My prediction for Wii U stuff: Release dates for Pikmin 3 and TW101; more footage of Bayonetta 2 but no release date; lots of footage of Windwaker HD with a Holidays 2013 release date; references to Mario Kart, new Zelda and Smash Bros, but no details about any of them; lots of talk about features and updates that aren't gaming-related; and absolutely no mention of the Xenoblade game or the FE/SMT crossover.

I hope this franchise gets brought to Wii U one day.

I'll have a few of those discounted ZP2 tables to tide me over until the Star Wars pack arrives.

I'm really happy with the app, it's got me playing my Wii U regularly again.

I'm gonna get this for the 360 anyway, I really don't like the Murfy gameplay. Off-screen play would have been nice, but the game zooms out so far sometimes, Rayman is barely visible on my 40" TV, I can't imagine what those bits will play like on the GamePad.

@mtynd: Or the 3D Mario titles. Or Mario Kart. Or Zelda. Or Smash Bros. Or Pikmin, or Kirby, or Donkey Kong. Nintendo are infamous throughout the gaming community for recycling their games. Not that there's anything wrong with it, since the games are amazing, but Miyamoto's comment here about F-Zero is ludicrous.

Devastating news.

Looks awesome, I'd need to see a bit more gameplay before backing though. Also, to clear up the confusion, Dani Landers is transgender. She did an interview about it with Penny Arcade: http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/video-games-showed-me-who-i-could-be-transgender-gamers-share-their-stories

Literally screamed when I read this. If the Wii U version is scrapped for any reason I will sell the console, no joke

Shenmue 3, exclusive to Wii U

Any UK people know of a good price for Lego City? I can't find it for under £40 online, so I'll probably just pay £45 and get it from my local indie shop tomorrow.

I'd like an option to have a 'favourites' gallery for my own posts, on my profile. I'd use it for screenshots but artists could use it to showcase their best drawings.

I still don't really get why everyone thinks this game looks so good :-/ I don't even understand what's going on when I see footage like this. That's not to say I think it looks bad, I just haven't been able to get excited about it.

Please fix the link so I can see Rachel. It is of vital importance to my day.

As a Wii U owner I'm looking forward to this, but honestly, that video is embarrassing. The improved load time will still look unbearable to people who don't own the system, and the 'before' shot will have them feeling very happy that they never bought a Wii U. This update should have been done as quietly as possible, not with a public video highlighting a major system flaw.

Good news, this game looks very nice.

I had a quest item disappear, I'm waiting for a patch before I try Survivor mode.

Sausages.

Super Meat Boy was a great game, I liked it so much that I even ordered two signed Meat Boy comic books from America... but this is a little arrogant. "We would ask for nothing in return! Put him in the game. It's free!" sounds as if he thinks that Nintendo should be honoured at the possibility of having Meat Boy in Smash Bros :/

It looks pretty good. I tend to stay away from most third person shooters though, it feels clumsier than first person shooting and you have a big character blocking a lot of the screen... although that didn't stop me from enjoying Dead Space and Gears of War, so I guess if it's released in a quiet window I'll probably pick it up.

I thought this guy quit the company in protest of the Rayman Legends delay? Was I dreaming? I'm losing my mind.

If Nintendo release a figurine/NFC-based Pokemon game I may as well kill myself. I'll be bankrupt and selling my body on the street within a month.

Have they even started it? The character design and humour are great, but I'd need to see some real gameplay before backing.

This is awesome news, really glad Nintendo have got their **** together on this issue.

I think this is a nice gesture.

Don't NFS games need analog triggers?

i really don't get the lack of advertising. i've still not seen a single tv ad for wii u, yet i've seen countless for ps360 games. i work in a blockbuster store in the uk and honestly, other than people who follow gaming news sites or magazines, pretty much no one knows what the wii u is. we've sold two consoles since launch (one of which was to me) and we're a busy store. hence why we're still open :[

I'd like to see a more rural environment, perhaps a village in the countryside. It would have enough buildings, and lots of spooky countryside around to get lost in.

I work at Blockbuster :[

The business plan in recent years has been to move away from movies (because nobody wants DVDs anymore) and towards games, so this would be more of a blow for the gaming industry than people realise. We're always associated primarily with movies, but that won't be the case in the future, if we manage to stay afloat.

There is absolutely no reason for most people to buy a Wii U right now. Personally, I got one at launch and absolutely love it, but I'm a Nintendo fanboy. Who else is the system meant to appeal to? There's no draw for the casual crowd, especially not at this price point, and only ZombiU and NSMBU in terms of solid exclusive titles to attract 360/PS3 gamers. NSMB isn't really a big draw anymore, and ZombiU quickly went off the radar with mixed reviews. Anyone interested in Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Arkham City or Darksiders will already own a PS3 or 360, not to the mention the fact that all of those titles, excluding ACIII, can be found considerably cheaper on the other consoles. I saw them all going for £10 each during the recent Steam sales, which hardly makes me feel happy about paying £45 for the privilege of playing them on my Wii U.

I have no doubt that once a couple of strong first party games are released (Zelda in particular), ideally along with a small price cut, sales will pick up. Until then, there's really no reason for most people to purchase the console. 2D Mario and Pikmin are both franchises that I like, but I'm pretty surprised that those are the two that Nintendo chose to try and sell their new console. Of course, they might simply be waiting for the Nextbox and PS4 to be ready for release before they start dropping the big guns, in an attempt to sway people away from those consoles.

The Wii Mode is possibly the most infuriating thing about the Wii U. I don't understand why it exists, no other console in history has ever needed to boot into a separate mode for backwards compatibility. The Gamepad should be functional for all Wii software that is compatible with the Classic Controller, since it can easily emulate all of the inputs, and since all the Gamepad screen does is stream video from the console, you should also be able to play Wii software directly on the Gamepad. Anything dependent on the Wiimote obviously can't be played on the Gamepad, but other than that I see no good excuses.

If I just had confirmation that any games bought on the Wii VC would transfer, I wouldn't hesitate to invest literally hundreds of pounds into it. If this doesn't happen I'll simply wait and buy whatever's released on the Wii U VC. What really needs to happen is Wii mode being scrapped entirely, no other console has ever needed to reboot into a separate mode for backwards compatibility.

If they do simply release a new Virtual Console with a fresh library, then hopefully it will launch with a good catalogue of N64 and SNES classics. One thing I know for sure is that I won't be buying any WiiWare or VC titles unless I know that I can play them on the Gamepad.

Either way, I just want them to hurry up with it ;_;

That letter from Peach is the most arousing thing I've seen all year, you should go into adult fan fiction

Absolutely pathetic

NSMBU, ZombiU and Black Ops 2 for sure, and probably also Arkham City, AC3 and ME3, just so I'll finally be able to talk to my friends about games.

This is a massive disappointment for me, I'll be taking the same approach as I did with the Wii and not purchasing any eShop games. My first Wii died on me, causing me to lose all my digital content, and I've had other consoles brick in the past as well. If my Wii U bricks I don't want to have to send it off to Nintendo along with a new one, and be without a console for weeks while they transfer my data (as was the system with the Wii). I'd rather just stick to retail games and not take the risk.

I would have spent hundreds of pounds on Virtual Console and WiiWare if it wasn't for this, so it seems like a silly approach. I assume it's an anti-piracy move, so maybe it pays off for Nintendo overall, but it doesn't seem to bother Sony and Microsoft. Hopefully Nintendo will change the system eventually.

@theberrage The Wii was a terrible piece of hardware as well (from a typical gamer's perspective), but it still had great games. We just have to hope that the same thing happens with Wii U

I can't believe that this was even reported, or that people are taking it seriously

The only valid point here is that the Wii U doesn't have the instant appeal of Wii Sports, which is blindingly obvious, has been pointed out a million times over the past year, and also applies to 99.99999% of hardware released anywhere, ever.

The idea that it will be "incredibly hard" for people to be able to use two screens is laughable, although probably says quite a lot about the target demographic for Fable games.

I just want confirmation on digital purchases being tied to accounts rather than consoles

I wish the Wii/Wii U series would switch to this style. Epic Mickey for the Wii was one the lamest platformers I've ever played, and its sequel looks exactly the same. This, however, looks incredible.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f52/lynten/qualitykotakujournalism_zps26d31d74.png

Having read that article, I can assure everybody that Don Reisinger is an idiot.

Haha, that's pretty funny.

Of course he's got a point, the Wii U will definitely still be the casual's console of choice - I don't think that can be denied - and I'm guessing there'll be less of them this time around so it'll likely be outsold by the next Xbox.

I still think it'll do alright, a couple more titles in the vein of ZombiU and Bayonetta should generate a decent amount of core gamer sales. And you never know... Sony have got a lot to do with their next console and Microsoft are perfectly capable of a good balls-up.

I'm going to feel like such an idiot paying £50 for ME3. It won't stop me.

I think it'll be less than £250 for the basic bundle. The Wii and 3DS were both launched at 25,000 Yen and were sold at £180 and £220 respectively in the UK. £220 for the 3DS, remember, which was quickly recognised to be a mistake and dropped to £180, like the Wii! So I really can't see the Wii U being priced at OVER £220.

I don't know how anyone can be disappointed with the news we've had so far :/ it's as cheap as it could ever have been ($200 wasn't going to happen, let's face it), and other than that all we've had are a pre-Christmas launch date and some generic premium bundle/premium service stuff.

@FlutterShyGuy The difference here is that this song isn't just for the trailer, it will actually be in that level.

This does look ridiculously easy btw. It's been a while since I played Origins but getting out of the hub level was more difficult than this looks.

The Wii launched in Japan at around that price, so I guess whatever price you paid for a Wii, is about what you'll pay for a Wii U?

This Network Premium had better be more similar to PlayStation+ than Xbox Live Gold. If it's needed for any necessary functionality, I swear to God I will just buy it because I'm an idiot. But I won't be happy.