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Tag: ZombiU

  • Nintendo Sells Less Than 100,000 Wii U Units In January

    The latest NPD numbers for January were just released, and things aren’t looking good for Nintendo. The company that recently vowed to sell 4 million Wii U units by the end of March only managed to sell through less than 100,000 in January.

    Gamasutra reports that the Wii U sold anywhere between 45,000 and 59,000 units in January according to numbers lifted from NPD’s private data. In its first three months on market, the Wii U has sold 38 percent less units than what the Wii did in its first three months.

    So, is this a problem? Obviously, and Nintendo has to do something to get more hardware into more homes. Delaying multiple releases later into the year isn’t doing them any favors, and a rough casual market that’s increasingly focused on mobile gaming is definitely hurting them.

    That being said, the rumors of Nintendo’s collapse are greatly exaggerated. Of course, this shouldn’t be anything new as industry analysts have predicted the collapse of Nintendo and other console manufacturers numerous times over the years due to disruptions in the gaming industry. Mobile gaming definitely presents the biggest threat yet, but I can assure you that Nintendo has plenty of cash reserves to stay afloat.

    So, the Wii U is in a spot of trouble, but what can Nintendo do to get it selling again? First and foremost, it needs killer apps in the forms of software. Software sells hardware – not the other way around. The Wii U, much like the 3DS before it, launched without a killer app. Nintendo Land and ZombiU are both great games, but they aren’t exactly killer apps. Rayman Legends was the closest thing Nintendo had to a killer app, but we all know how that turned out. Now we’ll have to wait until Spring for the next great Wii U games to start trickling out.

    Beyond killer software, Nintendo may need to drop the price of the Wii U. The Wii U is the most expensive console that Nintendo has ever produced, and the sales are looking like that of the 3DS when it first launched at $250. Dropping the price may help spur short term sales until killer software comes out that makes people want to upgrade.

    For now, Nintendo is trying to spur sales with a ZombiU console bundle. It includes the entirety of the $350 premium console, and packs in a copy of ZombiU and a Pro Controller for $40 more. In all honesty, Nintendo should have kept the price of the new bundle at $350. It’s still a bargain at $390, but consumers don’t see an extra $40 as a deal.

  • Nintendo Brings Wii U ZombiU Bundle To North America On Feb. 17

    When the Wii U first launched in Europe, it got a ZombiU bundle that included Ubisoft’s excellent launch title and a Wii U Pro Controller. That bundle is now coming to North America with an added value in the hope that more consumers pick up Nintendo’s latest console.

    Nintendo announced today that a ZombiU bundle which includes a physical copy of ZombiU, a Wii U Pro Controller, a 32GB Wii U and a digital copy of Nintendo Land will be hitting retailers across the U.S. and Canada on February 17 for $389.99. To sweeten the deal a little more, the bundle will also come a ZombiU art book.

    All in all, it’s a pretty good deal when you consider what you’re getting. Nintendo even points out that consumers are saving $70 with the bundle versus buying everything separately. That being said, it’s still $389.99 for a console that has very little in the way of quality launch titles. Sure, Nintendo Land and ZombiU are both fantastic, but the other great promised launch titles for Wii U have been delayed past the initial launch window.

    The problem was made even more apparent yesterday as Ubisoft announced that Wii U darling Rayman Legends was being delayed to September to launch alongside versions being built for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s totally understandable from a business perspective, but it only means that the Wii U’s game library is going to remain dried up and devoid of anything resembling quality until March 18’s release of LEGO City Undercover and March 19’s release of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

    Until then, we’re stuck with a bundle that only highlights the fantastic launch of the Wii U. It does little to remedy the Wii U’s now barren launch window, but the Nintendo faithful have only to wait until Spring when the deluge of quality games start to hit retail once again. Those buying the bundle can have fun waiting with us.

  • Nintendo Finally Provides Some Much Needed Wii U Content (In The Form Of Demos)

    For the past few weeks, the Nintendo Download has been devoid of any quality Wii U content. In fact, the next game scheduled for the eShop is Double Fine’s The Cave. Beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be much on the horizon. Of course, Nintendo is kind of fixing that this week with two demos of launch titles from last year.

    Nintendo announced that demos for ZombiU and NBA 2K13 will be available on the eShop starting today. The addition of a ZombiU demo is particularly welcome as many people on the game’s Miiverse community are constantly asking if the game is any good. There’s conflicting reviews everywhere with some loving it while others outright hate it. A demo will give those on the fence a good idea of whether they like the nuanced brilliance of Ubisoft’s survival horror title.

    As for NBA 2K13, the Wii U version only offers minimal Gamepad support with details on players’ moods, fatigue levels and more being displayed on the second screen. Still, basketball fans who own a Wii U should give it a shot to see if whets their appetite for sports gaming.

    As for full games, the 3DS eShop is getting a number of titles this week. These games include Meat or Die: Ines, Hello Kitty Picnic with Sanrio Friends, Reel Fishing 3D Paradise Mini, Wild Adventures: Ultimate Deer Hunt 3D, 101 DinoPets 3D and Biorhythm.

    The Wii gets some love this week as well with a single update for the Virtual Console. ADK’s World Heroes 2 is available for 900 Wii points. If you have a hankering for some classic fighting games, this just might do it.

  • ZombiU European Launch Trailer Debuts

    Nintendo fans in the U.S. who were lucky enough to pre-order a Wii U early have had the chance to play ZombiU for a couple of weeks now. Though the game has received mixed reviews, it’s generally agreed that the title is a throwback to early survival horror and that it makes impressive use of the new Wii U GamePad.

    The U.S. launch trailer for the game focused on showing how the GamePad is used for a touch-based inventory system, a scope for sniping, and a method for interacting with objects, such as door keypad locks. The European launch trailer takes a different tact. Instead of focusing on the gameplay, it highlights the story and survival horror nature of the title using a live-action monologue from a distressed survivor. The video actually resembles the live-action trailers released last week, which featured a similar found-footage style to promote the accompanying ZombiU iPhone app.

  • ZombiU’s Live-Action Found Footage Trailers Are Quite Disturbing

    Ubisoft has decided to fully back Nintendo’s Wii U, releasing several games within the console’s extended launch window. And though Nintendo’s games and Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition has taken the best-reviewed launch title spots, Ubisoft’s ZombiU has been garnering some praise for showing off just what the Wii U GamePad is capable of.

    An unexpected launch title for a Nintendo console, ZombiU puts players in the middle of the zombie apocalypse as it begins to infest London. The GamePad is used for surveying a situation in 360 degrees, a touch-based inventory system, and for interacting with objects, such as number pad locks on doors.

    The newest ZombiU trailers eschew Wii U gameplay and delve into the sheer horror of a zombified London. They are live-action and appear in the found-footage style of so many recent horror movies. They are also a way to promote the new ZombiU iPhone app, which apparently allows users to send “emergency messages” to loved ones and “zombify” pictures of people.

    That second trailer reminded me of Attack the Block. Believe, bruv. Also, why does footage found on an abandoned phone have a camcorder overlay?

  • ZombiU Launch Trailer Shows What the Wii U Can Do

    It’s ok to still be skeptical of Nintendo’s Wii U. Two screens haven’t necessarily improved most handheld Nintendo games, though the occasional breakthrough title managed to do something creative with the concept. The launch titles for the Wii U have similarly demonstrated that developers are trying nearly everything they can think of to make the second screen Wii U Gamepad fun to use.

    The best example, perhaps, of integrating the Gamepad with traditional gameplay comes from a title that seemed unlikely to launch with a Nintendo console. Ubisoft’s ZombiU shows how the zombie apocalypse might be better with an augmented reality tablet at one’s disposal.

    The game’s launch trailer focuses on demonstrating all the uses to which players can put the second screen. For starters, the pad will be able to show the area players find themselves in 360 degrees without ever moving the image on the TV screen. It also functions as a scope for sniping, a touch-based inventory system, and a method for interacting with objects encountered in the game. The multiplayer trailer released earlier this week also shows that the pad will be used in at least one multiplayer mode to harassingly spawn zombies while a different player fights them off.

    Oh, and the trailer steals the “rules” conceit from the movie Zombieland, so it’s pretty light-hearted compared to previous ZombiU videos.

  • New ZombiU Live-Action Trailer Demonstrates Multiplayer Gameplay

    The creators of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are certainly proud of their zombie mode. It’s a feature that sets the Black Ops games apart from the Modern Warfare side of the Call of Duty franchise. However, it is just one mode among many in that game. Zombie apocalypse fans looking for a pure zombie survival horror experience might want to look to Ubisoft’s upcoming ZombiU for their fix.

    ZombiU will have multiplayer modes where friends can fight off the hordes together, but it will also feature a mode dedicated to a more combative multiplayer experience.

    This week, Ubisoft released a live-action ZombieU trailer that demonstrates one such multiplayer mode. One player takes on the role of the survivor – the helpless sap trying to escape the zombies. The other player takes on the role of King of the Zombies, and is in charge of providing the zombies the survivor will face. The King will operate the Wii U Gamepad, which in this mode is dubbed the “Zombie Spawner.” Using a light real-time strategy-like interface, he or she can mercilessly drop zombies into the game the survivor will be playing on the TV screen.

    It’s an interesting concept, and one that could help bring in friends who wouldn’t normally play a Left 4 Dead-type zombie shooter. It’s also a system that could easily create fights between players, so gamers should take care before allowing their sadistic significant other be the King.

    Fair warning: the trailer is live-action and contains plenty of blood and exploding zombie heads.

  • New ZombiU Trailer Shows Infested Tower of London

    Ubisoft has certainly thrown its lot in with Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U console. The game publisher has eight different games coming to the new system during its extended launch window, including Assassin’s Creed III, Rabbids Land, and Rayman Legends.

    It’s Ubisoft’s Wii U-exclusive title ZombiU, that is the most surprising, though. Nintendo has positioned itself with the Wii as a family-friendly, casual gamer company. To see a gruesome survival horror game as an exclusive launch title means that Nintendo is looking to bring back “hardcore” gamers into its fold.

    We’ve already had a good look at the zombie mayhem that awaits in ZombiU, including the trailer from the Wii U announcement and a gameplay walkthrough featuring Buckingham Palace that demonstrates how the Wii U GamePad will be used while playing the game. Today, Ubisoft has released another trailer that demonstrates just how hectic ZombiU can become.

    The video, seen below, shows a section of the game where players will cross a zombie-infested Tower Bridge to get to the Tower of London. After that, a daring escape shows that rescue might not be in the cards for the citizens of London.

  • Official ZombiU Trailer Released

    When Nintendo announced ZombiU at this year’s E3, it seemed a bit out of character. The Wii has become a bastion of family-friendly console gaming in an era where gamers have grown up and are demanding more mature content. Perhaps for that very reason, Nintendo is making a concerted effort to gain more adult titles for the Wii U.

    At the Wii U announcement event in New York this morning, Nintendo confirmed that Assassin’s Creed III, Mass Effect 3, Darksiders II, Bayonetta 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will all be coming to their new console. Given that context, perhaps a zombie survival horror game from Nintendo isn’t so surprising.

    In conjunction with their announcement, Nintendo today released the official ZombiU trailer. It shows not only what the game will look like, but how players will use the Wii U GamePad to play it. It appears players will be able to use the touchscreen for inventory management, mini-map navigation, and aiming for certain weapons, such as the sniper rifle or a mounted turret.

  • ZombiU Gameplay Footage Shows First-Person Old-School Survival Horror

    ZombiU Gameplay Footage Shows First-Person Old-School Survival Horror

    For a good decade starting in the mid-nineties, the survival horror genre blossomed and was actually pretty amazing. Sometime in the past 8 years, though, the genre began to decline. The Resident Evil series became more action-oriented and the Silent Hill series languished without a game comparable to that series’ first couple of games.

    It’s odd, then, that the revival of the genre might come on a Nintendo console. Sure, the Gamecube had the Lovecraftian Eternal Darkness, but the bloody Zombie game ZombiU is unexpectedly fascinating. Combining the first person perspective with traditional survival horror mechanics on a new console from a company that has a reputation as family friendly is a bit of a risk for Ubisoft, the game’s developer. Add in features from the new Wii U pad controller and the experience might just be the most fun Zombie outbreak in recent memory.

    As the gameplay footage below shows, the feeling of trying to guess the last number of a door code while a flaming zombie approaches is an experience that hasn’t been replicated on consoles for quite some time.