Wii U News, Videos & Reviews

Super Mario Maker is the perfect playground for sadists

When Nintendo first unveiled Mario Maker (now officially called Super Mario Maker), it sounded like the game longtime players have always wanted — but perhaps never known they wanted. Rather than dash through levels designed by Nintendo itself, Mario Maker hands the keys over to the players. Go forth, mushroom apprentices, and build. The game's premise suggests that Nintendo wants you to believe that Super Mario Maker is all about creativity. By my experiences, this is patently false. The key to Super Mario Maker is to actually be a master troll. Super Mario Maker sees you mapping out every inch of a level in the style of several Mario games, from the very first Super Mario Bros. released in the mid-'80s to New Super Mario Bros. U in 2012. This means that you can change the general...

Guitar Hero Live wants to immerse you in music with always-on Guitar Hero TV

By Samit Sarkar at 1:21p 06.16.15

To hear Activision and FreeStyleGames tell it, everything in Guitar Hero Live — which launches Oct. 20 on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, as well as unspecified mobile devices — is designed with an eye toward the present and the future.Guitar Hero Live is built to take advantage of modern internet-connected gaming hardware; built to capitalize on new monetization methods; built for the way people consume music in 2015, as opposed to when the series debuted a decade ago. During a pre-E3 demo of the game in New York earlier this month, it became clear that that's a double-edged sword. This demo focused on Guitar Hero TV, the half of Guitar Hero Live that isn't the standard campaign. GHTV is a live service with a full schedule of music "programming," and...

Issue 07

June 8, 2015

The race for VR

By Matt Leone

Exclusive coverage of some of the most exciting game studios working in virtual reality.

The 8-bit Mario amiibo is amazing

By Ben Kuchera at 12:53p 06.16.15

Just in case the demand for Nintendo's amiibo wasn't crazy enough, here's the upcoming 8-bit Mario toy. It will make your in-game Mario in Mario Maker larger when used. And it's amazing. I have nothing to add to this post other than my own personal naked desire.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash coming to Wii U this holiday season

By Samit Sarkar at 12:47p 06.16.15

Mario and his friends are returning to the tennis court in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, which is scheduled for release this holiday season on Wii U, Nintendo announced today during its E3 Digital Event. Nintendo showed a brief trailer during the presentation in which characters like Mario and Peach turned into giant versions of themselves for super shots. The last Mario Tennis game was 2012's Mario Tennis Open, which launched on Nintendo 3DS.

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Super Mario Maker coming Sept. 11

By Justin McElroy at 12:46p 06.16.15

If you've ever played a Mario Bros. game and thought "I'd love to take this delightful experience and make a sadistic mirror world version of this," you won't have to wait much longer. Nintendo announced today that Super Mario Maker will give you your shot on Sept. 11. The game also, unsurprisingly, features amiibo support, including the ability to play as Kirby and the Wii Fit Trainer. See some players at the Nintendo World Championships get destroyed by Super Mario Maker right here.

Here's a new trailer for Fire Emblem Shin Megami Tensei

By Christopher Grant at 12:45p 06.16.15

After being announced in 2013, and making a reappearance in April, the Wii U's Shin Megami Tensei / Fire Emblem mashup made another appearance during Nintendo's E3 Nintendo Direct. The game is being developed by both franchise's respective developers, Atlus and Intelligent Systems and has a new name. It's no longer Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem but rather Fire Emblem Shin Megami Tensei and to celebrate, Nintendo released a new trailer above. Shin Megami Tensei arrives in North America in 2016.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival coming to Wii U, plus four new Animal Crossing amiibo

By Samit Sarkar at 12:35p 06.16.15

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, a Mario Party-like virtual board game, is coming to Wii U this holiday season, Nintendo announced today during its E3 Digital Event. Nintendo is producing four new Animal Crossing amiibo alongside the game: Isabelle, Tom Nook, KK Slider and Mabel.

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Bloodborne
- Platforms: PS4
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Developer: From Software
- Release Date: 2015-03-24
Review | More
Destiny
- Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3
- Publisher: Activision
- Developer: Bungie
- Release Date: 2014-09-09
Review | More
Mortal Kombat X
- Platforms: PS4, PS3, Win, Xbox One, 360
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: NetherRealm Studios
- Release Date: 2015-04-14
Review | More
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
- Platforms: Win, PS4, Xbox One
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
- Developer: MachineGames
- Release Date: 2015-05-05

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Xenoblade Chronicles X launches in the west Dec. 4

By Owen S. Good at 12:30p 06.16.15

Xenoblade Chronicles X will launch on Wii U on Dec. 4, 2015, Nintendo announced today in its special E3 Nintendo Direct. The game was formally announced in an April Nintendo Direct focusing exclusively on it. Xenoblade Chronicles X is Monolith Soft's spiritual sucessor to 2010's Xenoblade Chronicles. Xenoblade Chronicles X launched in Japan on April 29. In the game, players will explore a world with five expansive continents, which span great deserts, tundras, lava-soaked fire pits and more. Along the way, players will hunt for Lifeholds — shelters that broke off from the downed ship — to rescue those inside. Xenoblade Chronicles X also allows players to pilot Skells, giant mechs that can fly, drive and more through the world.

Nintendo characters appearing in Skylanders SuperChargers as hybrid amiibo figures

By Samit Sarkar at 12:16p 06.16.15

Skylanders SuperChargers will bring amiibo into the Skylanders universe for the first time, Nintendo and developer Vicarious Visions announced today during Nintendo's E3 Digital Event. Donkey Kong and Bowser will appear in SuperChargers as toys that are both Skylanders figures and amiibo. Turbo Charge Donkey Kong will have his own vehicle, the Barrel Blaster, which is a new feature for the Skylanders series this year. Hammer Slam Bowser is the other figure. The figures have "complete move sets and upgrade trees of powers and abilities," said Vicarious Visions co-CEO Karthik Bala. The base of each figure is designed to allow it to be used as both a Skylander and an amiibo. You can check out the SuperChargers segment of the E3 Digital Event below. For more on Skylanders SuperChargers,...

Star Fox Zero is coming to the Wii U this holiday season

By Ben Kuchera at 12:10p 06.16.15

Nintendo showed off Star Fox content last year as a tech demo, but during this morning's Nintendo Direct the company announced that the game is coming to the Wii U this holiday season. The television will show a wider view of the world, while the game pad will allow you to aim carefully and see the environments from the cockpit. There is only one button to fire weapons, and the rest of the buttons will make the Arwing transform into a walker, "landmaster," or "gyrowing," flip or perform a U-turn. It's not a sequel, and it's not a remake, which is why they call it Star Fox Zero.

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How a French studio set out to make the next great Japanese RPG

by Philip Kollar

Feature

True artificial intelligence coming to Space Engineers thanks to new research company

by Charlie Hall

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Polygon's Destiny thread for the week of June 9th: Variks Still On That Pure Strength and Shank Burn Edition

in Destiny by alexiddqd

Nintendo offers nine free Wii U indie demos during E3

By Colin Campbell on Jun 15, 2015 06.15.15

Wii U owners can download free demos of nine independent games from the Nintendo eShop during E3 week. The Nindies@Home program allows anyone with a Wii U and an eShop account to download the demos from now until June 22. Once the full games launch, players who downloaded the demos are offered a month-long 15 percent discount on the final product. The games on offer are: Paranormal platformer Extreme Exorcism from Ripstone Sci-fi exploration forma.8 from Mixed Bag Cartoon combat game Freedom Planet from GalaxyTrail First-person shooter Lovely Planet (pictured) from tinybuild and Qucktequila Dimension-bending platformer Mutant Mudds Super Challenge from Renegade Kid Old school robot shooter Rive from Two Tribes Multiplayer color-adventure Runbow from 13AM Games Psychological...

Nintendo World Championships was the best E3 kick-off we could have hoped for

By Philip Kollar on Jun 15, 2015 06.15.15

What comes to mind when you think of E3? As someone who's now attended seven consecutive E3s in person and has been watching and reading coverage of them for years before that, increasingly E3 has become about hype. And, hey, I love hype. I love getting excited for new games. But the kind of hype that comes out of regular press events, like the ones that will be happening over the next few days —that hype can feel incredibly manufactured. Just look at how these press events are structured: You get some executive or, if you're lucky, a lead designer up on stage. They brag about the numbers behind their latest success. They mention the name of a popular franchise or upcoming game. The crowd cheers. They play a trailer or a short demo. They tell you when you can go to the store and...

Nintendo's cruel, perverse remix of Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 is mandatory E3 viewing

By Nick Robinson on Jun 15, 2015 06.15.15

While E3 might not officially kick off for another two days, things have already started popping off here in Los Angeles, with both Bethesda's first ever E3 press conference and the freshly revived Nintendo World Championship rounding out Sunday night's festivities. While Bethesda's event was actually something of a known quantity, Nintendo's was much more mysterious, resulting in a few major reveals — namely, two new game announcements in Earthbound Beginnings and Blast Ball, and a final round of competition featuring the newly retitled Super Mario Maker. Starting at the 3:34:00 mark above, watch nearly 40 minutes of Super Mario Maker gameplay from tonight's event, beginning with a remake of the iconic World 1-1 stage from the original Super Mario Bros. that quickly derails into a...

Nintendo brings Mother to Virtual Console as Earthbound Beginnings — it's available today

By Michael McWhertor and Arthur Gies on Jun 14, 2015 06.14.15

At this year's Nintendo World Championships, Nintendo announced that Wii U owners would be able to get their hands on an EarthBound Beginnings, a Virtual Console re-release of the original game in the EarthBound franchise, Mother. This will be the first time North American EarthBound fans will be able to get their hands on an official translation of the game. It originally released as Mother on the Nintendo Famicom in Japan. Nintendo had more good news for EarthBound/Mother fans as well, as the publisher announced that the game would be available today from the Wii U eShop at 6 p.m. PT. Mother was first released in 1989 and later released for Game Boy Advance as part of a compilation, Mother 1+2, in 2003. Nintendo released the sequel to Mother, known as EarthBound, for the North...

Old Nintendo friends among seven new amiibo coming this fall

By Owen S. Good on Jun 14, 2015 06.14.15

R.O.B., Duck Hunt's dog and duck, Mr. Game & Watch and Falco from Star Fox will be available as amiibo this September, Nintendo said today during its E3/Super Smash Bros. update presentation. They will be joined by three Mii fighter amiibo — a brawler, sword fighter and gunner. Eventually all 51 fighters in the Super Smash Bros. roster, on both platforms, will be released as amiibo, Nintendo said. That means Roy from Fire Emblem and Ryu from Street Fighter, announced as new characters in an update live now, also are in development as amiibo. The entire 20-minute presentation is embedded below.

Super Smash Bros. adds Roy and Ryu to the roster today

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Jun 14, 2015 06.14.15

As was rumored yesterday, Roy from Fire Emblem and Ryu from Street Fighter will be among characters coming to Super Smash Bros., Nintendo said this morning in a pre-E3 event. Roy and Ryu are available now, along with Lucas. Roy and Lucas are available separately for $3.99 on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, or $4.99 on both. Ryu, meanwhile, also includes Suzaku Castle as a fighting stage on both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS; Ryu and his stage are available for $5.99, or for $6.99 for both systems. Ryu's moves have been updated for the game, but he will have some classic attacks as well, such as Shoryuken. The update will also feature themes for Ryu and Ken, remixed for the game with alternate versions as the round approaches the end. The update mistakenly pushed out early, but before Nintendo...

Minimap June 13: YouTube gaming, Tarantino, PS Mobile's last game, Bloodstained, Dota 2, Ryu in Smash Bros.

By Dave Tach on Jun 13, 2015 06.13.15

Welcome to Polygon Minimap, a podcast about the biggest news of the day. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe to the podcast (RSS) Download this episode directly as an MP3 Minimap is your daily audio tour through the world of video games, related technologies and pop culture like comics, movies and TV. Here's what we're covering today: THE BIG STORIES YouTube launching its own dedicated gaming app and website, YouTube Gaming Double Dragon and other Technos brands acquired by Arc System Works (update) Scalebound and Crackdown for Xbox One skipping E3, will show up at Gamescom Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight will hit theaters this Christmas Oh Deer!, the last PlayStation Mobile game, will have a weird, short life Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter closes with...

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Roy and Ryu video found in next Smash Bros. update

By Owen S. Good on Jun 13, 2015 06.13.15

Apparently confirming rumors from April, video from the latest Super Smash Bros. update on Wii U depicts Roy from Fire Emblem (above) and Ryu of Street Fighter (below) as new fighters available for the series. Two YouTubers — TripleXero and MemeScreen — posted these videos early this morning, saying they were mined out of the Smash update which briefly released ahead of time. The videos were later taken down from YouTube. We've hosted copies of them here. Miners said that the update also includes audio files of Xander calling our Ryu, Roy and Lucas, crowd chants for Ryu and Roy, and Kirby shouting "Hadouken!" They also found images of Ryu's Street Fighter 2 stage for the game (below) and the official render of Ryu. In April, data miners found sound files from the 3DS...

Yep, this Yoshi's Woolly World gameplay trailer confirms everything is still adorable

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Jun 12, 2015 06.12.15

There's a new trailer for Yoshi's Woolly World, courtesy of Nintendo UK, and it has a lot of warm fuzzies to share. Yoshi munches on enemies, creates yarn eggs and bounces around woolly environments in an effort to save his pals. The video also offers a look at power badges, mellow mode and amiibo. Check it out above. Yoshi's Woolly World launches on the Wii U in the U.K. June 26. The game is expected to head to North America this fall.

The big games of E3 2015

By Dave Tach on Jun 12, 2015 06.12.15

E3 2015 is just days away. Officially, it runs from June 16–18, although developers and publishers don't have to wait for then to start making news. But with so much expected to be announced, how do you keep it all straight? We're here to help. What follows is a list of the biggest games likely to become even bigger next week. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Call of Duty is returning to its most successful sub-franchise this year with developer Treyarch's Black Ops 3. Originally announced for a Nov. 11 release on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One, it's also coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, thanks to developers Beenox and Mercenary Technology. Following in the footsteps of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Black Ops 3 is set in the future, where cybernetics change war. D...

Disney Infinity 3.0 adds Star Wars Rebels to its lineup

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Jun 12, 2015 06.12.15

Disney Infinity 3.0 is adding four characters from Star Wars Rebels, the animated TV show, Disney Interactive announced today. The four characters are Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren and Zeb Orrelios. Ezra is the Padawan of Kanan, a Jedi turned rebel fugitive. Both use their lightsabers and the Force when in trouble. Sabine uses blasters and is talented in demolitions, while Zeb is a brawler. "In an effort to thwart the evil plans of the Galactic Empire, these characters are key players in the fight against the forces of the dark side, providing a unique addition to the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition experience," the announcement reads. Disney Infinity 3.0 and its starter pack, which includes a base, the Star Wars: Twilight of the Republic play set and more, launch this fall....

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