It's not going to reach anywhere near Gamecube-level sales and that's ok. Times are different now for console gaming; nobody is going have the same numbers they had in 2004. The Wii U is eking out a respectable existence.

This makes me question whether Mario Maker will actually end up with an online sharing mode because heaven forbid some kid sees a cluster of question blocks shaped to resemble human male genitalia.

Local sharing is only good for people in big households with multiple systems. Just like with Swapnote, it's pretty much worthless to most people if it isn't online. Yay, Nintendo! Protecting the innocence of children by neutering any online connectivity whatsoever! <_< Oh well, at least It's free. I'm sure I'll mess around with it a couple times before quickly losing interest.

What's the point of it if you can't share your work with anyone?

@DBPirate This iteration of Mario Galaxy 2 is the same game they reviewed when it came out. There's nothing new to review.

@Kaze_Memaryu, You're obviously a younger person who didn't grow up with these "flawed" experiences. There is nothing wrong with these games; you're just used to modern production values, which are not always necessary for a good game play experience. Open your mind a little.

@ThomasBW84 I find the main complaint with your review weird. It seems like most other reviewers (and I, personally) had issues with the camera occasionally and that was the main flaw with the game. I mean, yeah, Mario Galaxy-style point-and-freeze multiplayer would have been nice, but it's omission doesn't detract from anything, whereas the clunky camera controls occasionally do. That said, it's still a fantastic game and I recommend it.

I don't really understand what the point of this feature is.

I'll pass on Chariot. It does look good, but I live on my own so I don't have anyone to local multiplayer with on the regular.

Nothing new for me again. I guess I'll save up for Kirby, but man has Nintendo ever dropped the ball with their virtual console this generation. They have a gold mine of retro content at their fingertips to make money with between retail releases and yet all we get are an NES game or two a month and occasionally some obscure GBA title that hardly anyone remembers. It's a frustrating, mind-boggling situation. I mean is there some technical limitation they're keeping quiet about that's preventing them from porting N64 games to Wii U or something? That's what it feels like at this point.

Can I get an NES theme?

Tropical Freeze was my biggest disappointment of the year, but I won't go into that...

I can't vote on overall or Wii U yet since I'm getting Captain Toad for Christmas, but so far it's likely to be Smash for me, which I didn't expect at all.

I just don't see what the big whoopty-doo about playing Smash with a Gamecube controller is. It plays just fine with the pro controller and even on the gamepad. I guess some people just can't let go of that Melee nostalgia.

They should have developed this with Disney or Pixar.

Anyone who would pay $50 for Angry Birds has more money than they have sense.

I just want Metroid: Zero Mission. Fusion is so blah.

I mean I'm certainly no graphics snob, but I just don't see paying $11 plus tax for a game that's visuals seem almost totally made up of squares and rectangles. This looks like something you'd buy for $.99 at most on the iTunes store.

@Nintendobro I like Wind Waker as much as the next guy, but it's a remake of a GameCube game and shouldn't be the standout title on a new system for me. I can't game online because of a bad internet connection so Mario Kart and Smash Bros are pretty much worthless to me. The more I think about how much I love my 3DS and how tepid I feel about Wii U makes me feel like maybe I've shifted to being primarily a handheld gamer. The rumored next Nintendo home console/handheld hybrid might be perfect for me.

@kingofsaiyans, See, I have a lot of those games and I just ain't feelin' em. I would say my favorite Wii U game is still probably Wind Waker HD and that's sad.

All of you who "love your Wii U" and "play your Wii U all the time", might I ask what games you're playing so much of? I just haven't stumbled onto that killer app that has me playing for hours on end and I honestly just wonder if I'm missing something. I thought Mario 3D Land would be that game for me since I'm a Mario fanatic and have been since the NES era, but I came away disappointed and actually liking the 3DS prequel better. I feel that that gameplay style is far more suited to a handheld and it just kind of seemed like a lazy enhanced port of the 3DS game. Hyrule Warriors was fun for a second but quickly became a mindless hack and slash for me. Pikmin 3 became frustrating only a few days after I started it and I just didn't see a reason to jump back into it. Mario Kart 8 is fun, but is really the same ol' game from 3DS, only with an anti-gravity gimmick and some new characters. DK Tropical Freeze was another hugely disappointing rehash. Which games are you guys playing that are blowing you away? I really would love to LOVE my Wii U, but sadly at this stage, I just don't.

The C- is pretty accurate for me. I just simply am not into the Wii U like I have been with every single other Nintendo system since the NES. I just don't find the games very compelling this time around since most of them seem like half-cooked sequels to games that I've already played on 3DS or Wii, only with better graphics and a gameplay tweak here or there. I also find myself extremely frustrated with how bare the Virtual Console is and I find most of the highly celebrated indie games on the eShop to be overpriced for the amount of content contained within them; if I can beat it in two days, it shouldn't be $20. I guess at this point I will just buy the very few games that are on the horizon that interest me (Zelda and the Yoshi game) and look toward the future in hopes that the next go-around will be better.

Heck yeah! The Mario advance games are trickling in! Nice.

I don't agree with this review whatsoever. I find the graphics to be just fine, even very beautiful at times, and the music is actually one of my favorite elements of the game. The heavy metal remixes of Zelda classics helps to pump me up for the chaotic game play on the battlefields and it also hits my nostalgia buttons just right. This review goes to show that a review is simply one person's opinion on something.

Is Miiverse faster on it?

Seems to me like they're putting all of their chips in on Smash Bros to move units this holiday season, but since many people will already have the 3DS version, this strategy may not work. Nintendo really should have made it a number one priority to release the Wii U version of Smash before the 3DS version because that takes exclusivity away from the Wii U game. Yes, the Wii U version will be the most "complete", but why pay over $300 to play the game (if you have to buy the system too) when you can pay just $40-ish and play, pretty much at its core, a very similar game? They really should have also had at least one other truly exclusive, must-have AAA title out on Wii U for Christmas because honestly, none of this excites me and I definitely don't think it will be enough to entice many fence-sitters enough to buy a Wii U for Christmas either.

@AVahne, I have an XL. A theme for it would be cool, but at 32 years old, I don't necessarily want to have a big cartoon Mario or Yoshi staring me in the face when I open my 3DS; however, if it were a screen out of Super Mario Bros or Metroid for NES, I'd love it.

All of the ones I've seen are a little too kiddish for me. If they come out with some cool 8-bit retro ones for us old folks, then I'll get on board. " />

I was just talking about something similar on Miiverse yesterday. I feel that Nintendo really missed the mark with the stamps. I don't get excited about unlocking them at all because I know that I can only use them on posts in that game's community. It would have been so much cooler to have a stamp collection and be able to show off the ones you've unlocked all over Miiverse.

How much is Mario Golf? I'm not sure how much "€6.99 / £6.29" is.

I think one of the biggest bungles of the Wii U era that has yet to be rectified has been the Virtual Console system. We will be going into year two of the console's lifecycle in November and still nothing from N64, a console whose games were available on the Wii on day 1. It's just nonsensical and as a retro-gamer who does not do the whole emulator thing, very frustrating as well.

I'm glad that Nintendo wants to continue focusing on unique hardware; however, I do hope that future consoles are a bit more planned out than the Wii U has been.

We've gotten pretty much all the good titles without licensing issues from that era now; we don't need anymore.

NO MORE NES GAMES! Yeesh. I don't care if it's some lost Miyamoto project that has never been released until now, it's time to MOVE ON and release more SNES and N64 games!

I may check out Steamworld Dig since I held off on 3DS. Still waiting on those N64 Virtual Console games, Nintendo. I think we have pretty well mined the NES catalog at this point. When you're having to dredge up unwanted junk like DK Jr. Math, it's time to move on.

womp, womp Another week with nothing I want to play. Disney Infinity isn't really free though, since you have to buy implements to play it.

Am I the only one jealous that this guy gets to play it so early and yet doesn't seem to appreciate it that much?

I've personally never had a problem with Nook. He's a cuddlebear compared to real life landlords.

Way, way, way too fast for a 3D Mario title. I hope it's not a "New Super Mario Bros 2" style rush job.

Basically here's the divide: Under 25 years old: "I hate this! It's not polished! I want a true 3D world to explore!" Over 25 years old: "I love this! Excited to see this classic game updated! Love the original top-down style!" Of course there are exceptions to both rules, but the consensus of both stands.

The more I hear about this the less I like it.

Why an 8 if there are little to no complaints in the review?

Also a problem is the fact that a lot of the sales of the Wii were to people age 40 and older because of Wii Sports and Wii Fit. These people are still perfectly content playing the Wii they already have and don't see any reason to upgrade.

That's... kind of a terrible line up. Ouch.

Here's the thing about Wii U: The casual gamers who picked up a Wii and loved it all think it's just an HD Wii expansion. It was a mistake to have "Wii" in the title.

@RupeeClock Agreed and agreed. Hopefully this is a VERY rough prototype. I don't like Artoon either.

I have downloaded a couple retail titles to my 3DS, but there are some games that I prefer to buy the physical copies to (mainly games that I want to keep forever since Nintendo has no username or cloud service to keep my downloads secure in case my 3DS dies).

@ Happy_Mask Everybody in the late 80's and early 90's.

Kid Icarus was unplayable to me because of those controls. I have big hands because I am an adult male and I felt like I would have had to grow octopus tentacles out of my fingers to effectively navigate that game. As for Other M, I'm a supporter. I actually did like the story a lot because it showed a vulnerable side to Samus, whereas that's why a lot of people disliked it.

Nice line up of complete shovelware for 3DS this week.