How are you feeling about the Wii U future

[ZeroCool]

Nintendo tottally fucked up this gen but theres much more to enjoy for me on it than the PS4. The PS4 I use sparingly.

[Rickstilwell1]

For me it's not so bad because it only takes one good game I want for me to buy a system. All I bought a Sega CD to play was Sonic CD. All I bought a 32X to play was Knuckles Chaotix, all I bought a Virtual Boy to play was Wario Land, and all I bought an original Xbox to play was Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee. I was later able to discover a couple other games here and there to play on each but for the most part I put most of my effort into 1 system per generation that would just see so many more purchases from me. NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, PS3 was my pattern. I haven't totally entered the new generation yet having just 3DS, Ouya and Wii U, but I can guess that eventually when I do have all the systems PS4 will be the one I start to pick up when all those RPGs start coming out. For now the Wii U and 3DS will satisfy the little bits of newness here and there that I crave while I continue to chip away at gaming from past generations until the PS4 becomes a bit more affordable.

[Tanooki]

I got my WiiU in the mail today, it's a new(refurb) they transferred only my network ID to, they didn't transfer all my save data from the old system so everything is gone. TO make it more interesting, they didn't upgrade the firmware to 5.2, so I couldn't use the system because it went into a loop on the network ID because it wouldn't let me use my password due tot hat. I had to call in, get the boot to system setup code (up dpad, L and R buttons, and start + button) all held at boot to get it to update so I could. Then I find out I can't get my stuff back because of asinine Wii mode so I had to boot it and that into the eshop on there so the other would unlock. I have a working WiiU again that's stripped bare. I guess I can replay the games I have but I don't like that my finished games of both Mario titles, Duck Tales, and COD Ghosts along with nearly finished Zelda and 1/3 of Rayman and RE are all erased.

[PreZZ]

The only thing left for it is the next zelda. Looks like we wont get a metroid this gen and all the big nintendo franchise are already out (well almost considering ssb is due for november). Xenoblade will be great but i doubt it will have good sales number in USA.

[Leo_A]

Zelda isn't really out. Sure, we have a remastering. But Wii U's original Zelda is still in the future.

Hopefully it will appear next Fall, since there's not much coming up for the Wii U that has my interest. NES Remix Pack is a sure buy and I have a slight bit of interest in Captain Toad for upcoming 2014 releases. Then, I'll likely buy Yoshi's Wholly World, Mario Maker is a sure buy as is any Mario platformer, and Fatal Frame 5 is a definite purchase if NOA actually releases it next year. But that's about it for new retail games (Mario Kart DLC is preordered, 90's Arcade Racer for next year has my attention, and I'm sure I'll grab a few more VC titles).

And hopefully they have another ambitious remastering in the works. Metroid Prime Trilogy HD would be almost as great to see as an original Metroid, for instance. That would go a long ways towards fixing their 2014 schedule where I'm concerned.

Better than the 3DS at least. Other than the hope that Sega's 2014 round of 3D Classics will be released in the West, there's nothing. Only Yoshi's Island has been worth bothering with this year, and even that paled compared to the first two.

[BetaWolf47]

The only thing left for it is the next zelda. Looks like we wont get a metroid this gen and all the big nintendo franchise are already out (well almost considering ssb is due for november).
Star Fox?

[Leo_A]

While they've sure tried, I don't think that's a big Nintendo franchise. Other than two hits out of the gate with the youngest fast approaching its 20th anniversary, that franchise has gone no where.

I hope they hit a home run, but nothing I saw from the early stages of it impressed me.

And Kirby still hasn't made an appearance and may never. All the Wii U has on the horizon is Rainbow Curse, a sequel to Canvas Curse. It's entirely possible that the Wii U may never get an original Kirby platformer.

[Tanooki]

Yuck to the canvas curse style of play. I think they'll do a real kirby in the same way they did it on Wii, well beyond its prime as a space filling gimme so the few who still buy and care for the thing have something to do. I think it's a bit harsh coming down on the 3DS that hard, there have been good games this year, even if some were sequels like Curtain Call.

[Leo_A]

Even if it appealed to me, I really don't want to buy a Wii U game that keeps me staring at the gamepad screen. Leave the touch screen oriented stuff to the handheld.


I think it's a bit harsh coming down on the 3DS that hard, there have been good games this year, even if some were sequels like Curtain Call.

Nothing for me, unfortunately. But Afterburner II, Outrun, Fantasy Zone, Thunder Blade, and Fantasy Zone II could sure swing things around if Sega comes through again this December.

But even if I found a few of these more interesting (Like Super Smash Brothers, undoubtedly the most successful 3DS release of the year), it has been a pretty dry year for Nintendo's handheld. And judging by E3, that's going to continue into next year and likely will be even worse as the 3DS ages and the New 3DS (And the eventual full replacement) distracts Nintendo.

[Rickstilwell1]

Kirby games on consoles have a long standing tendency to come out a year or two before the end of a system's life. I would guess 2016 for an original Kirby if any.

[Leo_A]

Too bad that this is passing the Wii U over.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt7lH26NEVA

While I can understand it with many a AAA big-name release, the Wii U would've provided a nice home for this Micro Machines inspired Codemasters release. It's a casual pick up and play style of game, ideal for multiplayer, inspires a lot of nostalgia, and is a modestly priced download. All and all, a good fit for the Wii U.

I assume F1 Race Stars, a solid Mario Kart clone, probably didn't meet their expectations on the Wii U. But holding it back over a year, long after its release on the competition and with Mario Kart 8's release looming, sealed its fate more than anything.

Wish they had given it a 2nd try.

[Tanooki]

That actually looks kind of fun and I'm not even into racing games much these days. I don't get skipping the WiiU on that, especially as a nonphysical release as it would be quite at home there too I agree.

[Leo_A]

A Zelda U delay has, for all intents and purposes, been confirmed by its producer by stating that releasing it in 2015 is no longer the priority. They wouldn't be leaving the door open for it slipping to 2016 if there wasn't the best of chances that they're going to need that extra time.

Happily, my Wii and Wii U backlog remains substantial so it's only to my benefit. But stinks for many fans and Nintendo themselves. Zelda will again all but certainly be their console's swan song for the third generation in a row. Twilight Princess was at the end of the GameCube's life cycle (Ported to the Wii for its launch, but a GCN title at its heart), Skyward Sword was Nintendo's last major in-house project for the Wii, and now this.

And not only will Zelda again not do much to grow the Wii U by being such a late arrival, but they're faced without anything that appears to be a major AAA 1st party release in the current slate of announced titles for the Wii U. Just smaller, more modest projects like Mario Maker are due this year at this time compared to titles like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Brothers last year.

Hopefully they put their full marketing muscle behind Xenoblade Chronicles X, instead of treating it as the red headed stepchild like they did the first time.

[Gameguy]

Zelda will again all but certainly be their console's swan song for the third generation in a row. Twilight Princess was at the end of the GameCube's life cycle (Ported to the Wii for its launch, but a GCN title at its heart), Skyward Sword was Nintendo's last major in-house project for the Wii, and now this.
You're forgetting that the Gamecube also had Wind Waker which came out less than 2 years from the launch of the console, followed by Four Swords Adventures. Twilight Princess was more of a bonus in getting another Zelda game on the console before it was replaced. There should be a new Zelda game already available for the Wii U.

It's hard to believe that the Wii U has been out since 2012 as it feels like it just became available, at least it feels that way as I'm still waiting for news on a big type of release. It feels like nothing important has come out yet. It does have a Zelda game if you count Wind Waker HD, I don't as it's just a re-release of a previous game. I didn't count the re-release games on the Gamecube either.

[Leo_A]

I didn't forget about Wind Waker, but the GameCube's 2nd and final release was Twilight Princess and it came at a time when the GCN wasn't even in production any longer.

Four Swords Adventures, Link's Crossbow Training, Wind Waker HD, Virtual Console releases, the Wii port of Twilight Princess, and the two GCN compilations aren't the same thing. We're talking about major, new, 3D console entries on the system they were built for. Not games like the level based, multiplayer oriented, Four Swords Adventures.

Including Zelda U which likely will appear in the Wii U's final year of much of anything happening with it, the last three main console Zelda's in a row will have all released extremely late in the lifespan of the system that they were released on.

Surely not something that thrills Nintendo.

[Tupin]

Nintendo really wants Splatoon to be a thing. I think it honestly might be, but I'm not sure if a new IP can be a system seller.

I really, really hope that Nintendo doesn't pull a Sega and not have an actual Mario game on the Wii U and just have barely a Zelda game. Even the GameCube eventually got two. I mean they already said that in 2016 they'd show off successors to both the 3DS and Wii U. I can't imagine what the rest of the 2015 lineup looks like for them. Even the 3DS doesn't have much coming up for it.

[Leo_A]

What sort of Mario game? It's already well stocked with platformers (Two 2D platformers with a 3rd on the way, and Super Mario 3D World for a 3D platformer), it has Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10, etc.

Other than a RPG and some sports games like Mario Golf, it's already represented here.

That said, I'd love another 3D platformer, just like the Wii received to the surprise of many.

[Tupin]

The Wii had two Mario Galaxy games and a bunch of other quality platformers. I miss that on Wii U.

[parallaxscroll]

Nintendo's Project Cafe seemed to have a great deal of promise when rumors were leaking in spring 2011. An HD Nintendo console supposedly based on AMD's Radeon HD 4870 / 4850 graphics from 2008. Wide third party support including the then still future GTA 5. Screen built into the controller.

But when Nintendo revealed Wii U at E3 that year, it felt like it was doomed from the start.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eToRfMrjbzM

While Nintendo doesn't sell hardware based on high-end specs, but rather, the strength, quality and appeal of its games, it certainly didn't help matters that Wii U was actually weaker than Xbox 360 and PS3. Even though Wii U had more RAM for games (1 GB vs 512 MB) and a more modern GPU (newer feature set), the performance was still lower (turned out Wii U GPU is based on one of the low-end Radeon 4000 series, not the mid to higher end GPU in that family, and customized with EDRAM) had less memory bandwidth than Xbox 360, and a slower, weaker CPU in comparison to both 360 and PS3.


Right now, as of early 2015, Nintendo has sold around 9.2 ~ 10 million consoles worldwide. That's about the same number that Dreamcast sold in its short life. Wii U is tracking about the same as Dreamcast and far below GameCube which was Nintendo's previous worst-selling home console.


To be clear, it's not hardware where Nintendo went so wrong ( even though it didn't help ) it was Nintendo's horrible, confusing messaging regarding Wii U (so many people thought it was a new controller for the Wii they already owned) and the pricing. $300 / $350 at launch. Nearly 2.5 years later, it's still $300.


As of today, Wii U does not have much of a future, outside of big 1st party games. The announcement of Project NX has nearly sealed Wii U's fate.

[Leo_A]

As of today, Wii U does not have much of a future, outside of big 1st party games.

I'd sadly argue that it doesn't even have much of a one there.

Other than Zelda U, it seems likely to have received all of its big 1st party releases. Left are some quality, smaller scale projects and non traditional stuff like Xenoblade Chronicles X. The big mainstream stuff seems all but done.

Doesn't even seem as if Animal Crossing is going to make a showing, one of their newest and biggest franchises. I would imagine that if it doesn't get announced by the time that E3 has came and went, it's safe to assume that this is the first console to not receive an entry in this franchise since it started.

[Tanooki]

Sadly well said parallax. I want to say I'm sorry I ever bought it, but the dozen games I had for it I did get some fun out of for a time. I would have been happier had I got it on some slick deal like how I fanagled a brand new PS4 for $300, then down to $200 after selling off pack-in fluff I didn't want. I just wish they'd have listened to developers as it would be a fairly different experience than we got.

[Tupin]

Nintendo is basically screwed with Western developers on their systems. Even when companies shamelessly rip off Nintendo's ideas they go onto other systems and then complain about how backward Nintendo is.

The complaining from the same people that Nintendo is making mobile games is maddening.

[Tanooki]

It's 100% pure bitchin for the sake of bitchin. Nintendo at this rate other from non-biased analysts (few and far between) and straight Nintendo buyers/supporters you'll never get an honest assessment. It's far easier (ie lazier) to rip on them to point out what works, let alone call people on their crap when they rub against them then make a pure ripoff of a game and talk it up on their hardware. It passed being boring some years ago.

[Tupin]

I think only recently have people realized that yes, apparently you can support your system with only first-party releases if you have the most recognizable names in the industry. It used to make them mad that Nintendo sold at all, even if they did/do lag behind everyone else.

To be fair this is a pretty bad "generation" that's colored mostly by Sony and Microsoft refusing to cut the umbilical cord of last gen. It's harder to push jumping from PS3/360 to PS4/One than it was PS2/Xbox to PS3/360. Maybe because there's no significant technical selling point/gimmick. But as long as triple AAA games are on systems you already own, why buy a new one?

[Zthun]

I think only recently have people realized that yes, apparently you can support your system with only first-party releases if you have the most recognizable names in the industry. It used to make them mad that Nintendo sold at all, even if they did/do lag behind everyone else.

To be fair this is a pretty bad "generation" that's colored mostly by Sony and Microsoft refusing to cut the umbilical cord of last gen. It's harder to push jumping from PS3/360 to PS4/One than it was PS2/Xbox to PS3/360. Maybe because there's no significant technical selling point/gimmick. But as long as triple AAA games are on systems you already own, why buy a new one?

Social Status. Lots of people want to keep up with the Joneses.

[y9784]

I think only recently have people realized that yes, apparently you can support your system with only first-party releases if you have the most recognizable names in the industry.

Even though Nintendo reaps the rewards from 1st party games, other publishers are not seeing similar results.

Most of the time, 3rd party pubs can push only 200K sales max, according to this handy VG chartz (http://www.vgchartz.com/platform/47/wii-u/)


When publishers see the lack of viability on a platform, we don't get unique titles, especially those that take advantage of the capabilities of that platform. Publishers will not fund these projects.


Less awesome games == Lack of interest in consumers

This chart shows the Wii U sold 9.29 mil units in the US. That is less than half the current leader in this generation--PS4 is leading at 19.6 mil--making the Wii U third behind the XBONE.
(http://www.vgchartz.com/platforms/)

I mean, do even realize that the Wii U has been competing neck and neck with PS3 sales weekly for most of this past year (a nine year old platform); two months of last year, having half the sales of PS3. (http://www.vgchartz.com/tools/hw_date.php)

My point is that consumers see value in a platform that has major support from 3rd party pubs.

[The 1 2 P]

At this point the Wii U doesn't have a future, though that could have been a similar argument over the last two years. Like all Nintendo consoles over the last few gens it's basically good for a few first party games and nothing else. I honestly had less interest in the Wii U than I had in the Wii and I really didn't think that was possible. But apparently I'm not alone.

[The Adventurer]

Concidering the average output of most 3rd parties these days, it's no real great loss.

[Tupin]

And honestly, even if Nintendo were to gain support from 3rd parties it would only be Japanese developers. Usually when people say "Nintendo has no third party support" they mean "Nintendo has no Western third party support." Most of the good third party games on Nintendo systems, with rare exceptions, are non-Western.

[FUZZY PICKLES!!!]

I think it goes without saying that the Wii U is doomed. I've felt that way since late 2013 and all sales data have only affirmed my stance.

And as someone that has been a lifelong fan of Nintendo, The Wii U has been a big disappointment for me in every aspect. I was a big supporter of the Wii (until it seemingly got dropped off the air after 2010) and I consider it to be my favorite Nintendo system after the N64 so I felt I had good reasons to expect good things with the successor. Seeing the fallout makes the system feel really underwhelming to me. Outside of Rayman Legends and maybe Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails I can't think of a single third-party game that interest me on the platform. By the time I am done buying games for the Wii U, I will probably have less than fifteen original games for it. Even the GameCube has around twenty games I have bought/want to get and I wasn't impressed with it either when I had it. Along with Nintendo absolutely mismanaging the Wii U's marketing and being an underpowered system (seriously, less powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360?), I'm surprised there's anyone that is saying the Wii U is underrated.

Honestly, I don't have much hope that the Wii U's successor will be much better. Nintendo has placed themselves in between a rock and a hard place in regards to third-party developers and while I'm sure Nintendo first-party games will be great like it always has been, increased development cost on working on a more powerful system may limit how much games they can make, unless Nintendo really knows what they are doing. Unless support for Gamecube/Dreamcast/Saturn titles on the Virtual Console gets added on the next system, the Wii U will probably be the last Nintendo home console I ever get (same with the 3DS for handhelds once I get that). Heck if it weren't for SSB Wii U (specifically Mega Man's inclusion), I wouldn't have bothered with the Wii U. Smash is no longer a selling point to me either as I'm already satisfied with the first four installments (technically five but whatever), so there's not really any original game that would realistically get revived that I would buy the Wii U's successor for.

[The Adventurer]

And honestly, even if Nintendo were to gain support from 3rd parties it would only be Japanese developers. Usually when people say "Nintendo has no third party support" they mean "Nintendo has no Western third party support." Most of the good third party games on Nintendo systems, with rare exceptions, are non-Western.

Yuppers. Atlus, Capcom, Konami, Sega, Bamco, etc... etc...

Seriously, who really cares about EA, Activation, and Ubi? All their games come out on PC any way.

[Leo_A]

With the state of Japanese development these days, those guys are mostly irrelevant these days.

[FUZZY PICKLES!!!]

With the state of Japanese development these days, those guys are mostly irrelevant these days.Not only that, the Japanese game industry in general is a shadow of its former selves. Konami has pretty much nothing left at this point after Metal Gear Solid V that would get anyone to pay attention to them, Capcom only has Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Phoenix Wright, and Street Fighter left (and Street Fighter V is being funded by Sony), Sega is mostly dead on consoles outside of Sonic, Index Corporation went bankrupt and Atlus got sold to Sega, etc. Atlus and Namco Bandai are still doing pretty good game-wise, but they're exceptions, not the rule. I used to be a big fan of Capcom, now I'm totally done with them in regards to new games.

Nintendo has no choice but to appeal to western third-parties as they're the ones relevant today. Obviously many people care about the likes of Ubisoft, EA, and Activision (or at least the franchise they put out) else they wouldn't be some of the biggest third-parties today. If Nintendo can't do that, the Wii U's successor will fail and Nintendo will probably exit the console market afterwards. I dislike EA and Activision and even I realize how important it is that Nintendo gets them on board.

[celerystalker]

My tastes are so far from what modern games put out there anymore that I just don't care. When something comes out that I'm into, I make sure and support it, like the physical release of Terraria, Dragon's Crown, and the physical releases of the new Strider and Duck Tales remastered. However, for the most part I get that western development is the present, and it's just mostly not for me, and at least there is an astounding back catalog from the last 4 decades to enjoy. Nintendo every now and then shows flashes of what it once was, but their once catchy take on games has been slowly unraveling as games continue to push into increasingly larger scale.

[Tupin]

I'm sorry, but you can't say the Western industry is free from problems either. Microtransactions, DRM, DLC, buggy games, terrible PR...Western developers have just as many problems as Japanese ones. The thing is that while you can have a Nintendo system without Western support, without Japanese support you're screwed.

Besides, it's not like Sony/Microsoft are exactly courting the best of the best in terms of exclusives or unique ideas. Sony's systems have the unfortunate negative moniker "Indiestation" in some circles, reflecting their dependence on indies to produce content of extremely varying quality but not genre.

[Cornelius]

Speculation on my part, but it seems to me like Nintendo has just settled into what it needs to do for its target audience: 'old' gamers and younger kids. For a lot of us (or maybe just me) with kids and jobs and houses and etc, the Wii U really has enough going on. I just don't have the time to play a ton of stuff, so honestly just the first party releases are more than I'll probably ever get to since I also play on PC and older consoles. But the likes of Pikmin and Mario Kart are enough to get me to buy in on a WiiU. Plus I can play them with my kids.

And for younger kids, either it is people in my situation, or parents that don't know or care about games and the kids aren't necessarily very discerning. So they get the Marios and some crappy 3rd party games and have no complaints. I know I played the crap out of some really lousy games as a kid and didn't know any better.

Maybe Nintendo has done the calculation and decided on exactly what they need to do to target these groups and don't feel the need to make the investment/risk required to woo the teenage (for lack of a better category) market. That is, the market that really has the time to play a lot of games and has higher standards.

[FUZZY PICKLES!!!]

I'm sorry, but you can't say the Western industry is free from problems either. Microtransactions, DRM, DLC, buggy games, terrible PR...Western developers have just as many problems as Japanese ones. The thing is that while you can have a Nintendo system without Western support, without Japanese support you're screwed.

Besides, it's not like Sony/Microsoft are exactly courting the best of the best in terms of exclusives or unique ideas. Sony's systems have the unfortunate negative moniker "Indiestation" in some circles, reflecting their dependence on indies to produce content of extremely varying quality but not genre.I'm not sure if this was referring to me, but if it was, I never said anything about the Western gaming industry being better than the Japanese gaming industry. As a matter of fact, I see the Western gaming industry (along with Sony) as the primary reason behind the majority of the problems that happen in the video game industry today and I much prefer Japanese third-parties. But I can't see Nintendo's hardware surviving without the support of Western third-parties. EA didn't support the Dreamcast at all and it failed. They dropped the Wii U early on and look at how terribly the Wii U is doing. I don't think Nintendo can remain in the console market with the biggest third-party companies ignoring them.

[Leo_A]

Does anyone know when the final round of gold/platinum rewards will be posted?

[Tanooki]

Coins are deleted July 1st, so that definitely would be a 6/30 cut off to use what you have, so they'll likely post the rewards after that, then take their usual 3-6months to bother sending them out.

[Leo_A]

I was hoping it would be earlier than that. [Edit: My hunch was right. Rewards go up April 1st].

As for the wait, I'd be grabbing something like a Virtual Console download, so that never bothered me. :)

I have enough junk without collecting stuff like Mario themed playing cards and so on.

[Tanooki]

Sounds good, due to their dickery of removing codes early in the year I didn't make the platinum I should have with the new3ds+xenoblade among a few other 3DS games so I have gold. I expect nothing but a crappy digital download after last years shenanigans so I'm really not holding any anticipation of what is to come and I'll take whatever I get.

[BetaWolf47]

I'm with Tanooki on this one. I'm not holding my breath for a physical reward this time around either. Too many people (myself included) started redeeming unused codes like crazy as soon as they announced Club Nintendo was closing. Too many elite members to give a physical reward this year.

Regardless, I choose to remain optimistic about the Wii U future.

[ZeroCool]

The cancellation of the Zelda has really pissed me off and I'm not even a huge Zelda fan. I hope they have had a huge slice of humble pie and realize how idiotic they have been this gen. Get your head out of your asses already.

[Leo_A]

Zelda wasn't cancelled, they merely prepared us for a very likely delay.

[ZeroCool]

Yes. Thats what I meant.

[kai123]

I didn't hear about this delay. I mean it is a Zelda game so of course it will be delayed. Still stinks though.

[Tanooki]

I'm not sure how official it is, but Zelda is definitely slated currently for 2016. Nintendo supposedly has a franchise game to pop at E3 to get attention, what I was told, likely to be another Mario Galaxy game, which I think would temporarily help them a bit. Supposedly they have some cross platform game coming to WiiU as well, but I was not told what, but again just because you get a cross platform title and likely Mario to pop up this year, that doesn't fix things, it just bandaids the sore for owners, a nice bandaid but still not a fix. I was on my phone for over 2 hours talking junk like this system, lego and other stuff last night so that's the only reason I'm writing this.

Unless there's some NDA or death thing going on due to E3, there's not much going on there, best to look forward to the New3DS/3DS library to come at the show, and you can forget the NX as that almost surely won't rear its head since that's a couple years out. I don't think they'd likely do that stupid move they did with the WiiU controller an E3 too early a few years back.

[Leo_A]

I'm not sure how official it is, but Zelda is definitely slated currently for 2016.

That's not a fact though, as I recall from the exact wording. They said something like "releasing in 2015 is no longer our top priority".

While it seems quite clear that it has been delayed since they wouldn't of ever released that video if it weren't, technically, they never actually confirmed it.


Nintendo supposedly has a franchise game to pop at E3 to get attention, what I was told, likely to be another Mario Galaxy game, which I think would temporarily help them a bit.

Doubt it, the Wii U just got its 3D Mario platformer a year and a half ago.

Where'd you read this rumor? Hasn't been making the rounds anywhere that I visit. Would be nice to see, but I wouldn't put two cents into it since the rumors that actually have a chance of being viable, are quickly spread in the news hungry Nintendo world.


best to look forward to the New3DS/3DS library to come at the show

Considering that the Wii U has been getting more of interest than the 3DS over the past year or more and that the stopgap New 3DS went months before its first game (Which isn't even out for several more days, anywhere) with nothing else currently announced for it, I suggest that people don't hold their breath there.

3DS will be lucky to get out of E3 with 2 or 3 projects of interest to anyone. The focus clearly seems to have been with the Wii U and preparing for the next generation, rather than the 3DS. New 3DS may get one port later this year if it's lucky (I keep coming back to Super Mario Sunshine as ideal for it) and the 3DS may get two or three smaller scale Nintendo projects in the vein of some recent releases like Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

But I don't see anything major coming. Just enough to keep something going until the Fall of 2016, when they're both replaced.

[Leo_A]

Nintendo Direct tomorrow.

[Tanooki]

Well not publicly they haven't 100% admitted it, but it is 2016. Again you know I have that family source of info working in that industry. They can't get it done due to the ambitious design and scope(size) of the game without compromise is how it looks. I have no idea if that direct tomorrow will hit on that, or just some tidbits as a tease leading up to E3. Mario again, supposedly the internal chatter is galaxy 3 and has also been quietly worked on for awhile. The WiiU Super Mario 3D World was actually supposed to be a 3DS game they shoveled over, just like how New Super Mario Bros Wii was actually a 3DS project too. That's why they have those odd touch moments in 3D World where you basically have to use the tablet pad to play because of those touch elements designed for the 3DS. I hate rumors with a passion let alone peddling them, but it's what I got told, it's also why I don't share it much further than this small group here. Sure NOA employees/fans on the inside could be feeding a misdirection or bad info, but that's basically the word. Galaxy 3, worked on for awhile now, Super Mario 3D World was a plug for the release hole and had been originally designed as a 3DS game they carried over. It's totally plausible since they did the lift and move with how New Super Mario Wii was originally not a Wii game either to start.

Now about the New 3DS I did ask about that. I actually got an answer of what the hell is going on with the no games for New 3DS. Nintendo was forced to release it. Xenoblade was a fairly 'easy' conversion that was used to get something out there, just like the barely upgrade to Ace Combat from Namco. As you may recall recent events played out like this. New 3DS bomb was dropped. N3DS was in short supply so Japan and oddly enough Australia got it only, to then release a couple months later here. The one game for it dedicated only out in Japan, the rest of the world waits days more into early April. Now fast forward to this month...DENA. Nintendo now drops the story about the NX in development, then after that then they break their big so called word on never touching tablets and now they are, and now they are with DENA and they're like due to some stock swappage somewhat of a very minor share holder in a 2nd party way. Now keep that one in mind. You have Nintendo without still a true 'network' for their systems vs PSN/XBL. They get in bed with DENA to make them their own network on that exact same level, yet more. DENA is into that, but more into tablet/phone junk. They create this bitchin network that covers the N3DS, the WiiU, Android, and iOS if not more. Any game on those will have a shared Nintendo account, probably end up having trophies and the works with shared data and progess along with login/password. Nintendo can then have those games talk. They can make some touch junk have it associate with a 3DS or NX game and a WiiU title too. A true real finally Nintendo Network ID. Make a 'Mario Dash' game,then have earned Nintendo coins get you DLC or something on your Mario Kart 9 or Smario Bros NX, or do enough in a touch game, unlock a character.

That's why the N3DS came out all shitty and had nothing to show for it other than 1 1/2 games of which one is a port and the other is a 1.0 to 1.1 like upgrade. The intent of the New3DS is to last longer than just 2016. I know anything can change, but that whole N3DS, DENA, true network, etc thing does all make sense.

[Leo_A]

Well not publicly they haven't 100% admitted it, but it is 2016.

It may look like I'm nitpicking, but they also didn't confirm their new release window. They essentially said that it will release when it's ready to be released.

I hope that it's 2016, but Zelda titles have slipped far more than a year in the past. And I'm not at all certain that this isn't going to be another Twilight Princess deal, or worse and perhaps end up skipping the Wii U entirely.

And if that happens and their next gen hardware isn't a year and a half out like many speculate it is, I could see Nintendo sitting on this past 2016, when their next gen hardware actually is ready to go.


Again you know I have that family source of info working in that industry.

You never told me anything about that.

I love a good Mario platformer, so I'd love for your source to end up vindicated. But it seems a bit too soon when Super Mario 3D Mario will only turn two this Fall.

Mario Maker makes sense given that New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U are some of the earliest releases on the system. But Super Mario 3D World is still a young release with a lot of shelf life left.

I'd be surprised to see a new release so soon that supersedes that one, and even more surprised if it does happen and doesn't recycle much of the foundation already laid by Super Mario 3D World like its engine (Like how Majora's Mask on the N64 and Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii went about it).


just like the barely upgrade to Ace Combat from Namco.

I think even that is being a bit too generous. All they did was add Nintendo paint schemes to unlock and standardized the Circle Pad Pro support from the Japanese release.

Hopefully the fans that already had the original, did their homework. Not much justification to double dip here, unless one just absolutely detested the lack of a 2nd stick.

[The Adventurer]

If Nintendo is missing Christmas 2015 for Zelda U, there is no way they'll let Christmas 2016 pass them by. I full expect Zelda U no later then Nov 2016 as there last big Wii U Hurrah before the NX in late 2017

[Leo_A]

If Nintendo is missing Christmas 2015 for Zelda U, there is no way they'll let Christmas 2016 pass them by. I full expect Zelda U no later then Nov 2016 as there last big Wii U Hurrah before the NX in late 2017

What makes you so certain that this huge Nintendo franchise, which if they follow through with it on the Wii U will be the 3rd major console Zelda in a row that appeared at the end of a console generation, isn't being realigned as a next generation launch title?

It could then actually do some real good in moving units and propping up what's traditionally a slow opening year or so on the marketplace.

If their next gen hardware comes out in 2017 like you're assuming and they're thinking this with Zelda, they're going to sit on it until then even if a Wii U counterpart is still in the plans to fulfill their promises like they did with Twilight Princess, even if it's ready for release in 2016.

[Tanooki]

Well personally, until I see them have a sustainable beyond their own myopic world I doubt I'd buy a console of theirs again when it came out, potentially at all, until I could get it stupid cheap to rationalize the tunnel vision sized selection of games. With that said I don't care if it slides to the next system or not, but potentially speaking, it probably would do them a world of good if it did. The WiiU aside from fans and just people buying for the little ones is a dead issue to most, so a big profile game like that being co-released (like TP was) or just dumping the WiiU entirely would likely be to its benefit. TP got sat on for the Wii so there's a history there.

My brother works for Pipeworks in Eugene OR. Formerly Volition(THQ) (producer/asst producer) on stuff like the 2 Red Faction releases and Saints Row 3. Before that was Rockstar Games (Midnight Club 3 DUB), Sega Sammy, and EA San Diego(aka Leaf Games before buy out.) He's been at it like I think 10+years roughly even starting with Leaf before college was completed if I remember right. The thing is when you are in that crappy industry you rarely end up finding a company that doesn't look at people as toilet paper to wipe and flush away by the project so he's been around until his most recent place which is somehow a safe place (main owner isn't fly by night standard fare) but you get connections and people keep talking on social media, quiet emails, calls, events. I end up getting calls from him every few months and then it ends up like a 2-3hour call and all this stuff that's not truly under a legal NDA gets shared. The stuff I can say I will, stuff that probably shouldn't, won't. The thing is Super Mario 3D World isn't the same team of people who work on the 3D platformers like Galaxy etc, they have divisions within divisions who work on stuff. Their handheld people who do those 2D Mario games do stuff, then there's another who really focuses on the full 3D games so they tag team. I don't think it would be considered too soon if you have a Galaxy 3 fill in for Christmas with Zelda getting the boot, that would make their year on the back end with Kart/Brawl keeping people happy on the front end. No doubt Super Mario 3D World has life left, but while it's still technically a 3D game, it's different enough from a Galaxy style title you could get away with it.

I don't think I was being overly generous, I did say 1.0 to 1.1 upgrade on Ace Combat. :) I don't give a damn about paint schemes, but being able to use the c-stick is nice, just not $30 nice to me. If I ever happen across it in a dumpster bin of $10 clearance titles I'll grab it since I already own the original as I don't care about amiibo scan paint jobs.

[The Adventurer]

What makes you so certain that this huge Nintendo franchise, which if they follow through with it on the Wii U will be the 3rd major console Zelda in a row that appeared at the end of a console generation, isn't being realigned as a next generation launch title?

Because.

Worst case scenario we get another Twilight Princess situation and get a dual release on both consoles. (Though I very much doubt it*) But it'll definitly be on Wii U. Mark it.

NX for 4th Quarter 2017 is also a very good bet. Which if my Zelda U for 4th Quarter 2016 holds, will be quite a long gap for a port.


* I have a very strong hunch the hardware specs between NX and Wii U are going to be quit different. Porting Twilight Princess between Gamecube and Wii was pretty easy because they have shared hardware architecture.

[Leo_A]

NX for 4th Quarter 2017 is also a very good bet.

At least there's a chance. Not long ago, I'd of been dismissive that they could hold out that long.

Working under the assumption of a high degree of commonality for their console and handheld lines in the upcoming generation (Meaning that both existing platforms will be replaced simultaneously), there didn't seem a prayer of keeping their handheld line going as long as that with how 3DS sales have been shaping up.

But sales are rebounding somewhat with the enthusiasm around this new stopgap that will make that timeline viable if they so choose, as I see it.

But they better have some interesting 3DS and New 3DS projects lined up if they want to remain a going concern in the meantime.


I have a very strong hunch the hardware specs between NX and Wii U are going to be quit different. Porting Twilight Princess between Gamecube and Wii was pretty easy because they have shared hardware architecture.

This is why if they are eyeing Zelda U as an asset that's better off being realigned for next-gen hardware, I wouldn't be so certain that Wii U fans will belatedly be catered to as well.


NX for 4th Quarter 2017 is also a very good bet.

Note that we don't actually know what NX is, except that it's dedicated Nintendo hardware.

It may be a console, it may be a handheld, it may be both in a variety of manners (A hybrid all-in-one system, separate console and handheld versions that run the same code, etc.), or perhaps even something brand new.

Remember how Nintendo hedged their bets with the DS and referred to it as their 3rd pillar?

For all we know, this is Nintendo's own take on the smartphone. We simply don't know.

[Leo_A]

Apparently, Nintendo of America confirmed months ago that only digital downloads would be included for this final round of elite rewards.

[Tanooki]

Sounds about right, probably why I said what I did as it probably was something read and forgotten. I'm sure I"ll end up with some piddly $5-10 3DS download. At least I have a 32GB card in my N3DS so it will fit as that DK one last year ate up a hell of a lot of room.

[Leo_A]

Not a huge lineup (I expected at least all the Virtual Console rewards from that last large group to reappear here as Gold selections), but not awful thanks to a decent selection of platinums

Three of the GBA downloads are on my want list, so at least I get to save a few dollars here with something that I'd of eventually paid money to download anyways. Probably wouldn't of went with a platinum choice even if I had it as an option this year, thanks to my preference for retail.

Gold Status (Earned 300 Coins):

Wii U Games

Advance Wars (Wii U - VC)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Wii U - VC)
Metroid Fusion (Wii U - VC)
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Wii U – VC)
Super Mario Kart (Wii U – VC)
The Legend of Zelda (Wii U – VC)
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! (Wii U – VC)
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (Wii U – VC)

Nintendo 3DS Games

Crashmo (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Pushmo (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo 3DS – VC)
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (Nintendo 3DS – VC)
The Mysterious Murasame Castle (Nintendo 3DS – VC)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (Nintendo 3DS – VC)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (Nintendo 3DS – VC)

Platinum Status (Earned 600 Coins):

Wii U Games

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U – Digital Download)
NES Remix 2 (Wii U – Digital Download)
Punch-Out!! (Wii U – VC)
Pushmo World (Wii U – Digital Download)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii U – VC)

Nintendo 3DS Games

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Mario Golf World Tour (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Mario Party: Island Tour (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Ultimate NES Remix (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)
Yoshi's New Island (Nintendo 3DS – Digital Download)

[Leo_A]

Ignoring the boring bits like their heavy promotion of figurines, Mario Maker has so far been confirmed for September.

I'm concerned though that they won't ship it with a full slate of Nintendo made levels, and that we'll only be able to share single levels online.

Looking forward to Yarn Yoshi.

And DS and N64 reconfirmed finally, with Yoshi's Island DS and Super Mario 64 available after the broadcast.

[BetaWolf47]

Solid Direct, but holy shit is that a lot of Amiibo figures.

[Leo_A]

Almost felt like they were more focused on selling those stupid figurines, than actual games.

But thankfully, there were some nice exceptions (Especially on the Wii U side, 3DS seemed pretty much a bust, I thought). :)

[Tupin]

Of course they want to sell those figurines, that's where they made a ton of money in 2014.

[Leo_A]

Of course they want to sell those figurines, that's where they made a ton of money in 2014.

Of course, but they have to be careful that they don't end up not seeing the forest for the trees. Otherwise what's now a positive that is largely creating excitement among their fans (At least those not annoyed by stock shortages, cancelled preorders, and retailer exclusive figurines), could end up otherwise.

Of course, I'm not actually suggesting that's any sort of a threat that Nintendo will lose sight of their primary purpose. But if they're not careful, they're going to drive this new deal right into the ground.

[Leo_A]

Just as a warning, while Super Mario 64 is being rendered in HD and looks beautiful, Mario Kart DS is not and looks awful. Can't picture M2 being behind this lowres mess, so I assume another party is responsible for the DS emulator.

I'll be avoiding any 3D DS games on here unless this is someday fixed. 2D games though will look just fine upscaled and wouldn't of benefited anyways from being rendered at a higher resolution (Never really understood that, but that's how it works and I'll leave it to the tech wizards to explain why the difference between a polygon and a sprite).

[Tupin]

I've got to give them props for not abandoning people without a New 3DSXL by releasing that Amiibo adapter. I also do enjoy that they are branching out with Amiibos via yarn Amiibo and just cards. I wish they would have announced another New 3DSXL only title, would have made the purchase seem like more than just a faster normal 3DS if I had more than a port from last gen...

[Leo_A]

With Xenoblade Chronicles releasing now, I can't say as I blame them. The New 3DS was never going to be awash with exclusives, so they may as well let that ported RPG have all the attention that it can get.

I would expect that the next release, likely another port, will be announced at E3 for the upcoming Christmas season.

[Tanooki]

E3 they'll have stuff, definitely. I just hope it gets more than 4 retail releases like DSi did as it did that system no favors. I don't expect GBC volume but something admirable would be nice. OR at the last like with the DSi games that had full enhanced FPS, visuals, audio etc you never knew existed without the internet, they could do that and put an icon on the box so New3DS people know they'll get a bit extra.

[WCP]

I would expect the NX to launch November 2016. I think 2017 is too dang late.


We're still 8 months away from mid November 2015, and 20 months away from November 2016. 20 months is a long time...

[Leo_A]

Long post ahead about what I've learned so far about the addition of Nintendo DS software to the Wii U Virtual Console...

http://i.imgur.com/HxrSvaI.png

First, here's a good video demonstrating the low resolution that it's rendered in, which looks just like the native side of that screenshot comparison posted above.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_GIOAk6kGw

Now here is how Mario Kart DS looks when rendered in HD by a homebrew PC emulator, looking very reminscent of the right hand side of the comparison above with native mode.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzb5Ss7MMl0

Sadly, issues go past just that with the addition of DS titles. :(

First, there are no button remapping options with the DS emulator, unlike what we've came to expect. There's also no support for anything except the Wii U gamepad, regardless if the game didn't utilize the touch screen of the DS like Yoshi's Island DS.

Secondly, there's no proper single screen support for Yoshi's Island DS. The best you can apparently do is what's shown in the early seconds of the video below, prior to the uploader apparently zooming in with video editing software to maximize the size of the picture.

So unless your HDTV has a zoom feature for HD sources that can correct this like he did with his video a few seconds in, people may want to think twice before buying Yoshi's Island DS since it's going to be a very small picture on many tv's.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-IE3qntOs

[Leo_A]

Getting away from DS emulation, this shot would seem to confirm that we can string multiple levels together to form our own games in Mario Maker.

http://i.imgur.com/x8pbqcq.png

Still the question though if we can distribute entire games online, or just single levels.

[Leo_A]

Deep into the late stages of Super Mario 3D World, and now a return of a past hardware issue with it. :(

Last night, my Wii U gamepad failed to power on my console and displayed the error message that I did a bit of complaining about on here before. Following the instructions sadly doesn't work, with the only way to turn the system on after this displays being the console's power button or Wiimote. Last time, the problem was very intermittent at first and progressed over a few months to a point where the console never responded to the gamepad's power button (Except when turning the system off, which always worked 100%).

http://oi57.tinypic.com/2djb42e.jpg

I wonder if it's worth sending it in to Nintendo again. I believe my warranty is still valid (I think my past repair added another 12 months to the existing and now expired original coverage), It was only six months old when this started the first time, and it's barely been that long since it was sent in for lengthy (And rather sloppily handled on their part) repairs for this issue the last time.

Might be easier just to pretend that the gamepad doesn't have a power button...

What would you guys do? Live with it and hope it doesn't become something more serious, or see if they finally can make a lasting fix?

[Gameguy]

I wonder if it's worth sending it in to Nintendo again. I believe my warranty is still valid (I think my past repair added another 12 months to the existing and now expired original coverage), It was only six months old when this started the first time, and it's barely been that long since it was sent in for lengthy (And rather sloppily handled on their part) repairs for this issue the last time.

Might be easier just to pretend that the gamepad doesn't have a power button...

What would you guys do? Live with it and hope it doesn't become something more serious, or see if they finally can make a lasting fix?
Personally I would send it back if it's still under warranty. Of course, after getting it taken care of I would dump the console off before it self destructs. Having the same problem happen more than once is something I wouldn't put up with. I would wait for a system redesign which eventually will happen as it's standard for Nintendo. I try to avoid DS Lites now because I've had several develop problems after I bought them.

[Tupin]

Do you guys think Splatoon will be a system seller?

[Tanooki]

Leo fix it, then dump it and get another. There's likely an underlying issue they won't fully test for (as usual with free warranty work to keep costs down) and just pop out whatever part/parts are causing the issue and hope for the best. I had a chrysler a decade ago that had an issue clearly with the expensive main computer board, instead they kept swapping out the $5 to $few hundred dollar parts or part clusters instead of the thousands of dollars computer itself. It caused me a dozen repair tickets over like 2 years, so once I got it stable I pushed it off on Carmax and got a VW.

At some point you got to realize you'll be fighting a repeated headache. Save the trouble, repair it, then sell it to a new buyer as 'with new warranty' which will help boost confidence. Maybe it'll actually be fixed? Maybe not, but it'll have the warranty.


...and no I don't think splatoon is a system seller, at least on a large scale. I'm sure it'll help have a good burst of short term sales going up but it's no Mario, Zelda, Kart or Smash game. You want to see a WiiU system seller, fire the jerks at Nintendo who repeatedly block having a full blown Pokemon RPG on a home system. You add that to the WiiU combined with the fact they have their easy internet setup and no network fees, it'll move systems like crack.