At a minimum, you're getting your cable, Netflix, and Hulu all in one place. Awesome, right?

Nintendo TVii was unveiled last week for the Wii U and most responses seem to range from "Oh, neat" to "Well, that's dumb." After thinking about it and talking with some of the folks at Nintendo behind the service, I'm somewhat of a believer in the potential of Nintendo TVii, even if I have some mild pessimism about its wide reach.

Nintendo can't wait until November 18, they just can't.

The Wii U press conference is tomorrow morning, and the one big question that everybody is asking is still out there. “When is this thing going to come out?” It is highly speculated that a November 18 release date is the likely candidate for the console’s market debut. However, this may be too late for the system to succeed in what should be its busiest week on the market.

Is Nintendo leaving behind the audience that Wii Sports created?

In just a couple of days, all of our questions about the Wii U will be answered. Price, launch date, different bundles, launch games; these are the details Nintendo will finally be sharing after staying silent at E3 this year. However, there’s one question that’s been on my mind over the past... Read more...

The complexities of Pokémon never cease to amaze.

There are millions of Pokémon players in the world, but only a small percentage of those people truly take that hobby to the competitive level. I’ve tried several times over the years to create a Pokémon team that can stand up to the best of them. Unfortunately, I’ve found there are several... Read more...

Neal mourns the end of Madden on Wii and its spectacular local multiplayer offerings.

The reveal of Madden NFL 13 on Wii U went as I expected to some degree. Outside of the missing features from the other HD versions (which, to me, isn't a ridiculous proposition given the tight development schedule Madden games are on), it is the first time that a Nintendo system is receiving a comparable version to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I am excited for it, because I think using the GamePad for Madden could be awesome.

Can we channel Nostradamus? No, probably not, but damn it, we can try!

At some point over the next few weeks, Nintendo will drop a substantial amount of knowledge regarding the Wii U and its launch. It might come as early as next week, possibly during a Nintendo Direct, or it might come around Tokyo Game Show in September, which was around the time the Wii launch details were revealed back in 2006.

Two major 3DS games are delayed, making a thin line-up thinner in the important lead up to Wii U.

Nintendo unveiled the rest of their 3DS release schedule for 2012. While there are assuredly quality games littered in the next few months, there were two key absences: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. We could also refer to those games as the "ones that got the biggest push at E3 2012."

I'd still bet money on the Sunday before Black Friday, but maybe this is just crazy enough to be right...

When we found out that the Wii U was due out this year, an overwhelming majority of people pegged November 18, the Sunday before Black Friday, as the system's release date. After all, Nintendo's big release every year in recent memory has come out on that day. The Wii came out on that day in 2006. The DS came out on that day in 2004. It made sense; it was logical.

The world of 2D platformers has changed for the better since 2006, making New Super Mario Bros. 2's job harder.

I'm in the early stages of New Super Mario Bros. 2 (review coming later this week) and one thought is coming to mind throughout it: "Wow, this feels awfully similar to New Super Mario Bros. on DS."

As I play it, it makes more sense to know why it's called NSMB 2 and not NSMB 3DS. This isn't a sequel... Read more...

Are we approaching Mario fatigue? 

Earlier this week, I wrote a news story detailing the cooperative multiplayer mode in the upcoming (or already released, depending on where you live) New Super Mario Bros. 2. The story highlighted how the mode almost didn’t make the final cut, as the team working on the game didn’t think it would... Read more...

Is the online multiplayer in Heroes of Ruin functional and/or fun?

After spending some time with friends and randoms playing Heroes of Ruin online, my biggest takeaway is that, by golly, it works. n-Space crafted an extremely functional online multiplayer experience, complete with easy-to-use voice chat that works quite well.

The last part is kind of weird. I've... Read more...

Neal scoped out the Club Nintendo event in New York City last weekend and had one big takeaway.

Last weekend, the Wii U Experience, the Club Nintendo invite-only event (think Cube Club), came to New York City. I had the privilege of attending with two friends who experienced Wii U for the first time, and we spent most of our time with Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U. In short,... Read more...

We have solidified release dates for Kirby's Pinball Land, Wario Land, and more a month in advance.

Nintendo of America dropped some Virtual Console knowledge during last week's Nintendo Direct: during the month of July, every week will feature two Virtual Console releases. Hell, they even gave release dates for six games!

That's right. The company that released two 3DS Virtual Console games in the first five months of the year is promising 10 in one month. In case you missed it, here's the list of games coming out:

And trying to figure out why Nintendo did it this way.

The excitement over Nintendo Direct is always feverish. People's hopes go off the rails, but for the most part, as long as you have tempered expectations, none of them have been disappointing. They have all featured some cool new thing or announcement, whether it's New Super Mario Bros. 2, the 3DS XL, or Mario Tennis Open.

Zach asks the questions that Nintendo won't answer.

Before we get into this, let me be perfectly blunt: nobody is going to ask Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, or anyone else any of these questions. You’ve read interviews with Nintendo. The media throws lowballs, and they parrot off the company line... Read more...

Pedro was a picky gamer as a kid. He recounts how the SNES helped him overcome that.

Growing up, I was a bit of an underprivileged kid, so I was lucky enough to have receive a Super NES for my birthday. I loved the hell out of Super Mario World, and when the local video store bought games to rent, I was in heaven. Of course, there was one tiny problem: I was deadly afraid of trying new games, especially those that looked unfamiliar to me.

Pedro looks back at the importance of the development houses in charge of these highly wanted games.

At last year's E3, when the 3DS was revealed for the first time, Nintendo presented the audience a video featuring all of the most prolific and important developers, all singing the praises of the 3DS’s technology. This year, Nintendo did the same thing with the Wii U. The message is clear: Nintendo... Read more...

Jon gives us five ways that Nintendo can improve its online relationship with its fans.

Regardless of the North American fate of Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower, and The Last Story, the furor surrounding Operation Rainfall has exposed what is perhaps Nintendo's greatest weakness: its lack of meaningful online interaction and communication with its consumers.  In this era of social media,... Read more...

Jon wonders if Operation Rainfall could mark a turn in Nintendo's fortunes.

Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point is a book that I've had sitting around for a while, and recently I've decided to finish it off (yes, even my Kindle has a backlog). It attempts to answer the question of what contributes to certain products or behaviors going "viral", and breaks down the elements... Read more...

What games should you be looking forward to this summer? Not many!

Hopefully, if you're a Nintendo fan, you're enjoying the solid 3DS launch line-up, the eShop, and the two solid June releases (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D) that are unfortunately, no matter how you shake it, more or less ports. The summer, specifically... Read more...