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Where are you, Wii U? A drowned-out Nintendo needs help

E3 Analysis Nintendo headerThere was a brief moment of hope for Nintendo during the company’s not-press conference press conference on Tuesday. As the extended string of awkward reveals and info dumps wound down toward the play portion of the morning, an announcement boomed across the packed Nintendo booth: stay tuned for a special announcement at 11:40am, 20 minutes before the close of the first-of-its-kind (and hopefully last) Nintendo Showcase and the start of E3 festivities.

Trotting out old favorites and rehashing beloved classics only gets you so far.

Ears perked all over. Special announcement? What could it be? A peek at the in-development Zelda game for Wii U? A new Metroid? Perhaps even something completely new, a fresh franchise filled with a memorable cast of insta-classic characters? We dared to get our hopes up. As poorly executed as the morning showcase was, it was at 
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least something new. Different. Nintendo getting its groove back? Maybe. Hope springs eternal, at any rate.

Then came the reveal: the female Wii Fit Trainer character will join the fighters’ roster in 2014’s Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. 

Sigh.

Let’s back up for a moment: Nintendo chose to forego the usual press conference this year and instead invite media into its show floor booth for a couple of hours before the start of E3. The idea being: screw the stage show, just come on in and play our games. A great idea in theory, right?
 
Unfortunately, the reality didn’t live up to that ideal. Members of the press gathered early and were ushered into a holding area on the outskirts of the show floor at around 9:30am. We were then filed into the actual booth area at roughly 10am and spent the next 20 minutes standing in front of a stage, surrounded by non-functional demo stations while an animated, talking Mario played hypeman on a screen. Really, it was just irritating and, after the first few minutes, headache-inducing.
 

The stage portion of the showcase finally started a little after 10am, with Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime stepping out to say hello and tell us about the play portion of the showcase … which would happen after a few brief words from the developers. Thus began the not-press conference. The chattering, standing room-only stage show finally stopped at around 11am, at which point the 200 or so attending press had to line up and vie for time at the demo stations. It would have been a full hour of play time, had we not all been shooed off of our demos at 11:40am for the aforementioned Wii Fit Trainer announcement.

E3 Analysis Nintendo 2014 Super Smash Bros
 

So much wasted time. So much for all of that promised hands-on time.

Something is gravely wrong at Nintendo. The house that Mario and Link and Samus and Pikachu and any number of others built is crumbling, and no amount of remakes, reboots, or re-tools is going to change that. This is a company that lives and dies by its first-party catalog. It’s a fact that becomes increasingly clear as publishers inch further and further away from committing to Wii U development. Mario is getting old though, and so are his friends.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the upcoming lineup. An HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker won’t make anyone cry. New Pokemon and more 3D, HD Mario, these are things that fans like as well. Donkey Country: Tropical Freeze has a ridiculous name, sure, but it’s also more DKC with new music from David Wise! The Link to the Past sequel is certainly welcome too, as is any game that injects more Link into the 3DS catalog. And, hey, more Mario Kart is kinda cool … right?

Here’s the thing though: a lot of this stuff isn’t due out until 2014. That’s a big problem. Nintendo needs to move more Wii U’s into gamer living rooms, pronto. There’s already a groundswell of ambivalence directed at the new hardware, and the coming of significantly more powerful next-gen consoles in a matter of months will only create additional distractions. Third-party publishing partners just aren’t going to bring the necessary juice to galvanize an audience, especially with heavies like Electronic Arts backing away slowly, as if from the scene of a bad traffic accident.

The answer, of course, lies in appealing to the faithful diehards. The Nintendo fanfolk that line up and exult in Sunday launches. A solid games lineup doesn’t solve for, “Why?” It feels like the magic is gone. Nintendo has always been the Disney of video games with its stable of family-friendly first-party favorites, but so much of it feels generic now. Paint-by-numbers. The sense of wonder that carried across all of the company’s games for so long? It’s gone.

This isn’t a hopeless situation. The Wii U feels like it’s on the verge of a Dreamcast-level failure right now, but at least there’s a solid foundation to work with. A price cut on the hardware is absolutely necessary; $350 is far too much to ask for a piece of hardware that is immediately eclipsed by all of the new tech at this year’s E3.

Then there’s the issue of creative stagnation. The Wii U can’t compete on a technical level with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but it possesses a very specific set of strengths that could be better leveraged into memorable experiences. Ubisoft Montpelier proved that with ZombiU. Nintendo is a company that used to take chances and drop jaws on a regular basis. That just doesn’t happen anymore. Trotting out old favorites and rehashing beloved classics only gets you so far. The Wii U – and the Nintendo brand as a whole, really – needs something new.  Several somethings.

This is an E3 of great change, and it’s all passing Nintendo by. Fall 2013 is going to be a rough one for the Wii U, no question. Will the company finally learn from its mistakes after the failure of this year’s non-press conference press conference? It isn’t about how you stage your circus, or how quickly you put a controller into the media’s hands. What does it matter when the game being played is merely … fine? That’s the big lesson here. The best we can do now is hope that this monolithic old guard of gaming figures out a way to survive.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Gaming/Movies Editor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Nintendo introduces a new Super Smash Bros. Switch OLED for Black Friday
Super Smash Bros. Nintendo Switch OLED.

Nintendo unveiled all of the Black Friday deals and bundles it plans to offer in the coming weeks. These offerings are headlined by a brand new Nintendo Switch bundle with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that has never been available before.
The Nintendo Switch -- OLED Model: Super Smash Bros. Ulitmate Bundle costs $350 and comes with a code for the fantastic 2018 crossover fighting game as well as three months of a Nintendo Switch Online Membership. The bundle's Joy-Cons feature a design based on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Unfortunately, this deal includes neither Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Fighter Passes nor the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Nintendo says this bundle will be released on November 19, although they've already been spotted in some stores.
The other big new offering from Nintendo this holiday season is the Super Mario Party + Red & Blue Joy-Con Bundle. It costs $100 and includes a download code for Super Mario Party in addition to Red and Blue Joy-Con controllers. Keep in mind that this bundle includes 2018's Super Mario Party, not 2021's Mario Party Superstars, which remastered a lot of content from the series' older games.
https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1721527869355049300
Nintendo also plans to offer bundles that have been available before, like the Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle and Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch Lite.
Various game discounts for Switch games will also go into effect on November 19. In terms of Nintendo-published games, people can expect Everybody 1-2-Switch! and Nintendo Switch Sports to be discounted by $10, titles like Luigi's Mansion 3, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to have $20 discounts, and for Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Mario Strikers: Battle League, and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes to all be available $30 cheaper than usual. Sadly, it does not look like Nintendo itself will offer any major deals surrounding this year's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
All of these bundles and deals will become available on November 19.

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Play these 3DS and Wii U games before Nintendo shutters their online features
Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In April 2024, Nintendo will discontinue online services across its Wii U and 3DS consoles. While the eShops for both systems were shut down in March 2023, this will remove the online functionality of many apps and games, making gaming on either of these platforms an almost entirely offline experience. As a result, many games on those systems will lose important features and never be quite the same to play afterward. So, you'll need to get some gaming time in by next April if you want to refresh and preserve the memories of playing online on these two underdog Nintendo platforms.
While the aforementioned eShop closures make it impossible to buy new games digitally, plenty of games that you likely already own physical copies of or already had downloaded have online features that won't work properly come April 2024. As such, we recommend you play the following games online before the discontinuation of those services next year.
Kid Icarus Uprising

Kid Icarus Uprising is mostly remembered for its entertaining story, charismatic characters, and odd controls, but it also features a surprisingly fun multiplayer experience in Together Mode. In multiplayer, up to six players can use powerful weapons and abilities from the main adventure in one of two modes. Free-for-all lets players loose on a map, tasking them with racking up the most kills within a set time limit. Light vs. Dark is more complex, as two teams of three face off until enough players are defeated that one respawns as an angel; when that powered-up angel is killed, the match is over.
While far from balanced, Kid Icarus Uprising's Together Mode is one of the most entertaining competitive multiplayer experiences exclusive to 3DS. It can be played locally, using bots to fill in empty spots, so thankfully it won't stop working entirely. Still, it's not easy in 2023 to come across multiple people near you who have copies of Kid Icarus Uprising and want to play. As such, check out this cult classic 3DS game's hidden gem of a mode before praying that the rumors of a remaster eventually become true.
Nintendo Badge Arcade

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Nintendo is shutting down online services for 3DS and Wii U next April
Mega Man and Mario fight in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U,

Nintendo confirmed it will widely shut down online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games in April 2024, which will be just over a year after it discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems.
This deactivation of most of the online services for those platforms was revealed on X (formerly Twitter) and Nintendo's support site early Wednesday. "In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution," the message says. "We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date. Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned. We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience."
Essentially, this means that after April 2024, you won't be able to use any online features in things like 3DS Pokémon games or Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U anymore. Nintendo does say in the Q&A section of its support article that people will still be able to play games offline and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop for the foreseeable future. Pokémon Bank will remain unaffected, so it'll still be possible to transfer Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire all of the way to Pokémon Home. However, SpotPass support and other online-focused applications like Nintendo Badge Arcade will stop working entirely.

Just like the Wii U and 3DS eShop closure that caused a ruckus earlier this year, this move is a blow to game preservation and will forever harm some games not available anywhere else. While it's understandable that Nintendo might want to move on from these systems' dated online infrastructure, it's still a disappointing move for those of us who spent a lot of time playing games offline and online on these systems.

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