Adam Tyner

It's not referring to the actual racers, though. It's referring to a racing suit worn by your Mii.

Adam Tyner

Reminder that there's a Nintendo Direct (the first general Direct since E3) today. 5 PM Eastern / 2 PM Pacific.

XavierMike

Its for games for 2015. I hope we get a glimpse of Zelda.

Gizmo

Pretty good direct. Disappointed Amiibos don't do much in games not called Smash Bros. Hopefully future games will better integrate then.

Adam Tyner

Having a stupid amount of fun revisiting Bayonetta on the Wii U. It is puzzling how loud the tray/disc noise is, though. I don't remember anything like that with my other Wii U games, and I have a whole bunch.

I kind of forgot how comfortable the pro controller, but I love it. I have my quibbles (something about the right stick doesn't lend itself to manipulating the camera while also pressing other buttons, at least for me), but otherwise, I might even argue that it's the best of the current-gen consoles. Can't beat that battery life, for sure.

I really want to get my kid sister a Wii U for Christmas. I'm torn on picking up the Wii U refurb from Nintendo (which many people are saying are brand new units, just older stock; Nintendo Land/deluxe) for ~$223, after shipping/tax, or waiting to see if there's a really sexy ~$250 bundle on Black Friday.

slop101

FWIW, there's no disc noise on my U when I play either Bayonetta 1 or 2.

kstublen

Not sure what my approach is going to be for Amiibos. I know the collector in me will want to get them all, but seeing all the different Skylander and Disney Infinity characters out there leads me to believe this could be dangerous for the collector in me.

I might just restrict myself to what I consider "main" characters from my favorite franchises. That would still be a bit pricey though since it would probably include over 20 figures. On the other hand, I might end up just getting Amiibos for characters from the original Super Smash. Bros. game. That would include Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Link, Kirby, Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Jigglypuff & Ness, but would be a lot more reasonable in terms of cost.

XavierMike

Someone on GAF posted a pic of a WiiU Smash bundle, so you might look for that.

I have a feeling I'll be in for all Amiibos.

kstublen

I believe that image is fake and that there isn't a Wii U Bundle with Smash Bros. I do wonder what the Black Friday prices will be for a Wii U though or if I should just try and get one now or wait until after Christmas...

Adam Tyner

I don't know if it's limited to certain models of the console (mine is from day one), but I've seen similar complaints about the first Bayonetta on other forums, so I know it's not just me. During cutscenes, it's an extremely loud, constant chug.

slop101

I got mine later, the Super Mario/Luigi bundle.

kstublen

So with the Target Black Friday Ad being released and there being no sale on the Wii U I'm starting to doubt that the other stores will have a sale. For those who already have the Wii U, what's the best bang for my buck?

Adam Tyner

There are bundles that pop up on eBay from reputable sellers (buy.com, NewEgg, etc.) every few weeks. If you want a guaranteed deal, the best one out there for the Wii U are the refurbished units for sale direct from Nintendo. Those are $200 + tax/shipping. I ordered one last night for my kid sister's Christmas present, and my total was $217. These are deluxe units, do include one game (Nintendo Land), and have full warranty and stuff. The scuttlebutt is that, despite the 'refurb' labeling, these are often (always?) brand new units...just old stock.

As far as good deals go, loading up on Target's buy-two-get-one-free sale is a good way to get a library going. I haven't seen any sales on individual titles of note, but a few of the best titles for the consoles are always/often sub-$50 (Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World). I'm not over the moon about The Wonderful 101, but it's definitely a unique game that I'm glad I played, and it's generally around $25 new. Rayman Legends ($25/$30) and Ducktales Remastered ($20) are in the right price range too. The Bayonetta / Bayonetta 2 double feature for $60 is a pretty phenomenal deal if you're into those sorts of games. Walmart has a value bundle deal where you can save a few bucks by getting two lower-priced games together for $30.

kstublen

Thanks for the input. I think I'll just get a new console at Target since it comes with Super Mario 3D World and Nintendo Land. Then I'll pick up Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and Bayonetta (been wanting to play that) with the Buy 2, Get 1 sale. Then pick up Super Smash Bros. on release day, because that's one of my favorite series.

Adam Tyner

Since amiibo figurines will eventually be usable on the 3DS and aren't strictly for the Wii U, I split all the amiibo discussion off into its own thread.

stingermck

Best Buys Black Friday ad contains a Wii U bundle:

Wii U with super smash, donkey kong, mario 3d and nintendo land for $360.

My Other Self

That's a solid bundle.

Still surprised Nintendo didn't consider lowering the price given what Microsoft has been doing.

kstublen

It is and isn't. Basically, you are buying the Wii U at its regular cost and then paying full price for one game and getting the other free. That's not a terrible deal when you consider you're basically buying one game and getting another free...but having to go out on Black Friday for a chance to get this deal isn't worth it to me. There are other games higher on my list than Donkey Kong. So I ended up just getting the standalone Wii U at Target with Super Mario 3D World and Nintendoland along with Mario Kart 8, Hyrule Warriors, and Bayonetta 2 (Includes Bayonetta 1). This seemed like the most bang for my buck since these were all games I wanted anyway, more so than Donkey Kong. And I'll just pick up Smash Bros. (my most wanted game) by itself.

mattysemo247

Ouch. I get that it comes with extra games and all. But having a console (which is already struggling in the sales dept) priced $30 ABOVE the XB1 and only $40 below the PS4 bundle (both include 2 games) isn't going to help move units.

Mazje

I swear I saw that bundle was going to be $320.

BasementArt

I have a 13 year old daughter that requested a more violent type of video game a few months ago, I have no qualms about this. She mentioned CoD, and while once again no problems there, I'd rather something more fantastic than realistic, so I was looking into Bayonetta 2. I had not played the first, but looking at the gameplay footage it looks like a very Devil May Cry-ish sort of game, but all the reviews play up the character as being very sexualized and nudity being prevalent. Obviously the game is rated M, but how much are those elements actually played up? If the rating is more for violence and language that might be more passable.

Adam Tyner

Not that the past few months of previews were promising, but Sonic Boom: The Rise of Lyric is by all accounts a straight-up disaster.

Game Informer - 4.0Slant Magazine - 2/5Hardcore Gamer - 2.5/5Glitchy, poor collision detection, awful level design, sputtering frame rate... Bleeccch. One of about eighteen billion examples of glitches on YouTube:
<iframe width="1280" height="750" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lwi46F5B_t4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Bizarrely, all sorts of stuff from press demos and Sega-released screenshots -- different lighting, different levels, hub locations, cutscenes, etc. -- all got yanked from the final game, even compared to the E3 build. There's a story here, and I'm curious what it is. Nintendo got the short end of the stick with that 3-Sonic-exclusive deal with Sega. The 3DS Sonic Boom game is being savaged too.

On the other hand, that Mario Kart 8 DLC sure is awesome!

stingermck

I totally forgot about Sonic Boom until I was in the store to get the Mario Kart DLC (Which is awesome!)

Looks like I can skip this one.

RichC2

Per reddit/4chan on Sonic Boom:

Gizmo

I forgot I pre-ordered this by accident. I'll return my copy and wait for $10 or less.