News Article

Nintendo Download: 30th November 2012 (Europe) - Wii U Edition

Posted by Thomas Whitehead

Got your hard drive ready?

Wii U is finally arriving in Europe and PAL regions, and with it comes all of the excitement of a new system. Part of that — after the system update, of course — is the Wii U eShop, which arrives with some exciting download-only games as well as a host of retail titles. There's plenty to get through, so let's get to it.

Wii U Download Software

Trine 2: Director's Cut (Frozenbyte, £10.99 / €13.49 [promotional price until 31st December 2012, €16.99 / £13.99 thereafter]) — Frozenbyte has come straight out of the gate with a promotional price on this launch day offering; this visually stunning title makes its way to Wii U with some content exclusive to the platform, and also includes three player co-op either in online or local play. It's a quest involving a wizard, knight and thief, which certainly sounds fun, though there are a few shortcomings to be aware of — check out our Trine 2: Director's Cut review for details.

Puddle (Neko Entertainment, £7.19 / €7.99 [promotional price until 14th December, €9.99 / £8.99 thereafter]) — Originally released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, the developer has previously promised that this will be a definitive version of the game, with various control options possible on the GamePad. It's a water-based physics puzzler that certainly looks promising, and we'll let you know what we think in our upcoming review.

Nano Assault Neo (Shin'en Multimedia, £8.99 / €9.99) — It's an all-new HD, fully fledged entry in the Nano Assault series, which started off so strongly on 3DS. It's a visual and aural feast, with twin stick shmup action sure to please arcade gamers and action junkies alike, while co-op takes advantage of the GamePad's extra screen. Online leaderboards are sure to attract competitive score chasers, and despite being a little light on content we deemed it worthy of 8/10 in our Nano Assault Neo review.

Little Inferno (Tomorrow Corporation, £12.99 / €14.99) — This title is from a team including those that brought us World of Goo — with which it shares its art style — and Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, and is possibly the most abstract and intriguing of the launch titles on offer. It's not necessarily the easiest game to understand and explain as a result, but we do our best while recommending it in our Little Inferno review.

Chasing Aurora (Broken Rules, £10.79 / €11.99) — With a gorgeous art style, this is a flying game with a 2D zoomed-out perspective, which has a strong emphasis on multiplayer through a variety of modes. It's currently a Wii U exclusive, and we explain why it's worth strong consideration in our Chasing Aurora review.

Wii U Retail Demo

FIFA 13 (EA, free) — It's encouraging to see a demo available on day one, with EA getting in first with the Wii U version of its yearly football title. As is expected with some launch games, there are some notable features missing in the Wii U edition, but the developers have put some effort into incorporating the GamePad in interesting ways, such as aiming shots with the touchscreen or quickly managing tactics while the action is still unfolding. And hey, it's a free demo, so what's stopping you?

Wii U Retail Downloads

There are a number of retail titles already available to download on the Wii U eShop. At the moment some games are listed but not marked as availalabe, while other launch titles aren't yet showing. Consider this particular list to be provisional at the moment, though we'll update as the system officially launches.

There's a fair bit to choose from on day one, and we expect the list of retail options to evolve once launch day arrives. There are five download-only games to choose from, however, so will any of those be prompting you to put some funds on your new system's account? Let us know in the comments and poll below.

What will you be download first from the Wii U eShop? (87 votes)

Trine 2: Director's Cut

24%

Puddle

  3%

Nano Assault Neo

18%

Little Inferno

18%

Chasing Aurora

7%

Nothing for me this week

29%

Please login to vote in this poll.

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User Comments (55)

Dogmansp

#3

Dogmansp said:

F-fifty?! I was hoping to go (almost) all digital for the Wii U, now I'm not too sure...

Beta

#4

Beta said:

Again with the stupid retail downloads being more expensive than retail price itself?!

Mollutje

#6

Mollutje said:

Nice.. there's already a bunch of downloadable titles I'd love to sink my teeth into. Question though, how am I supposed to purchase these titles without a credit card? Will there be prepaid cards available just like the ones for the 3DS?

MisterRJ45

#7

MisterRJ45 said:

I highly recommend Nano Assault Neo to those looking for an exclusive Wii U eShop title and not spend a lot of money on it.

Dogmansp

#9

Dogmansp said:

I'm sure someone here knows, but why is the price higher? Is hosting the game on a server more expensive than the cost of physical packaging and export?

TWK

#11

TWK said:

Yes, the download prices seem pretty steep.

Still can't wait for tomorrow though!

FonistofCruxis

#13

FonistofCruxis said:

Fifty pounds is a ridiculous price! I don't plan on buying any retail games digitally but there's no way I'd pay that much for a game!

It looks like America got the better WiiUware launch line-up as Mighty switch force Hyper Drive edition looks far better than Puddle.

Anyway, I plan on getting Trine 2: Director's cut, Nano assault neo and maybe, Little inferno. I'm not sure about Little inferno as it doesn't seem to have enough content to justify its price.

b_willers

#14

b_willers said:

@Dogmansp I imagine its all about keeping the high street retailers happy. If they were cheaper to download retailers would probably reduce the self space dedicated to Nintendo products, don't underestimate the importance of a visible presence on the high street. Nintendo probably aren't that fussed if digital sales are low at the moment, but at least they have the infrastructure in place ready for when the retailers go bust and everything goes download only.

Dogmansp

#15

Dogmansp said:

Yeah that does makes a lot of sense, thank you. Although saying that, having more than just the one rare advert here and there wouldn't go a miss!

THENAMESNORM

#16

THENAMESNORM said:

Whilst I do agree with most of the above comments that £50 is too much for a digital only download, i would also point out that most of the prices seem to match the R.R.P's for most of the games.

I should also point out that for quite a while now the PSN and XBLA have had retail games available for digital download and they are anywhere up to £60!! THATS ridiculous! Rayman Legends was getting grea reviews, and on the PSN it was £57.99. The very same day I checked the price I could pick it up in Sainsburys for £19.99, and Game had it for £24.99!

This was a while ago, but it's important to note that whilst the prices are at the top end of the scale, they seem more reasonable compared to others. Let's hope that some of these games go on sale at some point - Portal 2 was on sale on XBLA last week for £11.99!!

bennyt

#17

bennyt said:

Defo bagging Trine 2 come tomorrow and possibly Nano Assualt...oh and Little Inferno. Actually all the eshop downloads sound really tempting.

Codyshelby

#18

Codyshelby said:

My bank account is currently still recovering from the purchase of the Wii U itself! I think I might just stick to retail games for now via gamefly, and wait for more downloadable-only titles to hit the e-shop.

BenAV

#19

BenAV said:

I'll definitely be downloading them all besides probably Chasing Aurora.
Kinda shattered about there being no Mighty Switch Force!...

XyVoX

#22

XyVoX said:

Steam and Apple have the right idea when it comes to pricing digital games and they support their software with a constant Flow of FREE patches that actually make a difference aswell, everyone else is quite Frankly just taking the PISS.

antipop621

#23

antipop621 said:

The price of digital downloading is not the only deterrent for me. I can walk to my gameshop and back in less time than it takes to download some of these big retail games and my internet is pretty good.

LavaTwilight

#27

LavaTwilight said:

£50 is RRP so anywhere that you can get them cheaper than that (which admittedly is almost everywhere) then go for it instead. Some games do offer additional bonus content for Retail Downloads (even if none at the moment on the WiiU do yet) so it's up to the buyer to decide what they want to do.

LavaTwilight

#28

LavaTwilight said:

O and don't forget when Super Street Fighter 2 came out for the SNES that retailed at around £60! Ludicrous!

ToxieDogg

#30

ToxieDogg said:

Pedant hat on.....

@LavaTwilight If I remember correctly, the original retail price of SNES Street Fighter 2 was £65 (I remember my mum and dad nearly having a stroke as it was one of my Xmas presents that year along with the SNES and Mario World itself), then Street Fighter 2 Turbo was £60.....but I'm pretty sure that Super Street Fighter 2 was only £50 or less. The SNES version of Super SF2 very nearly didn't come out here, only that Virgin ended up publishing it rather than Capcom or Nintendo.

I still see what you meant though.

CapnPancakes

#33

CapnPancakes said:

Uhh I don't live in Europe but isn't 50 pounds about the equivalent of 80 dollars? That's a ridiculous price for any game.

akabenjy

#34

akabenjy said:

I couldn't find Trine 2 on the eshop. Has anyone in Australia downloaded it yet?

dudey300Staff

#37

dudey300 said:

Trine 2 looking the best there! Will be Trine 2 and Chasing Aurora for me :)

DarkCoolEdge

#38

DarkCoolEdge said:

Chasing Aurora and Little Inferno are a bit overpriced, to say the least, don't you think so?

mrkuribo

#40

mrkuribo said:

Laughable prices but this is Nintendo, so nothing new here. Downloadable games should be 35 euros top. I won't be needing any extra HDD - I just buy my games in physical form and only download smaller titles, like Nano Assault.

eirikr

#42

eirikr said:

I will get Little inferno and Chasing aurora, the best downloadable games for day 1 .

Razalom

#44

Razalom said:

Seems like Trine 2 is not on the AU e-shop at the moment I have read.
Oh well 7hrs later and update has stalled through the night so about 20% left. /sigh

LEGEND_MARIOID

#46

LEGEND_MARIOID said:

We all know the retail download prices are stupidly high, but for me some of those "Wii U Ware" prices are extortinate too! :-0 . Think I may have to sacrifice Little Inferno! G'Lord!

Tethers

#48

Tethers said:

@ Nintendolife: Why no prices in €? I mean, the most citizens in Europe pay in that currency ;).

The same on nearly every page of a download game of Nintendoflife. Every time just Pounds...Why?

Picola

#49

Picola said:

I am just in a pub round the corner from my GAME store, ready for the midnight launch! Gotta share with you fellow Nintendo lifers .... Very excited

mozie

#50

mozie said:

seeing as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is only €39.99 on both PSN & XBLA I really cant figure out why its more expensive on wii u unless the prices are incorrect, was hoping to pick it up on wii u but if it turns out more expensive ill go with psn.

Sean_Aaron

#51

Sean_Aaron said:

I figured prices would be like that, but hoped to be surprised. It's all down to what my kid wants and how much I get for my Wii from GAME when I trade it in (bonus %50 trade-in value on consoles through 06 December) - could be a gift card will take the sting out.

Retail is most likely going to be Zombi U and Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper for me and Nintendo Land to play with my kid. I'm already expecting indie titles will be what I end up buying most. Shame Avengers wasn't a launch day title - hopefully it'll be out soon!

Punky

#54

Punky said:

would like to see euro prices in these articles for all the games....seeing as it is the main currency in Europe....but anyway.
I think retail download games will almost always be high as long as high street game shops exist. Nintendo wont undercut the high street.

farfromsleep

#55

farfromsleep said:

Any chance of including the download sizes for these in your round-ups or at least in the reviews themselves? It'd be handy to have that kind of info available at a glance, especially for anyone with the basic model.

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