Wii U in 2014

It's now 2014 and the new generation of consoles have officially begun. The PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U are all on the market so 2014 should be interesting. However now that the initial console sale figures have been released can the Wii U survive? Let's take a look at the numbers.

The Wii U sold 3.91 million consoles world wide in its first eleven months. The PS4 sold over 4 million units in its first 6 weeks. The Xbox One sold over 3 million consoles in the same time spand. Obviously this looks bad for the Wii U. The PS4 has already sold more consoles than the Wii U, and it is brand new on the market.

Let's not forget that Nintendo has not released it's November and December sales numbers for 2013. So it is very possible that the Wii U sold very well in those two months(and if it did Nintendo needs to tell people). Let's also keep in mind that both the PS4 and Xbox One sales numbers are for launch and holiday sales, which are always good. Even still both of these sales numbers are extremely impressive.

I do believe that the sales will taper off now that the holidays are over. I doubt they will drop as low as the Wii U's were in 2013, but they should drop significantly. Even if both the PS4 and XBone have slow sales the Wii U must not slow down. It must keep selling at a high rate, or it wont last through 2015. The release schedule for Wii U games in 2014 is almost non existent. Yes it will have some heavy hitters like Donkey Kong and Mario Kart, but it needs more. Nintendo has promised that there will not be a game drought this coming year. However since Mario 3d World dropped in November 2013 nothing has been released(I know its only 2 months). I'm just concerned that Wii U owners will be game less again in 2014.

Donkey Kong does release in February so we will  wait and see what releases after that. Now is the time for it to sink or swim. With both the PS4 and XBone looking mighty impressive Wii U needs to shine now more than ever.

Nintendo Are You There?

Hello, Nintendo...where are you? Seriously this is how I feel right now. We are now in November 2013 and basicallly have not seen much from Nintendo in months. In the past two months the Wii U has had great games release like:
1. Pikmin 3
2. Wonderful 101
3. Rayman Legends
4. Deus Ex Human Revolution Directors Cut
5. The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker HD
6. Batman Arkham Origins
7. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag
8. Call of Duty Ghosts
9. Sonic The Lost World
10. Lego Marvel SuperHeros

I'm on Wii U, but nobody knows

That's the main games, but there others as well. So where the hell is Nintendo? The only commercials I've seen for any of these games was Sonic Lost World, and I'm sure Sega paid for those. All these third-party games are heavy hitters. I've seen both Sony and Microsoft have commercials for all of them. Yet Nintendo doesn't even make a commercial for its first-party games.

The average person has no idea that any of these games are on the Wii U. That's somewhat an over statement; most people don't even know that the Wii U exists. It's been out almost one year now and it's still practically unknown to the average consumer. It seems like Nintendo doesn't want the Wii U to sell. Iwata and Reggie keep trying to tell people the Wii U will be fine, but it's getting harder to believe.



The Wii U has an amazing line up of games right now. If Nintendo would just tell people about them the Wii U would be flying off the shelfes. I just beat Batman Arkham Origins (very fun game). Now I'm playing Wind Waker HD. Once I finish Wind Waker I'll get either Assassin's Creed 4 or COD Ghosts. This is what most every gamer would love to do, play the best first and third party titles back to back on one system. All Nintendo has to do is tell people that they can do that with the Wii U.

Batman Arkham Origins on Wii U

So hows the new Batman on the Wii U? It's pretty damn good. I wont go into detail about the game, since there are a lot of reviews that will tell you about the story. However I will say that if you enjoyed the previous two games you will also like Origins. Nothing was changed to the game formula, and to me that's a very good thing. The old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" comes to mind.

The real question is how does it look and play on the Wii U. Well the game looks awesome on the Wii U. It really is a good looking game. I did notice a few weird shadows, but in an open world game that's not abnormal. Also during some of the cut scenes there is a little slow down. Nothing major, but it is a little jarring. Other than that the game looks great. 

When I first started playing Batman Arkham Origins I used the gamepad. I actually used the gamepad until my battery died, then I switched to the pro controller. While the pro controller felt good and worked fine; I really missed the gamepad. When Using the gamepad you have access to the map at all times. You can not set a way point with the map, but it's still nice to have the map handy. This is especially handy when finding Enigma's stations. 

Also during the crime scene analysis you can use the gamepad to view the crime scene. I personally didn't care to do that, but it's a cool feature. When your in the batcave the gamepad will act as a finger print scanner. It's not important but still it's kinda fun to scan your finger and see it welcome Bruce Wayne. 

The Wii U version does not have the multi player that both the 360 and PS3 have, but from the reviews I've read that's probably a good thing. Plus it's $10 cheaper than those versions. If you like the Batman games then this one is no different. It looks great and it plays great. Don't be afraid to buy this. You will not be disappointed.

UPDATE
I felt like I needed to address some issues I found. On completing the game and going through the city I've experienced a lot of slow down. I also had one hard freeze. Neither of these make the game unplayable, but it does greatly detract from the overall experience.

CLARK for the OUYA Review

CLARK has released on the OUYA...and it is amazing! The OUYA really needs a lot more games like this. Here's the official description of the game.

CLARK is an action loaded puzzle adventure. It combines complex spatial puzzles with arcade style action elements and an epic storyline. As the story unfolds, the nerdy forklift robot Clark will encounter partying robots, attractive nuclear missiles, intoxicated supercomputers, save the facility from an intruding spaceship and kill M.O.T.H.E.R. CLARK features 25 levels with 100 puzzles and more than 12 hours of gaming. Our grid-based game play and tight controls will give you the retro feel of your first console.

CLARK is a beautiful game. It uses cell shaded graphics so it looks like a living cartoon. The initial menu worried me, because it looked rather cheap. However once you start playing the game you will be blown away. It is one of the better looking games that we've seen for the OUYA (so far). CLARK looks adorable and everything looks bright and crisp on my LED screen.

The game also controls very nicely. The left stick controls CLARK, and the right stick controls your camera. At first I wasn't a fan of the camera, but after playing for a few minutes it felt natural. You also will need you use the face buttons to move objects and etc. You can tell that this game was designed with a controller in mind. So it really does work very well.

Seriously go and buy this game. CLARK only costs $7.99 and that's a great deal for what your getting. It'd be hard to find a better game right now on the OUYA. If you like fun puzzle games with great graphics then this game is for you. If you don't like fun puzzle games with great graphics then it still may be for you. Give the demo a try, you will not be disappointed.