This Classic Nintendo Game Just Hit The Wii U
Nintendo, and the Wii U franchise in general, have been relatively clever at re-inventing classic game franchises (the Kirby series, Mario Party, and Super Smash Brothers being just a few good examples). Super Mario is no exception to that rule (seriously, someone should keep a tally of whether Super Mario or Call Of Duty has more incarnations), and now there’s word that Paper Mario could be coming to the Wii U, as well. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the Paper Mario series has enjoyed several reincarnations over time, being released for N64, the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Gamecube with various subtitles before its journey to the Wii U.
With all that in mind, it’s not a huge surprise to see Paper Mario on the Wii U, Nintendo’s newest gaming system. Wii U has already re-invented classic games like Mario Kart (known as Mario Kart 8 on the new console) and Super Smash Bros. (which simply became Super Smash Bros. For Wii U). According to vcpost, we could see Paper Mario for Wii U announced at E3 (a video game trade fair) this June. The site went on to state that the intel surfaced thanks to a leak by an Intelligent Systems employee at a Japanese Career Expo in May (Intelligent Systems is a game developer with a close relationship to Nintendo).
For now, Paper Mario For Wii U is the last of the announced N64 and Nintendo DS games that are coming to Wii U, but there could be more (we just don’t have an idea as to which yet). Nintendo has already made a slew of classic games, such as Secrets of Mana, available for digital download straight from the Wii Shop, and the recent innovation of the amiibo figurines is another way it’s been taking the same characters we all know and love and making them fresh again.
After some lagging behind in the smartphone market, Nintendo finally gave into creating mobile games earlier this year, but it remains to be seen whether it will stand out from the competition, since there are literally thousands of other brands fighting for attention in the mobile marketplace. On the other hand, it’s plain to see that the world is heading that direction, so it may be worth Nintendo’s time and effort to have a hand in the mobile marketplace. Its mobile DS and 3DS consoles are probably a good place to start, but could also prove to be competitors to the Wii U in the long run, since people prefer on-the-go gaming.
Hopefully, the addition of some newly-reinvented Wii U games will be enough to keep fans interested. Gamespot mentioned that Legend of Zelda for Wii U isn’t happening right at the moment, adding that the game won’t be displayed at this year’s E3, which might perturb some fans who are desperately waiting for the chance to rescue Zelda on their Wii U.
In the meantime, there are still plenty of other good Wii U games available, ranging from the first person shooters like 007 Legends (a take-off on the N64’s Goldeneye game), to sports games like Mario And Sonic At The Sochi 2014 Winter Games (just a tad bit of a stretch).
More spin-off games aside, one has to wonder: what are the primary differences between the Wii and Wii U consoles? For one thing, gamers who spring for a new Wii U will get a copy of Super Mario 3D World with the console, whereas the original Wii came with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. In addition, the Wii U has support for video chatting (unlike its predecessor), and also starts right off the bat with 32GB of internal memory compared to the original Wii’s 512 MB (both devices also have the capacity to add more memory, the Wii with an SD Card and the Wii U by utilizing a USB drive).
[Image Credit: fantendo.wikia.com]
