A Japanese Nintendo Direct will air tomorrow, December 5th, at 5 a.m. CST. The broadcast will focus on Wii U, which launches in Japan in three more days, whereas the European and North American Nintendo Direct broadcasts will divulge information regarding upcoming games for both the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
You can watch the Japanese Nintendo Direct here.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime gives reasons for as to how the new Wii U console differs from Kinect for Xbox 360. Fils-Aime claims that there are not a lot of games to play on Kinect. Fils-Aime says the controllers for the Wii U are a lot more precise than Kinect. He also says the new console offers a much richer multiplayer experience, compared to Microsoft’s Kinect.
Online gaming publication CVG has noticed that third-party Wii U games all show a significant mark-up when compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. The publication spoke to an analyst who concluded that the premium price tags are commonplace for new consoles. Popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are around ten pounds more expensive than their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts. Will this put you off purchasing third-party games for Wii U?
If you’re looking to secure yourself some cheap Wii U games before the console launches in North America on November 18th then Newegg is offering $12 off all video game pre-orders for games that cost $49.99 and over. All you’ll need to do is enter this promotional code EMCJNNH224. Be warned the code expires on October 4th, so be sure to get those pre-orders in quickly.
Nintendo announced last week that there will be 23 physical Wii U games available for purchase on the new console’s launch day. However, Nintendo hasn’t confirmed which digital games will be available for download from the Nintendo eShop on Wii U’s debut.
Tomorrow Corporation, the developer of fantastic WiiWare title World of Goo, confirmed its first Nintendo eShop title, Little Inferno, is a Wii U launch title. Unlike World of Goo, which was given an E rating by ESRB, Little Inferno is rated T for Teen.
This weeks Enterbrain software and hardware charts are in from Japan and they once again show that the Nintendo 3DS is undoubtedly the dominate format. The Nintendo 3DS’ nearest competitor was the PSP which sold a mere 14,921 units. Sony’s competing format, the PlayStation Vita, could only muster up sales of 9,295 units. Here’s the Japanese software and hardware charts:
Executive director Atsushi Inaba of Platinum Games, the developer behind Wii U exclusive Bayonetta 2, says he and his team are intrigued by Nintendo’s latest handheld. Inaba is impressed with the Nintendo 3DS’ capability of producing stereoscopic 3D that can be seen with the naked eye – without being required to wear special glasses. Inaba confirmed, however, Platinum Games currently has nothing in the works for the 3D handheld.
“We are very interested in the Nintendo 3DS as a platform. I view 3DS as a proper, straightforward evolution from a platform that has had huge success. Being able to view stereoscopic 3D with the naked eye is a great innovation, but very straightforward, so I’m very interested in it.”
“Currently we have a lot of titles in development, and we can’t fund a 3DS game ourselves. So there’s nothing in the works. But I’m very positive on it.”
-Atsushi Inaba, Platinum Games executive director
We already know that first party Nintendo games will be available on the Wii U eShop at launch, but Nintendo has now clarified that it’s going to be up to third-party developers to get their games up on the eShop at launch.
“For third parties… One thing that we don’t do is try to force their hand. We don’t want to require them to do it. It’s really a decision that’s up to them, and so it comes down to what their interests are and how they want to offer it.”
Slash Gear’s Don Reisinger, the same person who said Wii U is in deep trouble, claims Wii U games, which are priced at $59.99, are too expensive. For that main concern, Reisinger is trying to convince people to not pre-order Nintendo’s upcoming console.
Although most PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games initially cost $59.99, Resigner thinks Wii U games should be priced less because their graphics “really don’t seem all that much better” than the graphics of games for current generation consoles.
Chief among those concerns is how much the Wii U’s games will cost. Nintendo has said that its console will have about 50 games available to customers between launch day and the end of March, and it has even said that a new Super Mario game will be available, but those titles will cost $60.
That’s a problem. Nintendo customers have been conditioned to pay less for games for the last two generations. Now they’re paying the same as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 customers for graphics that really don’t seem all that much better than what we’ve seen to this point? That’s a problem if I’ve ever seen one.
But it’s not just that. The Wii U will undoubtedly offer up better graphics than its predecessor, but there is real concern that it won’t be that much of a step up over the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. In fact, many of the games that are available on those other devices are now coming to the Wii U as simple ports. That’s not exactly the most reassuring news to people who are considering plunking down $300 or $350, plus games, to buy a console.
Although Nintendo will sell Wii U Gamepads separately in Japanese retailers, Nintendo of America’s director of PR, Marc Franklin, revealed that Nintendo will not be selling Wii U GamePads as standalone products in North America. Franklin claims that if Nintendo were to sell separate Wii U GamePads, it would confuse consumers as there are no announced games that support two of them.
The only apparent way to obtain a second Wii U GamePad is to purchase one directly from Nintendo of America.
