Ren

as someone else said. it's not about the overall value it's about Nintendos generally bad comprehension about how the market works now. Great as it is, this is not a system seller.
Pricing things like this so high also sends me the message that they will never get with modern day pricing on these things and hence I won't buy a WiiU because they are out of touch. Good game or not I won't pay that for a 20 year old game. I don't go to the theatre and pay 10 dollars to see Jaws or 2001 even if it is a classic.
It's not that THIS game is bad for the price it's that they're not seeing the bigger picture that if this and tons of other games like it were priced reasonably cheap like mobile/console counterparts they could OWN this console again and then people would pay full retail for their struggling new full retail games. Its so simple and every console has figured it out but Nintendo; free games, REAL price drops and sales (%50 off, etc), 4-8$ games that are actually good, not ancient. what world are they living in at Nintendo? This is a great game but if you won't actually advertise than use these games to sell your NEW products.

Translation of the above from Iwata: No one gets it because, well Nintendo land wasn't very good and we didn't have anything else ready for our own launch so, uh... If somehow a few people buy it anyway and everyone they've ever met is forced to watch them play it, then, uh maybe they'll want one too. Meanwhile we're happy to report we've figured out what HD stands for and have some exciting new games coming in Q4 2014.

Is this even a question? Clearly it came to HD too late. As someone said the WiiU is going to hit an early demise too, because they scaled it back ignoring the already commonplace setup in peoples houses. HD, built in storage, cheap downloadable content.
The management there is old fashioned. This is all without even mentioning the even more archaic online policies which have been a problem at Nintendo for years. The old Wii would still be a massive console now, had nintendo taken digital distribution seriously years ago.

thanks for the tips, guys! Not going to get a WiiU for this, but I'll have to find one "somewhere else" in the meantime.

Never been big on RPG's so this is the biggest thing I missed that people wet them selves over. I guess I'll have to give it a go. Will it stand up for first timers? Is this only WiiU vc or regular Wii vc too? anyone know?

and you better believe it would still be $10+ if it was on the E-shop. clearly Nintendo has still not figured out how to sell DL only games. Maybe they don't use the "fast nickel over the slow dime" economic theory in Japan. (see Wii shop channel, likely you've never heard of it)

Seems like people are super mad here about it, though, even people who have never played it. Play it for an hour or so and you'll see why people like it, it's not the devil. It's great for the same reason Nintendo games are great; the control and playabilty are extremely solid while simple and accesible and the content is harmless. Isn't this the backbone of a big successful Nintendo game? I sense some sour grapes here about mobile platforms, since this is the game/franchise that strangely but single-handedly made mobile a contender in the games market.
If you're bitter don't play them, but don't dismiss this kiddy stuff entirely as there was a time when you were in jammies frothing for a stupid simple game that people thought was a fad too (super mario brothers/duck hunt) the platform is new, the approach/market is not.

yeah $40 is pretty steep considering even with all the purchases in game it's probably not that much. It better have ALL that buyable stuff included for that much. Also it's silly to sell retail like that, totally backwards thinking; it's inherently a mobile experience just leave it as DL only.

an absolute classic from the days when capcom ruled the land. Chip and Dales is the other standout Disney one for me, it's similar but playing both chipmunks is really cool. The music is also amazing in all these titles. thanks for the review. Also, wasn't there some kind of tease about a re-release/ update of this game or something? I got all excited that this would have mention of that.

if that list is it than it doesn't look so good. Mario 3d is the only thing there that could move hardware after Pikmin.
Pikmin was a weird choice to try and boost anything. it was really only even a sleeper hit for dedicated N nerds and I can't see that changing with this one.
You can't compare the timeline of the 360/ps3 to the WiiU, since the entire games industry was nowhere near what it is now.
in fact Pikmin 1 sales (about 1 mil to date) are pretty good considering the times then but today with the market as it is now even triple that is not a sign of a boom. that mario 3d has got to make a big splash or I think it'll be the beginning of a selloff.
Nintendo is a fighting company, though, so you can bet there'll be an amazing Zelda and Metroid to come if the WiiU doesn't make big waves overall (with tons of delays). I'll get one then when it's dirt cheap and everyones dumping them on craigslist.

WiiU is suffering pretty bad and I'm not a fan of their strategy with it at all. But 3DS is fine and Nintendo will be fine. In fact if Nintendo doesn't fix the weak showing of WiiU in a year or so they'll be better off letting it go and focusing on 3DS if they want to stem the suffering.

Yeah, there is no zelda game now, and I'm not going to pay around 300 to play another "new" mario game. I was excited for Pikmin at launch when I played the pre-launch demo, not anymore. It looked fine then, it's been a year. No excuse. The reason people are waiting is because come holiday there may be some other amazing consoles out (and actually ready with games and multimedia features), at barely a higher price. I'll make my choice then. If Nintendo was ready at launch a FULL year early like they were supposed to be I would have gotten one and never looked back. I can't be alone in this thinking, and I think it may have been a fatal mistake for them (even if there is still hope it will be a slow recovery, unlike the 3DS).

wow, the know-it-alls are out tonight. This isn't the New York Times folks it's "Nintendo Life". It's good N info with a bit of familiar fun, I kind of doubt future generations will be unearthing the updates here to study 21st century human history. There's no law against editorializing your articles, big media does it constantly.

Fanboy much?
The people here can't seem to accept that Nintendo may have actually made a 'lil PR blunder by quickly saying no to a program they probably didn't know about and then righted it quickly.
Nintendo has a certain image to uphold, true, and they'll go to great lengths to control it, but legalities of using Nintendo stuff (people just playing the game) are pretty safe so theres no reason to speculate wildly with made up legal jargon. Nintendo isn't around to save babies, they're a company that sells games; thats it.

Yeah there is no excuse for this.
Defend them all you want but it just looks really bad. This wasn't thought through well. They could have looked into it and worked something out to avoid this kind of storm but clearly they feel they're better than the rest of us already, why do something for fans of a franchise that could be the only hope for your currently failing console?
really sad. I was hoping to get a WiiU late in the game but this is the kind of really stupid move that makes that look pretty unlikely now.

If other people in the mainstream press or other industries talk about Nintendo it's news here at NintendoLife, and I'm glad. why the complaints? Investment money is still a big part of keeping a company that large afloat.
If nintendo is making no profit from it's largest product theres no way they'll just decide "oh well, lets just ignore it and spend everything we have left on it and work on something new secretly". There has to be a cash flow. They have massive overhead it's not a corner store.
This guy is right but wrong. This would all be true if it were some smart business guy at the head but it's just Iwata.
It's not that bad of an idea to go to mobile machines but unfortunately their too stubborn to do it. Put out all those old NES and Super NES games on mobile and they'd easily be better than everything on mobiles now and we'd all buy them for 4.99 each, then fill them with ads and extras about WiiU and 3DS exclusives. Apple has a stronghold and it's not going away, theres no logic in pretending that's not there.
These business views from people with a lot of financial say in Nintendos future are important if you truly care about Nintendo, whether you like what they say or not.

this goes with articles like "water is wet" and "mobile phones are portable".
This was clear from the start. Look at all those launch games. It seems impossibly stupid and juvinille that it actually is the case but all those games look like upscaled sd models, no new detail or physics. It's like they truly thought they could upscale everything and use the same designs and it would all look fine. Even the system specs reflect that, because if that were true it would be like a supercomputer.
But, no, models all need to be ready to be seen at that level of detail or things just look ridiculous. Sharpness is great but if the detail isn't there... geez. I wish Nintendo would wake up and hire someone younger with a clue into upper management and talk to people in the industry. they're in a bubble.

yeah people don't know the difference because if you looked at the few ads or even PLAYED a WiiU at launch you saw the same dopey, kiddy looking Mii's and 2D mario nonsense that was supposed to be all 'next gen'. How was that supposed to look new?
Look at the launch titles and at a glance it sure did look like a Wii with a tablet, not an exciting new HD console. What were they thinking? It was bungled pretty bad and if there isn't some truly fresh, detailed looking content this holiday no one is going to bother with Nintendo with a cheap PS4 in front of them.
That's where I am and I wanted to want a WiiU but it hasn't shown me anything better than the 360/ps3 has already (or old Wii).

thank you Damo, this was great, much needed perspective and mirrors my own experience.
I was also a big importing nerd back in my youth and find it a dead art now. There is just so much on hand now that not waiting a bit for something seems ridiculous to me (especially in a language you don't understand, when that applies).
A lot of people talk about it who don't actually import anything too. People just want the "option" to, but seriously, how often do you really do it AND it's worthwhile? no one is going to outright refuse to buy a WiiU just because it only plays games in their home country, give me a break.

Its True WiiU could succeed with only some top notch 1st party games but it hasn't happened. They just missed the mark on what the step up to HD means. Clearly no one at Nintendo gets what it means to step up their designs to utilize the power of a great console, character models need to be updated, but they aren't and it all looks old and bland and there is nothing that shows how cool that gamepad can be.
The 3DS had some awesome 3D and touchscreen showcases from the start and more important it shows lately that 3d isn't the priority but fantastic games are. The DS market was so huge already and at the right price point was an easy sell, now that the library is big (AND DS games play right out of it).
The console competition is massive and hi tech. For that much money and hooked to an HD tv consumers just expect more bang for the buck and Nintendo has yet to deliver even with the things they have coming, it just looks bland. With a home HD console there HAS to be a wider range of games besides old kids games and slower ports, the Wiisports bowling craze is over. 3DS and WiiU, not the same situation, but they could be if WiiU makes a big price cut, that would fix it fast.

Ubisoft was the only one who gambled on the chance that it might take off like the Wii did unexpectedly and it didn't happen. Now most 3rd parties are bailing and that doesn't bode well. Nothing will save it unless there is a killer game in the works (Zelda/metroid) that will sell consoles all by itself. Since that still hasn't happened it makes it look like WiiU can't handle much.
Now it's time to get the other consoles attention for their launch and see who fares best, I can't blame them for that. Games cost so much to make why would they keep throwing everything at WiiU if the sales aren't there? Even if there are a few good 3rd parties with games coming they all have more coming for PS/xbox so any gamer who wants their moneys worth will get one of those first now.
Not everyone will get more than one console, for sure. Last gen everyone got a Wii because it was the cheap, 'fun for everyone' thing, now it just isn't that, because it's... well, weird. Better marketing could have fixed that.
I know all about it and I was still like "a tablet controller? really? no storage? VC weekly trickle all over again? No real launch mario or zelda? no."

Wow, looks like game of the year 2005 material!

I don't care if he said he'd resign, but it'd be nice if he was let go. He's out of touch and the successes during his tenure were not on him. I don't really get how game designers are supposed to be good business people. The 3DS and Wii have been great but not utilized their marketing or release schedule/ team management to near their potential. I'm a Nintendo fan like everyone else here but lets be realistic about the greatness of the games/hardware and the weakness in the business strategy. last 2 consoles poorly timed/ promoted, and constant missed release dates. The Wii had the best launch ever due to the unique controller but fizzled out to lame 3rd party support and out of touch online features, bad marketing. Sure they're not tanking but they're also not nearly reaching their potential and it's all on him. Their too old fashioned to fire him unless he literally steals some money or something. Nintendo innovates in some design areas ONLY, not business strategy. It only looks like business innovation because they're stuck so far in the past that it seems intentionally odd.
seriously, the Wii would STILL be a force in gaming now if the online system wasn't so horribly managed. WiiU has inched forward in that regard. time for new leadership.

jeez what a tease! way to get a guy all riled up!

Nice measured comments from the king of game design. I get that in game design the playability is first for him, fine.
But lets just say that if there is to be a real change in the old boys club that is game design largely today it needn't be about a game design element. Equal consideration and less than grotesque sexualisation of female characters in ALL things needs to slowly become a real innate priority for PEOPLE; in LIFE.
If that is or were to become a part of his world view, it wouldn't have to be a design priority or a choice it would just be a natural part his creative thought process. I'm not bad mouthing him really. I'm just saying it's there or it isn't for someone, there isn't a "choice of if it fits" or not.

by that logic stories favoring male heros has coincidentally fit gameplay/film/writing/storytelling for a thousand years already. Change your thinking and the rest will come easy.

Their not trying to 'blame' anyone directly but trying to ensure some accountability to keep check that their vendors are not openly using slave labor, and if they are to use different ones so to keep from soliciting with those groups/governments/whatever who supply things this way.

In theory everyone is under scrutiny no one here is singling out Nintendo because they like Playstations, don't be ridiculous. People are just trying to do the right thing and Nintendo just needs to show some effort. It's not a moronic gamer conspiracy, these are people who actually go outside and do things.

Cool stuff in general but also I'm just feeling 'meh' about it all lately. Frankly there is just so much out there, I feel like new expensive consoles is almost too much, I've barely covered a fraction of the other HD consoles, plus all the other PC, online and mobile stuff (the good things here and there). I think this 'generation' is going to see a bit of a tough sell due to oversaturation soon; I can't be the only one feeling this way. Especially If you don't have much money theres already so much to choose from.

That's too bad, I'll have to save my money for more ps4 games then. With a game it's still a lot more but the WiiU is just not a value proposition by todays standards and their botched launch still hasn't renewed my faith at all. They're operating at a VERY small loss with it (production anyway, poor sales is another story) obviously that's been their strategy since the Wii; stripped down console means immediate profit no matter what the sales numbers but it backfired this time. To come to HD late and still try to underperform and wow us with another controller update is just not enough, the games needed to be top notch and ready at launch so this could end badly. It's time for REAL damage control. BIG price cut (take a bigger loss like ps2 did at first) and then pump money into those dev teams to get this game stuff out yesterday. Time to take responsibility for what you screwed up N.

@krunchykhaos
Nintendo has never been anything like part of a 'mature' market, it barely exists with consoles at all and if it does Nintendo is the last machine to be part of it (as in sexual content). Golgo 13, Conker, 007games? Hardly a watershed of content in gaming. If you're over 8 years old you've never looked to Nintendo for sexual content.

Weird how some people here are so in denial. I love Nintendo too, but theres no argueing that this launch has been pretty screwed up. claiming that delays are "necessary" for a better game is ridiculous. Proper managed, scheduled time for projects is what makes better games, not missed deadlines, and scheduling mishaps and ignoring consumer trends for years. if someone says "I'm going to make you some breakfast", and then says "it was neccesary to delay your breakfast to make sure the eggs were completely cooked".
If you want to promise me a nice breakfast, friggin get up a little earlier or ask someone how to make eggs and bacon before you promise me anything! All that tells me is that you don't know how to cook and you're a slacker, whether or not that's true.
I won't make excuses for why you do things late, and why you thought that nothing would be different about a totally different system. HD is NOT a buzzword; it means "high definition" it's a resolution standard and takes lots more power and time to design games that render in HD, it's a real thing and it has been a standard for a while now. Why should we give Nintendo a big break on being so late to the modern standard for games AND film.

I was a pretty big fanboy and I still am for 3DS but like others here after a few years I kept seeing all the xbox could do and felt sick of waiting for Nintendo to do something so I got one. Now that I saw whats possible when you keep up with what people want I'm not locked to Nintendo consoles anymore and I'm all for a PS4. WiiU screwed up pretty bad and I tried to like it, but if support continues to wane anyone on the fence won't even want it as a 2nd console and that's dangerous odds for N. Needs real support and a big price drop soon to try and save it. Pachter is dead on, you're fooling yourself if you believe otherwise.

Jeziz, some serious rabid fanboys here. So if things had gone differently and they released a POWERFUL Wii HD with wiimote controls only, you people wouldn't have run out and gotten that? I would have preferred that. Then we'd get the HD gaming we've waited at least 4 years for, great wiimote controls and all the multiplat titles the other guys get. whats not to like?
The gamepad was not impressive enough to sell it to me and the games weren't either. It's too late to ditch now but it really wasn't figured out why we'd need one soon enough for anyone to care now. There should have been a pack-in game that showed it off and brought people in, too late for that now.

How is this article ignorant or misinformed or anything like that? Nothing is off here. It isn't being used well in upcoming games (or current ones), and it's not selling well, straight up observations. And it is cheaper. I'd go buy one today if it had some more RAM, storage and no screen. Wii HD is all we wanted and we got a Wii with a crappy android tablet and moderated chat with millions of other 13 yo's. This article is right nintendo killed it themselves. Only hope left is a price cut, and open up the E-shop wide and hope the indies have some use for it. with PS4 at 400 the Wii U needs to go down to at least $250 to make me notice it again.

Kinky and Nintendo? it's like saying Tetris is super violent and graphic. Nintendo is historically farther from kinky than RuPaul is from straight.

Just saw the X trailer but it's too late to re-vote! Thats a system seller for real. one of those at launch would have skyrocketed this thing.
otherwise it's 101 for me. it's a perfect molding of the Nintendo aesthetic and a more futuristic robot thing. That was a system seller for me but with nothing else I still couldn't justify 350$ so I'm still waiting for more.

This looks as tight and fun as the other 3D marios but I'm still concerned about the stubbornness with old character and object models. Isn't it time to update some of the visuals at least a little?
I keep thinking they'll hold on to the art style and finally update the graphics to add some detail and physics properties to the environments. Maybe in the manner of like Ratchet and Clank; Just a little more flourish in the visuals. Would there really be that much of an outcry if it wasn't all just colored orbs and cubes? Seems like it's getting borderline lazy to me, and the last few games have started to feel stale visually. 3Dland was fun but got boring fast because it looks identical to the rest.
Don't get me wrong, Mario 64 set the standard for 3d platformers and it's been tightened and perfected with each new sequel, but I thought for sure an HD Nintendo was going to give us a brand new standard to really step it up and remind us why we should always have a Nintendo just for mario; this still doesn't look like that.

very good point, I've rarely traded in a Nintendo game unless it turned out that I just didn't like it to begin with much. I wouldn't call it a strategy, though, as much as just a claim to greatness. Nintendo probably still is the worlds best with game software, whether you like the family friendly design approach or not, it's just fun stuff. Mario has stood the test of time because they're fun to play again no matter how many times you've won them. I do wish they could branch out a little from the old IP's but I'm still considering a WiiU as a secondary console to a PS4 so I don't miss some of the big titles.

for those who didn't get to go 101 and Pikmin were playable demos at the WiiU experience PRE-launch events, I went to one. They were probably of the more interesting games to be seen there, but then they weren't playable on the crappy gamestop kiosks all along? When I realized they weren't launch games I thought, what is then? Now we get demo's of them plus 2 other retreads playable after what 6 months; oooh how exciting! Seriously you have to be a sheep to still defend this as exciting news. Way too little, way too late. The saving grace here may just rely on how badly the Xbox one does. It's really pathetic what passes as a reveal for Nintendo these days. It's like celebrating skype as a great new feature, like touting oatmeal as the superfood of the future. Let the battle for the underwhelm crown begin!

not surprised but still disappointed. I expected at LEAST this from those ridiculous launch kiosks, and got nothing but cheesy videos and a rayman demo which still isn't released. Nintendo marketing drops the ball again... or still?

lower, more realistic goal. And some real investor funding if it's not just a labor of love. Kickstarter isn't for paying real company salaries. It's nice that it works for peoples great projects but it's still an online bake sale; only treat it as such if you want to do multi-million dollar commercial projects.
I want this game to happen but they need management that knows how this stuff works, and can get real investor funding if they want to really do it. It doesn't bode well for the game that they screwed this part up already.

those poll results say that most of us here are looking for 3DS, don't have a WiiU, or if we do we're not sitting around waiting with bated breath for more classics to play on a brand new shiny HD console.

great, put it to sleep. With the choice it's hard to imagine why one would get it besides the other being sold out. Heres to hoping it's 32 with a game and then add a new one with even more. That was one of my biggest gripes at launch. I know it's expandable but its silly to require you stick things on for the most basic downloading.

If I buy car I expect not to have to buy an trailer just to put my groceries in it no matter how efficient it is.

wow, mostly it's a hard difference to notice but now that I think about it there probably is a slight slower refresh feel to most games, can't even imagine 3d at full speed, can't wait for this.

yeah weird list here. It's like Nintendo Power is living on here. They're all great games, but it's seems like such a classic Nintendo fanboy list, no third parties and E-shop games?
Sakura Samurai, Pushmo, Mutant Mudds, Cave Story, not to mention RE:Revelations, and Lords of Shadow. I don't know if I'd call it a fault or just greatness that Nintendo games still overshadow every 3rd party thing, it's really a shame. As a dedicated nintendo site that's not bankrolled by Nintendo I would hope the writers here could see past some of the arbitrary glitz of the continuous march of Mario games. Am I really the only one totally bored with Mario games now?
Even Kid Icarus was the worst derivative, adolescent nonsense to me but I guess I'm alone there too; I tried but it was too cheesy to handle as an adult. However you slice it the 3DS overall is the best thing that's happened to games in a few years.

it's unfortunate that he's so right and I'm starting to understand the potential benefits of the WiiU's structure for new ideas as a creative gaming focused console, but it's image problems still remain.
The advertising is confused (what there is), and Nintendo failed to properly court developers into working on it. I agree that raw power is becoming moot now, but the similarities in performance and input on the other systems make it easier to develop cross-platform so it's really hard to justify putting big titles on WiiU now that it's moving slowly and tougher to port games over. I kind of want one now but I'm afraid the big publishers will just get more and more scarce on it, which doesn't look good. Enough games like what Shinen makes and I'll get one anyway.

I still have some problems with the WiiU setup in general, this hasn't made them go away, but it really has re-awakened my interest in WiiU. If they can show some truly interesting first party games soon, and anyone else can come up with something cool to do with that game pad I might get one yet. Now nintendo needs to make that tvii stuff work well and release a new version with some storage built in.

agreed with someone above. I'd gladly watch some actor in for Iwata who can speak a little faster and more engaging and produced a little better. More excited for 3ds stuff, but I'd love to be suprised by something that should have come last year like a new zelda U or 3d marioU or something.

of course thats true when going from an sd to an HD system (like VHS to DVD difference, why go back?) on 360 it made sense, even the WiiU i'd understand people using it less (assuming WiiU had some good games of its own, when it does we'll forget about Wii Games).
BUT the 360 has fantastic games and lots of them, and they are already HD and plenty fancy, it's ridiculous to call that based on the state of gaming that long ago (what, 8 years?!). I've lost interest in it JUST on that alone, because I'm still just starting on many of the good 360 games, I won't toss it now. Pretty silly; If there was something more enticing than Skype on offer I would agree but so far it looks about like a faster 360. WiiU suddenly looks like a contender again.

I'm feeling like I understand more the challenge that MS and Sony are facing now. After the reveal, I expected to be excited and sold on it immediately but now I just feel like: why is that better than my current xbox360? I don't think I'm alone in that.
The WiiU has the benefit of the Wii being pretty crusty looking just not being HD so the WiiU is an obvious upgrade, despite it's many problems; If you're somehow 'Nintendo only' you have to get a WiiU.
The other ones, though, just aren't that big of an upgrade without some massive new innovation. the jump from SD to HD is big deal no matter what the console, after that, it takes a lot more and people are not feeling spendy right now. Then NOT being backwards compatible, AND no used games?! that's really, really dangerous.
I don't see how they thought this would be impressive. That launch basically said: it's an xbox, but better with a cooler kinect, it has skype, and a cable box, and you can't play any of your 'old' stuff at all, and even the new used stuff you have to pay extra for. Thats downright warning bells to me "do not buy!" even though I wanted to love it.
After all my hate on the WiiU its starting to look a lot more appealing now (and PS4, also). bring on Mario and Zelda and I'll cave eventually. I still think it should have launched a year earlier and there are some big problems with it (storage? no BluRay/DVD? slow loading? high DL prices?)

I was ready to be excited but really backwards compatability is a big deal. I was saying days ago to a friend that if it doesn't have it it may be out for me. I'm new enough to xbox and theres so much to play why would I dump it so I can use skype on my tv and pay crazy prices for some shiny war games I can talk to? Why do they think skype is such a big selling point?
PS4 looks nicer to me now and WiiU too, if they can bring some really nice games soon. I'm not sure playing old Wii games is a huge plus but there are still nice prospects especially if the price goes down, might as well get both of those some day.

yeah, because everyone wants a deal on a "next gen" console with all kinds of downloadable junk and no storage. Lower the price of the other one and drop that useless white one for good.