PixlBit

AKA Nintendo Circus, depending on who you ask

Like many of you out there, I wasn’t terribly impressed by Nintendo’s press conference at this year’s E3. One of the things they touted as being a major showpiece was a game called Nintendo Land. Much like Wii Sports, the aim of this title is to introduce players to a new controller--in this case the Wii U GamePad--through a virtual theme park bursting with references to classic Nintendo franchises. At each attraction, your mii will don an appropriate costume and partake in a challenge that teaches the player a new way to use the Wii U GamePad.  Nintendo’s hope is that this game will do for the Wii U what Wii Sports did for the Wii, and explain to new players exactly what the Wii U is all about.

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The Miis invaded yet another Wii U tech demo that looked identical to the Wii version.

The 5 playable levels ranged from your typical desert to cave, to the tricky moving on-rail platforms seen in previous games, but their design and layout were at least unique. I didn't see any new powerups and the remote controls were virtually unchanged, with d-pad control used even on Wii U. I did seem to remember trying to make a last-second bubble save and being unable to, so that feature may be removed in future sequels. One change that didn't feel as good was the shake; trying to drift closer to someone while in a bubble by shaking the tablet didn't seem to work well for me. So assigning the extra jump flutter move to the R button instead of an upward flick wasn't too surprising when considering the controller's extra weight. Getting a feel for which controller configurations work best for Wii U will no doubt take some extra experimentation from developers.

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NBA Jam slams its way back into action on the Nintendo Wii.

NBA Jam on the SNES was one of my favorite sports games growing up, and I still play it to this day. I have been waiting for an NBA Jam that would compare to the perfection of this classic game. Over the years NBA Jam games have been a failure and have not been nearly as good as the original titles. EA who took over Midway's franchise hopes to achieve this goal with their release on the Nintendo Wii. The Wii brings a whole new look to NBA Jam's gameplay in a way that opens up my hopes for a comeback.

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