One of the biggest game developers in the gaming universe is EA, which produces franchises such as Madden NFL, The Sims, and the Battlefield franchise. About two years ago, EA announced an “unprecedented partnership” with Nintendo hinting that a number of video games for the console would be coming. Fast forward a few years and EA is now saying that it has not one single game in development for the Nintendo Wii U now.

EA hasn’t ruled out the possibility of developing games for the console in the future, but the company currently has no games in development for Nintendo’s latest hardware. This is a rather surprising revelation by EA considering it and Nintendo were throwing in together to the point that in 2011 at E3 Nintendo’s CEO and EA’s CEO took to the stage together to talk about the Nintendo Wii U and the number of games coming for the console.

EA did develop and launch video games for the Nintendo console early on including versions of hit games such as Mass Effect 3, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Madden NFL, and FIFA. However, none of those games launched first on Nintendo’s new console or were exclusives. In fact, they had all been available previously on the other game consoles. EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku this week that the earlier run of games for the Nintendo console was EA delivering on its E3 2011 content partnership.

If EA saw value in designing and developing games for the Wii U, you could bet that the company would be doing it. If you’re a big fan of the Wii U, EA’s lack of support for the console means you will have no NFL video game to play because EA holds the exclusive license. It ever a console needed a massive first party video game success, the Wii U is it. However, it looks like Nintendo will have to step up and develop any successful games to drive desire for the console itself, and it doesn’t exactly have a strong track record in recent years for developing hit video games.

SOURCE: Kotaku

The so-called transition Kotick describes is one of an evolving gaming industry, where players aren’t perhaps so wedded to their dedicated, heavy-duty consoles as they were at the launch of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Factor in the remaining questions that surround even Sony’s officially announced PlayStation 4, and Kotick is readying for an uphill struggle.

“There are still many unknown factors,” he explained on the call, “such as pricing, launch dates and quantities, the level of first-party support and, importantly, consumer purchase intent in a world where consoles are no longer just competing with each other, but also with new platforms, such as smartphones and tablets.”

Those mobile platforms have risen in gaming prevalence over the intervening years, with more casual titles at the $0.99 price point in Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play market gaining traction on iPhone and Android. Apple’s iPod touch has also become a compelling gaming system, with improvements in the company’s homegrown processors leading to more impressive, near-console-quality titles.

In short, it’s a very different market from what Microsoft and Sony are used to, and one in which Kotick seemingly suspects they may find the reception to the Wii U to be the rule, not the exception. “All of these factors further heighten our concerns heading into the back half of the year,” he concluded, “particularly during the very competitive fourth quarter.”

Activision has already warned that World of Warcraft online multiplayer subscribers are dropping, though the game publisher says it is confident its other projects will maintain sufficient momentum to keep profits up.

[via ExpertReviews]

According to The Japan Times, Nintendo has been offering game developers conversion software for use with mobile devices and consoles that allows smartphone apps to be played on the Wii U, and Nintendo is encouraging developers to create smartphone games that can be playable on the company’s gaming console.

This comes after Nintendo is continuously reporting poor sales for their new console, selling way less than they expected during the last quarter, and reporting a $366 million operating loss, which is the company’s second annual operating loss in a row. Nintendo is apparently hoping that the addition of smartphone apps will turn things around.

It’s certainly a bold move on Nintendo’s part, but it slightly makes sense. The smartphone games would be played on the Wii U GamePad’s 6.2-inch touchscreen display, which is obviously the ideal playing field for a smartphone and tablet game. However, we’re not sure how these games would be implemented, as far as being able to use the physical controls, or if you’ll be able to beam the game to your TV through the console. Hopefully there will be a field of options available if smartphone apps eventually do come to the console.

[via The Japan Times]

With the barrage of mod chips delivered over the long span of the original PlayStation’s lifetime, abilities ranging from complete inside-out turns of homebrew games to the allowance of Japanese-restricted games played on USA consoles has been seen. Here with the tip on the Wii U, hackers have claimed they’ve been able to reverse the console’s drive authentication, file system, disk encryption, and more.

That means, basically, that once this process they’ve inflicted has been unleashed, the Wii U will be unrestricted as far as illegally sources games goes. Just as the same group did with the original Wii, here with the Wii U they’ve claimed to break the security holding the system to store-bought games. Nintendo is not pleased, as they’ve shared in a statement with the press earlier today.

“Nintendo is aware that a hacking group claims to have compromised Wii U security; however, we have no reports of illegal Wii U games nor unauthorized applications playable on the system while in Wii U mode. Nintendo continuously monitors all threats to its products’ security and will use technology and will take the necessary legal steps to prevent the facilitation of piracy.” – Nintendo

The hack in question also suggests that it would allow users to play both Wii and Wii U games on the Wii U console without the use of disks. With this hack, users would be able to keep all of their games on a flash drive for easier carrying. Users speaking with SlashGear since the announcement of the WiikeU, the system created by this hacker group (Wiikey), have suggested that it’s this convenience they seek most, not necessarily the ability to play stolen games.

Let us know what you think about the situation! Also make sure you’re not breaking the law, folks- stay green!

UPDATE: Wiikey has responded to Nintendo with a few lines of code that they say Nintendo will understand. Have a peek at the image below and see if you’re the giggling type.

The WiikeÜ isn’t available to consumers just yet, but Wiikey will be releasing updates regarding the product soon. In a statement on their website, Wiikey stated that they were able to completely reverse “the WiiU drive authentication, disk encryption, file system, and everything else.” When the WiikeÜ becomes available, gamers will be able to install homebrew software on their Wii U, and unfortunately for Nintendo, play pirated games.

The WiikeÜ spells trouble for game developers, however it may do wonders for the Wii U. The sales for the Wii U failed to even meet Nintendo’s lowered expectations, selling only a measly 3.45 million units since its launch. People who purchase the WiikeÜ will inevitably use it to pirate games (with a few using it solely for homebrew purposes), and while it may be damaging to game sales, it may offer enough incentive for people to purchase a Wii U.

It’ll be a bittersweet situation for Nintendo, who just replaced its North American CEO with Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata. Nintendo planned on improving sales of the Wii U by bringing more “key” titles to the platform, enticing more consumers to purchase the device, but that plan may be thwarted by Wiikey. We’ll see. But at this rate, anything would help the struggling platform.

[via Wiikey]

The new version also makes it quicker to go from software to Nintendo’s Miiverse, answering another complaint gamers had about the system. Nintendo has added a shortcut within the startup process, too, whereby pressing and holding the B button on the GamePad while the Wii U logo is shown at boot automatically jumps to the Wii Menu.

Meanwhile, there’s background support for game and app installations from the eShop, and if you shut down the console while a download is in progress, the Wii U will wait to turn off until it’s done. There’s also priority control over multiple downloads, allowing gamers to choose which gets completed first.

Data management has also been addressed, with the option to copy saved files between USB storage, and when you power the Wii U on you get a clear indication of which account is logged in and active. Finally, there are some minor tweaks, such as a control over TV screen size output in the settings page, and an undo/redo control for when you’re creating a Miiverse character.

However, aside from a new turn of speed, the new firmware also paves the way for some of Nintendo’s more hotly-anticipated changes: Virtual Console and Wii U Panorama View. They’ve been waiting in the wings until the console could support them, offering downloadable classic titles from $4.99 to $8.99, and virtual exploration of famous locations, respectively. Panorama View will offer free demo previews, with each full experience – which will include carnivals and bus tours of significant cities – priced at $2.

Nintendo really needs the Wii U to start bedding in, with sales slumping in the first calendar quarter of 2013, and leading to the Japanese company missing its already-lowered sales expectations. It was confirmed that Nintendo would have a more low-key E3 than in recent years, ceding the stage to Sony and Microsoft who each have next-gen consoles of their own to detail.

The company addressed the news in its latest quarterly earnings briefing today, and while they don’t plan to release any new hardware, they did mention that they’ll be announcing new Wii U games, although they weren’t clear if that would be at E3 or just in the general future. Nonetheless, we can expect some new titles from the company very soon.

Furthermore, Nintendo is at least planning to host a few smaller private events during E3, one of which will be for American distributors and another will be a private hands-on event for media. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata isn’t planning on speaking at these events, which isn’t too surprising, as he didn’t present at E3 last year either.

It’s particularly sad that one of the big three gaming console makers won’t be appearing in a big way during the year’s largest gaming expo, but it’s really no surprise, since many companies are beginning to drop out of conventions in favor of their own events to announce new products. Microsoft backed out of CES a couple years ago, with Chinese consumer electronics maker Hisense taking their place.

That four million figure had itself been a compromise, with Nintendo downgrading expectations for Wii U sales by 27-percent. However, what the company believed was reasonable interest in the console in the run-up to the holiday period had made the 4m unit figure seem reasonable.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in 2013, with a poor games roadmap blamed. “Wii U was not able to maintain the initial sales momentum after the beginning of 2013″ Nintendo said today, “due to a delay in the development of subsequent software titles.”

Overall, though, Nintendo managed to squeeze out a profit from its full-year finances [pdf link], with net profits of 7.1bn yen ($71.3m), though still an operating loss of 36.41bn yen ($366m). While hardly impressive, perhaps, they’re still a vast improvement over 2012′s numbers, where Nintendo recorded a 43.2bn yen loss.

Elsewhere, the 3DS glasses-free 3D handheld also missed its predicted sales, with 14m sold. Nintendo now expects to sell 18m in the next full financial year, along with 9m Wii U units.

It remains to be seen whether Nintendo will re-consider its stance on a price-cut for the Wii U, something the firm said, back in January, would not take place. Meanwhile, Sony has already announced the PlayStation 4, its next-gen console, and Microsoft is expected to reveal the new Xbox, colloquially known as the “Xbox 720“, within the next few months.

The NPD group didn’t release specific sales data, however according to GameSpot, the number 1 game, BioShock Infinite, sold 878,000 copies in March. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, which came in 6th place, sold 415,000 copies according to Nintendo. The sales figures for all of the games on the list include the standard edition of the games, collector’s edition, game of the year editions, and bundles, however, games that were purchased in hardware bundles (like the Nintendo 3DS/Luigi Mansion bundles) were not counted.

Total industry sales for March reached $992.5 million. While the sales figure is impressive, it is still a 10% decline year-over-year from March 2012. A majority of the sales were generated by the video games themselves, totaling $602.4 million. However, NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan says that the $992.5 million the game industry made only accounts for about half of what the market really spent in March. He says,

“When you consider our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in March such as used and rentals at $190 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps, and the consumer spend on social network games at $670 million, we would estimate the total consumer spend in March to be just under $1.9 billion.”

The month of March turned out to be extremely beneficial to game publisher Take-Two Interactive, who published both BioShock Infinite as well as NBA 2K13. The sales it achieved with both games were the highest sales for any individual company monitored by the NPD Group since it began tracking sales in 1995. Also while sales in the game industry declined 10%, new game launches for last March were still 40% higher than March 2012. Hopefully we see the momentum of March continue on throughout April in the NPD Group’s next report.

[via IGN]

Ever since the console officially launched back in November, gamers have been complaining about glacially slow load times with games, and overall sluggish performance. However, Nintendo has promised that a major update would fix the problems, and hopefully it does, because if it doesn’t, Nintendo will have so serious explaining to do.

Nintendo will also be adding background downloads to ease the inconvenience of downloading full retail games. The new system tweaks in the update will allow gamers to not only download games while they’re in-game, but also when the console is turned off, which will no doubt put a smile on digital downloaders’ faces.

As for the Wii U Virtual Console, that will be included with the major update next week, and it will allow you to play your favorite classic games from older consoles like the GameBoy Advance and Nintendo 64. These games will be playable on the Wii U gamepad. Such games include Kirby’s Adventure, Super Mario World, Donkey King Jr., Punch Out!, and F-Zero.

[via The Next Web]

The video shows off a side-by-comparison of two Wii U Gamepads. The one on the left is a Wii U without the new update, and the one of the right is a Wii U with the update installed. The video shows how quickly the console returns to the home screen after playing New Super Mario Bros. U. It takes about eight seconds with the updated Wii U, while the older Wii U takes over twice as long.

Of course, even with the new update applied, it’s still a bit of a wait time to get back to the home screen, but it’s certainly an improvement, and one that most Wii U gamers will be grateful to have. If you still aren’t satisfied, however, Nintendo is expected to release a second update sometime later this year to decrease loading times when launching software.

The Wii U’s sales have been rather low lately, being the lowest-selling console on the market right now, with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 leading the way with its 26th straight month of being the highest-selling console. However, Nintendo isn’t giving up on the Wii U just yet. The company said that they’re serious about the new console, and have a bunch of plans lined up in the future.

Poix currently manages 3 Ubisoft studios and a variety of popular gaming franchises, including Just Dance, Ghost Recon, and the much delayed Rayman. He stated that Ubisoft likes to start development on newly launched gaming platforms, like the Wii U, because doing so will help it grab much more sales in the long run. Also, with new gaming platforms, Ubisoft is free to experiment with new games, like ZombiU, that has no ties with its currently popular game franchises.

Poix believes that the main setback for Wii U sales is the gamepad. He says that the “new controller would be something harder to convey than the Wii,” but that people just need to adapt to the idea of the gamepad and the innovation it can bring to console gaming. He says,

“For our games we really wanted to show the innovation. In ZombiU for instance, the players are really fond of the multiplayer mode because it’s totally new; it’s like one FPS player against an RTS player. We pushed the limits of that so it can be a real gameplay challenge to look at two screens.”

Poix also believes that the Wii U just needs more “system-selling” games. The Wii U is still fresh, so he believes that once more developers push out games from their popular franchises, the Wii U’s sales will rise rapidly. Poix says that Ubisoft is expecting its upcoming Rayman Legends game to be one of those system-sellers. He says,

“We know from the fans that the majority of what will be the system sellers are not yet available. And on our side, Rayman will be one of them for sure. We really expect Rayman to be a huge system seller on the console.”

[via Games Industry]

Well, Nintendo, we don’t believe it.

After a sub-par launch, we’ve watched the Wii U collected dust on store shelves across the U.S. Developers, while trying to stay nice about it, are obviously starting to become concerned that the console won’t hack it. And all Nintendo president Satoru Iwata can do is apologize for not delivering better results in the fourth quarter.

Huh?

Now, I’ll freely admit that I’ve never run a major company and I’m sure there will be an awful lot of Nintendo fans lined up to tell me that I don’t know anything about running a game business, but it’s about time the company and all of its supporters hear the truth: without some major changes, the Wii U is doomed.

What Nintendo needs to do first is cut the price of the Wii U. Yes, I know that the company will likely post lower-than-expected financial results over the next year or so because of the reduced price, but at least some customers will jump at the chance to buy the cheaper device. And as history has shown, the more hardware that makes its way into consumer homes, the stronger the software library. And when a stronger software library comes along, a more successful platform results.

Nintendo is looking down the barrel of a major, major threat. Sony is planning to launch a PlayStation 4 later this year that will come with far more firepower than its device. The Xbox 360’s successor, unofficially known as the Xbox 720, will take advantage of the momentum its predecessor has passed on. By all measure, the Wii U’s competition is looking to have a better chance of succeeding than Nintendo’s console.

Of course, don’t tell Nintendo fans that; they’re still clinging to the Wii’s success. Nintendo fans say that the Wii was doubted by nearly everyone, and after it had some time to attract customers, it was an outright success.

However, I think those people tend to be suffering from revisionist history. The Wii was doubted by many, but after it was actually shown off to consumers before its launch, demand skyrocketed. And the console wasn’t readily available to customers for years. In other words, the Wii is an entirely different beast. And it’s one that cannot – and should not – be compared to the Wii U.

Aside from a price cut, I’m not sure there’s much else Nintendo can do but hope that things turn around. The Wii U is being ignored, casual gamers couldn’t care less, and parents – the true Wii U buyers – are looking at the price tag and laughing at Nintendo for even thinking it would pay that much for what is essentially an HD Wii.

It’s unfortunate, but I’m starting to wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Nintendo’s console business.

The Wii U had a really rough January, seeing sales as low as 57,000, but while February sales of the new console saw a jump by 40%, that only means that the Wii U sold 64,000 units, which is still lower than the lowest that the PS3 or the Xbox 360 has ever gotten. It’s said that January was a particularly bad month for the Wii U due to holiday backlash and people returning the console to stores.

However, as for the Xbox 360 console, it holds 41% of the market share among current-generation consoles, and the total money spent on the Xbox 360 in February — including hardware, software and accessories — was the most for any console in the US. Some pretty impressive numbers considering that Microsoft hasn’t lost the number one spot in over two years.

Total video game sales for February topped out at $810 million, which is actually down 25% from the same time last year. Console sales racked up $244.2 million, video game sales reached $369.9 million, and accessories rang in at $213.9 million while also boasting just a 3% drop from last year, while all other categories dropped 25% or more.

[via Gamasutra]

See, Nintendo was to me, like so, so many others, the company that made us realize how much we loved gaming. We played the first Super Mario and were mesmerized. When The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was released, I must have completed it ten times in the first couple weeks. Nintendo and its hardware and its game library all hold a special place in my heart.

That’s why I’m worried. I think there are millions of people across the globe – including many in Japan – that have long-viewed Nintendo as the face of the gaming industry. When Nintendo succeeded, those folks believed that the game industry was doing just fine. And when Nintendo wasn’t doing so well, they questioned the value of status quo in the industry.

When the Wii was flying high, there was a palpable sense that the games industry, despite some softening during the economic downturn, would be just fine. But now that the Wii U is turning out to be a bit of a loser, the beating drum of doubt over the traditional industry’s ability to hang tough against Microsoft and Sony is growing louder. The world is changing, they say, and traditional game companies are in trouble.

So, I need to pose a question: if Nintendo fails, will the traditional game industry go with it?

I can appreciate that Sony and Microsoft are trying to appeal to a different market segment with their products, which lends them to not worry so much that Nintendo is in trouble, but there’s something to be said for determining how the Mario maker’s decline is impacting the industry.

Unfortunately, I can see a scenario play out in which Nintendo starts to go into decline and the next thing you know, all hell breaks loose. A major game console maker has gone into a death spiral, the headlines would read, and now, like a domino effect, Microsoft, Sony, and major game developers are going down the tubes with it.

But perhaps I’m placing too much importance on Nintendo. Sure, the game company is huge and was always important, but perhaps it’s not what it used to be. Nintendo might be the world’s biggest console maker right now, but it might soon give way to Microsoft and Sony. More importantly, it could give way to companies like Valve and Apple.

The traditional game industry could very well be in a state of flux. Nintendo, its spiritual leader, seems to be falling to its knees. And unless it can be brought back up and returned to its former place of glory, I can’t help but wonder if new companies or mobile gaming in general might just put the final nail in its coffin.

I guess we just have to wait and see what happens.

Capcom is releasing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate only 3 months after its release in Japan. It says that its working together with Nintendo to reduce the delay of its games being ported to the U.S., something that has bothered gamers for a while. It also hopes that by partnering up with Nintendo to release a Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Wii U Bundle and a Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Nintendo 3DS bundle, it could help increase sales for the game and increase its popularity with people who try it out. Ryozo Tsujimoto, producer of Monster Hunter, said, “With Wii U, which is online compatible, and with 3DS with its portability, releasing both of them together, we’re giving opportunity and options to consumers to really pick up the version they want and the one that suits them. By doing that we might be able to actually have a breakthrough. That’s definitely our intention.”

A new feature that Capcom and Nintendo are trying out is the new cross-platform compatibility between Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the 3DS and the Wii U. Gamers will be able to transfer their save files between the two devices. That way they can play on the big screen while they’re at home, and then play on their portable 3DS while they’re on the go. It’s a nifty feature, but the downside is having to purchase two versions of the same game.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate adds on some new features that players have been asking for in previous games. There is now a better camera system, and players will also be able to auto-lock onto their targets. If the game is well-received by gamers in the U.S., Capcom will put more effort into bringing Monster Hunter 4 to the U.S. as quickly as possible. Monster Hunter 4 is slated to be released in Japan sometime during the summer, and will be exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS.

[via EuroGamer]

The protagonist of this game is Captain Edward Kenway, an infamous pirate able to “clear the deck of a Spanish galleon like it were nothing”. The trailer shows Kenway in action as he’s able to assassinate almost an entire ship with ease, and able to commit murder in public without anyone (except his new mistress) batting an eye. To many loyal Assassin’s Creed fans, this game will be another welcome addition to the group, while to others, it just seems like Ubisoft is milking the Assassin’s Creed franchise for all it’s worth.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and the PC. It will also be available for the next-gen consoles whenever they come out, so those of you willing to wait, you can purchase the game for your future PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720. You are able to pre-order the game now, and if you do, you’ll get a limited edition poster created by cartoonist Todd McFarlane.

It looks like Ubisoft can go ahead and cancel that “World Premiere Trailer” website they had designed and prettied up all for Assassin’s Creed IV. Besides getting a sneak peak at the game, and finding out its official release date is October 29th, there isn’t much else we know yet about the game. It is rumored that Assassin’s Creed IV will be taking place in either Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, or England.

With that little tidbit in mind, let’s talk about the video game industry for January 2013. To make things a bit more comparable to last year, Gamasutra broke out the calculator and removed statistics for that extra week to give us comparable numbers. This fancy calculator work shows that overall retail sales across hardware, software, and accessories for the gaming market was down approximately 13% in January of 2013 to $667.8 million compared to $765.6 million in January 2012.

A NPD rep noted that sales of Wii U hardware for its first three months of availability are 38% lower than the numbers for the Nintendo Wii at the same point. Another source cited from within NPD claims that sales of the Wii U for January were “well under” 100,000 units. Gamasutra estimates that sales for the Wii U were a scant 45,000 to 59,000 units.

That is very sad news for Nintendo indeed because if 59,000 units or less sold is accurate, that is worse than any of the three previous generation gaming consoles in their worst months. The top video games according to NPD in order from number one down include Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Far Cry 3, Just Dance 4, NBA 2K13, and Madden NFL 13.

[via Gamasutra]

In a blog post, Brown says that there are numerous problems with the Xbox platform that leaves the door wide open for Apple. Plus, Microsoft has been making it extremely difficult to develop games for the Xbox, and it doesn’t really cater to indie developers. The Apple TV, on the other hand, runs iOS, which allows for anyone to develop apps and games fairly easily, which has spawned a wealth of games for users to play.

Of course, the Apple TV isn’t catered as a gaming platform, although it’s only a matter of time before that could happen. You can actually beam iOS games to your living room TV using the set-top box, but the Apple TV itself isn’t a gaming console by any means. However, that could change with just a few more advanced features added on.

In the end, Brown notes that the past five years have been painful to watch, in regards to the Xbox, because Microsoft has essentially failed to innovate and capitalize on the potential of innovations, like the Kinect sensor. Brown also wishes that Microsoft adopted a similar model for game and app distribution that iOS and Android have been using in order to create huge and successful gaming ecosystems.

[via Business Insider]

The middle man in this situation is the Error Code 200101 that users have been experiencing in this process for several weeks. This error generally results in a screen in which users are asked to “repair” their purchases so that they may be correctly sent from their Wii console to their Wii U console. This repair cost has been reported as anywhere from $60 to $85 USD depending on the number of titles being transferred.

Though as some customers like Kyle Orland of Ars Technica decided that this phantom “repair” cost was acceptable, Ryan from the Nintendo Fun Club Podcast thought different. It’s Ryan who lived this epic adventure with the Nintendo customer service representative crew, the end result being a massive amount of Wii Points for his Wii Shop Channel. The amount he received, 57,000 Wii points (aka $570 USD), plus a $50 bonus, covered the amount of value his original library was worth.

Then the $50 bonus Ryan received was marked with a note, saying it was for “the inconvenience.” Of course none of these points can be exchanged for real cash, and none of Ryan’s saved games will be appearing here, but consider this: Nintendo could very easily have just told Ryan he had to pay the repair cost. Instead they cashed up his new account and deleted the licenses from the first set of games he had on the original Wii.

Seem like a kind gesture to you?

This new set will be appearing on February 17th 2013 for a grand total of right around $390 and should once again inject a bit of life into the supply lines that were left a bit bare back a month ago during the 2012 holiday season. Also included in this set is a digital download of the mini-game masterpiece known as Nintendo Land.

With this purchase, users are given an automatic enrollment in the Nintendo Wii U “Digital Deluxe Program” where they’ll be getting 10 percent back in in-store points for each purchase they make in the Nintendo eShop. These points add up to allow you to purchase future games and services galore just as a gift card would. The Wii U section of the Nintendo eShop continues to expand with Wii U-specific content as well as legacy games each week – have a peek!

This announcement also lets users know that if each of the items included in this ZombiU Deluxe Set were purchased separately, they’d cost a whopping $459.99 USD. With this pick-up you’ll be saving $70 USD as MSRP for this set will bring you to $389.99 in the end. Today’s announcement also makes note that the Wii U has sold more than 3 million units across the planet as well as 11 million units of software therein. Have a peek at our timeline of recent Wii U moments in time to get a grasp on where Nintendo is headed from here!

In a presentation to investors after Nintendo revised its sales forecast, president Saturo Iwata said that the company isn’t planning to drop the price on the Wii U any time soon. Some were expecting a price cut if Nintendo found itself in hot water with the Wii U, since it implemented a price cut when 3DS sales were lagging. Iwata said in his presentation that he “would like to make this point absolutely clear,” so it seems Nintendo is holding firm on the issue.

One of the reasons Nintendo doesn’t want to cut the price on the Wii U is because it’s already offering the console at a loss. Dropping the price below where it’s at now would definitely widen that loss, so it may not help that much. Instead of dropping the price, Nintendo says it will try to better communicate the value of the Wii U as we wait for the console’s software line up to improve.

Software will also be a major focus for Nintendo moving forward. During the most recent Nintendo Direct livestream, Iwata revealed a number of exciting Wii U games, announcing an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and informing us all that the company will have new Mario and Mario Kart games for the Wii U on display at E3 2013. We’ll see how Nintendo addresses Wii U sales that are below expectations soon enough, but after today, a price drop just doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

[via Joystiq]

NetherRealm Studios are bringing what they call a “bold new franchise” to the fighting game genre complete with a “deep” original story that’s also being released as we speak in real-world comic book form. Each of the heroes and villains you know so well have been given “god-like” powers where applicable to essentially equalize their ability to destroy the other. Multi-tiered fighting arenas also make for a gaming experience that no DC comics hero (or Mortal Kombat character, for that matter) have ever been through before.

Writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are behind the wheel here with a storyline made to engage not only game players but the comic universe as well. Iconic battle arenas are pulled directly from the pages of the comics as the storyline inside the game expands the environment created in the comics. With the power of the advanced computing systems inside the PlayStation 3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, you’ll be able to knock your opponents into, through, and completely out of the arenas in which you do battle.

This game is up for pre-order at several locations in the United States right this minute in standard editions as well as Collectors Editions. The Collector’s Edition includes the game itself, a 12-inch statue with Batman and Wonder Woman making with the action poses, and the “INJUSTICE: Gods Among Us” graphic novel. You’ll also get a digital download copy of the DOOM: Justice League movie and three unique and exclusive skins for your characters in-game based on the comic DC COMICS – THE NEW 52.

[via Official INJUSTICE Webspace]

There are still some surprises in store for the end of the year, however. Nintendo had been predicting net sales of 810bn yen for the full year ending March 31, 2013, with net income of 6bn yen ($66m). However, in an odd shift of fortunes, Nintendo now says it expects sales of just 670bn yen, a 17.3-percent reduction, despite also predicting more than double the net income.

In fact, Nintendo says it foresees 14bn yen ($154m) in net income by the end of the year, helped in no small part by the waverings of the currency exchange market. That’s an impressive rise from the 43bn yen loss in the year-ended March 31 2012.

As for elsewhere in the company’s range, Nintendo sold 12.7m Nintendo 3DS units and 3.5m Wii units, bringing the lifetime sales of each to 29.84m and 99.38m respectively. Nintendo DS sales halved versus the same period a year ago, to 2.5m units.

More in Nintendo’s full report [pdf link] and updated forecasts [pdf link].

Sakurai took to Twitter to tell fans that there may be more to see of both games come E3 time. Google Translate always appears to have a rough time translating from Japanese to English, but in his tweets, he tells fans that even though some games were given trailers during Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct stream, Smash Bros. fans will have to wait. That wait will apparently pay off, however, as Sakurai plans to show something “better” at E3.

It’s impossible to say for sure, but it certainly sounds like Sakurai wants trailers on display during E3 2013. Nintendo revealed that its new Mario and Mario Kart titles will have playable demos at E3, so if Sakurai can put together some Super Smash Bros. footage before the expo kicks off, then it should be an exciting show for Nintendo fans. It should be an exciting show for gaming fans in general for that matter, as it’s been rumored that we’ll see new consoles from Sony at Microsoft there.

In any case, we’ve known about these new Super Smash Bros. games for a while now, as they were announced around the same time that Nintendo revealed the Wii U. At that time next to nothing had been done on them, as Sakurai was busy putting the finishing touches on Kid Icarus: Uprising. Now that Uprising is on shelves (and has been since March 2012), it sounds like Sakurai has more time to devote to these incoming Smash Bros. games, so don’t be surprised to hear new details moving forward. Stay tuned.

[via Joystiq; via IGN]

As I’ve said here before, I’ve been playing games as long as I can remember. And as an owner of the Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, and Wii U, I’ve played just about every first-party game Nintendo has ever launched. For years, Nintendo games have been entertaining me.

[Image credit: Andrew Becraft]

Still, I can’t help but shrug whenever the company announces a new Mario game or, as it did today, updates to its Legend of Zelda line. And yet, as I looked around the Web for the reactions to the news of an updated Wind Waker and a new Legend of Zelda title designed specifically for the Wii U, I was shocked by what I found.

Nearly everywhere I looked, people were expressing their excitement for the new title, and that Wind Waker was to be updated with HD graphics. Around the world, people seemed to be anxious to see the titles at E3, and couldn’t wait to finally get their hands on them. It wasn’t the standard, run-of-the-mill excitement, either; it was as if the greatest news in the history of gaming had just been passed down.

Of course, I expect such a reaction from the Nintendo faithful. For decades now, Nintendo’s fans have remained loyal to their favorite company, and anything short of outright excitement wouldn’t be enough for those folks.

But I’m not quite sure the Legend of Zelda and the Super Mario franchise truly deserve all the hype. I can’t help but wonder if all of the excitement has more to do with the past and nostalgia than the actual quality of the titles.

Those who make the quality argument certainly have the numbers on their side. According to data from Metacritic, there hasn’t been a single Legend of Zelda console game launched in over the last decade that hasn’t scored in the 90s (out of 100). And although New Super Mario Bros. U could only muster an 84 on Metacritic, its predecessors scored well into the 90s.

Nintendo supporters would say that such scores prove that the excitement surrounding new titles is justified. After all, if the franchises are delivering such great experiences, why wouldn’t we be excited for the future?

But perhaps those numbers tell a different story. For the most part, reviewers are of the age that grew up playing Nintendo games. And I, like so many others of my generation, tend to give Nintendo’s first-party titles some passes because, well, we remember the good ol’ days. There’s something special about Link and Mario, and saving the world with those characters. We have a deep-seated love for them that will not – and cannot – go away.

Perhaps that’s why we tend to forgive the fact that we’re playing basically the same game every few years. Although Nintendo has done a good job of bringing some new mechanics to the titles, for the most part, a Mario game is a Mario game, regardless of whether you played it 15 years ago or today. The same is true with Zelda.

If the titles weren’t Mario and Zelda, would we have viewed them as favorably? Some might say no. Others, of course, wouldn’t believe that a Nintendo game would get any special treatment.

But perhaps it’s something to consider. Nintendo’s flagship franchises have affected an entire generation unlike any other game to other generations. And that could – could – be playing a role in our feelings towards the Zelda news.

What do you think?

Let’s recap just a few of the games that were revealed during the livestream. Nintendo will be releasing an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker later this year, and even though a handful of fans probably scoffed at such a re-released, the company also said that it has an all new Zelda game in development for the console. We’ve also heard of a new Mario adventure to look forward to, along with a new Mario Kart release, both of which will be showcased at E3. We saw an exciting gameplay trailer from The Wonderful 101, Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolift Soft has a new game in development, and Nintendo and Atlus are joining forces to bring us Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem (which sounds totally awesome).

There were more than those titles announced for the Wii U, but you get the idea – as far as new games go, Nintendo hit it out of the park today. The Nintendo Direct livestream didn’t stop at just new games, however, with Nintendo also revealing new features for the console, like a version of Virtual Console made specifically for the Wii U, and the ability to access MiiVerse on your phone. If you’re a Wii U owner, I have a feeling that your purchase was validated today.

Keep in mind that the Wii U is only a couple months old. At this point in the lifespan of the 3DS, there wasn’t all that much to look forward to. Gamers had Super Mario 3D Land and ports like Star Fox 64 3D and Ocarina of Time 3D on the way, but that was mostly it as far as notable first-party titles from the big N. While the 3DS is doing great these days and has a number of excellent games to offer players, the first few months of the handheld’s life weren’t very exciting.

Contrast that with the Wii U environment at present moment, and it almost seems like Nintendo has done a 180. Nintendo has wasted no time getting up in front of the camera and showing off games that get players excited. Remember when Nintendo had just launched the 3DS and Reggie Fils-Aime was making the rounds to talk about what an excellent game Steel Diver was? There was none of that nonsense today, with Iwata introducing a strong lineup of games that players will want to own.

For a while there, it seems that Nintendo was simply counting on the company’s name to sell handhelds and consoles. Release the console, make promises of a new Mario game, and it’ll sell like hotcakes. We did hear some Mario news today, sure, but there were also a number of good looking third-party titles that have nothing to do with the plumber. The Wii U will live or die by its third-party support, and I was pleased as punch to see so many third-party titles show up in Iwata’s presentation.

If Nintendo can get that kind of support to stick around, then it has nothing to worry about when Microsoft and Sony launch their next consoles. Make no mistake, though, Nintendo is going to be at a disadvantage when those new consoles launch, but instead of just letting the Wii U fester while the name brings in sales, Nintendo is going all in. This attention is just what the Wii U will need to flourish, so here’s hoping that this strong start continues and ultimately turns into a strong life. Keep it up, Nintendo, and your legions of fans will shower you in money.

In addition to the new Zelda title, there’s the promise of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, expected in the fall. On the topic of classic Nintendo characters, Yoshi will make an appearance – his first central role since 1998 on the N64, in fact – in a new game by the same team that created Kirby’s Epic Yarn.

Elsewhere, the Nintendo EAD Tokyo Software Development team responsible for the Super Mario Galaxy series are putting together a 3D Mario action game. That, as well as a new Mario Kart title, will be playable at E3 2013, Nintendo promises.

Some titles will use more the GamePad in more unusual ways, such as Pikmin 3. That will turn the GamePad into a camera, sharing the same perspective as Pikmin, and letting players take close-up shots of landscapes and creatures within the game, and then share them in Miiverse. A new Wii Party game, due this summer, will offer head-to-head play on a single GamePad, while Wii Fit U will support Miiverse communities in an update to the console’s social features.

As for third-party titles, Nintendo and Atlus are collaborating on a game including the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, while the team at Monolith Soft – responsible for Xenoblade for Wii – also has a new title in the pipeline.

Bayonetta 2 was also previewed, as was gameplay from The Wonderful 101, which will launch in the first half of this year alongside GAME & WARIO. Bayonetta 2 fans, as well as those keen to get the new Super Smash Bros. title, will have to wait for more details later on as to release dates.

There’s all that, plus news on the Wii U Virtual Console, the two updates expected to speed up the Wii U itself, and the incoming Miiverse smartphone app, in the video below.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the new Zelda was still too early in the production process to be previewed in today’s webcast, and so there was no footage from the game. Speaking of the ethos of the title, however, there were suggestions that it would support a multiplayer mode, as well as free-form roaming around the landscape rather than necessarily completing challenges in order.

However, the chief exec was a little more talkative about The Wind Waker HD, which will see more than just a graphics update. In addition to the new visuals, Nintendo will “tune up” the game’s experience all-round, it says, as well as introduce Miiverse support.

Finally, there’ll be explicit GamePad support, allowing players to pull the title off the TV and play it solely on the Wii U’s tablet-style controller.

The new Legend of Zelda game isn’t the only classic to be resurrected for the Wii U. Nintendo also confirmed today that it would be releasing a new Yoshi game, the first in many years, for the motion-gaming console, putting the character in a 3D environment. Meanwhile, there’ll also be a new Mario Kart.

Satoru Iwata of Nintendo headed up the broadcast, and he talked about some of the cool features of Nintendo’s Miiverse, including the ability for official Mii characters to share links and videos with one another. Iwata also announced that new communities and functionalities are coming to Miiverse, including support for mobile devices.

The company also announced that verified accounts are coming to Miiverse, as well. It’s a lot like how verified accounts work on Twitter. Essentially, these are accounts reserved for public figures and developers. However, these verified accounts have special powers that are exclusive to verified accounts on Miiverse, including the ability to insert links in their Miiverse posts, as well as embedding YouTube videos.

Verified accounts will be launching in the spring, along with the Wii U’s first major console update. New features on Miiverse will also be hitting around the same time. Hopefully these updates will give the new console the boost in performance that it deserves, and let’s hope that the new features will turn it around for Nintendo.

The Wonderful 101:

The Wonderful 101 is one of the more eagerly anticipated titles from Nintendo, and Iwata showed a brief video demo of the gameplay people can look forward to. The president will also sit down with developers for a number of interviews about the upcoming titles in-between now and their release.

Beyond that, however, there will be a new 3D Mario action game, Iwata confirmed, along with a new Mario Kart game for Wii U. They’ll both be shown off – in playable form – at E3 2013. There’ll also be a new party game, which involves various mini-titles and using the GamePad and Wiimotes in unusual ways, such as this dual-player Pong-style game:

Nintendo also revealed that there was a new Yoshi title in the works, developed by the team behind Kirby’s Epic Yarn. That will feature the underused character in a new, 3D title.

Finally, there’ll be Shin Magami Tensei meets Fire Emblem, a fighting game that Nintendo is yet to detail completely, and Xenoblade Wii U, from Monolith, who created the original Xenoblade game.

Monolift RPG:

Also, the Bayonetta 2 team has released a video detailing the design process behind the upcoming title:

That speed improvement will be an incremental, two-stage process. However, even after the first release in the spring, there will be some new functionality to keep Wii U gamers happy.

Virtual Console is finally due, and will hit the Wii U after the spring update has arrived, though Iwata warns that Nintendo won’t be able to offer the full existing line-up of Virtual Console games straight away. However, it will support backing up of game progress, as well as access to the Miiverse.

Virtual Console gameplay will also be supported on the Wii U GamePad itself, for off-TV play. Meanwhile, Nintendo plans to add Game Boy Advance support later on, something missing from the service so-far. Those gamers coming from Virtual Console on the Wii to the Wii U will get a discount if they buy the same games again. The normal pricing for NES games will be $4.99 to $5.99, while for SNES games it will be $7.99 to $8.99; however, discounted rates will be $1 and $1.50 respectively.

The pages for the Japanese and UK livestreams don’t mention these new games – instead, we have to navigate over to Nintendo UK’s Twitter account to get confirmation of the reveals. “Mr Iwata will reveal new games for #WiiU in a new #NintendoDirectEU at 2pm GMT on 23/01,” the tweet reads. Unfortunately (and rather predictably), Nintendo UK doesn’t give away any details on games Iwata will be announcing, leaving us to guess at what they could be.

While we’re hoping for a new Zelda reveal, that seems unlikely given that Skyward Sword only recently turned one-year-old. A new Mario game in the vein of Super Mario Galaxy or Sunshine would be a welcome announcement as well, but Nintendo may want to give New Super Mario Bros. U some more time to shine before revealing a new full-3D title in the series. While we’re clearly keeping our fingers crossed for some first-party announcements, don’t be surprised to see Iwata get up in front of the camera to talk about incoming third-party games as well.

We can guess all we want, but at the end of the day, we won’t be any closer to figuring out what Iwata will be announcing. The only solution to this problem is to tune into the livestream tomorrow, which will be kicking off all around the world at the same time: 2PM GMT (9AM EST). Stay tuned, because hopefully tomorrow there will be some announcements worth getting excited about.

[via Joystiq]

There will be 20 characters in the initial batch of figures Disney produces for the game, and apparently each one will get its own Play Set. That equals out to a lot of money if one were to buy them all, and if Disney Infinity proves to be as popular as Skylanders, then we can see children endlessly asking their parents for each and every one. The starter pack, on the other hand, comes with three characters (Jack Sparrow, Sully, and Mr. Incredible) and the base game, which is why its price has settled dangerously close to $100.

Something worth pointing out is the fact that each character adds his or her (or its) own world to explore in-game, so there’s a significant amount of new content added with the addition of each character. Perhaps that’s why Disney has priced these Play Sets so much higher than the asking price for Activision’s Skylanders figures? It could be one reason, but then again, Disney has always charged a premium price for most items associated with its properties.

There will also be Power Disc bundles players can pick up for $4.99 each. These Power Discs can be used to power up your character in-game, granting them new abilities or items to use. With all of the extras Disney has introduced for this new game, we have a feeling the company won’t have a problem making a decent amount of cash from the title. That is, so long as Disney Infinity‘s popularity takes off when it releases in June. Stay tuned.

[via Joystiq]

With Disney Infinity, we’re seeing the same basic premise of collecting figures and then using them in-game, only Disney seems to have taken the idea one step further. Players will be able to adventure through famous Disney worlds – called “Play Sets” in Infinity – all the while solving puzzles, battling enemies, and collecting items and characters from Disney worlds. The items you collect get put into the in-game Toy Box, and it’s what players will do with the stuff in that Toy Box that’s especially impressive.

Using the items collected through gameplay, players will be able to build their own worlds for their friends to explore. So, think of Disney Infinity as something similar to Skylanders, only the Spyro characters have been swapped out for Disney’s line up and the company has added on a creative mode. What’s more, it appears that players will be able to transfer up to three characters into the game at a time using the portal, which is a feature that Skylanders lacks.

By moving a character into the game, you’ll unlock their world to explore. Disney Infinity will ship with a total of three characters: Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Sully from Monsters Inc., and Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles. Disney plans to release a total of 17 characters in this initial batch of figures, some of which can be seen in the announcement trailer above. Even better is the fact that the characters are cross-platform, so they’ll work with every version of the game regardless of the platform you’re playing it on. Disney Infinity will be arriving in June for Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, PC, and mobile devices, though we don’t have a price point to talk about just yet. Stay tuned for more details!

Thus far, Nintendo has raked in about $300 million from U.S. sales of the Wii U, compared to the $270 million or so it made with the Wii when it was at this stage in its life cycle. Overall, December proved to be a good month for the company, with it selling over 2.65 million hardware units total, as well as achieving some other notable milestones, including selling more than 580,000 copies total of New Super Mario Bros. U.

Likewise, the Wii console sold just under 475,000 units, bringing the all-time sales number up to 40.8 million. Following on its heels, Just Dance 3 earned the honor of being the tenth Wii game to sell over 5 million copies. The DS sold almost half a million units for an all-time total of 53 million sold, while the 3DS sold 1.25 million units for a lifetime total of 7.7 million.

Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing Scott Moffitt offered this statement. “While the Wii launch established new benchmarks in the United States, Wii U has surpassed its predecessor in perhaps the most important category: revenue generation. The demand for the Deluxe SKU, which was essentially sold out at retail this holiday, and the strong attach rate of New Super Mario Bros. U, shows that we have the value and the games to drive momentum in 2013.”

Why is this happening? Because digital Wii U downloads are tied to the user’s Nintendo Network ID, which can only be associated with one Wii U console. Clearing the hard drive and deleting the accounts apparently doesn’t do anything in this instance since the Nintendo Network ID will remain associated with the console, so even users who create a new account will be able to access the downloads of the previous owner. As Eurogamer points out, the only way to transfer a Nintendo Network ID between Wii Us is to send the console to Nintendo of America, which is something we’re sure a lot of Wii U owners aren’t willing to do right before they sell their console.

So, if you pick up a used Wii U, be sure to check the online store to see if you have any free games waiting. If this is a fixable issue, expect Nintendo to hop on it quickly, because we can’t imagine the company likes the fact that used Wii U purchasers are potentially getting a number of games at no cost. We have to be honest and say this doesn’t make much sense, but at the same time, Nintendo is still relatively new to the online space, so the fact that its weird online system is coming back to bite it isn’t all that shocking.

We’ll just have to wait and see what Nintendo says about the issue. More importantly, we’ll be waiting to see what it does, because this problem may not be easy to quash. Be sure to check out our story timeline below for more on the Wii U!

Indeed, the Wii U sold 400,000 units in its first week on the shelves in the US, and while we don’t have any numbers for Europe, we do know that the console managed more than 300,000 sales during its first weekend of availability in Japan. Despite that strong start, Bhatia said that there has been an abundance of Wii Us on shelves at GameStop, which suggests slow sales. Bhatia also said that the attach rate for new console sales was “low,” so players aren’t buying many games when they go to pick up their new Wii U.

That may be easily explained – after all, a number of launch titles for the Wii U were simply ports of older Xbox 360 and PS3 games. Perhaps gamers are waiting for more new titles before deciding to splurge on Wii U games? Bhatia points out that the Wii U Deluxe bundles are selling better than basic models, which is hardly surprising considering the Deluxe bundle offers a 32GB hard drive to the basic set’s 8GB of storage.

The Deluxe bundle also bestows a pack-in copy of Nintendo Land upon consumers, so it’s pretty easy to see why customers are opting for that edition over the basic set. If this is true, it’s rather disappointing news, but remember that the Wii U is still very young. 2013 will be a big year for the new console, so we’ll be getting a better idea of how it’s performing as we slowly make our way toward 2014. Stay tuned.

[via GameSpot]

First and foremost, we have the obvious question about new hardware. With Nintendo releasing the Wii U back in November, it’s now up to Sony and Microsoft to really get the next generation of gaming underway. While I’ve been convinced for a while that Microsoft is plotting to reveal the next Xbox sometime this year, to be honest with you, I couldn’t figure out whether Sony was going to announce the next PlayStation this year or wait for 2014. Then Sony started sending out press invites to an event it’s holding at the end of February.

The immediate thought is that Sony will officially pull the veil off the next PlayStation at this event, and that could very well happen. I think Sony wants to get the jump on Microsoft in the next generation, and I also think neither company wants to leave Nintendo alone as the only company with a “next-gen” console on the market for very long. Sony as a whole has been struggling a bit lately, but its games division has been performing relatively well – getting a new console on the market before Microsoft does could mean great things for Sony’s pocketbook. Does this mean that Sony will reveal the PlayStation 4 (or whatever it’ll be called) at this event? I’m not willing to call it either way. Here’s what I am willing to say, though: by the end of the year, both Sony and Microsoft will have revealed their next consoles, and we’ll have one (maybe both) available by the time 2014 rolls around.

While a new PlayStation reveal seems likely for this event, there’s something almost certain to happen there. I think Sony will use this event to announce a price drop on the PlayStation Vita. The Vita hasn’t been performing well at all, and Sony needs to do something if it wants to have any hope of competing against the 3DS. If no one is buying the handheld, no one will want to develop games for it, which in turn means that there’s only one thing to do: cut the price. A Vita price cut has to come this year if Sony wants to stay relevant in the handheld space, the earlier the better. So, it makes sense that Sony will announce such a price cut at an event where its bound to get a lot of press attention.

If announcements of new hardware are coming this year, then it stands to reason that we’ll see a bunch of new properties revealed as well. Of course, 2013 will be chock-full of sequels just like 2012, 2011, and 2010 were, but I think a lot of the big studios are going to step up to bring us exciting new games to play on the new hardware. If you’re suffering from sequel fatigue like so many of us are, just hold on, because once those consoles are revealed, we’ll more than likely see a whole bunch of new IP that we can really sink our teeth into.

Now for game-specific predictions: I think Nintendo isn’t going to waste any time introducing the world to a brand new 3D Mario game for the Wii U. New Super Mario Bros. U is great and all, but it doesn’t exactly serve as a worthy replacement to the likes of Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. The Wii U has been performing well, but if Nintendo really wants to see consoles flying off the shelves, it will use 2013 to reveal a new HD Mario adventure, preferably before Microsoft and Sony can get their next consoles to retail. I’m hoping that we’ll see the reveal of a new Zelda game for the Wii U, but with Skyward Sword only hitting at the end of 2011, that may be nothing more than a fool’s hope.

Just as well, I have a feeling that 2013 will be the year that Bethesda reveals Fallout 4, complete with the Creation Engine it used in Skyrim. This one is actually a pretty tough prediction, as I think the reveal of Fallout 4 relies heavily on when Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles launch. If we see a new Xbox or PlayStation this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fallout 4 following closely behind. Bethesda put Oblivion on the Xbox 360 early in the console’s life, and by doing so, Bethesda became a much more common name in the gaming community. If it can use Fallout 4 to show off the tech behind these new consoles, I have a feeling it will.

Sadly, 2013 isn’t going to be an all-around great year for Bethesda. The Elder Scrolls Online is scheduled to launch early this year, but I have no problem predicting that it’ll be dead on arrival. Don’t get me wrong, the game looks great and it’s finally giving us a multiplayer Elder Scrolls experience, but I don’t think it’s the multiplayer experience many players wanted. It’ll also come with a subscription fee at launch, which we know now is only something a select few MMOs can pull off. If Star Wars: The Old Republic can’t make it as a subscription MMO, I sadly don’t think The Elder Scrolls Online can either. I hope I’m wrong, because it does look beautiful and I’m excited to finally have a chance to explore all of Tamriel in one game, but I think history shows that it’s going to be an uphill for the battle for the title, and one that’s going to be nigh impossible to win.

Even though I’m beyond excited for the return of SimCity, I don’t think that’s going to be a success either. EA’s insistence on using always-on DRM will be what ultimately kills SimCity, as I have a feeling many SimCity players will experience launch problems very similar to the issues Diablo III had. Fans didn’t like Diablo III for many other reasons, but Blizzard’s use of always-on DRM got things off to a very rough start. I just don’t think a game can survive if it sports always-on DRM, so sadly, players might lose interest in the game only a few short months after its release.

On the other hand, I think DmC: Devil May Cry is going to hit a sweet spot with critics, despite the fact that fans have thrown a fit over the changes being made. Change is always a difficult thing to accept when it comes to gaming, but I think that DmC might just offer the shake up the long running series needs. Early impressions have been good, and while I may end up eating my words sooner rather than later (DmC is out in just a couple of weeks, remember), the game could be the start of something great for the franchise.

2013 will also be the year that Kickstarter proves its worth to the gaming world. A lot of the projects that were funded in 2012 will be releasing in 2013, and while there will be some failures, there will also be some smashing successes. Some games will fail to find an audience outside of backers, sure, but that’s okay – the developers get to make the game they wanted without relying on funds from publishers, and those who were truly interested will get to play it. Unless a studio needs to use some of its own funds to further fuel development, a game funded through Kickstarter doesn’t necessarily need to make millions after launch. In any case, 2013 should be a pretty inspiring year for the game projects that found funding success in 2012.

There is one Kickstarter project from 2012 that might struggle a bit after it’s out of the gate: OUYA. The tiny little Android console has a separate problem from simple games that were funded using Kickstarter, in that it needs support after launch. Yes, it’s an inexpensive console, but I’m still having a hard time seeing how there’s going to be any sort of large-scale success outside of the initial Kickstarter campaign. We shall see soon enough, as OUYA is scheduled to launch in just a few months, and while I don’t think it’ll fail outright, I think that 2013 is going to be a much harder year than OUYA’s makers were anticipating.

So there you have it – some of my gaming predictions for 2013. There’s no guarantee that any of this is going to play out as I’ve predicted, but looking at the lead up to 2013, this is where I feel the industry is headed this year. What do you think? Am I completely missing the mark here, or do you think some of these predictions will play out in the year to come? We’ll find out whether I’m right or wrong soon enough as 2013 is already underway, but in the meantime, leave a comment with your own gaming predictions for 2013 below!

In fact, Capcom’s Christian Svensson was answering a fan question about Resident Evil 6 and Lost Planet 3 potentially making it to the Wii U when he revealed the company’s plan. “With regard to WiiU, in general we’re looking forward, not back so late ports are generally not on the table,” Svensson said. So, don’t hold out any hope of seeing your favorites from Xbox 360 and PS3 make the jump to Wii U.

Of course, this is something that will probably please a lot of fans, as early Wii U owners haven’t exactly taken kindly to the number of ports that were on the system from launch. If we were to hazard a guess, we’d say that Wii U owners want new experiences to break in their consoles, rather than ports of games that have been out for a year or so. Interestingly enough, the only game Capcom has announced for the Wii U is Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, which could be considered something of an “enhanced” port of the original Wii game.

In any case, we’ll have to wait and see what Capcom has planned, because aside from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Capcom hasn’t made any Wii U announcements. Capcom usually doesn’t have any problem releasing new versions of old games over and over again, so the idea that it won’t be releasing many older games on the Wii U is something of a surprise. Still, we have a feeling that Wii U owners will be happy Capcom is looking to offer new experiences on their console. Stay tuned.

[via Siliconera]