My Top Ten For Wii U

We all know that software is king. If you don’t believe that just read through all the comments in the Xenoblade/Last Story/Pandora’s Tower posts we’ve been making this past week. No matter how fancy the hardware is, no matter how great the graphics are (though I do love nice graphics), no matter how great the online system is (though I would love for Nintendo to avoid a PSN episode), nothing matters if the games aren’t good. The most important factor when console shopping is always going to be: what games can I play on it?

So ever since we heard the first rumors of a new Nintendo console earlier this year, and ever since it’s unveiling at E3, I haven’t stopped thinking about what games I want to play on Nintendo in the next generation of video games.

Big surprise there. Let’s just get this one out of the way now. Obviously the game I want most is going to be Zelda; the name of this website is Zelda Informer after all.

But in all seriousness if Zelda Wii U is going to look anything like the test we saw at E3, then when we see that first trailer my reaction will be on par to this audience:

Yes, you heard me, I want to have the biggest E3 moment ever topped. As for what I expect from the game, that’s for another day (when we actually know anything about it besides the fact that it’ll be on the Wii U).

We know that a Metroid game for the Wii U is in the cards. However, after Metroid, the Other M this series needs to redeem itself. Before E3 we thought that Other M had killed the franchise, and that it was going to go on the shelf.

Now I’ll admit, when Other M was first shown, at E3 a few years back, I flipped out. The game looked so cool, and the way that they were combining so many different styles of gameplay made me more than a little excited. However, the characterization of Samus Aran, among other things, killed this game.

The Metroid Wii U team will have to completly rehaul the series. They’ll have to go back to square one and figure out how a good Metroid game ticks. Furthermore, the team will have to pull from all sorts of inspiration sources to give the franchise a new edge. I personally wouldn’t mind the franchise turning towards a more sci-fi thriller approach; something along the lines of the original Alien movie. I want them to try and scare us.

Metroid Wii U needs to restore Samus Aran’s reputation as the most bad-ass bounty hunter this side of the galaxy. I also wouldn’t mind using the new controller to fly the gunship.

One of the greatest crimes of the Wii is that it scared off the Rogue Squadron team, who declared that the Wii was too much of a Gamecube 1.5 to bother with. Everybody love Star Wars (not the prequels you fools!), and we all are still waiting for the perfect Star Wars game. While Rogue Squadron never made you feel like a Jedi, it did make you feel like some high quality Rebel Scum.

I can really see this franchise taking advantage of the Wii U controleer, and I would love another excuse to blow up the Death Star.

As an artist who uses a wacom tablet constantly, I was mostly amused by the drawing demonstration that was featured in the Wii U E3 trailer. The controller clearly isn’t meant for any serious artwork, but does show a decent sensitivity range for gaming. After my initial amusement, my next thought was that the Wii U would be an awesome platform for Okami.

Now for those of you not familiar with Okami, what’s wrong with you, the gameplay relies on an ink mode where you draw on the screen using the Wii mote. For example, you want to attack an enemy you draw a slash line over them. This invokes a sword-like attack. It’s a pretty fluid system, save the fact that the game wouldn’t always recognize that the circle I was drawing was a circle. The Wii U fixes that.

I would be happy with just a port of the orginal game, since not enough people have played it and because I didn’t find it’s sequel, Okami-den, particularly appealing. However, if Capcom were to put out a high-quality sequel to the orignal game, I’d be nothing short of thrilled.

No, I don’t want a Half-Life 3, nor do I want a Portal 3. I want a brand new title from Valve that is just as revolutionary and loved as either of those two franchises.

I know that it’s a lot to ask, but I wouldn’t ask it if I didn’t think Valve could pull it off. I remember when Half-Life first came out for the PC; I want to have a similar experience on the Wii U.

Smash Brothers has always been great, and there’s no denying the excitement that rumbled through the Nintendo fandom when a Wii U version was mentioned at E3. I’m really excited for the online possibilities associated with this game and its 3DS counterpart. I hope it finds a way to stand out from the previous smash games.

The last real new Nintendo franchise was Pikmin on the Gamecube. We all will continue to buy the Nintendo characters we already know and love, but let’s add some new members to the family.

Square Enix needs to remember how to make goods games, and Nintendo of America needs to stop holding back the good RPGs from the so-called shooter-obsessed Americans. If this week hasn’t made it abundantly clear, we want more RPGs and we don’t want them to just look pretty (Final Fantasy XIII), though we wouldn’t mind the pretty, especially since the Wii U can deliver the pretty.

I love that Star Fox 64 is getting a revamp on the Nintendo 3DS, but can we have some Star Fox love on the Wii U too? The 3DS release will certainly create interest in the younger generation of gamers, and they’ll be wanting to see more. If Star Fox does make an appearance on the Wii U, let’s hope it harkens back to its flight-combat roots, while making a happy marriage with elements from games like Adventures.

Obviously we’re NEVER going to get another company’s first-party software released on a rival company’s platform. I just love Team Ico’s games, especially Shadow of the Colossus, and would love to have games of a similar style and genre on the Nintendo. It’d give the Wii U a nice and mature edge. In the meantime, I will eagerly await a chance to steal my friend’s PS3 to play The Last Guardian (if it ever comes out).

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So there’s my ten most wanted games, for the moment. I’m sure my thoughts will change over the next month or two, but these are games I’m thinking about now.

So dear readers, what games do you want to play on the Wii U?