bonham2

None of these are summer releases. Why call this "Summer Edition?"

This map is brilliant. I think it might be my favorite map. I really love the catwalk where you can spray far away but people can kill you from underneath.

I would be jealous that we don't get this stuff in NA, but I would be even more upset if they did because I already spent all my coins on games that I didn't really want. I never got that Luigi's Mansion statue, and the Toad lamp is awesome.

@Timppis I definitely missed that. I'll change the settings for today's hour.

I had a lot of fun as well. I'm just not too happy with the controls right now. I hope there is an option to turn off the motion controls on the main game.

You guys are totally missing the point of the song. Yeah, it's absolutely horrible, but that commercial looks and sounds like every single toy cartoon ever. I was half expecting a 6 year old boy to shout "I win!" at the end. It's PERFECT for the target audience that is actually going to see this commercial (all Wii U commercials are on kid's channels).

I'm so torn on this issue. The adult in me sees this as a passing trend. I don't understand how/why these videos and their creators can make money off someone else's product without adhering to copyright law, free advertising or no. Nintendo has every right to protect their IPs.

On the other hand, my 7 year old son constantly watched these videos on YouTube for some reason. He and all of his friends are obsessed with Minecraft thanks to those videos. He was beyond excited for Mario Party 10 thanks to YouTube videos. I think you're right that this is something Nintendo should be embracing before today's kids lose interest in Nintendo. The day they lose the kids is the day Nintendo goes away.

In related news, my 7 year old son just had his first orgasm.

Personally, I prefer the XL, but I get the frustration of fans. The problem I see is that they announced both models in the NA direct. They announced them, showed the face plates, and then never mentioned it again. They didn't clarify or apologize...they just ignored it until people started to question where it was.

I like the Skull Boy statue...if I could get one.

I knew about this. I know ever trick there is to know about Super Mario Bros including how to get to the minus world.

@Hotfusion I agree. Every video I have seen of Xenoblade looks like an early 360/PS3 game. The character models in game and in FMV seem really stiff and choppy. There was a scene where they were swimming, and I think the water in Super Mario Sunshine looked better. The saving grace is the environments have some amazing art work and they seen to be huge.

I think it's pretty obvious. The gamepad was meant to be a home console/portable hybrid that they couldn't figure out in time. They are not releasing a successor to 3DS yet because they need more time to figure out the best way to release a 2 in 1 console/portable.

Wii U Retail - Mario Kart 8 (haven't played Smash or Toad yet)
Wii U eShop - Shovel Knight (and that's saying a lot because Guacamelee and Child of Light were awesome)
3DS Retail - Bravely Default...by default
3DS eShop - Azure Striker Gunvolt
Overall - Mario Kart 8

For anyone thinking about Wonderful 101, KMart has them on clearance for $6. They also have Batman Arkham Origins for $4.

Damn, that is one mint copy of MTPO. I would love to get my hands on that copy.

The least they could do is finish the background for the press images. This isn't even PS2 quality right now.

He doesn't hate it. He said it's his least favorite. I absolutely love Zelda 2. Obviously it doesn't feel like any other Zelda game, but if you stripped away the Zelda title, it would be considered one of the best NES games ever made.

This is exciting. One less $100+ game I have to track down.

I was 6th last time. I'll be playing tonight. I'm hoping to finish with at least 400 points.

No Zelda 2 love? I can't vote for it because Ocarina of Time is my all-time favorite game, but Zelda 2 is up there for me. Definitely in my top 6 or 7.

Please no. I have hated every attempt at turning Zelda into a multiplayer game...4 swords with GBAs and link cables.

@MAB I have never purchased those games. But you know what...I MIGHT actually consider a game like Spelunker if I could play it on both consoles and download it on both my Wii Us and be guaranteed to keep it on my next console for free.

"I do think what many of your readers don't recognize is there is significant work to take a game that was launched on a previous platform and make it compatible on the current platform, whether we're talking Wii U or 3DS"

This is the problem. Why would this take so long to do? If it's so hard to do, how did they pump out so many games for Wii each and every week? They obviously don't have the same commitment they once had to the VC. It's a real shame. They should have people working on this and only this. In addition, these games should be working on both Nintendo systems and all future Nintendo systems. At this rate, they'll have a pathetically small library by the time the next system comes out, at which point they'll just sell us Super Mario Bros all over again.

Forget graphical styles. Give us different psychics/mechanics. What's the point of NSMB graphics if you can't wall jump, adjust in air, butt stomp, etc?

@Sceptic
NES Remix, NES Remix 2, Duck Tales Remastered, Mighty Switch Force, Wii Sports, & Dr. Luigi are all rehashes of older games. That's 6/10 (or 11 since they have two #10s. That's ridiculous when there are all those other games I listed that are getting no love.

You guys definitely dropped the ball on this one. Look no further than your own review scores. Castle Storm, Giana Sisters, Ittle Dew, Cloudberry Kingdom (which I really didn't like), Nano Assault Neo, Unepic...each one of these scored an 8/10 or higher in your own reviews and easily top first four games listed here (10-8). NES Remix was great, but #1 seems kind of silly for a compilation of 30 year old NES games. And Runner 2 got old way too fast for my liking. If that even makes the list, I would put it around #10.

I've been a defender of the coin item. I actually like getting it early on. But I went through multiple races yesterday without getting any other items. Like others have said, I'll be in first the whole time only to get battered by shell after shell right at the end. It's really frustrating. 2nd and 3rd place are getting three red shells while first is getting coins.

I just finished. 6th place for now with 386 points (and I had some pretty stiff competition. I really wanted to break 400, but I had a few bad breaks towards the end finishing in 7th or 8th place due to poorly timed shell combos. I'm feeling pretty good about a top 10 finish though.

This was fun guys. NL should definitely do this again.

This is the way it should be done. Give us some notice before something is removed and offer it at a discount for one last push. I won't be buying this one, but I'm sure some people will.

Lego City Undercover at #14?!?!! How dare you? Anyway, here's my list just for fun (sticking with the no eShop game theme):

20. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
19. Need for Speed: Most Wanted U
18. Injustice
17. Assassin's Creed IV
16. Nintendo Land
15. Sonic Lost World
14. Wonderful 101
13. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
12. Lego Marvel
11. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
10. New Super Luigi U
9. Batman: Arkham Origins
8. New Super Mario Bros U
7. Zombie U
6. Rayman Legends
5. DKC: Tropical Freeze
4. Zelda: WWHD
3. Pikmin 3
2. Lego City Undercover
1. Super Mario 3D World

1 & 2 were difficult to place. That's how much I like Lego City (and I normally hate Lego games). And I left out a bunch of games that I really like (and a few that I hear are good but I haven't played yet).

@TheRealThanos
I don't think you get my issue. I get how the games will be used in place of the touch screen. In games like Contra 4 and Sonic Rush, your character will actually go from the bottom screen to the top screen in a vertical scrolling level. It's going to be really annoying constantly switching screens when they're switching every couple seconds. Also, some of the FMVs scroll between screens. Imagine trying to watch a video that way...I really don't think it's going to work that well.

Here's what I don't understand. Some of the games shown have videos that go from one screen to the next, and there are some games where the game screen is played on both screens. Contra 4 and Sonic Rush are examples of this. How could those games or any of the Zelda games be put on the Wii U. I just don't get it.

I played and beat Castlevania 64 as a kid and I remember liking it. It was extremely difficult...I used a strategy guide (which I'm not proud of). It certainly had it's faults, but I don't think it deserves the backlash it got. The final fight with Dracula is one of the most memorable boss fights from the N64/PS1 era.

I guess today's Nintendo Direct won't be coming with incredible virtual console bomb shells.

The virtual console continues to be another source of my confusion and anger towards Nintendo. What the hell are they doing?

Why is it that everyone here has better ideas than the guys running Nintendo? Maybe it is time for a change.

How about a subscription based service like Sony's PS Now. It doesn't even have to be as good as their service. Just include all VC games. I would probably pay $10 a month for the rest of my life if it gave me access to all of the Wii VC games on my 3DS and Wii U. Then they could just continue to add to the list.

We have heard this argument before. This is just more detail. We know certain companies felt this way. If we're looking at a 3rd party developer that ported a game from PS3/360 to Wii U and was unhappy with the returns, I would think of 3 games/developers.

Ninja Gaiden 3 - this was developed by Tecmo Koei, so I think they speak Japanese.

Darksiders 2 - made by THQ, certainly possible but I didn't hear anything about missing features or even them complaining at all. Also, they didn't have tons of ideas for the gamepad that this developer mentioned.

And finally, Madden 13 - EA has been complaining about the Wii U since day 1. They had to drop tons of features that were on other systems and the game performed noticeably worse on Wii U than on other systems. That's my guess.

As a father of four, I really appreciate articles like this. I also appreciate reviews here at Nintendo Life when they review it from the perspective of a parent or for the children. Too often other websites will review games and say they aren't challenging or the mini-games are too shallow and give it a bad score. Well, I don't care what a 35 year single guy that plays FPS games thinks about Wii Party U. Quite frankly, I have no interest in Wii Party U. However, I KNOW my kids will like it, so now I find myself checking out reviews.

As for games that hold their value, we still play Mario Kart Wii almost every night. My kids really like Nintendo Land now, although I am SO SICK of Mario Chase. I find myself buying games that I know my kids will enjoy playing or watching...games like Lego City, Rayman, Animal Crossing, etc.

I really didn't like this one. I was so excited for it because I absolutely loved Lego City (probably my favorite Wii U game to date...seriously). I had such high hopes for this one, but it just made me want to play Lego City again. As it was, I only played about 1/2 way through it before I traded it for another Wii U game.

The Wii U doesn't have as many gamers as the PS3/360 crowd because it's still relatively new. Let's see what percentage of their sales go to the PS4 in it's first year.

There are still millions of Wii U's out there. If they could sell a game to 50% of the crowd, they would absolutely make money. The problem is they keep releasing half-assed ports. Not to mention, they keep putting down the Wii U and it's users. I bought Madden 13 (which sucked) and Need for Speed. If they put something out worth buying, I'll be there...it's not going to happen though.

Mostly just Rayman Legends and Animal Crossing, although I'm sure I'll still play Mario Kart Wii with the kids.

I haven't played WW since it came out, but I remember it being really easy due to the abundance of hearts found everywhere (especially dungeons). While a master quest would always be appreciated, it certainly isn't expected. I'm happy with hero mode, and I plan on using it for my first playthrough if this is true. I've been asking for a harder difficulty in Zelda games for years now, so maybe Nintendo is actually starting to listen to the fans.

Ocarina of Time is the first game that comes to mind when talking about the rumble pak. The fishing mini-game and sword battles came to life thanks to the peripheral, and it was just another reason why OoT was so amazing for it's time.

I love how nearly every Nintendo IP has been mentioned here. Of course I want to see the big guns (Mario, Zelda, Metroid), but I also want some of the forgotten IPs. How about a new Pilotwings, F-Zero, or maybe a new Custom Robo. More than any of those, I want a new Nintendo IP...correction, I want a new Miyamoto IP. Remember how excited he was for Pikmin? I would love to see a new IP designed specifically for the Wii U's gamepad, and not just another eShop game.

Oh, while I'm on that topic, how about some1st party eShop games. I also want a VC schedule or at least a list of upcoming titles. Let's get more consoles on board...how about Dreamcast/Saturn/Sega CD or even some obscure consoles (Jaguar). And GAMECUBE GAMES please.

I use backwards compatibility on all of my Nintendo systems. I kept my Wii to play GC games (on my small TV) and I play Wii games on my Wii U all the time. I'm especially happy that I could move my digital content onto my Wii U. That would have been really bad if it was non-transferable (that's my biggest disappointment with the Xbone). I never really used BC on the 360 and rarely use it on my PS3.

Question about the promotion - If I spend $1.50 to upgrade one of them, buy another, will I still get the 3rd for free? Basically that would make 2 of them $4 each, in which case I'm all in.

Everyone I know that mocked the Wii U before they eventually got to play it now love it. The gamepad is awesome. I can get why people that have never used it wouldn't get it. It is truly the best part of the console, and it's only going to get better as developers figure out the best uses for it.

I'm also so incredibly sick of the smartphone discussion. NINTENDO WILL NOT BRING 1ST PARTY GAMES TO SMARTPHONES AS LONG AS THEY'RE PORTABLE DEVICES ARE THE BEST SELLING GAMING DEVICES OUT THERE!!!!!! Get over it.

I expect we'll see Mega Man X followed by X2.

I guess that they were disappointed that they didn't sell more copies of Madden 13 on the Wii U when it was released 5 months after 360/PS3 versions(almost at the end of the season) on a new platform that only had around an install base of around 3 million that had already dropped hundreds on the console and a game or two (probably Mario and maybe ZombiU).