Adam Tyner

They were the biggest third-party supporter too.

Michael Corvin

I skipped it. It wasn't at the closest BB to me but across town.

Gizmo

I was reading some various posts on Reddit and many are 100+ long.

Wii U is so dead.

My Other Self

I wish I could've went to this and tried out some of the games but I couldn't make it to a Best Buy tonight. Sounds like it was fun.

Moopher

I'm so stoked to get a Wii U. Looking forward to Windwaker and the new Mario...and eventually Smash Bros. Also, never played Pikmin, so maybe I should get on that too.

Supermallet

At this rate, those may be the only games there will be to play on the Wii U, sadly.

Michael Corvin

This is so archaic and stupid though. Just put these up on Nintendo Network and let everyone play the demos.

Gizmo

Somehow the Wii survived. And GameCube.

RichC2

The Gamecube struggled, the Wii had Wii Sports, and frankly that and Wii Fit is all it needed. But valid point.

Mario Kart Wii sold 33.7m copies, not sure if there was a pack-in version of the Wii at any point. New Super Mario Bros sold 26.93m copies, Smash Bros Brawl sold 11m and Mario Galaxy 10.8m.

It is kind of a shame that Mario Galaxy was out sold by Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, and Wii Play but those sale include bundles and pack-ins.

Thus far, the Wii U has sold about 3.12m consoles worldwide. New Super Mario Wii U has sold about 1.9m copies. But it was kind of expected, people buy Nintendo products to play Nintendo games unless there is something of mass appeal - Brain Age on the Nintendo DS, Wii Fit and Wii Sports on the Wii.

I imagine the Wii U will be in line with the Gamecube and sell between 20 and 30 million units in its lifetime.

fumanstan

Yup, Mario Kart came in one of the bundles at one point, same with New Super Mario Bros, which helps account for the larger numbers on those particular titles.

Moopher

I hope they announce a price-drop soon. If they shave $50 off the deluxe, I'm in.

shumway

I think $150 is my magic price point.

Adam Tyner

There's definitely no killer app for the Wii U on the horizon. Nintendo's inability to produce games is baffling. Even some of the stuff they're talking about now won't be on store shelves until next year, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of what's scheduled for 2013 is pushed out to next year. (The same as the launch window bullshit.) Miyamoto said that the development teams have hard a hard time moving up to the new hardware, but since it's Nintendo developers struggling with Nintendo hardware...I mean, shouldn't those two groups talk to each other every once in a while or something? For crying out loud, Nintendo developed essentially nothing for the last couple years of the Wii's lifetime -- what were their developers doing that whole time?

I still have faith in Nintendo, but they're going out of their way to make that really difficult.

RichC2

Well, it has already lasted longer than the Gamecube and Xbox at their launch prices. GC was released in November 2001 for $199 and dropped to $149 in May 2002. XB was released in November 2001 and dropped to $199 in May 2002.

I wonder if it will have a ridiculous price drop like the Sega Saturn did back in the day ($399 launch, $199 a year later), this is actually viable if they hold off on the price drop until November - drop from $350 to $149.

Supermallet

The Gamecube struggled mightily, but at least had graphics comparable with the PS2/Xbox. And they did have some killer third party games. The Wii was a huge success initially, then dropped off like crazy. A lot of people balked at the Wii U because of the drop off on the Wii, and because the Wii U was clearly playing catch up to this gen when the next one was right around the corner. Nintendo shot their load way too early.

Now, I actually like the Wii U, I like the gamepad, but I own three disc based games for it, and two VC releases for thirty cents a pop. And there's not a ton on the horizon that looks great, and everything that does is first party. That's sad. And by sad I both mean pathetic, and disappointing, because I would love for the Wii U to be a hit.

RichC2

I didn't think the price was bad initially, but realizing that it really isn't even on par with the X360 and PS3 at this point makes me a bit disappointed I invested $350 in it.

fumanstan

Wow, it's weird to look back and see the GC as that cheap at $199. I'm really surprised there wasn't a Wii U price drop at E3 announced. I hope there's an official drop to $299 for the Deluxe bundle, as otherwise $349 versus $399 for the PS4 looks silly.

pinata242

No need to drop the price until the other consoles actually come out in November. Late October price drop at the earliest to get some pre-launch momentum.

Gizmo

Cya in 2+ years!

Michael Corvin

Fair enough, but they should put them up after these events are over.

Gizmo

I've read reports MS is sending reps to the Nintendo events and telling people they should check out the Xbox One. MS must be getting really desperate after their E3 reveal.

Gizmo

Not happening.

$50 is a make it or break it for you? The Deluxe has been on sale numerous times with a $50ish discount (free gift card, game etc.).

Gizmo

GameCube also launched a year after the PS2, same month as the Xbox, and did not have DVD support (unlike the other two). It did have Smash Brothers pretty close to launch. I picked one up when it had the first price cut. Personally, I feel it's the best console ever. Luigis Mansion, Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Pikmin, Mario Kart DD, the first (?) Official Wireless Controller that actually worked worth a damn, Game Boy Player etc.

I don't care about third party. If all that ever came out was Nintendo titles and a VC store, I'd be happy. Do I care that it won't get some crappy FPS game? No. I know some consumers do, but let's face it, if you are buying a Nintendo console you should know what to expect. It's not like the Wii had Bioshock, Call of Duty etc. Why would that suddenly change?

Graphics-wise, the Wii U looks fine to me. Of course, I don't think any of us have actually seen PS4 or XBone titles in person (unless you're at E3).

I do think the GamePad could add a lot to those games if the studios supported Wii U, but probably not enough for the hard core players to ditch the Xbox or Sony. But for $400 or $500, you can play those games.

RichC2

The controller is the best thing about the Wii U which is why I'm glad Sony is continuing their version of it with the PS4 + Vita.

While I love Nintendo charm and titles I think I've finally lost patience with them. The last four console Zelda games didn't live up to my expectations, the New Super Mario line was excellent initially but I'm now finding myself bored of them as well. I wish Nintendo would come out with a new IP or actually anything at all that wasn't just a slight upgrade over the Wii version. Metroid Prime was awesome on the GC (I also agree that was a great, under appreciated console), the sequels less so, the Wii version was okay. I want another Mario Galaxy, or something equally as innovative as it was on release.

Similar to the GC back then not supporting DVD, the Wii U supports 25gb discs but doesn't support Blu-ray.

Gizmo

The last 4 Zeldas? You mean everything after Ocarina? Ocarina, IMO, stunk. I still havn't beaten it even though I've tried several times (N64, GameCube, 3DS).

It costs money to support those. Why would Nintendo pay out extra cash, which would mean we pay more, to play media where normal players are $50 or less? If you really need to play Blu-rays, buy a player.