It’s funny. After seeing the “details on Wii U” Nintendo presentation on the web, I was firmly in the wait and see camp. New Nintendo hardware nearly always delivers great first party content, even if you have to wait awhile. Yet…$300-$350 isn’t pocket change, and the game I am most interested in—The Wonderful 101—is not part of the initial launch line-up.
And so, I filed the other various features and announcements in my brain under “interesting, but will it work?”, and was content going back to wondering when more compelling 3DS games were going to get US releases.
But by the next day, little details started to sink in. New Super Mario Bros U looked deeper than it seemed at first glance, and could be a proper successor to Super Mario World. Based on the trailer, LEGO City Undercover looks humorous and (hopefully) fun. Tekken Tag Tournament 2’s “Nintendo mode” looks more entertaining than it has any right to be. Nintendo Land appears more substantive than many of us thought, plus it might be a game I could play with my kids. My oldest likes playing the mini-games in Wii Fit Plus, he may just be about ready. Nintendo TVii (if they can pull it off) could actually be a smart way to search for and launch content, all from one interface. And speaking of TV, the ability to play games via the touch screen when the family TV is otherwise occupied could be a very welcome feature—depending on how well they implement it.
Within 24 hours, I was seriously considering preordering and selling off some of my games, including some hard to find stuff, to hopefully land a deluxe set. But a couple of things happened soon after. Amazon, my preferred vendor for this flight of fancy as they offer reasonable trade-in credit, decided not to stock the Wii U. Preorders elsewhere sold out quickly. And I realized that 1) My kids probably aren’t quite old enough to play Wii U without getting frustrated, and 2) I would probably regret selling off some of the hard-to-find items from my game hoard.
So…just as quickly…I was back in a wait and see camp. But it was a different “wait and see camp”. Before, I wasn’t sure if I wanted a Wii U, at least not until a new Zelda or Metroid game came out. Now, the want is definitely there—it’s just a question of when it makes the most sense to buy.
Well played Nintendo, well played.