JimLad

@Kaze_Memaryu
Hack and slash, brawlers, whatever you wanna call it. I consider Bayonetta in the same group as Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. Can't stand that repetitive combo crap.
I'm not calling X a button masher though.

Can't wait, KEY was one of my favourite games on the Wii. If they remove the un-killibility it would be amazing.

Those look like some really good games but not much of it interests me sadly.
Smash Bros doesn't seem to be doing anything new, although I might get it if the online actually works this time.
Donkey Kong I will try but I really didn't get along with the first one, the difficulty was ridiculous.
I'm not a fan of button mashers or RPGs so that rules out Bayonetta, Hyrule Warriors and X.
Mario Kart does look interesting with the gravity, not sure why they didn't make a new F-Zero instead though.

Yarn Yoshi or Zelda would be top of my list. Hopefully they'll come out this year.

Jesus christ, more tweets from a guy that doesn't even make games for Nintendo systems, how is this news?
Will you report my tweets if I say something nice?

They've had a good few months, but as a whole this year has been pretty terrible. Especially considering they just launched a new system.

Hell yeah, my favourite character from Smash Bros. Mostly because of Sheik.

Oh god that is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

I would think maybe they could compete once they have some big games under their belt. However I honestly don't think Nintendo will wait that long before trying something new. The hardware is being sold at a loss and the software sales are almost certainly not making up the cost.
Nintendo don't strike me as a company to just let money run down the drain like that...

"Becoming friends with strangers may lead to trouble."
LOL That's a one-way ticket to hermitsville right there.

New Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Play.
These are all games that remained in the UK charts for YEARS, so don't tell me the UK doesn't like Nintendo.
The difference between then and now is about 1.8 million hardware sales.
In short: the software isn't selling because the hardware isn't selling. (probably because it's more expensive and doesn't do anything exciting like the Wii did)

Last time I checked Wii U hardware was being sold at a loss. Couple that to the fact software is not moving in big numbers and you've got a problem.

One (or more) of these things is going to happen in 2014:
-They will try one last desperate price cut
-They will make a hardware revision that drops the gamepad
-Iwata will step down
-They will cease production on WiiU entirely (I hope not)

The reason we should be interested in sales is because when they are this bad, it means we'll be getting less games or even no games in the future.

@skywake The difference is all those games stayed on the platforms they debuted on. For the few fans Bayonetta had, it can't be easy knowing the sequel will cost them £350 to play, no matter who's fault it is.

I've come to expect these kinds of announcement let downs over the last few years, but it still breaks my heart to see genuinely optimistic Nintendo fans have their hopes smashed again and again.

The original Donkey Kong got a 6/10 and your're calling this shallow?
Please.

If they had waited until this year to release alongside Mario 3D, things may have been very different...

See?... That's value for money!
People still want Nintendo consoles, but not for £300.

For everyone citing 3DS as the reason he's wrong, the exact quote was "Nintendo is irrelevant as a hardware manufacturer in the console business"
Nothing to do with 3DS success, he's talking about the Wii U and it's tiny market share.

I think it's too soon for them to go software only, but if and when it happens I'll be just as happy playing Mario on a Xbox or Playstation. The games will still be fantastic I'm sure.
I've always enjoyed their hardware innovations, but the Wii U has never excited me in that area. It's like a clunky version of the DS interface, with none of the original game ideas that made it stand out.
I'd like to see them take another stab at hardware, but unless they come up with something that truely changes the way we play games, there's no point in them making another console imo.

The Playstation brand has a lot of strength in the UK.
I've never really been a fan of Sony but they do at least acknowledge Europe as a serious market.

Other than sales there's not much to talk about right now.
Unless you count the weekly screenshots from Smash Bros or what Kickstarter projects might be coming to the system.
Where's the details about Yarn Yoshi? or X? or Zelda? or all the games they supposedly have in development.
The majority of game news coming out of Nintendo is for the 3DS. Wii U actually has very little to report.
I don't get why they still keep so many secrets at a time when they need to be convincing people that the games are 'coming'.

@Hernandez I thought the same thing. They were fools not to continue supporting the Wii with casual software. Then they could focus the Wii U (with a different name) solely on core fans. Third pillar strategy.
Oh well.

I think sales will enjoy a moderate hike this winter, and again maybe once Mario Kart and Smash come out. But what then? Wait for another christmas until Zelda maybe shows up?
I hate to say it but without third parties to fill the gaps, this console is never going to take off. Unless NIntendo up their game output MASSIVELY.

@Peach64 Yeah I'm also worried about what this will mean for their development standards. If games like this don't sell enough will we get more and more party games? I hope not.

I'm glad they didn't make it a racing hybrid, but I do wish they had kept it as Dinosaur planet. It is a great game other than the end.

What I don't get is how they came up with so many new game ideas for the DS, yet they're drawing a blank when it comes to the WiiU. They're pretty much the same setup.

I'd also like to say, 'Wii 2' wouldn't neccessarily have been a bad thing.
The Wii remote still has so much potential unfulfilled. They were just about begginning to get to grips with it when Nintendo choked off it's game supply.
Skyward Sword was like a glimpse into that potential, but we'll probably never see games like that again.

Whereas I've watched the Wii U at three E3s now (kind of) and they've still not shown me any software that makes the gamepad a must-have item.

I blame the parents.
If they weren't so slack in letting their kids play these 18+ rated games, developers wouldn't be making so many of them.
Most games today are bloody because that's what kids want, but you wouldn't let a child watch a 18+ movie. That's why we still have a large number of decent family movies being made. The same isn't true for games sadly.

@BossBattles Well put.
Hopefully once graphics can't get any better, and people start seeing shooters for what they are (repetitive dumbed-down gameplay) maybe developers will start making games with a bit more imagination.

^ What Knux says
Why oh why can't Nintendo make more 3D platformers??
They should be updating their older platforming IPs with with games like this.
Ice Climbers, Kid Icarus, Kirby, or a new 3D Donkey Kong. Don't get me wrong, I love 2D games, but there's only so much you can do with two dimensional movement.

The article pretty much sums up my thoughts.
I can see why they wanted to try another wacky idea, it worked so well for them last time. But as Peach64 said they cleary designed the controller before thinking up enough game ideas to make it worthwhile.

I don't blame them for trying, but when their own games are using the gamepad less and less it's time to face facts.

Maybe the reason they chose the word upgrade instead of 'new system' is because IT'S NOT A NEW SYSTEM ANYMORE.

I think it will be in a good position if they can lower the price more.
I love Nintendo but they need to realise their value in todays market place.
A system that puts out the same graphics as a 360/PS3 and gets about a third of the software support is not worth twice as much money. The slow release of first party games doesn't make up the difference, nor does a controller with a screen in it.
If they can't get the third party support, then they should swallow their pride a re-price the console accordingly. Otherwise in a year's time they're going to be even more obscure than they are now.

@D3athBr1ng3r187 I agree they still need more core games. The kids are an important demographic though because they will be the next gerneration of core fans.
As well as these games they also need to show Pikmin and Sonic, and maybe even some upcoming titles.

That is indeed how it's done.
This may cement their rep as kiddie system, but that's the market they need to go after right now. Microsoft and Sony are letting this demographic slip right through their fingers.

AWESOME
Would love to be able to knock people flying round and round the planet though.

YES PLEASE!!!!!
I could play a hundred more Galaxy titles and not get bored.
Although I'd still be happy if they made an entirely new 3D Mario series.
Big 3D platformers in HD with stunning backdrops are an amazing prospect. It pisses me off that all the money in gaming these days goes to the shooters.

Go onnnn, port it to the Wii U...
What's the worst that could happen.

@element187 If the Wii U actually had decent third party support I would agree with everything you just said.
But it doesn't.

Marketing towards disconnected families is not a bad strategy actually.
They haven't got much to offer hardcore gamers right now so why not.
This ad doesn't leave me with bits of vomit in the mouth like previous family 'couch' ads.

Also I think the word 'upgrade' may be integral to removing some of the confusion over it's relation to the Wii.

Nice article, it was an interesting read.
In the media's defense, I think it's worth considering how much other news about Wii U there is to report right now. Nintendo are typically a very secretive company when it comes to annoucements, and third parties are not giving them the light of day. So of course the bad news is going to outweigh the good. If they had more games to show us the news reels wouldn't look half as bad.

As for the Wii U, I've talked a lot of trash about it so far but I still have faith in the games Nintendo will produce for it. The lack of power never bothered me, nor does the lack of third parties or online or virtual console or the kiddy image or any of that crap.
But I want them to admit that the tablet controller is not necessary and stop making it mandatory. By all means keep selling it, but as an optional extra.
If they do that they can cut another £100 off the price and suddenly the system becomes much more viable.

Nintendo make some of the best games in the world, but this console and it's price point are not helping them sell those games.

The fact that you can play the latest Call of Duty game in the palm of your hands is something Nintendo should be taking it upon themselves to advertise like crazy. It would boost Wii U sales ten-fold.

@BlackStar9000 That would be great advertising, but it's also encouraging kids to stay up late.
I wish they would stop trying to be so family friendly for a few minutes and just try to make a 'cool' advert.

@element187 Yes absolutely, that would be amazing!

It took me long enough to learn the first 151. As soon as they started introducing more I was like, 'screw that'.
Now when people talk about Pokémon I literally have no idea what they're talking about most the time.

@HaNks I agree, probably too late now though :/

He already made the perfect game, it's called The Ocarina of Time.

@jrob23 Look at that 2013 list again. Four of them are minigame collections, one of them is a Gamecube remake. The only big games we've seen from Nintendo in the last year are NSMBU and Pikmin 3. After the two year drought before WiiU launched you'd think they'd have more to show than that.
In comparison the Gamecube in it's first year got: Luigi's Mansion, Smash Bros Melee, Wave Race, Pikmin, Star Fox Adventures, Animal Crossing, Mario Party 4, Eternal Darkness.
N64 got: Mario 64, Pilot Wings, Wave Race, Mario Kart, Star Fox 64.
Wii got: Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, Mario Party 8, Fire Emblem, Battalion Wars, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Paper Mario, Mario Strikers, Metoid Prime 3.

I think more of their development efforts now are focused on the 3DS. Which is great if you like handhelds, but it's a sucky time to be a Nintendo console fan.
2014 looks a bit better though.

Up until yesterday I would have said it's pointless to keep going after casual gamers. But those sales numbers in Japan made me realise they are still out there ready to buy a new system.
It's a promising sign for Nintendo, but I fear the hardcore will get even less attention if it works.

^ LMAO This.

Wow I am genuinely shocked, good for them.
Question is will these games sell it in the west.

Marth seems to be the regular representative of Fire Emblem in Smash now.
I dare say they'll introduce a new character from the series as well.

The end of an era, sad really but these things happen.
If they didn't we'd stop moving forward as a society.