I'm under the impression that 3D World and Tropical Freeze switched places because Mario is a better game to out directly up against PS4/One.

Well Nintendo succeeded at getting me excited for a 2DS and a Wii U. I am impressed but it is still a little early to pop the bubbly. This does make my choice of which hand held to get a little easier, that Zelda game is too enticing.

No news regarding the basic set? Will it be deeply discounted or discontinued?

If I didn't already have a PS4 pre-ordered I would grab that Wii U Zelda bundle. As it is the investment in the Wii U, extra controllers, games.. it's not going to happen until tax time at this point.

I do have to agree that they should have just kept Nintendo Land bundled into the system and added Zelda.

I actually prefer the Donkey Kong box art over the Zelda box art.

The 2DS is a brilliant strategy for Nintendo to market to kids under 12 and to the gamer parents of the world who has kids old enough to enjoy one.


-It offers all the benefits and functionality of a 3DS minus the 3D (which Nintendo was given grief about kids under 6 being negatively effected by stereoscopic 3D)
-Better durability by turning into a slate design and capitalizing on the fact that the kids they are marketing this to will be familiar with the tablet form factor.
-Them pushing the DS library directly speaks to parents that there is a crap load of cheap, kid friendly software available right now if they don't want to invest $40 into new carts.
-Its the cheapest current gen handheld system at $130.
-Pokemon X/Y is coming out right before the holidays.  I can see this system and those games selling a crap ton to kids.


This is something that I am stoked to get my daughter in a year or so ( she's gonna be 5 in January). By that time, I hope Nintendo fleshes out their account system to allow for digital games to be shared across multiple systems (like Vita and PSP or on the iDevices). If not, I'll be going all digital with this for her regardless because you definitely should not trust kids with tiny carts.

In Canada, the Wii U basic set had been marked down (temporarily) at Walmart stores to $200 recently. Stock also doesn't seem be getting replenished anywhere locally. Seems like they aren't coming back once gone.

Given the low prices that Nintendo Land is commanding at retail - often under $20 - and the fact that a digital copy of Zelda doesn't "cost" anything beyond a lost opportunity for extra sales, I tend to agree.  On the other hand, maybe Nintendo is better off saving that card to be played later.

1) The price difference with PS4 INCLUDING A GAME is AT LEAST 459.99....and sony is thinking on bundles beyond 500

2) This is just what Nintendo needed to do to get sales. Nintendo can't focus on the hardcore gamer now, but definitely can go to reclaim the family and casual market. PS4 offers nothing to those markets and XBOX is damn too expensive. The ppl who bough the Wii for the easy to play motion controls can, in part be recovered if Nintendo advertizes the WiiU propertly. It also helps a lot that the WiiU is backwards compatible and Wii controllers can be re-used on the WiiU, if Nintendo can market this it will help a lot!!!

3) The 2DS for me is a meh....but, it can prove to be very profitable for Nintendo...we better wait for the numbers after Christmas (or after black friday or post pokemon launch)...if Nintendo sells a lot, well to me they are on route to match the DS sales even if there are doomsayers that claim that DS numbers are impossible and all the smartphones paranoia!...the 2DS price is competitive and will make lots, lots of parents buy one....I feel sad for those smart kids that know that the 2DS is the poor brother of the 3DS though...I was that type of kid and I remember hating my father when he bought me crappy copy of TMNT Leonardo that wasn't the official one...I cried and made my dad heartbroken and he felt bad for weeks!...he couldn't find an official TMNT so he went and buy the nearest copy thinking that I wouldn't care...well...I did (of course now I feel sorry for my selfish behavior...but kids are very selfish creatures!)

Besides the usual whiners I think this 2 news are very good...haters gonna hate though

Don't you guys think that we will get a WiiU update before the price drop comes true?

I think the new Zelda consoles should come withe most recent version of the WiiU OS...

They need to get prepared for that price drop, that means figuring out how to advertize the product, how to talk with stores, etc.

Personally, I believe the 2DS is a smart decision as well. Actually I think it's a brilliant design. Now Nintendo can cater to more people: those who want to play Nintendo's latest and greatest handheld without having to pay more than $130, people who don't want 3D at all and would like to pay less, people who want 3D and don't want to pay $200 for bigger screens, and those who want 3D and bigger screens. It's also a nice reaction to the inevitable Vita price drop. Now Nintendo has a new base-model handheld that is $70 less than Sony's...and has more internal memory and included external memory.

Main news for me is that Mario 3D World is now coming sooner.

Also Wii Party U bundled with wiimote. Hmm, i have to make a decision if i really want fourth wiimote or should i seek for cheaper release with just the game (if that's going to be available at all).

2DS looks stupid, but i totally get it why they did it.

Meh on everything else.

And i shake my head at NoE announcing that they're gonna release Scribblenauts Unlimited in December. A full year after it was released everywhere else and even THAT is a huge IF, because i believe they will just never gonna release it.

Bull****. *points to Knack.* And the Wii U's current gen competitor in the PS3 has both a new Ratchet & Clank and Puppeteer to handle the family market, so Sony has at least something on both of their consoles.

Doubt the 2DS is going move units, the 3ds can be found for $100-120 range and the XL has been on sale a few times for $130-140.  It's no longer going be portable and without the clam shell design it's going end up getting scratched and dinged a lot more especially with kids.

Better off just redesigning the 3ds hinge's/battery life issues and updating the OS (namely you should be able to lock out 3DS in options so kids under 8 can't turn it on by just using the slider).

---------------------------

The WII U bundle doesn't work for me neither, it's great for new gamers but any hardcore Zelda Fan already has the game and the HD remade Wind Walker doesn't offer much "new" to warrant another playthrough for me (beat it twice). 

Hopefully there's going be an Mario World WII U Bundle Or Pikmin or DKCTF.  Nintendo usually pretty good about Mario Bundles so hopefully by Black Friday there will be one available.   

--------------------
A few things that worry me, Nintendo needs to work on it's pacing--releasing three platformers and two strategy games atop of each other instead of spacing them out?  Would have left DKCTF until 2014 and filled that void with something else.

With that out of the way, I found a lot of today's news fairly underwhelming. The 2DS looks like garbage, not to mention it's designed at a set viewing angle for both screens, making it more awkward to hold. I understand what Nintendo's thinking putting it out (very few people give a damn about 3D and it's easier for children to use), but there had to have been a better way to design that thing than to make it look like a $20 Tiger Electronic handheld.

As for the Wii U's price cut, a mere $50 feels like way too little for a system that to me seems to have barely more functionality than that $200 12 GB PS3 (and it only beats that due to having a 32 GB HDD). It's still $100 less than the least expensive of the two consoles set to outclass it every conceivable way.  I'll be curious to see how a seemingly underwhelming port of a GameCube game manages to move consoles with that price cut, though.  Still, after Wonderful 101 bombed in Japan, I can definitely understand Iwata scrambling to finally do something other than the status quo. A $50 price cut at least puts the Wii U in a better purchase proposition than it was.

As for the Mario/DKC swap, I was always more interested in DKC than Super Mario 3D Rehash: LOLcats edition, if only because I really enjoyed DKCR (and found 3D Land rather lacking).  It disappoints me that I'll end up having to wait a little longer for a game I actually care about, but the $50 price point is appreciated and I'll have plenty of things to play until then anyway on the other consoles. I really can't fault them for switching the dates when history has shown how predictable the user base is towards buying Mario compared to DK.

So yeah...Nintendo did some things it needed to do, most I don't care about and many I didn't like, but I can't really blame them. *shrugs* I have my doubts that this will be the silver bullet Nintendo seems to think it will be, but when all else fails Iwata always has Pokemon to bail him out and the cheaper 2DS will help him with that.

Is Nintendo suddenly releasing Advance Wars or something?

Or have they announced Rome: Total War 2 port? If so, i am going to buy Rome II day one so hard.

Joking aside, seeing people who show that they know next to nothing about the best game of the year is sad. Because that totally looks like a strategy game:
http://abload.de/img/saurlns0n.gif

? 101-- labled Action strategy same as pikmin though in Pikmin's case there' more adventuring (finding pieces).  Should have spaced out the two games by at least 6 months IMO and sales data shows it. 

Not saying 101 would have sold that much more but releasing an AA title right on top of it didn't help an new IP in anyway. 
----------------

Kinda like releasing SRIV a few weeks prior to GTA V.  One game is always going be left in the shadow.

That Zelda bundle looks so juicy, too bad i got my Wii U day one :(

I'm surprised you see it as an underwhelming port. They've overhauled the graphics engine, improved the sailing, tightened up the end game, and added a new difficulty mode. And that's all BEFORE you even start talking about Wii U integrated features like the game-pad inventory screen and Miiverse.


And that's all improvements on-top of one of the flat-out best games ever made (and my personal pick for best Zelda game). How much more could you have expected? Short of going all out and finishing the infamous lost dungeon it seems like a perfect port to me.


Now, that said, yeah, it's still a port. I don't really think it will turn the tide on its own...but underwhelming it really isn't.

I think what makes it underwhelming is that not every Zelda fan or Nintendo fan liked Wind Waker, of all the games to remake that is the most head scratching one for them to release. It was no where near the best Zelda, it was right next door to the worst, which we all know is that worthless Majora's Mask.


Saying that every Zelda fan already has a Wii U is really a stupid claim considering the Wii U doesn't even yet have a Zelda game and some people prefer to wait to buy the system after the game they want comes out not buy it first on the hopes the game might someday maybe come. This is not the Zelda game *most* Zelda fans are or were waiting for this is just a game Nintendo knew had left a sour taste in gamers mouths and for some odd reason they somehow thought maybe upgrading it might get people to try it again.


Before you get all on the hate I didn't have a problem with the toon shading and that is still not why I dislike this game. My problem, and a lot of people I know complain about this too but it always gets ignored by the blind loyalists who just kiss Nintendo's ass and refuse to think for themselves, this was NOT a Zelda game. It took way too damn long to get to the Zelda part and by then it had already lost my attention. I have no doubt it ended up being a good Zelda game in the end because the Demo on the collectors edition disk demonstrates that, but the game started out as some odd pirate game that had nothing to do with Zelda. If the damn game would have gotten to the real Zelda stuff maybe twenty minutes or so sooner it might have been better received.

Anyways the Wii U getting a price drop is a big deal because that is what is holding a lot of us back. When there are just so few games to justify it and when Nintendo makes odd choices like they are now known for maybe people are just waiting for it to come down in price to justify the few games they know appeal to them? Not every gamer out there worships the ground Nintendo walks on and with good reason. This whole Nintendo games sell Nintendo systems bull shit has really gotten old. Not only has it historically NOT been that way, the best fucking games for the NES, aside from five games, are NOT made by Nintendo. SNES had a few more good games by Nintendo but the BEST games for the system were all 3rd party with a handful of exception. N64, it was not that way. Gamecube had some decent 3rd party support but it really fell on Nintendo's shoulders. Wii was a joke in that department so understandably there are those of us, apparently more of us than those blind worshipers, who realize this shit has been going on long enough.


Yeah I want Mario 3D World but not enough to pay $400 dollars for it. If I am going to spend that much money on anything I need some real value. I got my Gamecube after the drop to $99 and the Zelda bundle which made it worth it, if not for that then I might have moved on like I did with Wii. I got a Wii at launch and boy do I regret that. Outside of Nintendo fan sites most gamers have a similar attitude about the Wii, it was a joke the motion controls were just a gimmick and they were not enough to sustain a fanbase. It was not a shit system but it was not their best work. NOW gamers are just fed up, if Nintendo wants us to buy their system they need to do more to win us back. Selling us games we didn't like on the Gamecube is not the way to do it. It's like if Sega would launch a new console and use Sonic 3D Blast remake in HD as their flagship title, yeah a lot of smart sense that makes right? Nintendo took their most divisive Zelda ever and chose to make that a selling point? Really to who? The people who are okay with Wind Waker already have a Wii U that might be true, but there are not enough of them apparently to move consoles, the rest of us Zelda fans, are waiting for a real Zelda game to convince us the system is worth it. So stop acting like if you don't lick Nintendo's boots your not a real fan that is about as stupid as those jerks who claim a real Star Wars fan has to hate the Prequels.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/33891/5/1.jpg
whats with the nintendo network icon? maybe we will see a four swords mode.

That would be awesome, for all the hate it gets connectivity was one of the better features of the Game Cube,

I skipped all GC and most of the Wii era cause I found friends in college and grad school who were into PC and I had just built a powerful PC...I was fedup with Nintendo (I had NES, SNES, N64 and loved all of them) and found games like Battlefield 2 much more appealing...and loved mouse-controlled games like RTSs. So for ppl like me who (for any reason) went back to Nintendo WW is a tempting aquisition. Specially now that I care very lil about others opinions (back in the day I was easily influenced by peers, and videogame reviewers...I remember reading all the hate about WW...and decided to also hated it without even try it). I bet that tons of ppl passed WW cause of reviews, angry fanboys, low GC installbase, etc. Plus the younger generations...so I think it's a good game.

Agreed

This reminds me exactly the way I used to think...truth is probably those ones are very small number cause the WW got so much criticism...almost every ppl I knew that were still playing Nintendo games hated the game...some for stupid reasons like the toonie stuff, etc.

In every single Nintendo console there are more Nintendo games in the top sellers than 3rd parties (this includes NES, SNES, Wii, and all handheld...all those systems ruled the hardware sales of their times), one could mean just attach rate in a bundle, but more than one game means that ppl like those games, or ppl who likes them promote them, or that the reviews gave them decent scores, or that Nintendo has good reputation among consumers, or that salesmen found they were the games that deserve being promoted, but you can't deny the truth....if you are an extreme black/white person, of course you gonna think that this is BS cause it is easy to find bad and very bad Nintendo 1st party games who also sold accordingly....but that "myth" can't be denied, Nintendo doesn't need that 100% of their games are the tops sellers, they just need 3, 4 of them to create that myth. In the other 2 console makers there are 3rd party games inside the top 3 sellers...I think this could be a good/bad thing...I also think that this is the secret issue (other than politics in the NES, SNES era, and low sales like N64,  GC and WiiU) why 3rd party devs also aren't that enthusiastic about publishing on Nintendo platforms...for any reason you want Nintendo games are the 1st Nintendo consumers buy historically!, it could be fanboysm, good brand name, etc., you name the reason.

Who cares what others think....this so called hardcore gamers need to grow up (I can understand the social part of being influenced by peers and reviewers, I used to be that way but now I give a f$&k)...we live in nice videogame times, we have variety and consoles devs. that aim towards different groups...dudebros can go and live on the xbox if they want...I'm happy with the WiiU so far...I went back to Nintendo after I tried motion controls during the last years of the Wii...I bought it for dirt cheap, plus all the acclaimed games, and I just had a blast. Xenoblade, Last Story, Galaxy's, Metroid prime trilogy (I skipped the GC remember), etc.,...even playing FPSs felt so natural to me (remember I was out in the PC mouse-controlled world)...I didn't need the fake and unrealistic aim assist to play console FPSs (otherwise dual analog FPSs would be unplayable...this comes back since the Goldeneye 64 times...now is better, more sutile, but still is fake!)...and now with the HD WiiU graphics I think I stick to motion controls for my console gaming and do the rest on PC


I've have my share of criticism for Nintendo...I posted them in other sections of this site...but I know nobody is perfect and as I said, I'm a happy PC+WiiU gamer

I guess we will see how things work out. I am putting my money on Wind Waker being a flop, even with the bundle.

As someone whose favorite Zelda IS Majora's Mask, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that you must now die.  :P:

No, Wind Waker HD is "underwhelming" because that is one deeply flawed game, Nintendo had a chance to fix some of its most glaring flaws, and instead they chose to slap a bandaid on the sailing & Triforce hunt; slap some useless Miiverse **** in there; and call it a day.  And they're doing it all for $60, no less, when the standard for FAR better HD collections on the other platforms with far better games and much more content both existing and new is $40.  Even SQUARE-ENIX isn't charging $60 for their Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X Collections, and they're INFAMOUS for gouging on ports just because they can.  And I'd rather play Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X than take another slog through Wind Waker.

$50.

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

A Zelda game flopping? That will be the day...

*looks at Amazon*

Oh, did Nintendo finally settle on a price? They started with $50, raised it to $60, and now we're back at $50. Whatever. My point still stands: it's overpriced for mediocre content and next to nothing worthwhile added.

What about ppl who never played it?...I'm liking the off-tv captures I've seen...I will buy it...for 50 bucks and the corresponding Club Nintendo points :)....I wish I had waited, the Zelda themed gamepad is nice...I don't see WW flopping...ate least it will sell at similar or better number than Pikmin 3, for a WiiU game that's ok.

I must confess i have never played Wind Waker

no shit that is my opinion that is what I said. It won't flop by industry standards but it will by Zelda standards lets rephrase it to that.

It's a Big Lebowski reference.  I haven't even seen the movie & I recognized that line.  The meaning could be loosely translated as "whatever", fyi.

Wind Waker didn't help Gamecube sales that much when it was a brand new game.  Now it's an old game being re-released.  No one NEEDS a Wii U to play it.  Hell it's already playable on both the Cube and Wii.  I think it's ridiculous to assume that it will be the game to turn the tide on the Wii U.  Only a new game will do that.

If Sony or MS were trying to sell THEIR console on a remake of Halo or God of War would you honestly give them a chance?  What's silly is that the Wii U doesn't need to rely on Wind Waker to sell systems because it HAS new games this Christmas.  That's why I find it so weird that Nintendo chose Zelda for the pack-in instead of Mario or DK.  HD remakes are just filler titles.

Pack in a Zelda remake because it's a bonus. If Mario and DK are system sellers, people are expected to buy the console for those games anyway. I know you don't care about the business side, but packing in a smaller budget game like a remake makes more sense than packing in a brand new game with a much larger budget.

Everyone likes a bargain so I get what you're saying. While I'd personally prefer Mario or DK, I'd still pick The Wind Waker HD over Nintendo Land.

I get the logic that you throw the remake in as the freebie because it's worth less and you can get two sales from someone by making them have to buy Mario as a seperate purchase.  I'm concerned more about the marketing where with the Wind Waker bundle being prominent in stores may give the wrong impression.  People might assume that a remake of a Gamecube game is the "best" game on the system because it receives the most promotion.

But really I see too much optimism that Wind Waker is specifically going to sell Wii U's which I think is nuts.  If any game does it this Christmas it will be Mario or DK, so they should get the bulk of the marketing.  It would be a major mistake if Nintendo pushed Wind Waker harder than those games, which hopefully they won't do.  But then I never see any advertising for the Wii U so a game being bundled with the console is going to get more promotion by default unless that changes.

There was a time not to long ago when a pack in game was used to sell the system. Oh that is right it was Wii and the game was Wii Sports. If you are going to bundle a game make it a game most of the fans want, so far I have not read any negative comments on getting a new Mario game we haven't played yet, but Wind Waker is a divisive game, there is no denying that, divisive, controversial or not, the game is a decade old.

I am not sure if Nintendo Land was a smart pack in but that was what they chose. SNES had a bunch of pack ins at different times but it sold the most when that games was Mario or Donkey Kong. Zelda is the type of game that sells itself and this is probably why Nintendo is using it as a bundle because they know it won't sell consoles so they are giving it away because it is a throw away maybe? That would make more sense than expecting a decades old highly controversial game to be a big seller.