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The Xbox One’s disappointing reveal has shot up sales of the Wii U on Amazon.com. The system was at #390 before the conference, but now has shot up to #40 due to Microsoft’s glorified TV box.

This momentum should carry Nintendo right into the summer as they have big plans for the Wii U at E3 and this fall. The console race has just begun but it’s good to see gamers are picking up a system that’s dedicated to gaming first, and multimedia second.
Check out the massive leap here
Thanks timg57867 for the tip!

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In the U.S. alone, Fire Emblem Awakening sold more than 240,000 copies. If the game’s sales were meager, it could have been the very last entry in the Fire Emblem series, according to one of the game’s producers, Hitoshi Yamagami. Fortunately, for fans of the series, Nintendo isn’t retiring Fire Emblem just yet, as Intelligent Systems and Atlus are currently working on a Wii U crossover role-playing game between the Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei worlds.

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Today, at the Stifel Nicolaus 2013 Internet, Media and Communications Conference, EA’s chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen, revealed that EA is developing video games for the Wii U – but it apparently has more plans for unreleased consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Jorgensen’s statement refutes the comment made last week by EA spokesperson Jeff Brown, who claimed that the company has “no games in development for the Wii U currently.”

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Since its announcement in the last Nintendo Direct, little has been said since about Sonic Lost World, which is one third of an exclusive worldwide deal for the mascot between SEGA and Nintendo. It's a new main series Sonic title coming to Wii U and 3DS, which may be enough for some long term fans for the time being.

While not exactly heavy with details, John Cheng — President and Chief Financial Officer of Sega of America Inc — has been quoted by the Associated Press to confirm that the title isn't any form of retread of existing games, but that it's being produced to feature new ideas for the franchise.

Sonic has a lot of friends thanks to SEGA enthusiasm in recent times for expanding the blue one's roster, but this does potentially shatter hopes from the concept art that this would focus on Sonic and Tails. To take an optimist's approach, perhaps SEGA will strike the right balance.

Cheng also stated, briefly, his belief that Sonic can be a powerful exclusive for Nintendo's systems, while repeating a phrase that's often heard in the games industry.

How many of Sonic's friends would you like to appear this time? We'd be happy to kick it old-school with Tails and perhaps Knuckles, but we may see some other companions in the Lost World.

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Nintendo:

We’re having a Nintendo Direct tomorrow to provide updates on upcoming summer Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games. Remember, you can watch live on Facebook here http://on.fb.me/XBtY8R. RSVP here: http://on.fb.me/10AA0YQ

We’ll discuss future Wii U titles for fall and onward in a Nintendo Direct before the start of E3 2013.

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Nintendo is internally lining up a string of high profile releases for the second half of 2013 as part of a major new bid to recover from Wii U's stuttering start.

Internal discussions have helped restore retailers' faith in the console, which has been hit by errors since launch. Global Wii U sales have fallen two million units short of Nintendo's original forecast.

The firm's current focus on 3DS, coupled with the relatively hushed PR and promotional campaign for the Wii U in the first half of 2013, had left some retailers questioning the platform holder's commitment to its new console.

However, one person close to the matter has said Nintendo's executive circle was not comfortable fully promoting Wii U until the release of the system's spring update. In January, Nintendo said two updates would arrive before the summer is over.

The first update, which launched in April (details), appears to have halved waiting times on various system loading screens.

The underpinning theory is that word-of-mouth discussion about Wii U has not been particularly positive so far, with many users complaining about system performance. However, it is hoped that the recent firmware patch (along with an apparent second one releasing this summer) will improve the user experience and help stimulate positive responses.

Now with many of the Wii U's launch issues behind it, CVG understands Nintendo is preparing a significant global Wii U marketing campaign.

Further to this, it was claimed by one source that Nintendo is intentionally holding back the release of some games - from Pikmin 3 to The Wonderful 101 and Wii Fit U - in order to bolster the second-half release list. However, a second source familiar with Nintendo's plans had denied the company is intentionally delaying game releases.

In April, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the corporation initially intended to release "a few" Wii U games in the first half of 2013, but they were delayed because the company underestimated the development resources required to complete them on time.

A number of blockbuster Wii U games will be released from summer until the end of the year, one of which is a new 3D Mario title. Although CVG is not yet able to confirm what the others will be, a new Mario Kart will debut in playable form at E3.

The marketing campaign will commence at the Los Angeles event (although some claim sooner), where the 3D Mario game will also be playable on the show floor. The title will be released before October, pending development delays.

Shelly Pearce, the PR director at Nintendo UK, told CVG: "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".

She added: "We have a strong line up planned for Wii U in the second half of 2013 including the likes of Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Wii U.

"We are looking forward to launching these in the UK and for the opportunity to showcase the full potential of Wii U."

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Truly, Nintendo and EA have an unprecedented partnership.

The Madden series will not be appearing on Wii U in 2013, according to an EA Sports representative.
After speculation that the system would miss out on this year's Madden NFL 25, it is now confirmed that the series will skip Nintendo platforms for the first time since 1991.
Last year, a version of Madden NFL 13 came out for both Wii and Wii U. The Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii all had versions of Madden throughout their lives. In 2011, the 3DS launched with a version of Madden, and after that, EA confirmed that the series was not appearing on Nintendo's portable again.

The official statement from EA Sports is: "We will not be releasing a Wii U version of Madden NFL in 2013. However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo and will continue to evaluate opportunities for delivering additional Madden NFL products for Nintendo fans in the future."

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Less than two years after vowing to deliver on an "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo, gaming giant EA is quiet on the Wii U front.

"We have no games in development for the Wii U currently," company spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku yesterday. He did not rule out the chances of EA developing for the Wii U again. EA publishes many of gaming's biggest franchises, including Madden, The Sims, and Battlefield.

In June 2011, at the biggest gaming event of the year—E3—Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata closed his presentation of his company's biggest games and then-forthcoming Wii U console by welcoming then-CEO of EA John Riccitiello to the stage. "What Nintendo's new console delivers speaks directly to the players of EA Sports and EA Games. Nintendo's new console will produce brilliant high-definition graphics and new gameplay opportunities. We look forward to seeing great EA content on this new platform." Riccitiello was also enthused about Nintendo's embrace of online gaming.

EA delivered for Wii U early, releasing Wii U versions of Mass Effect 3, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Madden and FIFA for the new console. Each of those games had been released months earlier on rival Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. While they ran well, they were, ultimately, late ports. EA's biggest console game of early 2013, Dead Space 3, skipped the Wii U.

Brown told Kotaku that that early run of EA games on Wii U represented EA delivering on its E3 2011 partnership.

EA supported Nintendo's previous console, the Wii, throughout the machine's lifespan, even launching some Wii-only/Wii-first games such as Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox and the MySims games. But the company, like many other major third-party companies, struggled to find a blockbuster hit for Wii. Rival Ubisoft succeeded with Just Dance, but that was an exception. On Nintendo consoles, traditionally the main company that has thrived is Nintendo as system owners flock to support the likes of the Wii Sports, Super Mario and Zelda games from Nintendo.

The full absence of Wii U games from Nintendo's pipeline seemed increasingly likely as the Wii U remained conspicuously absent from announcements regarding major 2013 EA games such as Battlefield 4 and the new Madden and FIFA. A lack of EA support will prevent Wii U gamers from having access to an NFL game, for which EA holds the exclusive license.

EA's refusal to put its sports games on Sega's Dreamcast system in 1999 is seen as one of the signs of Sega's decline in as a console maker. The Dreamcast was Sega's last box. On the other hand, EA may not be the kingmaker it once was, and it could be argued that Nintendo's own Wii Sports is the most successful and broadly-appealing sports game of the last generation.

While EA has clearly cooled on Wii U, it is ramping up support for many other devices, including the next PlayStation and Xbox, the latter of which will be officially revealed on May 21. "I’ve been with the company long time and we have never been better positioned for the launch of new technology, either mobile or console," Brown said. He said EA has invested deeply in preparing games for the next generation of consoles and expects to launch strong as it did at the start of the PS2 and Xbox era than it did with a weaker game slate at the beginning of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii generation. Much of that planning can be credited to Riccitiello, who departed from EA earlier this year.

EA isn't alone in not having new games for Wii U. There are no signs of major forthcoming Wii U games from Take Two, with Grand Theft Auto V only promised for PS3 and Xbox 360. The next Call of Duty is also not announced for Wii U (the last one did come out for it). On the other hand, Warner Brothers has the next Batman game and the console-exclusive Scribblenauts Unmasked for Wii U this year. Ubisoft is bringing major Rayman and Assassin's Creed games to Wii U this year along with its ambitious new open-world game Watch Dogs.

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The update improves a number of things,

• A standby function to download and install software while the system is powered off
• Software purchased from the Nintendo eShop will automatically install in the background once the download is complete
• Holding down the B Button while the Wii U logo is displayed during startup will load the Wii Menu*¹
• An option to transfer and/or copy between two USB storage devices in "Data Management"
• The ability to select multiple software titles when transferring, copying, or deleting data in "Data Management"
• The option to adjust screen size (overscan issues) is now available under "TV"*²
• "Auto Power-Down" has been renamed "Power Settings"
• Changes to Miiverse
• Changes to Nintendo eShop
• Changes to the Internet Browser
• Changes to Download Management
• Further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience.
• The Wii U will continue downloading and installing software even if the system is turned off.
• The Wii U Virtual Console will be added the day after the update.

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Portable to retire this fiscal year, financial results suggest

Nintendo looks set to stop production of its Nintendo DS handheld in the current fiscal year.
Nintendo said today that it expects to sell ten million additional DS software units during the current business year ending March 31, 2014, but it offered no guidance for hardware sales, simply leaving the forecast column blank.Asked if this is indicative of plans to stop producing the hardware, a Nintendo UK representative would only offer the following statement: "Nintendo will continue to sell Nintendo DS Hardware but is not revealing a unit sales forecast at this time."
To date, the dual-screened portable has sold more than 153 million units, easily making it the firm's best selling console. Only the PlayStation 2 has sold more (155 million).
More than 933 million pieces of DS software have been sold since launch almost nine years ago.
New Super Mario Bros. is the portable's best selling title at 30 million units, followed by Nintendogs (23.9 million) and Mario Kart DS (23.3 million).
The DS was launched in 2004 in Japan and North America, followed by a European release in early 2005.
The handheld has seen three redesigns during its lifespan; the smaller Nintendo DS Lite, camera-enabled Nintendo DSi and the larger Nintendo DSi XL.
In 2011 Nintendo launched a successor handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. The platform holder revealed in its fiscal 2013 financial results this morning that 31 million 3DS units have been sold worldwide.

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