Sun

I am playing New Super Mario Bros. U which is a huge step forward after crappy uninspired NSMB2. Also Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. I really want to go home and play Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie!

The problem is that 3DS cameras are absolute crap and NFC for a home console seems pretty useless unless you are willing to collect silly toys. Actually collecting silly toys can feel great.. before you turn 8.

What about that Wii finger device? Iwata said that it would definitely be released and then ignored it without saying a word... Weird.

NL about Bowser: 'My favourite movie: Taken, Taken 2'

LOL

NL: 'Microsoft Almost Purchased Sega In Order To Compete With Nintendo And Sony'

Would have they destroyed it as they did with Rare? Yes, they would have.

I played this game as a child! It was really deep at that moment.

@BulbasaurusRex Agreed! GC controller features the best grip and comfort.

SNES still is my favourite Nintendo console: Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Secret of Mana, Super Mario Kart, Super Street Fighter II, Super Mario All Starts...

Short article by the way, it looks too incomplete.

I am not buying Action Replay.

I think you unlock F-Zero AX tracks once you complete the regular game. I like this game but I think it is too difficult, I never managed to complete it. It goes very fast which is good but the tracks are full of traps which is not that good when you are going THAT fast....

I own the first one but it's way too difficult! And I don't want to cheat using the "pass me over this" option. I am stuck at the sewer area.

Miyamoto cannot retire! Without him I think I am not interested in Nintendo, not that much... Why an artist should retire? He can enjoy more free time is he asks for it and dammit he's not even old!!

@jorgy483 100% agreed.

I suffer lots of freezing when using Miiverse, it freezes every 10 minutes. Can't wait to check if this solves the issues.

I bought this one when it was released, I just started playing very recently. I think it's great, wish they fixed PZ4 and brought it to Wii or Wii U.

As ugly in HD as in SD.

@ThomasBW84 Why don't you provide prices both ways? And why do you NL ignore EU and on the other hand tell us the USA pricing?

21st Feb 2013, £0.30 (UK/EU)
20th Feb 2013, $0.30 (USA)

Just add this:
21st Feb 2013, £0.30/0.30€ (UK/EU)
20th Feb 2013, $0.30 (USA)

A UK website providing US pricing? It is a suggestion to improve your website, not sure if you do care after reading your last comment.

Last week was great. Unfortunately it seems that's not going to happen that often.

@KnightRider666 But where is Yoshi's Cookie to be found? Not on WiiWare, not on eShop while this one has been released on both and as a freebie too!

@Lopezdm I partially agree with you. I don't know why Nintendo didn't put a second circle pad on the 3DS/XL and I don't understand what are they doing with Wii U either. They focus so much on their own ideas (good idea for developing software) but don't really try to make real balanced hardware lately with at least some kind of support from other developers.

@CDreams I like chatting with you because you are not disrespectful and make silly comments as the other guy (or girl?).

Okay, actually New Super Mario Bros. U is a good game, but people were disappointed by New Super Mario Bros. 2 which was released a bit earlier. I love Mario since Super Mario World and NSMB2 is garbage. If rookie developers without any inspiration at all make a Mario game, this is what you get, a game that could have been developed by any freak on the Internet. NSMBU on the other hand is a huge step forward from NSMB2 and note that better people (when it comes to developing games, of course) worked on it.

About indie games that I have ignored on my comments I love Mighty Switch Force but this is a port. I was disappointed by The Cave demo and I'm going to download Trine 2 next week but again, nothing new here. Same for PS360 games that have been later released for Wii U, you have to admit some of them were poorly ported! I can't say Zombi U is a great horror survival game and I love that kind of games, I own and enjoyed Silent Hill Shattered Memories (Wii), Cursed Mountain (Wii), Project Zero 2 Wii Edition and also all of the Resident Evil released for Wii (both Chronicles included).

Nintendo Land is exactly the type of game that would have never been able to boost Wii U sales and would make it be seen as just a newer Wii, as that's exactly what Wii U is for most people. And only Nintendo is to blame. New Super Mario Bros. U, it was not its time yet.

When Nintendo releases a beautiful Zelda, an awesome Mario or a deep Metroid (Prime) is when people start considering Wii U as something worth its price and worth Nintendo's legacy.

@RikuzeYre Nintendo DS had a very low start until games like Brain Training, Nintendogs and New Super Mario Bros. were released.

@RikuzeYre: 'Power never helped get Nintendo support(Gamecube has about 30 worthwhile games on it tops.), power isnt also going to make them profit'.

Why would I care about Nintendo profits? Specially since most of them are not for artists, engineers or bosses. I would care if Nintendo was struggling to survive which is not the case. All I care about is for Nintendo games and they were nearly perfect until New Super Mario Bros., Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario Sticker Star and stuff like that. Not saying they stink (NSMB2 actually does) at all, just saying I miss superb and really inspired Nintendo games like Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door, Wave Race Blue Storm, F-Zero GX...

So even if SNES, N64 and NGC were less profitable than Wii and DS, bring that stuff back to me and I'm the happiest man in the world.

@CDreams
' Before the Wii U launched and no figures were thrown out there, if you asked what would be a good sales for the Wii U at this point, based off previous knowledge, excluding the Wii as that was essentially an anomaly, then if you said 3 million people and especially publishers would be delighted if it hit that figure'.

Then why Nintendo who is very prudent has lowered its expectations for Wii U sales for the first fiscal year?

@CDreams
'This time of year is always quiet and it's why all the big games were due to come out around March. That's when things start picking up again sales wise after the holidays and going into spring. The Wii U sold brillant in Nov/Dec, slowed right down in Jan/Feb. Big games are coming next month and we will start to see sales pick up again'.

I agree but also makes me think that only 2.66 million people are willing to get a new generation Nintendo console in the first 3 months. Nintendo has to work very hard to get that number risen.

You are saying elsewhere on your comments that there are a lot of great games out there for Wii U. I don't really agree. Not a single great Nintendo game is available right now for Wii U. Nintendo Land is not that good, actually I still prefer playing Wii Sports Resort. New Super Mario Bros. U is the best 'New Mario' but people are quite disappointed by the 'New' series. And if you think of it it's better to say that's the reason for this somehow low sales (even if you think that they are high).

@CDreams, I like your writing but I don't think Wii U is going to get the same success as Wii. Look 3DS compared to DS. As you said Wii U is a good upgrade but only because Wii is little more than GameCube. I bought Wii U on January to enjoy Nintendo games as I do every generation since SNES, but I think Wii U should be power powerful in order to get a better support from other developers. Also, I prefer an amazing-looking Nintendo game than an OK-looking Nintendo game, not talking about anything specific here.

@CDreams:
"I love how people spout of system specs as if that's the most important thing. It's going to help Sony and MS to have great specs because that's what they are all about, however I'm pretty confident Nintendo, even without coming close to those SUPER SPECS, will still have games that rank as some of the best this coming generation. In some ways the specs are irrelevant."

Of course Nintendo will not disappear, thank heaven. But we are not talking about that here, we are just talking about how this early PS4 and Xbox3 (once it is announced) would affect Nintendo since they are coming 3 years earlier than stated (by Sony) and 1 year after Wii U with much more powerful systems.

Does it mean that Nintendo is going to disappear? Of course not, Nintendo could survive even with first-party games only. But I don't think we are discussing that kind of stuff here, to be honest.

@Tsuchiya So you are saying is not a fact Wii U is less powerful than PS4? Okay then, enough for me.

@Tsuchiya To be honest most of the times IGN.com is more objective than NL. I haven't found a better games website yet, but I think this article here is reasonable.

'Wii U poor power' are my words, you can change them for 'much less powerful Wii U' if you want. CPU is slow and it only features 2GB RAM and 1GB if for OS alone. Have you to sit down to face this simple fact?

Well, I have already expressed my opinion regarding this:

PS4 has much better technical capabilities than Wii U and is going to be released only one year after Wii U. I can see Xbox3 coming soon and Wii U struggling with its poor power. It doesn't look like Wii success will be repeated on Wii U.
From Ign.com:
Cerny said the platform is "by game creators for game creators" and that its architecture is "like a PC, but supercharged." PS4 uses the X86 CPU and has 8GB of memory and a local hard drive. It uses APU technology and GDDR5 memory, which is typically reserved for "top of the line, high end graphics cards."
PS4 has 8GB of super fast RAM memory when Wii U has 2GB and only 1GB for games. If you think of Xbox3 being similar than PS4, it's going to be tough for Wii U.
I own a Wii U and I won't be buying PS4 but this is the truth and we have to see it. I bought Wii U for Nintendo games but not everybody else is going to do the same.

NL: Are you looking forward to the HD version of Resident Evil: Revelations, or do you think it's more suited to the 3DS? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

A horror game is always more suitable for home consoles, that's why I'm going to buy REvelations a second time.

Reading this it is clear to me that this is like faking a Wii U game version connection to the servers but with 3DS inputs. So why not allow 3DS to connect directly to those Wii U game version servers?

I could see the point when 3DS version was meant to be played on the streets with friends but now with this patch solution I don't see the point anymore.

PS4 has much better technical capabilities than Wii U and is going to be released only one year after Wii U. I can see Xbox3 coming soon and Wii U struggling with its poor power. It doesn't look like Wii success will be repeated on Wii U.

From Ign.com:
Cerny said the platform is "by game creators for game creators" and that its architecture is "like a PC, but supercharged." PS4 uses the X86 CPU and has 8GB of memory and a local hard drive. It uses APU technology and GDDR5 memory, which is typically reserved for "top of the line, high end graphics cards."

PS4 has 8GB of super fast RAM memory when Wii U has 2GB and only 1GB for games. If you think of Xbox3 being similar than PS4, it's going to be tough for Wii U.

I own a Wii U and I won't be buying PS4 but this is the truth and we have to see it. I bought Wii U for Nintendo games but not everybody else is going to do the same.

@Kirin2013 I think they just wanted to optimized the home experience taking into account that there is portable version available at the same time. It makes sense to me.

@Kage_88 Is it coming to PS4? A graphical comparison would not be fair as I don't think they have developed any version fitting the PS4 unless there is a PC version and they are adapting it to PS4 capabilities.

Ubisoft is doing quite well on Wii U, wish the others did the same.

@TheRealThanos I am not upset at all, but you clearly wrote 'your wisdom' not in the best way but it's okay, I don't care. I can even appreciate that I think you have realized that your tone was not right.

But I am writing not because of that but because I disagree again with you, and this time is not because of objective facts like PAL was not better, just had more vertical resolution which lead to poorly ported games in Europe. This time I am telling you I was perfectly aware of the PAL ports issues since I realized that Sonic games in PAL were slow and difficult to control. I used to read a lot of magazines at that time and even if I did not it was clear to me something was wrong and worse on the PAL games.

I feel that Super Mario 64 is better on Wii VC than in N64 PAL, but I cannot tell you the technical differences between the two of them.

@RetroGBHippie92 As a little kid I wrote to Nintendo for having Super Mario Bros. games on the SNES and they eventually did it. And it was not a time when ports and retro games were popular at all but a time when everybody looked forward to next-gen games and graphics. If anybody reads something that makes sense, it might happen. Only thing is you have to be lucky enough to be read, or to anybody else that had the same idea is read.

Great, I wish other developers thought the same way.

@brooks83 It is surely because of epilepsy concerns.
@Spartacus3765 It's not they cannot port it, it just takes forever for Nintendo to re-release some games...
@ all We European can't wait for F-Zero in true form.

@ThomasBW84 European guy? We Europeans can't wait for the real version! It's like getting the real Super Mario Kart version as I think the Wii version was 50Hz too, or not? Do you know of any list of Wii VC 50 and 60Hz PAL versions?

@TheRealThanos
It's not my wisdom, it's just that I read the whole article and you either did not or did not understand it. No offense... PAL does not look better at all, it looks a bit worse because the video is slower. PAL used to feature a slightly higher resolution but it happened to be worse when converting games in the cheap way as they did.

But if you were trying to offend me with your irony you are wasting your time...

It's also the 20th here (EU)

The Wii eShop (not called like that) used to feature new content on Fridays. Now it's on Thursdays for the four consoles (Wii, DSi, 3DS and Wii U) but Wii and DSi don't get anything worth of even entering the shop lately.

F-Zero X is just great, this one is just... older. But I can't wait for the first time 60Hz version we are getting for 30 cents!

I still enjoy F-Zero GX and its great production values but it's way too difficult compared to F-Zero X (the most balanced of the three).

Superb article and still perfectly valid.

@GiftedGimp The PAL resolution is higher but the PAL games resolution not as they coloured the extra resolution in black (or blue). Again, check the link above.

@TheRealThanos, the PAL picture is not better! Please click on the link above.

You all should read this great NL article, pig-headed ones specially

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/04/talking_point_the_virtual_consoles_pal_problem

@gingerbeardman

You are totally right, I don't see the point in people saying 'I still want it in its wrong conversion form' :S

So many times eShop is so boring and right now is almost empty when it comes to Wii U.

I hope from now on it's like this week: F-Zero at 30 cents, -50% at Mighty Switch Force: Hyper Drive Edition, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate demos for both Wii U and 3DS, Trine 2 with demo and discount, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate demo...

I am going to download absolutely everything this week except for NightSky. I was much interested in trying Trine 2, Castlevania and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and I have been tempted by Mighty Switch Force: Hyper Drive Edition before.

If eShop keeps like this it's going to be really good for eShop bored disappointed users such as me.

I am waiting for the ridiculous fanboys that found it so normal and fair that Balloon Fight was 50Hz in year 2013. What would they say now that we get the 60Hz version for F-Zero? Maybe they think we are getting a wrong port and that we should get the 50Hz once again, according to their previous comments.

Yeah, I don't see the point in boycotting Rayman Legends. Unfortunately this is going to be one of the few new generation games we are going to see on Wii U, as most of developers seem to be ignoring Nintendo once again. But I think it's Nintendo fault for not releasing powerful enough systems lately and I'm not saying here Wii U is worse than PS360 but obviously is far from powerful. Once again.

Give it or not, but don't give us pieces of it. You are spoiling the game before we have it in our hands with this 'Challenge mode'. Challenge modes come after Story mode.

Hey Ubi, now European are the ones who are going to be mad at you! Me included.

By the way I don't like the Rayman Legends challenge offering, it looks like you get a mode that spoils the main game before you manage to have it in your hands. Give it or not, but don't give us pieces of it (unless is a demo).

@SanderEvers Look at Wii U GamePad, the front buttons fit perfectly under the analogue stick. There is space and they could have done it right from the start, or at least from the XL design.

I will get this monster because I need if for REvelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D.

@AceTrainerBean Yeah, last good NFS game for a Nintendo system was that one and perhaps Most Wanted. I can't wait for the new Most Wanted for Wii U.