Now that the dust at E3 has settled, it’s time to re-assess making that leap to one of the next gen consoles. They’re all out now, and they’ve all got their fair share of current and upcoming great titles. My Plug In counterpart Kurt Diston and I are going to take you through 10 reasons to buy any of the consoles now after E3. This is a three parter. I will discuss 10 reasons to buy a WiiU after E3 2014, and Kurt will be along shortly to discuss the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Ready?
10 reasons to buy a Nintendo WiiU after E3 2014
Shop the Nintendo WiiU product category at BestBuy.ca
10. Sonic the Hedgehog finds new life on Nintendo consoles
While you see Sonic games come out on all the other consoles as well, Nintendo gets some really interesting exclusives. There’s the Olympic Games franchises, and now there’s the Sonic Boom games coming this fall.
9. Nobody does first party games better than Nintendo
This is pretty undeniable. Neither Sony or Microsoft have the vast line of first party juggernauts Nintendo does. Nintendo has so much notoriety from its own properties that it can sell millions of consoles on the merits of their own creations. With certain third party developers waiting out the hardware ideas to see if its worth their while to develop for the consoles, Nintendo is pumping out good game after good game. Mario Kart 8 is a recent example, selling truckloads of new consoles on its own, and singlehandedly increasing the number of WiiU systems in the UK sixfold.
This year’s E3 reveals like Zelda, Mario Party 10 and the showcases of Super Smash Bros. proved that once again, Nintendo is definitely on point yet again this year.
8. It’s still the best family console
I guess it goes without saying that the Nintendo WiiU is still going to be the best option for younger gaming households and families in general. With nearly every game Nintendo releases nowadays, I’m thinking that it’ll be an appropriate title for my daughter when (if?) she starts playing video games in a few years, and they rarely disappoint. The “worst” WiiU title I’ve played in the last 12 months is probably The Wonderful 101, and it was still a pretty decent, pretty unique game.
This E3 lineup solidified the family friendly status, with tons of titles you’ll see ahead.
7. Star Fox is back!
It’s never quite been my cup of tea honestly (science fictiony stuff = not for me,) but so many people I know have been huge Star Fox series fans over time, and a lot of them are excited for a new Fox McCloud adventure. Thankfully, technology is good enough nowadays that we don’t need the Super FX chip to mimic 3D, and this one should be a beaut when it debuts on WiiU next year.
6. Hyrule Warriors is going to be absolutely ridiculous
I’ve never been one for the Dynasty Warriors series just because the context doesn’t appeal to me. But all you have to do is change the storylines and you can count me in. My reaction to Skylanders originally was “meh” but I went nuts for Disney Infinity (and now amiibo too.) Hyrule Warriors is going to be that crazy melee Zelda combat game we’ve all wondered “What if?” about, and I think may even lap Wind Waker HD in sales when it comes out.
5. Nintendo is on a roll right now
Nintendo is, for lack of a better term, on a roll. People have been very quick to criticize the lack of title selection on the WiiU in correlation to how long it’s been out, but is quantity a big factor over the quality of the games coming out? The games coming out from all angles are great, and the games coming out are pretty expansive, meaning you won’t be picking a game up for a 4-6 hour story mode. There’s so much to do in even flagship titles like New Super Mario Bros U that you’ll be busy for hours on end before you move onto the next game.
4. There’s still a lot more to go.
I’ve spoken about how well Nintendo gets mileage out of their first party projects, but based on what they revealed at E3, there’s still a ways to go before you’ve experienced everything. While at this time next year, we’ll have seen most of Nintendo’s successful first party franchises have at least one game on the WiiU, there’s still more to go. For example, Metroid still hasn’t popped up, nor has Animal Crossing or Warioware (Game & Wario I wouldn’t count as much since it was just supposed to be a capability showoff more than anything.) There’s still lots for Nintendo to give to this console, and with sales and third-party support hopefully boosting as time goes by, you haven’t seen the last of this yet.
3. amiibo is going to be all sorts of fun
amiibo wasn’t even a gaming announcement at E3, yet it’s still one of the top 3 reveals they did. Nintendo is sort of changing up the way they’re going to implement characters in games while encouraging your collecting spirit. amiibo is going to be a neat thing across the entire Nintendo network for years to come. It’s cool that you’re going to be able to drop in characters that way into Nintendo’s games, and a small part of me hopes that there’s some way third party developers can find a way to make it work for them too. I’m not saying that Mario should show up as a playable character in Watch Dogs, for example, but I’m sure there will be some good opportunities.
In case you didn’t quite get to see what amiibo is all about, check out this snippet of the Nintendo Digital Event, courtesy of IGN
2. Open World Zelda
I don’t know what the game’s going to be called. I don’t know what the plot is. I just know that I love the Legend of Zelda series, and bringing the open world concept to it will take it to the next level. One of the things that Zelda hadn’t evolved toward was this open world idea. While other RPG series’ ended up that way, Zelda was usually fairly linear in the way it worked. The ability to do and go whenever and do whatever will bring a whole new dynamic to the forefront, that’s for sure.
1. There’s growing extra value added to WiiU purchases
Nintendo is starting to do a lot more outside of just releasing their games in order to continue winning your business. Demo Days are just one of them, but they’re now looking at ways to help you save and expand your library. The recent Mario Kart 8 promotion was a good litmus test for this. It’s still ongoing that if you buy Mario Kart 8 and register it with Club Nintendo before July 31st, you can get a free digital download code for one of four games. Nintendo switched it up and did different games worldwide. I would imagine that having done this, and something similar for the 3DS in March, there’s a good chance that you might see more of these opportunities in the future.
That’s it in a nutshell, and I didn’t even start talking about the console’s lowered price (it’s $100 cheaper than it was at launch) or upcoming games like Super Smash Bros, which is going to be made interesting by the fact that Nintendo is encouraging gamers to go back to their Smash Bros Melee roots by eliciting memories of using Gamecube controllers again.
There’s never been a better time than now to pick yourself up a Nintendo WiiU.
