@element187 He starts out by saying people need to be rational. I enjoy my Wii U, but the fact of the matter is there is many different forms of entertainment available for the average consumer. Even more so than 2005/2006.

Pachter is right when he says Nintendo may have lost the home console wars by going with the Wii, when the on-line multi-player explosion occurred.

I am optimistic that Nintendo can continue to deliver good games. However, I am actually a bit worried because for the last 6 years, Nintendo has been working in SD. HD is a different ball game. They are also trying to figure out on-line. I personally felt it was a wasted opportunity not shipping both Nintendo Land and NSMBU with-out on-line. I played those games, beat them, and will never touch them again because I feel it would be fun to play Nintendo Land or NSMBU with friends that don't live close to me. That is what Nintendo's competition offers.

I really do not believe we will see a lot of software from Nintendo this year. I feel they are struggling with development of HD games, which is part of the reason they are releasing Windwaker: To learn how to make games in HD with a road map already there. . .

@Psylumin I agree with this being a larger problem than simply Nintendo (I too enjoy both the consoles mentioned). The issue is really two-fold. One, this archaic and insane desire for video game publishers to make playable demos for E3 in June (eating away resources in that they have to show polished game play, and not let the process unfold naturally) then releasing 80% of games in Sept-Dec for Holiday Shopping. Then when consumers choose which games to buy and which ones to pass on until there is a sale, they wonder why games sell poorly.

2) With the potential of another 2 new consoles this year, game publishers (read 3rd party) are not going to invest into 3 consoles with a limited user base over the older stuff that can reach hundreds of millions world-wide. It simply comes down to money, and game publishers will go where they can make the most money, which is usually where they can have the largest group of consumers.

For every person that purchases 1-2 games, there is some spoiled child or insane adult who will get 7-9, so it evens out.

I personally have purchased 4 titles for the Wii U. I plan on purchasing several from the eShop. Once the first round of price cuts happens on the games ported (out on other consoles for more than 6 months) to the Wii U, I will pick up some of those. Lastly, after giving Rayman Legends a play today, that game made it back on my "to buy" list. . .

The key in all of this is the 5.5 million consoles is their target number. There is no news on how many consoles they can produce in one day, one week, or one month. The pre-orders selling out is not a sign at all. There is not 1 retailer that has stated how many pre-orders they have taken. I believe this number is easily a minority of total consoles available.

Yes, the holiday season is the biggest for the video game industry, but there are some major titles arriving for other consoles prior to Wii U launch. The 4 titles per console is a good number, since most people will want new games for the new console.

I personally feel they will hit 5.5 million globally, and even if they surpass this number, it won't be much, and there the potential for shortages is still a distinct possibility.

Most of the DLC is already up on various web-sites and youtube. Looks fun, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The Deluxe comes with a game that most will use in the same manner as wii sports. The Deluxe has more memory that a core person would need, and it comes with things like a gamepad stand that can be used for FPS games.

I feel as if Nintendo purposely underwhelmed with the white version to push people toward the black version. I honestly would not have bought NintendoLand separately, but will give it whirl now. The real question is a few years from now, how many white Wii U's will be sold and how many copies of NintendoLand will be sold. . .

The biggest problem is the fact that the street pass function simply is not a viable option in the US. The only time I get any hits is when I go to some Nintendo meet and greet for Spot Pass or to an event with lots of people that is geared toward "nerdy" things.

A lot of this could be rectified by encouraging on-line play, and if some random on-line dude gets in your Mii Plaza, you can exchange the puzzle pieces as well.

I will wait until Sept. 13. I already have enough money to buy 3 of these consoles without a problem, so I am more interested in what comes with said packages, as well as color of the console. I just find this tidbit highly unlikely as 11/11/12 is the day Nintendo is releasing Paper Mario in North America on the 3DS.

I still wouldn't mind this date being a week or two late. Would time nicely with the possible Game of the Year AC:III.

Nintendo always releases their products on Sunday in North America. They also cannot price it too high which would cause both a repeat of the 3DS and prevent impulse buys for holiday shoppers. They also will be competing with Halo 4, CoD, and a US Presidential Election on November 6th.

I originally thought the 18th at US $299.99. Today, however I think Nintendo will surprise us with a launch of 11/11/12, possibly even 10/28/12 to coincide with the 10/30 launch of AC: III and to avoid the nuttiness of the Presidential Election.

Releasing this system after 11/18 and for more than $299.99 (console/gamepad/possible game) is simply suicidal for the company.

Sept. 13 gives them 6-8 weeks of time to advertize effectively, but they also must realize people tune out because of the many political ads on TV in mid-Oct to early Nov.

People who think it will be "outdated" in a few years have no idea what they are talking about. Let's look at the hard facts of the 3 companies. Sony lost money on every PS3 it sold until the latter half of 2010. Sony as a company has lost money for 5 straight years, including losing US $5.8 Billion in 2011. They have sold around 2.8 million Vitas compared to over 18 million 3DS. Sony simply cannot continue to sell hardware, although powerful, for a loss. The company will simply sink.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is doing well. It is pushing its resources at Windows 8. However, all they have for a series is Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. They did not make any money on the original Xbox, and lost money for 4 years on the 360.

Simply said, it is not 2006 anymore. There was a massive recession in the US and things still are not great. Europe is in shambles with several countries bankrupt. There is no company that can afford to sell products for a loss.

If you want to know what Nintendo is up to, do a google search with "Nintendo and Blue Ocean Strategy." That will tell you everything you need to know.

@komicturtle They will not be able to sell them for under $39.99 for a simple reason: Nintendo will charge Amazon $39.99 to sell such a product. This is why certain on-line retailers in Japan are selling the download codes for more than a physical copy of the game (to make money).

For people complaining about the price of digital vs. physical: The reason is very simple. If Nintendo were to charge less for the digital, people would buy digital, and not retail. The retailers would get angry as they are not selling the product, and could therefore stop selling Nintendo merchandise all together.

The fact is that when you pay 40, 50, or 60 dollars for a game, roughly 12% of that price is physically making the game, shipping said game, and then the dollar or two the retail store makes off the item. Going digital essentially gives an extra 3 or 4 dollars to Nintendo, which needs it after posting their first annual loss in revenue in their 126 history.

I believe the games should be condensed. One of the first games I beat as a kid was The Legend of Zelda (gold kart, holding reset then power and all). The last few Zelda games have simply been time fillers. Not hard, just extremely long. As the population of Zelda fans ages, it becomes too difficult to devote large chunks of time to playing through the game. SS being an example of needing to play for several hours to get anything accomplished.

I also agree with many outsiders (Non-Nintendo) in saying with the Wii U, it's time to drop the characters talking in text. Heck give everyone a voice but Link, but this is not 1986 anymore, Nintendo needs to get with the times to lure others in.

Twilight Zone was my favorite pin ball machine when I was young. I would buy this game for the nostalgia aspect.

I am not too worried about sales of Nintendo's first HD system coming out this fall. In 2006, the amount of HD TVs in households was relatively small. Today, that is all they sell in stores, and most people have a HD TV in their home.

The key really comes down to Nintendo addressing the issues it has had in the past. Namely, on-line gaming, which is much more important outside of Japan due to the popularity of a genre like FPS. While the price will most likely not be released June 5, they need to be specific about the power under the hood, as many 3rd parties have offered differing views so far.

I have called Nintendo of America on this one. I am left-handed, 10% of the world's population is left-handed as well. The option of using ABXY to move doesn't allow for the freedom an analog stick provides. I ended up criticizing this to people high up at Nintendo of America, bringing up the issue of the circle pad pro being sold out and only one location to purchase it. They sent me one in mail that day.

Some lefties say playing it with the stylus in the right hand is fine or using the ABXY is fine, but I needed the analog stick. The game became much more enjoyable once I had the circle pad pro.

I think Nintendo moving into this area of digital down loads is a great step forward. This gives a platform for Miyamoto to release his smaller games he has spoken about recently. However, if the price structure is the same, it gives no incentive to purchase one format over the other. I also believe the 3DS has a large percentage of owners that are children, going digital would be a major problem, as they won't be able to purchase games as easily. Digital sales exclusively also tends to hurt those who play video games and do not have as much discretionary money and rely on trading games in to play new games.

I am going with the idea that the new system will be US $299.99. They may get away with US $349.99, but that is incredibly risky. They simply will not be able to make as much profit off their hardware anymore (The Wii at launch was netting Nintendo a substantial profit margin).

Release Date: November 18th, 2012. The Sunday prior to Thanksgiving in the US and the beginning of holiday shopping. The Wii launched the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving in 2006. They may go November 11th. However, going November 25th is suicidal, as most people spend big bucks during black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), and will not have anything left over.

I have done the Nintendo 24 hour challenge. Six years ago, my room-mates bet me a case of beer I couldn't play for 24 hours. I had 2 15 minute breaks for food and 2 5 minute breaks for bathroom. I remember playing 4 different games, spending most of my time playing Tiger Woods. This is easy.

Swapnote is a great idea in theory. It allows me to drop a note to a friend after an on-line game of Mario Kart, saying good game. However, it is such a bare bones program. Getting stupid updates from that girl (can't that just make a tuturial/help section for that?), and the fact the notes are all strung along, without a way to delete them as a group. It would be nice to Nintendo to finally give us some options to customize things, and not just appearance, but having notes lined up similar to an e-mail, with the ability to erase the notes just like you can with e-mail.

My advice for everyone is to call or e-mail Nintendo and tell them that a name change is needed. We all care about the quality of the the games, we all enjoy their products.

However, one of the things that Nintendo did when transitioning from one generation to the next (be it home console or hand-held), was to differentiate the two systems. The systems had little resemblance to one another, the packaging for the hardware and software was different so uneducated consumers would know the difference. The problem Nintendo face this past year was the 3DS. The hardware and the software boxes (yes, I know it says 3D) look very similar. The casual or uneducated consumer will buy the new product not knowing they cannot use it.

I am 100% behind the idea of a completely new name, and have suggested this to the Big N. Will I buy it, yes, on launch, but Nintendo must make a concerted effort to differentiate from its predecessor.

This is a great book, I bought it several months ago. It gives a very detailed history of Nintendo. It has made me want to spend more money than I should on some of Nintendo's earlier products.

The second book, covering the Game & Watch series, is coming out in soon!

I will start playing once I get my VR above 10,000 for the golden kart. Remember, racing in communities you do not gain VR, only World Wide.

One thing I have noticed from getting the Lucky 7 item is that generally the item that is in front of Mario (his 12 O'Clock) is the one you use when you smash the item button.

This is a great game, and I love that Nintendo brought back coins, just wish the carts were a bit more customizable (wish we could choose from 10-15 sets of gliders, wheels, and karts).

I will say I was somewhat disappointed by the lack luster promotion of both the Virtual Console and WiiWare. Many people who bought the Wii were from the NES or SNES days. I know Nintendo had some difficulty with 3rd party support, which explains the VC being primarily Nintendo only. There were games from the NES and SNES I would have loved to play, but was stuck playing my favorites using an emulator on my computer.

To those who think the DS or 3DS is gimmicky with 2 screens, I introduce you to the Game & Watch series. You know, those devices Nintendo made prior to the NES. If you can get you hands on those, they are worth money, and many still work great 30 years later. Nintendo always uses ideas from their past and improves on them. The Wii U (a name I cannot stand) will make use of the 3DS as all of the software Nintendo will pump out in the next year will be for this system. Just waiting on release dates now for Kid Icarus and Luigi's Mansion 2.

The difficulty I have with Nintendo is the fact they keep releasing games from previous platforms on their new ones. I have purchases some games 3 or 4 times across the many platforms, and simply have had enough. I also feel that the prices are relatively high. I have many games on my wish list, but cannot justify spend $8 on a game that should be less. It would be beneficial to both Nintendo and the 3rd party companies to offer sales on games, whether it is when the game is released or down the road. It is better to sell some of these games for a few dollars less and actually make more sales then for these games to not move.

As an avid player of Goldeneye, I would disagree completely. Using the Wii-mote and nunchuck is analogous to my first experience with Nintendo in 1986, Duck Hunt. I could never play a FPS without motion controls, pressing 10 buttons in dual-analogue chaos. Goldeneye's controls are so intuitive, anyone can pick it up and eliminate some one.