Joystiq

Wii U Basic bundled with Nintendo Land at Best Buy

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST

The Wii U's Basic Set is bundled with Nintendo Land at Best Buy for the next few days. SideQuesting took note of the bundle, which has the basic set at the standard $299.99 price with Nintendo Land included. The sale runs until December 29.

What you'll be missing out from the Wii U's Deluxe version is the charging cradle, Wiipad stand and 32GB hard drive. Despite the free Nintendo Land, the Deluxe is better future-proofed for the extra $50.

Wii U Basic bundled with Nintendo Land at Best Buy originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Dec 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo Land review: Controller coaster

JC Fletcher — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST

Nintendo Land is not Wii Sports, but it occupies a similar territory in the lineup of its new console: it's a pack-in (with one particular bundle), it's a minigame collection, its games are designed to teach players how to use Nintendo's latest weird controller, and, most importantly, it acts as a statement of intent for the console as a whole.

For Wii Sports, that meant simple games, based on familiar real-world sports and built around real-world movements, all designed to be comprehensible and fun to people who had never played a video game before, and, it would turn out, would probably never play another.

But the Wii was a console designed to be less complicated than any previous, whereas the Wii U is in fact more complicated. Nintendo Land, accordingly, expects a deeper video game background and a more complex skillset from its players. Wii Sports wouldn't be caught dead with dual-analog shooter controls, for example. Nintendo Land demands a more literate audience.

That's not a condemnation. It may not be for every single person on the face of the Earth like Wii Sports was, but if you can find four other people who know what Pikmin are or will recognize the two cops from Animal Crossing, you will have ridiculous fun.

Gallery: Nintendo Land (E3 2012)

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Nintendo Land review: Controller coaster originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo Land features Yoshi, F-Zero, and 'Octopus Dance' games

JC Fletcher — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:30:00 EST

The three last "attractions" to be unveiled in the Wii U's virtual Nintendo theme park, Nintendo Land, are Yoshi's Fruit Cart, Captain Falcon's Twister Race, and Octopus Dance. In Yoshi's Fruit Cart - which sounds more like a concession stand between rides than a ride itself at first - players use the WiiPad to draw paths for a Yoshi Cart to pick up fruit, coordinating between the WiiPad and TV views of the scene.

In Captain Falcon's Twister Race, ~~the F-Zero character gets out a Twister mat and tells you to show him some moves~~ you tilt the GamePad to control a top-down F-Zero style race, avoiding spikes and hitting checkpoints. And in Octopus Dance, which we suppose is probably based on the Game & Watch game, players, uh ... "use the GamePad to mirror dance moves performed by a deep-sea dance instructor." The screenshots Nintendo sent out along this announcement are all for other attractions, so you'll just have to visualize the dancing octopus for now.

Gallery: Nintendo Land (10/29/12)

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Nintendo Land features Yoshi, F-Zero, and 'Octopus Dance' games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Latest Nintendo Land trailer shows off 'Mario Chase,' 'Metroid Blast' and 'Pikmin Adventure'

Jordan Mallory — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:45:00 EST

A new trailer for Nintendo's Wii U mini-game extravaganza Nintendo Land dropped this morning during Nintendo's Wii U press conference, and with it came the announcement of several new "attractions" within the game's virtual amusement park.

As seen above, competitive multiplayer offerings now include Mario Chase, which appears to be some kind of Toad sprinting simulator. Metroid Blast has been added to the team multiplayer selection, wherein Miis in Power Suits run around shooting and grappling, as Samuses often do. Additionally, Pikmin Adventure was revealed, though its multiplayer machinations aren't explicitly obvious in the trailer above.

Also demonstrated are The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest, Balloon Trip Breeze, Donkey Kong's Crash Course, Takamaru's Ninja Castle, Luigi's Ghost Mansion and Animal Crossing Sweet Days.

Gallery: Nintendo Land (9/13/12)

Latest Nintendo Land trailer shows off 'Mario Chase,' 'Metroid Blast' and 'Pikmin Adventure' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo Land features Balloon Fight-inspired game

JC Fletcher — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:00:00 EST

"Balloon Trip Breeze," one of the "attractions" in the Wii U minigame collection Nintendo Land, is inspired by the side-scrolling "Balloon Trip" adventure found in the NES' Balloon Fight. In Balloon Trip Breeze, players direct a floating balloon rider by swiping with the stylus and tapping to break blocks, to guide him safely through the obstacle-laden airways.

Check out a trailer of the crafty-looking minigame on Game Informer's site - and, if the remixed music doesn't quite work for you, enjoy.

Nintendo Land features Balloon Fight-inspired game originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Experience the Wii U in our Nintendo booth video tour

JC Fletcher — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:45:00 EST

I stormed Nintendo's E3 booth yesterday to try some real Wii U games. Because simply seeing screens is no longer enough -- you have to see screens and the controller, with its screens -- I brought a camera crew with me.

Join us for gameplay snippets of Nintendo Land's "Takamaru's Ninja Castle" and "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day" minigames, Ubisoft's survival-oriented ZombiU, and ... Just Dance 4, in which I am the victim of the "Puppet Master." This is pretty embarrassing.

Experience the Wii U in our Nintendo booth video tour originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A jaunt through Nintendo Land

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:15:00 EST

We took a quick stroll through Nintendo Land today, shortly after Nintendo implicitly positioned the game as the Wii U's educational answer to Wii Sports. It's launching alongside the hardware this holiday - though not necessarily inside a bundle - and breaks down all of the Wii U's standout features into friendly, easily digestible mini games.

Unlike the tennis and bowling in Wii Sports, the games here are embellished with Nintendo's vibrant characters and history, set within the context of an elaborate theme park visited by your Miis. When you enter the The Legend of Zelda section, dubbed Battle Quest, you and your friends don Link's iconic tunic in green, red and blue.

Gallery: Nintendo Land (E3 2012)

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A jaunt through Nintendo Land originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NintendoLand is a virtual theme park on your Wii U

Mike Schramm — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:58:00 EST

Nintendo has announced a set of minigames called NintendoLand for the Wii U, which uses various Nintendo characters to show off the capabilities of the new systems. There will be 12 different "attractions" in the game, with five them being shown off at E3 this year. From the demo being shown on stage, NintendoLand seemingly collects last year's Wii U demo minigames and expands on them.

The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest, Animal Crossing: Sweet Day, DK's Crash Course, and Takamaru's Ninja Castle were the attractions mentioned in the presentation, all of which highlight a certain feature of Nintendo's newest console. Sounds an awful lot like the PlayStation Vita's "Welcome Park" application if you ask us!

Nintendo compared the mini-game collection to Wii Sports, the pack-in title for the original Wii. NintendoLand launches alongside the Wii U this holiday.

NintendoLand is a virtual theme park on your Wii U originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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