games are on the Wii VC which can be played on Wii U.

 

[LeoA]

That said, a ton of games are on the Wii VC which can be played on Wii U.

That's indeed a nice feature.

One of the first things I did was transfer everything from my Wii over to my Wii U after getting it all setup.

 

[LeoA]

Some late night Wii U news...



I don't like the slow motion jumping and I hope there's the option of manual control of Epona, but looking good.

 

[laser]

Bigger than I expected. I hope it won't suffer from Skyrim syndrome, where everything looks pretty much the same and there's a lot of barren wastes with not much to do.

 

[DaveF]

Huge demo at Tysons Mall, with reps to pitch the games and features. There are maybe eight gaming stations. Two are four player games on 80" screens. The reps will play games with kids to fill in.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Target is selling a Wii U Deluxe Bundle (32 GB console) with Mario 3D World and Nintendoland for $249 starting December 14th. Your move, Leo.

 

[LeoA]

They also will have the 3DS XL for $150, which seems worth a mention.

Best Buy is also having a sale...

Since no one else such as Morgan posted it, here's a nice Mario Maker trailer that also was released last night.



While Zelda almost leaves more questions than answers after watching the trailer (Although don't mistake that for anything but full optimism that we're in for an exceptional game... they simply just didn't show off much of it), this one really has me excited after viewing the latest video.

It seems to be shaping up very nicely.

 

[DaveF]

Target is selling a Wii U Deluxe Bundle (32 GB console) with Mario 3D World and Nintendoland for $249 starting December 14th. Your move, Leo.

Is that a good price? It seems like a good price. But I can't keep straight which games are the good Mario Galaxy-quality ones and which are pack-in throwaways.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Mario 3D World is excellent. Nintendoland is the Wii U's Wii Sports launch title. It's fun and the multiplayer is good, but you won't play it for too long if you have anything else to play.I got a 3DS XL last year from Target for $135. They had a $150 sale and the 10% off everything for being hacked sale. As I see it, buying a 3DS at all is pointless right now and you should save up for when the New 3DS XL (that's literally the name....New 3DS XL) comes out next year in the US.

 

[Bryan^H]

They also will have the 3DS XL for $150, which seems worth a mention.

Best Buy is also having a sale...

Since no one else such as Morgan posted it, here's a nice Mario Maker trailer that also was released last night.



While Zelda almost leaves more questions than answers after watching the trailer (Although don't mistake that for anything but full optimism that we're in for an exceptional game... they simply just didn't show off much of it), this one really has me excited after viewing the latest video.

It seems to be shaping up very nicely.

I love that you can pick between all the classic Mario graphics. I think this game is going to be my favorite game of 2015. I cannot wait.

 

[DaveF]

Mario 3D World is excellent. Nintendoland is the Wii U's Wii Sports launch title. It's fun and the multiplayer is good, but you won't play it for too long if you have anything else to play.I got a 3DS XL last year from Target for $135. They had a $150 sale and the 10% off everything for being hacked sale. As I see it, buying a 3DS at all is pointless right now and you should save up for when the New 3DS XL (that's literally the name....New 3DS XL) comes out next year in the US.

Thanks I'm playing Fallout 3 New Vegas, and realizing I'm about ready for a change in video game styles. More colors. Less brown and blood-red.

Hopefully Wii U pricing will remain aggressive after the holidays. I won't be buying in 2014. But maybe early 2015.

 

[DaveF]

Will Mario Maker allow users to download user-made games? I have no interest in making my own levels. But if there's a robust user community, with ranked (and reviewed) fan submissions for download, that would be appealing.