However, even now there don’t seem to be any current or upcoming Wii U games that use the console’s GamePad effectively. At least, not to the extent that it changes gameplay in a fundamental way, which the original Wii console certainly did. An E3 demo for the just-announced Wii U Mario Kart game, for example, uses the touch screen mainly as a horn for karts.

Even with their new Wii U Mario game, it seems Nintendo hasn’t found a “revolutionary” way to use the Wii U GamePad. A new highlight video put out by Nintendo shows that Super Mario 3D World can use the GamePad to tilt the view of gameplay on a TV. Of course, the same thing can be accomplished using an analog stick.

Super Mario 3D World is based on the style of Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. The new game will feature multiplayer support for gamers to play as Luigi, Toad, and Peach. It also features new cat costumes, allowing Mario and others to claw up walls and pounce on enemies:

CVG reports that retailers in the UK are saying that Nintendo held back many of its biggest titles into the latter half of the year for a revival of sorts. In other words, Nintendo plans to release a number of high-profile games later this year to renew interest in the console. One of those games is reported to be the new 3D Mario game that Satoru Iwata promised back in January, with retailers saying it will be out by October.

Aside from a new Mario game, the report says that Nintendo intentionally held back Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101 and Wii Fit U to help populate the latter half of this year with more Wii U game releases. There are some that refute that claim, and Iwata himself said the games were delayed after developers were taken off of games like Pikmin 3 to help finish launch games like Nintendo Land.

Of course, the Wii U already has a number of titles that range from pretty good to fantastic. What’s stopping Nintendo from marketing the console based on those titles alone? The report says that Nintendo executives wanted to wait until all of the problems with the hardware and software, including long loading times, were sorted out. The Spring update helped to reduce said loading times, and a planned Summer update will decrease those loading times even more. Nintendo is expected to start marketing the Wii U in earnest after the Summer update.

A statement from Nintendo UK said just as much:

“From July onwards we will launch a succession of Wii U titles and we will promote these extensively until the end of the year. Marketing activity will include TV, print, online and PR as well as comprehensive experiential and social media campaigns”.

The Nintendo faithful had better hope the company start marketing the Wii U sooner rather than later. The next PlayStation and Xbox are expected to launch in November of this year. Nintendo’s console will soon look outdated compared to the competition so it needs to prove that the Wii U, much like the Wii, is capable of providing those unique experiences that you just can’t find anywhere else. Super Mario Galaxy succeeded in that mission on the Wii in 2007, and a new 3D Mario game on the Wii U could do just the same this year.

During its Nintendo Direct this morning, the company announced that HarmoKnight, Kersploosh!, and Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move would be coming to the Nintendo 3DS eShop this spring.

The first is HarmoKnight, a rhythm platformer from Game Freak. The developer has taken time off of working on the Pokemon franchise to make this unique platformer that bears a striking resemblance to Bit.Trip Runner. It’s just as, if not more, charming than Gaijin Game’s effort, and features some stellar tunes if the trailer is any indication. With this being GameFreak, the game will also feature some Pokemon music crossovers that’s sure to delight fans of the franchise.

HarmoKnight will be available on the eShop on March 28.

The second is a far more “interesting” title called Kersploosh! In this game, the player controls a rock that’s been thrown down a well. The player will have to maneuver the rock on its way down to avoid obstacles as it makes its way to the water at the bottom. It’s certainly unique, and could very well be a really fun title.

Finally, Nintendo showed off the latest game in its Mario and Donkey Kong series called Minis on the Move. Much like the previous titles, the game is focused on solving puzzles as Mario leads miniature versions of himself to the exit while avoiding hazards.

Go here for more news from this morning’s Nintendo Direct.

Besides Luigi, this morning’s Nintendo Direct also included new details on Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC, new eShop titles, and LEGO City Undercover. The video also featured the first look at Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, a 3DS remake of 2010′s Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii.

For some extra fun, try to count all the times Luigi shows up in the background during this Nintendo Direct.

Kicking off the Year of Luigi will be Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto made his Nintendo Direct debut to talk about the single-player campaign in Nintendo Direct. He says that the game will be introducing a number of new elements.

The game will also be introducing a number of multiplayer modes. We’ve already seen one mode, but the game will also offer a number of competitive and cooperative modes.

Continuing the theme of Luigi games, Nintendo announced a new entry in the long running Mario & Luigi RPG series. This latest game has Mario entering the dreams of Luigi to combat the creatures of the dream world. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team will launch in summer 2013.

Luigi will also be joining Mario and the crew in a new Mario Golf title called Mario Golf: World Tour for the 3DS. It will be released in summer 2013.

Finally, Nintendo will be releasing DLC content for New Super Mario Bros. U called Super Luigi U. The DLC will transform all the levels in the game to exclusive Luigi levels that offer new challenges. Nintendo says it will be like a full retail game, and will be available later this year.

Before Nintendo floored us all with news announced later in the video, the company first took some time out to address its wonderful Miiverse app. The big news is that developers will soon be able to obtain verified accounts that come with special powers.

The company announced that the Wii U would be getting the Virtual Console before long with a selection of NES and SNES games. The company also said that a number of Gameboy Advance titles would be making their way to the service.

As for games, Nintendo shared more details on upcoming games like The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2. Development is progressing smoothly on both titles, but they can’t show any gameplay from the latter just yet. The Wonderful 101, however, looks like it’s just about done. We’ll hopefully see it launch before E3 in June.

The real surprises came in the later half of the show as it featured announcements for a new Yoshi game, a Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem crossover title, and a Xenoblade Chronicles successor from MonolithSoft. The biggest surprise, however, came in the form of Nintendo announcing that it is bringing a The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker remake to the Wii U later this fall. There is no gameplay footage available, but you can check out some wonderful screens in the above video.

This will probably be the last “earth shattering” Wii U related announcement from Nintendo until E3 in June. It will be worth the wait, however, as we will get to see the first details of Nintendo’s newest Mario, Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. titles at that point.

According to numbers from Famitsu, the Wii U sold 308,570 units in the two days since its launch. Compare that to the 400,000 units in the US and 40,000 in the UK. It should be noted again that the numbers from the UK don’t represent all of Europe and Australia so the sales there are obviously higher. With all that being said, it seems that Nintendo has easily sold over 1 million Wii U units since its launch last month.

I predicted that Monster Hunter would be the big seller in Japan for the new console. That prediction turned out to be only partially accurate as New Super Mario Bros. U was the biggest performer over the two-day period with 170,563 units sold. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate came in second with 110,159 units sold. Third place was Nintendo Land with 78,41 units sold. Its numbers are a bit lower as it’s not bundled with the console like it was in North America and Europe.

Nintendo is still hoping to sell 5.5 million Wii U units before the end of its fiscal year in March. It’s assumed that it’s already sold over a million units worldwide now. Now Nintendo has a little over three and a half months to see another 4.5 million units. Can it do it? It’s possible, but the company needs to pick up its pace and deliver more stock to stores, especially in the UK.

[h/t: Siliconera]

The Wii and DS both dropped the ball when it came to each system’s online play. The 3DS greatly improved upon it, but it still used the annoying friend code system. The Wii U will be changing all that by using a centralized Nintendo Network ID that will connect players with friends. Nintendo also confirmed that third-party publishers will be using their own online infrastructures, such as EA’s Origin, but players can connect to these services via their Nintendo Network ID.

Another really interesting point is that Nintendo is taking its Network ID beyond the Wii U early next year. This was hinted at during E3, but the company had not said much about it since. Players will soon be able to access their ID and the eShop via a PC or smartphone. In short, you’ll be able to purchase eShop titles from your smartphone. It’s something that more console manufacturers need to do, and it’s kind of mind blowing that Nintendo is the company leading the charge.

Nintendo confirmed that most of the online features such as Wii U chat are not available on the Wii U from the start. Players will have to download a day one patch that will add these services to the Wii U firmware. Beyond that, Nintendo also says that players will be able to transfer games and saves on the Wii to the Wii U via SD card.

The rest of the video shows more examples of how Miiverse is integrated into the experience. A player stuck on a challenge in New Super Mario Bros. U can discuss the current challenge with friends on the Miiverse and get help from more experience players.

Another Nintendo Direct was aired in Japan last night, but it has yet to be translated. When it becomes available in English, we’ll bring that video to you as well. It looks like it has more information about the Wii U hardware and memory.

Let’s get the best news out of the way first – there will be no more friend codes on the Wii U. Last night, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed the Nintendo Network ID. Much like the gamertag or PSN ID, the Nintendo Network ID is how players will find friends on the Nintendo Network. Before any of that, however, Iwata said that players will have to set up an account on the Wii U system. Each Wii U console can accomodate 12 user accounts for each member of the family.

It should be noted that all of the Nintendo Network features such as MiiVerse and the console’s Internet browser will be added in a day one update. It’s strange that these features aren’t shipping with the console, but day one updates are a necessary evil of today’s game industry.

One of the more interesting features shown during a previous Nintendo Direct was the Wii U video chat feature. This lets friends use the Wii U Gamepad’s built in camera to host video chats with other Wii U owners. It’s pretty straightforward, but Iwata showed off some additional functionality in an awkward chat with NoA President Reggie Fils-Aime.

On a final note, Iwata unboxed the deluxe set of the Wii U console. This is the console that will come with a copy of NintendoLand and 32GB of onboard flash memory.

The Wii U launches in less than two weeks in the US. Nintendo of America posted their own Nintendo Direct that shows off more of the MiiVerse, or WaraWara Plaza as it’s now called.

[h/t: Engadget]

The trailer takes place in the same squared off fictional family rooms in which the first Wii U ad took place. Nintendo shows off some gameplay, but the company is obviously focusing on how much fun friends and family can have together while playing.

Nintendo was wise to emphasize the fact that players can continue playing the game on the Gamepad while somebody else uses the television. The ad aired this weekend at a movie theater and parents in the audience were talking about the Wii U after this specific feature was brought up. Nintendo may be onto something here if one feature can get parents talking about it.

It’s two weeks away from the Wii U’s launch, and Nintendo still has a lot of games to advertise. The system is launching with an absurd 23 launch titles. Granted, a majority of these titles are ports of older titles, but there are some original experiences to be had. For instance, Nintendo Land is going to be the company’s big ticket game that it’s hoping will sell parents on the Wii U experience just like Wii Sports did for the Wii in 2006. The company needs to release an ad that gets that point across to consumers that may be skeptical of the Wii U.