New Super Mario Bros. U is a 3D side-scrolling platformer for the Wii U. The game launched alongside Nintendo’s next-gen console and is the fourth in the “New Super” series of Mario games. Nintendo EAD developed the title while Nintendo published it. Along with New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS, this is the second New Super Mario Bros. game in 2012. The game features multiplayer with support for four players controlling different characters as well as the ability for a fifth player to aid in levels by using the Wii U’s GamePad.

Story

The game begins with Mario, Luigi, some Toads and Princess Peach having a nice supper in Mushroom Kingdom Castle, when all of sudden stuff gets bad. Their lovely dinner is interrupted by a sky full of Koopa Dirigibles. Outside the walls is a fleet of Zeppelins with the faces of Bowser and all his kids’ faces. It is narcissistically terrifying. Before they can do anything, Bowser uses a giant hand to grab Mario, Luigi and the Toads then throws them far away into a mushroom acorn tree. Far away from the Castle, the gang has to watch Bowser once again kidnap Princess Peach. At this point, Mario is getting too old for this ***t.

Gameplay



The gameplay for the New Super Mario Bros. U is nothing revolutionary. It is intimately familiar and gamers should get an Inception 3-levels deep feeling of deja vu when playing through the games numerous worlds. Not only is the familiarity localized simply to the other New Super Mario Bros. games, but to Super Mario Bros. 3 for the original NES. Thus, for anyone who has ever played a side-scrolling Mario game then the elements and components of this game will be old hat.
For those that possibly have not played any of the other New Super Mario Bros. games then the gist of how gameplay breaks down in the game is that the player controlling Mario, Luigi or a Toad will run through a level avoiding hazards, destroying enemies (either by jumping, using a power-up or koopa shell) and collecting coins. Timing and reflexes as with most platformers are skills necessary for success in each level. The player will succeed when they reach the flag at the end of the level and are allowed to move through the other levels in each world.


Mario gently gliding on in search of a fistful of coins.



New Super Mario Bros. U features eight worlds that Mario and the gang can run and jump through in their quest to save Princess Peach. There are sand, ice, fire and water levels, which are standard for a Mario game, but also favorites like levels with giant versions of enemies make an appearance. Each world will have a mini-boss castle and a boss battle with one of koopaling gang; again, a structure that is instantly recognizable. Unlike the Wii and DS versions of the game there are not as many new power-ups, in fact the only specific original power-up is the Flying Squirrel power-up. However, the game does feature many of the power-ups introduced in prior New Super Mario Bros. games. Yoshi and other baby Yoshis (with various powers) make an appearance in the game, which is a nice addition.

Graphics and Sound

Chasing the dragon(eel).
The one benefit that this iteration of New Super Mario Bros. has over other is that graphically it is superior to the previous games (neither is this graphical leap hugely necessary for a Mario side-scroller, nor particularly hard compared to the Wii, DS or 3DS). New Super Mario Bros. U features great detailed backgrounds and the level design for the various worlds has vibrancy and really pops on screen. The animations are fluid and one of the most charming parts of the game is when koopas dance on screen to a specific musical cue. Musically, the game has a charming and infectious soundtrack that compliments the feelings of nostalgia that swirl in older gamers. It is nothing as mind blowing as the soundtrack for either of the Mario Galaxy games, but it is enjoyable.

Overall
New Super Mario Bros. U is certainly nothing revolutionary, neither does it break any new ground in the Mario franchise. For anyone who owns any of the other versions on one of Nintendo’s previous systems then they will be getting a similar experience with some minor improvements. That said, this is a fun game and definitely will be a huge seller on Nintendo’s new system. There are some exciting gameplay possibilities in a multiplayer setting with the Wii U’s GamePad. As a party game, it will be a crowd pleaser. The gameplay is nostalgia laden for anyone in their twenties and above, and for the younger crowd, it is certainly a great introduction to the portly plumber’s platforming formula. Graphically, the game looks great and while the game does not necessarily need hugely impressive graphics, there are some leaps made here to present Mario and the gang on the Nintendo’s more powerful system. Despite it being good and likely a staple for new Wii U owners’ collections, this should be the last New Super Mario Bros. game and Nintendo should really re-invent or push the creative boundary with their flagship character like they used to do with new hardware.

Via gamingillustrated

2013 isn’t even a week old yet, but already hopes are high. Many of us are making resolutions for the year ahead, and in keeping with this tradition we recently suggested three things we’d love to see Nintendo improve about the 3DS this year.



Following that, we asked readers to submit their own ideas in the form of comments, and found a number of them to be so insightful we wanted to highlight them for further discussion.


Saddle up, boys. You’ve got a big year ahead!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a hotly requested feature for Nintendo to implement in 2013 is to power up the internet browser. In fact, super-early adopters of the Nintendo 3DS may indeed remember that initially the handheld launched without the internet browser at all, which was added in a later system update.

The most common criticism is the lack of Youtube capabilities within the 3DS browser. While Nintendo hasn’t made any statements clear regarding any intentions of updating the browser, it would certainly help increase the machine’s appeal.

Staying on the theme of online capabilities, there’s also a call for an easier and more synchronised way of communicating with other users. 3DS Buzz reader Steven highlights that the PictoChat software for the original DS handhelds could make for a fine online communications program if properly developed. Though Nintendo’s well-known coyness for online communications that could turn ugly is no secret, it’s certainly true that the likes of the Wii U’s Miiverse is indicative of a changing stance in the company.

Talking of which, reader zelda2711 makes a succinct argument for the Wii U’s revolutionary gamer-uniting tool to head to the handheld.

It’s simple. 3DS Miiverse ASAP.

Having the Miiverse move beyond a single system would be a great move for Nintendo, not least since the Miiverse has often been touted as their very own social network. With such a large pre-existing userbase of 3DS owners, this would be a fantastic way of bringing Nintendo fans into a unified fold, irrespective of their system of choice.

While all of the comments we received had fantastic suggestions, we definitely observed a strong tendency for players and fans to want to connect more, communicate more transparently and access the web more efficiently. Of course, with a company like Nintendo, you’ll never know what they’ll pull out of the bag next; but the community has spoken, and they want to connect!

The question is, will Nintendo answer that call in 2013?

Via 3dsbuzz

Monster Hunter 3 won’t be out in North America until March 2013, but Japanese Wii U owners are already playing Capcom’s latest RPG. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was a Wii U launch title in Japan, and there was even a special bundle with the game. Earlier this month, Capcom released a few new gameplay trailers, but now we have something much better: a full 60 minute gameplay video from the guys over at Nintendomination. And to make things even better, the video is in 1080p quality. Enjoy.

A lot of gamers in the West are eagerly anticipating Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for the Wii U. While we’ll have to wait for the game until early next year, our Japanese buddies already have it. And then some, as they got a sparkling Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Wii U bundle on launch day. You can check out the unboxing of said bundle here.

While we all wait for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to arrive, check out these gameplay videos of the Japanese version. In total, there’s over an hour of gameplay footage



More info : http://wiiudaily.com/2012/12/monster-hunter-3-ultimate-wii-u-footage/

The Xbox 360 has sold more than 70 million units till September and is one of the most favored wish list from kids for this Christmas. So if, you are planning some last hour Christmas shopping, here is some news about some fresh deals which are available at Amazon, and will also save some sizable green backs. You can save $50-$115 on select Xbox 360 bundles this holiday.


Xbox 360 Console from Microsoft, “250GB Holiday Value Bundle (Xbox 360)” carries a price tag of $299.99 but will be available at Amazon for $249.48. That is a cool bargain of $50. You will also be saving on shipping since the device will be shipped free and there is an option for the device to be gift packed. The 4GB Holiday Value Bundle (Xbox 360) is available $179.96 instead of $199.99. The 4GB with Kinect Holiday Value Bundle (Xbox 360) is available for $249.48 instead of $299.99.

Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Value Bundle, which has a listed price of $299, is available for $249.96. You make a cool saving of $50. Again you save on shipping since the device will be shipped free.
Xbox 360 4GB with Kinect Holiday Value Bundle with Amazon exclusive Bonus Value which was listed as $384.98 is available for $269. You save a whopping $115.98 and also shipping since the device will be shipped free.

Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Value Bundle with Amazon exclusive Bonus Value and bears a listed price tag of $384.98 is available now at $269. The accrued saving is $115.98.

The last deal is Xbox 360 4GB with Kinect Nike+ Bundle with a listed Price of $299.99 and is available for $249.96. The accrued saving is $50.03.

All the devices will be shipped free, and the facility is available for gift packing. If ordered in the next 53 hours, delivery will be ensured by 27th December.

Merry Christmas !

After it was reported that Sony will fix the known issues found on its PlayStation Vita Firmware 2.00, the company has finally released a patch for it in the form of firmware 2.01. As posted on PlayStation’s official Twitter account yesterday:

PS Vita system software update 2.01 coming soon. Will fix the issues with automatic synching of PS Plus game saves.

Apparently, there were no noteworthy changes found in the latest PS Vita firmware. In fact, nothing was mentioned in the supplied change log. What’s interesting though is that the firmware would be automatically downloaded when a user leaves his PS Vita on Standby.

This means that PlayStation Plus has already made its job, and the update is ready to go. Thus, the update is mandatory, whether or not a user is PlayStation Plus subscriber or not.

Nevertheless, firmware 2.01 can easily be updated over Wi-Fi and should only interrupt a user’s gaming session for only a couple of minutes.

PS Vita Firmware 2.00 Bug and Fixes

Last month, PS Vita users encountered a problem on Sony’s recent firmware update version 2.00. The company was able to identify bug, which causes the automatic safe upload functionality to fail. And while they are working the fix, PS Vita users were able to access and backup their saved data through the Content Management app.

The latest firmware update is said to fix the console’s automatic synching issue. As is turns out, this feature lets PlayStation Plus members enjoy a wide range of perks on PS Vita. This includes access to handheld’s Instant Game Collection and automatic game updates.

This only goes to show that while bugs are inevitable during a major update, it’s good to know that Sony were able to push out a fix immediately.

PlayStation Vita YouTube App

Aside from fixing the PS Vita’s automatic synching issues, the console’s YouTube app also received an improvement after receiving the update. Although the video application is already awesome because it is working fine and easy to navigate, it now has additional features.

As posted on the PlayStation Blog, the new YouTube app for PS Vita now has the following:

Subscription and Channels
Improved Controls
Playlist Settings
Closed Captions
Continuous Playback
PS Vita Buttons
“Share” Button
Improved Search
Because of firmware 2.01, users can now have an enhanced viewing experience in addition to the application’s already robust set of features.

Via : http://amog.com/tech/gaming/155347-sony-releases-ps-vita-firmware-201/