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SB Recommends Wii U Games
Nintendo's kinda-awkward followup to the Wii. Their first HD console and the first entrant into the eighth-generation console wars, its default controller is a large, strange combination between tablet device and traditional gamepad - a hi-res 16:9 touchscreen with traditional grips, buttons and analogue sticks on either side, plus built-in peripherals like a camera and microphone. Some games and apps can be streamed directly onto the controller, eliminating the need for the TV altogether, while others use it as a supplementary second screen, much like a DS. It is also backwards-compatible with most Wii games, controllers and peripherals.
The combination of odd hardware, a small but intriguing software selection, and a dismal market performance is already earning the system comparisons to the Sega Dreamcast, though Nintendo shows no signs of backing out of the console race just yet.
Recommended Wii U Games
Mario Kart 8
Ni Go Zero Ichi: I'm no MK maven, but this is definitely head and shoulders above the Wii version. Cheap items are nerfed and/or marginalized, and the prominence of items and luck-based shit in general is diminished; the visuals, music and SFX are far less obnoxious; and customization options are even deeper. A lot of the new courses are a little… funky for my tastes, but there are an equal number of “classic” courses so whatever. Haven't tried out online play yet.
The Wonderful 101
Felix: I really don't think this is very good – there are a lot of dual-screen gimmicks, more stuff to do in the menus than I wanted to look at, and most of the combat seems to take an artificially long time. Only played the demo, though. It's definitely aesthetically well-realized, but to be honest, so are all of Platinum's games.
See also
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SB Recommends Virtual Console Games - Certain NES, SNES and GBA games are available on the eShop, with N64 and DS games to come (supposedly). The rest can still be purchased and played in Wii Mode.
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