Wii U Features
Talking Point Nintendo's Mixed Week With Wii U Third-Party Support
If someone gives you lemons, make lemonade
The video game industry is a strange beast, especially for Nintendo and its Wii U system. Since launch it's had some early ups with launch week sales and some thoroughly decent releases, but also lows with a loss of momentum and a fair amount of negative press. Some excellent exclusive software has arrived...
Developer Interview System 3 On Bringing Putty Squad To Wii U And 3DS
Veteran UK developer talks about Putty's return and future projects
Today saw the confirmation that System 3's Putty Squad is coming to the Wii U and 3DS. We got in touch with the UK-based studio to talk about the game, how it differs from the Amiga version and what the company's plans are for the future. We spoke to studio founder Mark Cale, who...
Talking Point DLC's Increasingly Important Role for Nintendo
Games are a bit less 'final' than they used to be
It's not so long ago that Sony and Microsoft's platforms began to drown in DLC (downloadable content) while, for Nintendo gamers, it was largely restricted to the occasional Guitar Hero or Rock Band track on Wii. Nintendo had an attitude of adopting online trends and practices in its own sweet time,...
Feature Ten Smartphone and Tablet Games We'd Like to See on Wii U
Oh yes, we're going there
Earlier this week we reported on a story in the Japanese media that Nintendo is providing developers with software to convert smartphone games to Wii U. If true that could potentially have various implications, but until Nintendo reveals more — the source report was a little vague and quoted anonymous "company sources"...
Feature Nintendo Life's Staff Favourites - Miiverse Illustrations
Game art for all to enjoy
Earlier this week we directed your attention to the "Printing Miiverse" art show, which is a collection of 13,255 drawings from 172 artists, showing just how many attractive illustrations have graced the Wii U's social network. Miiverse has proven to be an early success on Nintendo's system with plenty of active...
Talking Point Lessons to be Learned, Again, From the Wii U Games Drought
Fresh approaches can avoid repeat scenarios
So here's the deal, Wii U owners. The next notable exclusive for the platform isn't due until late June — when Game & Wario hits North America — and then Pikmin 3 hits the same region on 4th August. The eShop DLC-exclusive New Super Luigi U comes in the summer at an undefined point; if you're in...
Feature Nintendo's Financial Revelations and Hardware Strategies
3DS leads as Wii U goes slow and steady
Around this time every year Nintendo reports its financial results for the previous 12 months, and in by-gone days they could be summarised very easily — "we're rolling in cash like money hogs, victory lattes for everyone". Recently it's not been quite that simple, with the decline starting with the initial...
Talking Point The Wii U's Identity Crisis
Muddled messages aren't helping matters
Let's start this with some clear points, to head-off accusations before they're made. No, we don't think Nintendo is doomed and no, we don't think the Wii U is doomed. While critical of some aspects of the Wii U since release, in general we've maintained a line that the system cannot be judged yet, and that...
Talking Point The Arrival of eShop Download Codes in Stores is a Smart Move
Another step forward
This week it was announced that Nintendo of Europe had established an agreement with retailer GAME, for it to exclusively sell select download codes from the high street and its website; it's the first serious move to match up to similar download cards already available in Japan. The GAME retail group has stores across Europe as...
Feature The Big Nintendo 3DS Direct Summary - 17th April 2013
There's a lot to take in
Before the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast, we're sure that many were unsure of what to expect. We've watched enough of them to know that sometimes they can be rather light on revelations, simply stringing us along with a few release dates, and on other occasions they can be blockbuster events that get the Nintendo Life...
Developer Interview Ubisoft on the Expanding Rayman Legends and Wii U's Free Challenge Mode
The upcoming Wii U eShop app sounds promising
When Wii U was preparing for launch, a good number of gamers were particularly excited about Rayman Legends, at one time a Wii U-exclusive launch title. Unfortunately for those eager fans, both promising selling points fell by the way-side, with an initial delay to Spring 2013 being extended to...
Talking Point The Next-Gen Console War is Wii U's to Lose
Graphical differences and consumer budgets continue to shrink
If you'll forgive us, let's delve of into a faint whiff of politics in this introduction. In most major industrialised countries — whether in the West or Japan — national economies aren't exactly in rude health. After spells of prosperity and golden toilet seats for all in the...
Interview Michael Pachter On Wii U, 3DS And The Challenges Facing Nintendo This Generation
"I don’t hate Nintendo at all"
Michael Pachter has been called a lot of things — not all of them repeatable on a family-friendly site such as this — but many of his harshest critics seem to miss the point of what he is actually saying; his job is to ensure that people invest their cash wisely and not to placate over-zealous fans. Nevertheless,...
Talking Point The Terrible Timing of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate's Stock Issues
LEGO City Undercover had problems in North America, too
There's a strange dichotomy at work right now with Nintendo, Wii U and its games. We endured an undeniable retail software drought, with game retailers probably weary of trying to sell the same old launch titles week after week. We then had two diverse, high profile games arrive near each other...
Talking Point Nintendo Should Make EA Co-operation a Priority
Whether we like it or not
Let's say something right off the bat — we expect a number of readers will have read that headline and scoffed audibly, confidently saying that this article is deranged and already wrong. EA isn't exactly flavour of the month, and is at the time of writing a semi-final candidate to once again be crowned as the "worst...
Feature The GamePad - From Waggling Remotes To Dual Sticks and a Touchscreen
Is the Wii U's controller a revolution or evolution for gaming?
For a number of Wii U early adopters here on Nintendo Life, there have now been plenty of opportunities to try out a variety of games, incorporating various styles and genres while giving us a good glimpse of what the system's GamePad controller is capable of doing. After the Wii Remote...
Talking Point The Downside to Delayed Releases on Wii U
What a difference a delay makes
At the start of the year we published a list of our biggest Wii U games of 2013; despite the beginning of a software drought on the system, we felt that the list showed the promise of the software lineup to come. There were eight exclusives at that point, either with fixed release dates or windows that we're confident...
Feature The Biggest Wii U Games of 2013 - Spring Edition
Time for a few changes
At the start of the year we published our Biggest Wii U games of 2013 feature, sharing some of the exciting releases set for Nintendo's latest home console. That list included some titles that are now available, and also some "before 31st March" predictions that have come and gone — those due to drop out due to imminent or...
Talking Point The Unreal Engine 4 Gaffe Exposes Graphical Snobbery, Again
The fact it's actually scalable for Wii U should surprise no-one
A number of articles on Nintendo Life really got the community talking last week, one of which was our April Fools for the year. In terms of stories that were real, however, we had high profile comments from Epic Games' Mark Rein, who essentially stated that developers on Wii U...
Talking Point Going Mobile Will Give Miiverse a New Lease of Life
A true Nintendo social network
We think that many Wii U owners are likely to agree on one key point: Miiverse is a welcome and excellent new feature on the system. Nintendo was clearly aware that it'd be a major feature and selling point, giving the platform its iconic pre-E3 demonstration and reveal with the viral star, Non-Specific Action Figure...
Talking Point An Open Letter To Nintendo
A Wii U owner's plea to the company they love
Even the most dedicated Nintendo fan will admit that the Wii U hasn't had the best of starts. The console has struggled to shift units in the way that Nintendo expected, and although we've seen some quality software of late — including Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, LEGO City: Undercover and Need for...
Talking Point The Download or Disc Dilemma
Do you download?
In moving from the Wii Shop and DSi Shop to the Wii U eShop and 3DS eShop, Nintendo has shown a desire to compete head on with the Xbox, PlayStation and Steam online marketplaces and offer full retail downloads. It's amazing to think that downloads from the Wii Shop were limited to a meagre maximum of 40MB, yet now we can download...
Talking Point The Perils and Positives of a Packed Release Schedule
Room for no more
We're all more than a little familiar with video game droughts by now. Until a few years ago, it was tradition to suffer a lack of software in the summer, surviving only on the ever-faithful backlog and the revitalising elixir provided by E3 info dumps. It's common in the months following a console launch too: we're sure you...
Guide Transferring Your Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Save Data
Sweaty palm time
As those of you currently diving Jaggi Helm-first into Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate no doubt already know, Capcom — and various retailers — have been encouraging you to buy two copies of the game. Naturally one is for Wii U and the other is for 3DS, with the big selling point being that you can transfer your save data between both...
Talking Point The Problem With 'Old' Wii U Ports
The classic catch-22
So, it looks like Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is coming to Wii U, with a ratings board classification and the common knowledge that Australia-based studio Straight Right has been working on a high profile Square Enix franchise for Nintendo's new system. Although still in rumour territory until announced at PAX East...
Reaction Doom and Gloom Merchants on Wii U Being Nintendo's Last Home Console
We discuss the casual dismissal of Wii U in some quarters
In a regular series of features, we're going to take a rather strong statement or opinion expressed about Nintendo, and give our own take. These opinions aren't those of the site as a whole, but rather of a collection of your humble Nintendo Life writers. This time around we're looking at a...
Talking Point The Pros and Cons of a Wii U Price War
Sell, sell, sell, say the retailers
Earlier this week we saw a bit of a Wii U price war break out, in the UK at least, with Amazon UK joining Asda in slashing the price of both Wii U models by £50. At the same time, a number of US retailers are being rather creative with their offerings, not necessarily going for a full-blown price reduction but...
Talking Point NFC and AR - Two Cool Extras That Need Some Love
The features that time forgot
Remember the augmented reality (AR) games on 3DS? Go on, check your handheld, they're still there, quietly sitting on the home screen waiting to be enjoyed. Built into the system for all to experience whenever they like, taking an established technology and adding a hefty dose of Nintendo whimsy and charm. They were...
Feature Series Reboots That Have Divided Gamers
They did WHAT with [insert treasured franchise name here]?
There are some undeniable truths in life, death and taxes being two examples, and the video game industry has its own rules and obligations that can never be avoided. One of these revolves around reboots of treasured franchises — if you're going to "re-imagine" a popular character or...
Feature A Further Investigation into LEGO City: Undercover
Building blocks
After months of building up our LEGO City sets, staring at trailers and dreaming about the video game adventures we'd soon be getting into, we recently got our hands on a near-final version of LEGO City: Undercover at developer TT Fusion's offices. We've already posted our first impressions of LEGO City: Undercover and an interview...
Interview TT Fusion On Building LEGO City: Undercover
One brick at a time
As you may have seen from our LEGO City: Undercover first impressions, we recently visited TT Fusion to go hands-on with the upcoming Wii U title and to learn more about its development. We also had the opportunity to talk in detail with four members of the development team: executive producer Loz Doyle, script writer Graham...
First Impressions LEGO City Undercover
Cruising round the blocks
Recently we were fortunate enough to travel to TT Fusion's HQ in Wilmslow, England, to learn more about LEGO City Undercover, a high profile Wii U exclusive that arrives in March. During our day at the studio we were able to partake in an extensive hands-on session with the title, in order to gain a greater understanding of...
Talking Point Sony's PlayStation 4 Poses a Fresh Challenge for Wii U in the 2013 Holidays
A festive dust up
If you live somewhere with no internet access or connection to the outside world, it may be news to you that Sony unveiled its PlayStation 4 console in New York on 20th February. Over the course of two hours it confirmed a Holiday 2013 release, showed off the system's user interface and social functions, a new version of the...
Talking Point The Year of Luigi Could Bring a Burst of Creativity
Stepping out from a big shadow
The most recent round of Nintendo Direct broadcasts opened, whether you were watching in Europe or North America, with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata telling us all about The Year of Luigi. After a solid 18 months when, arguably, Mario was the go-to figure accounting for a healthy portion of Nintendo's release...
Developer Interview Ambient Studios On The Possibility Of Bringing Death Inc. To Wii U
"Vote with your wallets!"
Last week, we reported that Ambient Studios — the team behind Kickstarter title Death Inc. — were considering bringing the game to the Wii U eShop. Soon after the story went live, Ambient director and co-founder Jonny Hopper got in touch with us to explain a bit more about his company and the long-term aspirat
Talking Point Early Flirtations With Wii U "Free to Play" Are Just the Start
Blasting away some kinks
While Europeans have endured a rather frustrating trend of late, waiting for various games to arrive that have already graced North America, the region has enjoyed first dibs on the Wii U eShop's dalliances with free-to-play download models. We're referring to Zen Pinball 2 and today's arrival, a downloadable tweaked version...
Developer Interview Why The 90's Arcade Racer Is The Ultimate Love Letter To Sega's Daytona USA
Antonis Pelekanos talks exclusively about the hottest racer on the Wii U eShop
The news that The 90's Arcade Racer is coming to the Wii U eShop courtesy of Nicalis has pretty much made our week — this colourful love letter to Sega's arcade racers is shaping up to be one of our most eagerly-awaited download releases of 2013. We spoke to the game's...
When $200 of credit can't replace $400 of downloaded games
As we've spoken about before, Nintendo's current attitude to downloadable games leaves quite a bit to be desired. The Nintendo Network ID system introduced with the Wii U is a step in the right direction, but the fact that purchases remain tied to a single piece of hardware is, in this day...
Reaction The Rayman Legends Delay Is a Low Blow, But The Apocalypse Isn't Here
Remaining "exclusives" need to be secured, however
Let's get one key point out of the way, just so we've said it early. The delay of Rayman Legends feels, to many current and prospective Wii U owners, like a cynical cash-grab of a business move. There are good old "anonymous sources", apparently developers on the game, stating that it's practically...
Developer Interview WaterMelon On Kickstarter, Nintendo And Bringing Pier Solar To The Wii U
"Working with Nintendo is much easier than one would think"
We reported last year that WaterMelon's 16-bit RPG Pier Solar would be gracing the Wii U in the near future, having secured funding for a HD remake via Kickstarter. The team is busy working on the HD version as we speak, so we thought it would be a good time to get in touch and talk about...
Talking Point Wii U's Graphical Grunt is Laid Bare - Shall We Play Games Now?
As with Wii, developer talent and creativity will be vital
Today perhaps brings a little closure, for those inclined to allow such a thing, with details and analysis emerging of the Wii U's GPU. Since before its release Wii U has been scrutinised by some in terms of its graphical capabilities, and there are plenty of people who focus on that area...
Talking Point The Legend of Zelda: Remakes of the Past
Majora's Mask 3D, anyone?
The recent announcement of The Wind Waker HD for Wii U was met with a great deal of excitement not just here on Nintendo Life, but across social networks and other websites. It's a title that has a passionate, loyal following, and the prospect of an enhanced version prompted plenty of conversations about just what...
Feature Reimagining The Wind Waker on Wii U
The possibilities are exciting
Leaving Nintendo’s Space World presentation in 2001, few would have imagined that of all the games shown, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would become a watershed moment for the company. Panned by some fans and critics alike for its cel-shaded look, the game has since arguably become a symbol of how to create a...
Feature The Big Wii U Direct Summary - 25th January 2013
All of the details in one place
Wii U Direct may have only been 35 minutes long, but it sure packed a lot into a short space of time, with a few extra details following in the press releases that followed. We certainly did our level best to cover everything revealed by Iwata-san in the broadcast, as well as information from Nintendo's regional...
Feature Nintendo Life's View - Wii U Direct
Our team rather liked it
When Nintendo announced Wii U Direct earlier this week, there was a mixture of fevered optimism and slight negativity, with some predicting big reveals and others expecting little more than a few release dates and trailers. Even wording promising new Wii U games was met with caution by some, but there can be little doubt...
Talking Point Wii U Direct - Tell Us What You Thought
Or just watch it again
So, Wii U Direct was quite a show from Iwata-san, wasn't it? While there's a tendency for gamers of all types to always want more, we feel confident in saying that Nintendo delivered plenty of announcements and news to intrigue and excite the majority. There were some genuine surprises in there, as well as big announcements...
Feature What You Told Us About Wii U
Quite a lot, actually
Not long ago we published The Big Wii U Survey, as we asked you whether you owned a Wii U and, if you do, what you think about it. The response was terrific, with over 4,300 fully completed submissions being returned to us. As promised, below is a summary of what you told us, with some surprising statistics thrown in...
Talking Point Wii U's Beginnings and Challenges For 2013
Convincing sceptics is one
Recent sales figures and industry conversations have given us a fair old glut of analytical articles focused on Wii U in recent days. For a system that's barely a couple of months old, there's been a temptation in some quarters to either predict doom and a major loss of market share, or to put faith in Nintendo's...
Feature Nintendo in 2012 - Part Two
Lots of Mario and Wii U's arrival
In the first six months of 2012, which we looked at in the first part of our 2012 retrospective, Nintendo oversaw some major releases on 3DS and announced the XL model, the Wii had a few memorable arrivals and E3 came and went with its own brand of madness. There were also a number of quirky stories that passed by,...
Feature Nintendo in 2012 - Part One
3DS fought back, hype mode was engaged
Not so long ago it could be argued that Nintendo was having some relaxing times, with DS and Wii systems flying off shelves and console rivals rushing to the platform in order to hop on the motion-control train. Of course, technology and the gaming industry evolve, and in 2011 Nintendo found itself trying to...