Wii U Features
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - A Year of Promotions from Nintendo
Spend a little, get a bit more
While we could argue until the end of days about some aspects of Nintendo pricing, particularly with download retail games, 2013 has been another year where the company has taken positive strides to offer promotions and incentives on key games and their systems. Whether in Europe or North American there are decent odds...
Feature The Big Nintendo Direct Summary - 18th December 2013 Broadcasts
Hyrule Warriors, NES Remix, Kirby, Smash Bros., Mario Kart 8 and much more
With the Holiday season rapidly approaching, Nintendo took the opportunity to bring us all new Nintendo Direct broadcasts to show us what's to come, throw in a surprise or two and build some buzz around both the Wii U and the 3DS. Broadcasts in Europe and North America —...
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - Wii Fit U Steps Up a Level While the Trainer Gets Ready to Brawl
Feel the burn
Wii Fit U has had an odd history to date, with little mention for much of 2013 before Nintendo then announced a terrific trial download offer. We knew it was still a project very much on the way, however, because it was part of quite possibly the oddest E3 reveal in recent memory — to the point that we initially thought it was a...
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - Animal Crossing Helped 3DS Turn Over a New Leaf
A game for all
While a number of 3DS titles have performed well for Nintendo in 2013, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been a notable success story. While its core sales numbers have been impressive, it's perhaps been the cultural impact of New Leaf that's been the most pleasing for those keen to see 3DS success. To give some context of how well...
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Devours Time and Pushes Boundaries
Wii U and 3DS cross-play brings Hunters together
Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii was a standout not just for its epic scale and unique style, but for its ability to bring owners of the system together in a solid, cohesive online component; that was a rarity. With honourable exceptions such as Mario Kart Wii, many titles on Nintendo's last-gen system...
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - Pikmin 3 Finally Ended the Long Wait
A more than welcome return
When considering Nintendo's most treasured franchises it can be humbling to consider how many began in the 8-bit NES era or even, in more primitive forms, in Arcade cabinets before then. It can be argued as a wonderful strength or as an area of concern, depending on an individual's opinion or whichever way Nintendo's...
Feature 12 Days of Christmas - The Legend of Zelda's Legacy Continues
Plenty to enjoy for 3DS and Wii U owners
The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most powerful and iconic brands, a franchise capable of exciting a legion of fans with little more than a subtle hint of a teaser. In pure sales numbers it doesn't always match up to the mighty Mario, but its impact has arguably been as great as the plumber's in terms...
Talking Point Miiverse Can Promote System Unity And Serve As A Powerful Wii U Advertisement
Tens of millions of Nintendo fans can now interact
This week Nintendo finally delivered Miiverse, along with the Nintendo Network ID and shared eShop fund support, to the 3DS. While it has its flaws — which we'll cover to some degree this weekend — that's to be expected with any launch, especially one such as this that fundamentally shakes up...
Parent Trap Children Are Our Future, So Let Them Play
Family Gamer's Andy Robertson on the topic of game length
The perfect game length is a personal thing. Those with oodles of time will want maximum value from their purchases and demand at least 30 hours of gameplay, but those with less time — such as myself and the many other games-playing parents out there — may prefer games to be shorter. I...
Soapbox Even With The Arrival Of PS4 And Xbox One, I'd Still Pick The Wii U
Damien McFerran experiences buyer's remorse thanks to a recent purchase
Before we stumble headlong into what will surely be a touchy subject to some, allow me to clarify something. As many of you will be aware, Nintendo Life is but one third of a network of gaming-focused sites. Nestled in the bosom of a growing media empire, this site is flanked by...
Talking Point Moving To Smartphones Is Not The Answer For Nintendo
The numbers don't add up
It seems that a month can't pass by — in the past couple of years — when investment analysts, games industry figures and Nintendo's own investors aren't saying that Nintendo needs to expand and release games on alternative platforms. It's creeping into discourse around the Wii U due to the hardware's struggles to date,...
Poll Nintendo and the Wii U Fight For Your Attention in This Busiest of Gaming Months
Will Nintendo's platform and games succeed this December?
We're now approaching — or in some places have reached — the end of the madness of the Black Friday shopping weekend, an annual fixture in North America and to a lesser extent elsewhere. Of course, the Holiday shopping gig isn't up, and as we enter December we kick off a vital few weeks...
Feature More Miiverse Favourites From Art Academy: SketchPad
Mario, Link, Pikmin and lots of lovely art
Back in August Nintendo released Art Academy: SketchPad on the Wii U eShop, a budget-priced drawing tool that utilises the GamePad touch screen and allows full colour image posts to Miiverse. For artistically minded Wii U owners it's certainly a terrific option that can deliver impressive results; not long...
Talking Point The GamePad and its Role Defining the Wii U
Strong concept or pricey issue?
We're stepping into a vital period on the market for the Wii U. It's certainly far too early to say it's the definitive moment for the system, as releases such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. will also be maximised by Nintendo to achieve notable sales and momentum. With that in mind, it should still be...
Soapbox Super Mario 3D World's Playful Whimsy is Refreshing, But Faces a Vital Commercial Test
Will an overwhelmingly positive critical response and buzz deliver success?
Something slightly surprising, to me at least, happened yesterday. Super Mario 3D World had a wonderful series of reviews that went live, on any major outlet you'd care to name, bang on the embargo. I'm not talking about the scores — which were excellent — but the...
Poll As the PS4 Arrives, What Do You Think of the 'New Gen' Environment for Wii U?
It ain't about 'next-gen' any more
So can everyone stop talking about 'next gen" now, or do we have to wait for the One to complete the Triforce of systems? No doubt there'll still be talk of "next gen" experiences and bickering over resolutions and framerates, all while Mario casually says hi with 3D World. There's arguably a sense that the more...
Talking Point The Nintendo Network ID Creeps Ever Closer to Being Fit for the Modern Age
There's still some distance to go
Since the Wii U launched with its shiny new Nintendo Network ID system, we've been both pleased and frustrated with its implementation. The fact it's tied to the home console hardware has led us to be critical, on occasion, to the point where we once rather cruelly equated it to the abomination of its equivalent on...
Feature The Big Nintendo Direct Summary - 13th November 2013 Broadcasts
Big news for 3DS and a whole load of release dates and details
So, another Nintendo Direct broadcast has come and gone. The reaction online seemed to be, as is now standard, rather mixed. Some have expressed disappointment, while others (such as this writer) thought the broadcasts did a rather good job. Primarily announced as providing details on...
Talking Point Nintendo's Resilience Against Wii U Criticism Emphasizes Its Longevity
As the critics attack, Satoru Iwata simply looks ahead
It's been, overall, a tough couple of weeks for the Wii U's image in the online land of gaming enthusiasts. The focused attention of many outlets is, unsurprisingly and quite correctly, on the upcoming launches of the PS4 and the Xbox One, with Super Mario 3D World just about grabbing some...
Feature Why Nintendo Isn't Popular in Poland
Rob Burgess explains how a country with 40 million people has been missed
Earlier this year we posted an article based on a Nintendo fan's blog, which explained how difficult it was to buy a Wii U in Poland, a large European country. Rob Burgess, the author of that blog, has since written a follow up article in which he explains in a little more...
Poll Is Nintendo's Wii U Advertising and Marketing Doing Enough?
It's safe to say the 3DS messaging is doing fine
It's a common refrain for critics of Nintendo to state that it doesn't do marketing well. Some may see adverts featuring celebrities or colourful trailers of smiling children and despair, as there's often a sense that in targeting families and young gamers with much of its advertising the company has...
Feature Ten Wii U and 3DS Games To Play This Halloween
Zombies, vampires, desolation, isolation and all that good stuff
It's that night, dear readers, when ghouls and monsters emerge from their pits of despair to torment the living. Or, another way of looking at it, children in rather inexpensive outfits come out to threaten adults with a good egging if they don't hand over sweets and candies. What a...
Feature Where Is Your Wii Balance Board?
Time to dust off that slab of plastic in preparation for Wii Fit U
Wii Fit U's special trial deal begins this Friday, and will no doubt trigger a fitness frenzy amongst flabby Wii U owners all over the globe. However, a lot of time has elapsed between the incredible popularity of the Wii original and the launch of this new title, and like so many...
Feature The Madness That Is Super Mario 3D World's Multiplayer Mode
One crown to rule them all
In this personal reminiscence, Martin Watts describes his experience of playing Super Mario 3D World in multiplayer, and how it exposes our greatest flaws of character... Last week, Features Editor Thomas Whitehead and I were invited along to Nintendo UK's offices for a bit of hands-on time with one of Nintendo's most...
A brave new world
Some things in life are unavoidable. Death, taxes, and disappointing Wii U sales in its first nine months of life. Nintendo has a plan for the rest of 2013, however, which is encouraging for its fans — we've had the enthusiast's favourite The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and soon we'll have the return of styles and...
Soapbox The Wii Changed The Face of Gaming, Before The Console Industry Promptly Forgot Its Lessons
Tom Whitehead believes that the Wii's good work has, in part, been wasted
This week the Nintendo Japan website updated the status of Wii production, officially bringing it to an end. We'd previously argued that Nintendo could have ruled the micro console market with Wii and the company, potentially, missed a trick; it seems to be a decision made on...
Feature Active Gaming is Here To Stay And is Helping People Get Fit
Games like Wii Fit U can make a big difference to people's lives
Many people in the world claim video games are partially to blame for rising obesity levels, with individuals disregarding physical exercise in favour of a round of Mario Kart or a bout of Call of Duty, but there are doctors and scientists out there who say playing active games such as...
First Impressions Shovel Knight
We dig it
Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight for Wii U, which made waves with an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign, was on display at the recent New York Comic-Con. While more mainstream releases were generating huge lines and impatient parents, the deceptively simple-looking Shovel Knight was something of a hidden gem, making a great...
Interview Image & Form CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson Talks SteamWorld Dig And Working On The eShop
Critical reaction, the Wii U eShop and picking 3DS over smartphones
At this year's Eurogamer Expo we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak to Image & Form's Brjann Sigurgeirsson about the company's 3DS eShop title, SteamWorld Dig. In the interview, Sigurgeirsson speaks about the development of the game and its lore, its critical...
Talking Point Nintendo's Catch-22 With Retail Game Pricing
Go high, get criticised. Go low, get criticised...
This week Nintendo UK launched its own online retail store, stepping into the market typically occupied by the likes of Amazon, Gamestop, GAME and various others; even the bricks-and-mortar retailers mentioned have an increasing reliance on web sales. It's a more up-to-date, relevant proposition...
Hands On An Evening With Wii Karaoke U By Joysound
Take On Mii
Nintendo has previously stated that one of its main objectives with the Wii U is to provide experiences that can’t be done on other video game systems. In addition to this rather admirable quest, the company has also been keen to emphasise the fun that can be had with the system in local multiplayer. So far it hasn't had a great deal...
Hands On Pure Chess (Wii U eShop)
The grand old sport comes to the people
While the 3DS eShop is maturing into a platform with a healthy variety of experiences, and the Wii U eShop promises to do so, one obvious gap is in delivering a virtual edition of one of the grandest old games / sports in existence. Chess may have appeared as a minigame option in a mediocre 3DS game or two,...
Feature The Big Nintendo Direct Summary - 1st October 2013 Broadcasts
Few shocks, some release dates and awesome footage, with a couple of delays
Gauging opinion on the 1st October Nintendo Direct broadcasts in North America and Europe is relatively tricky, as the Wii U system update preceding it lacked that much desired improvement of an account system that escapes the shackles of hardware, while the broadcasts...
Interview Ubisoft on Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag's Place in the Franchise, and Returning to Wii U
Wii U release dates also confirmed
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag is, perhaps depending on your perspective, a highly tempting multi-platform blockbuster coming to the Wii U or, alternatively, a title below first-party releases and exclusives in the pecking order this Holiday season. It's a release, notably alongside another Ubisoft title in...
Talking Point The Steam Gaming Machines Are An Unconventional Challenge to the Wii U
Sony and Microsoft aren't the only competitors
When considering the challenges and competitors that the Wii U faces in the months and years to come, it's becoming an increasingly cluttered and tricky space to manoeuvre. Much the same was said during the early days of the 3DS, as its struggles saw it stacked up against smartphones and tablets; at one...
Developer Interview Xander Davis on Astrogun, Indie Potential and the Wii U
"Gamers are dreamers, I think we all care deeply about realizing the dream"
Earlier this summer a story that caught the imagination of the Nintendo Life community revolved around Xander Davis, an independent developer that declared himself to be a Wii U believer — he'd previously dismissed the system prior to its launch. It was a case of going...
Reaction Nintendo Reminds Us of the Wii's Glory Days With Wii Fit U and Wii Sports Club
Inexpensive upgrade options are vital for attracting the Wii generation
This week Nintendo didn't so much surprise us with a Nintendo Direct, but left it outside the door unannounced and ran away giggling. Again apparently relying on the rapid influence of word of mouth, or perhaps acknowledging that much of the target audience aren't Nintendo...
Video Let's Play DuckTales: Remastered - Episode I: The Moon
Getting to grips with the updated classic
DuckTales: Remastered — WayForward's HD reimagining of the NES classic — is, according to Nintendo Life Editorial Director Damien McFerran, a very challenging game. Rory Cocker — a 20-year-old, nappy-clad baby of a gamer — is, according to Damien, relatively inexperienced and naive. You may have...
Feature Why Zelda: Wind Waker HD Is The Perfect Game For Families
Family Gamer's Andy Robertson goes questing with his offspring
A lot has happened since The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was released for the GameCube. In the video game world we have seen another two generations sweep on and off our radar, while in my family there has been the arrival of a new generation in human form — two more children. The...
Talking Point Marketing Wii U to the Masses
Time to spread the word
While we await a potential increase in hardware sales, even Nintendo would admit that the Wii U has underperformed in its debut year. With poor sales to date and a year’s head start over its next-gen competition arguably squandered, the Wii U is in the unenviable position of heading into its first anniversary with yearly...
Talking Point The Wonderful 101 Provides Some Rare Family Friendly Thrills
Falls nicely into the PEGI 12 and ESRB Teen bracket
In this Talking Point, our colleague Andy Robertson — who runs FamilyGamerTV — explains why The Wonderful 101 is a game perfectly suited to families and, in particular, the young teen audience; it's an age group rarely catered to directly. Andy regularly works with families and appears on radio...
Talking Point The Wii U May Be Playing Catch-Up With Some Developers, But Money Always Talks
Some third-parties may never be on board, however
The challenges facing the Wii U, like those that faced the 3DS before it in 2011, are numerous. It's seeking to reverse stalled momentum that was, perhaps strategically, allowed to happen in exchange for a busy lineup of games in the second half of the year. This is being done against the backdrop of...
Interview Designer Luc Bernard Talks Wii U And Crowdfunding His Vision
The man behind Eternity's Child is back
Remember Luc Bernard? He's the guy behind Eternity's Child — the WiiWare title that never was — and has since produced a string of titles such as Mecho Wars and SteamPirates on iOS and Android. A long-time fan of Nintendo, Bernard has been watching the recent developments on the Wii U and 3DS with...
Feature The Biggest Wii U Games of 2013 - Autumn / Fall Edition
The games are coming
At the start of the year we listed what we considered to be ten of the biggest Wii U games of 2013, and as the year has progressed we issued updates for Spring and Summer. As each progressive list shows, game releases and a fair batch of Nintendo Direct surprises can certainly change that outlook, and change is
Interview Hideki Kamiya on The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2 and Working With Nintendo
Talks with us about inspiration, sequels, and Internet meltdowns
Hideki Kamiya's personality ripples across everything he touches, growing in strength as it travels and comes out like a roar. His signature, hardcore style is found in a long line of original gems like Viewtiful Joe and Bayonetta; these are titles that, arguably, couldn't have come...
Round Table Let's Talk About the 2DS and Wii U Price Cut
It's going to be a bumpy ride
This week certainly wasn't dull in the world of Nintendo. To the surprise of everyone, Nintendo announced the 2DS, a member of the 3DS family that abandons the clamshell design and, yes, the 3D effect. The initial reaction was generally of bemusement, yet Nintendo's target audience of young children and uncertain...
Talking Point Nintendo's Low-Key Approach to the 2DS and Wii U Price Cut Reveals Wasn't Surprising
When going Direct isn't the right call
Yesterday may have brought huge Nintendo news, giving the company coverage on any technology or gaming site that you'd care to mention, but how that news was disseminated was interesting. With major releases we've become accustomed to short-notice Nintendo Direct broadcasts, which build hype and then drop the...
Reaction Nintendo Surprises Us All With the 2DS and Wii U Price Cut
Some NL staffers share their thoughts
Well, today wasn't a sleepy Wednesday for Nintendo. Somewhat out of the blue, both Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe issued some major announcements. Nintendo of America gave more specific details on release dates for the most notable games of the Holidays, but both regions were united in revealing the...
Talking Point The Wii U's Limited Hard Drive Space and Future Install Headaches
It's not just about installing eShop games
Splinter Cell Blacklist, on every platform but Wii U, has install options either mandatory or optional. According to analysis from Digital Foundry there are possible trade-offs on Nintendo's system as a result, with longer loading times and some weaker textures that are improved with an optional install on...
Developer Interview Mathew Solie on Disney Infinity, Toy Box Inspiration and Future Potential
Producer sheds light on infinite possibilities
At the time of writing, Disney Infinity has just recently launched in both North America and Europe. With its use of collectible figurines that can be used as playable characters in-game and the inclusion of cross-platform user generated content, the new title from Disney Interactive is making leaps and...