I wanted to talk specifically about the following games:

Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition
Assassin's Creed 3
Darksiders 2
Mass Effect 3

I will say flat out that I do think it's awesome that a Nintendo console is getting the above franchises. I'm sure that Batman will have the most appeal, because there has to be some Wii only owners that love Batman, but never got to play Arkham City. Despite its brutality, I'm sure it could even be a big hit for the younger crowd and families, simply because it's Batman.

I could personally see myself checking out Assassin's Creed 3 or Darksiders 2, pending controller usage. AC3 seems to be playing it simple, so it could be cool to experience that on the WiiU. That game looks cool enough that I'm considering checking out AC1 and 2 in preparation. I'm kind of stuck with ME3 on PC having already played the other games on there.

1.) Do you think that these games are coming to WiiU in a smart way? And I don't mean in terms of Gamepad usage (though I think Batman looks like a mess). It would take a lot of effort, but would it be smart for developers to maybe port earlier games in the franchise, and just push back the release of some of these games? Maybe Bioware could do a "Mass Effect Trilogy," or possibly release each game at a discounted price? Would it even be worth Bioware's time to do something like that? What about an Assassin's Creed Collection? An Arkham Aslyum "dynamic duo" pack? It's not uncommon for consoles to get rereleases like this, as we've seen things like Metal Gear Solid, Metroid Prime, God of War, and others get "collected rereleases." Would it be smarter for developers to get Nintendo gamers started off the right way, or is it not worth the time and money?

2.) Is anyone here looking forward to these games on the WiiU? I know Stache might be interested in Batman, seeing as he's strictly a Nintendo gamer. Is anyone else in that same boat? And if you ARE, do those titles appeal to you? Or are you turned off because you haven't played the other games in the series?

I know each of these titles is a different situation (seeing as both Batman and ME3 are older games, while AC3 and Darksiders will be on the newer side), but I'm curious about their appeal. I don't think NW will be a reflection of the market out there, but do you think these games have a chance to sell a good amount of copies? Or are they destined for failure? Will they get lost in the shuffle, or will they stand out because of brand awareness?

One thing is for sure, is that I think these titles stand the best chance at launch. Not just because they're older games, but because as time goes on, people will settle in to the choices they make for each console. With the Wii, I think it became pretty obvious as to which games started selling better. At launch, I think people will be more of the mindset of "I just got this console, and I want to get some games to play on it and show other people." Developers and publishers have the chance to right some wrongs made with the Wii - by showing gamers that a Nintendo console can be home to some 'epic' core gamer experiences.

Anywho, what are your guys' thoughts on them in general?

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Wait, what? Mass Effect 3 is coming to Wii U?!? LOL, why? When was that announced?

@GameDadGrant

It was in the sizzle reel for 3rd party games during Nintendo's E3 press conference.

@TheBigG753

Gotcha. I didn't watch Nintendo E3 conference at all since it was all WiiU stuff.

Kinda crazy they're putting out Mass Effect 3 since it's the last of the trilogy, which is built around all the choices you make throughout the series. One could theoretically play Mass Effect on 360, then Mass Effect 2 on PS3, and finish up with the third on Wii U. Continuity? Up yours, Bioware! LOL

GameDadGrant said:

Wait, what? Mass Effect 3 is coming to Wii U?!? LOL, why?

Because EA bought out Bioware in 2007? EA likes putting their games on every platform they can. I'll bet we see Dragon Age III as well.

I hope ME3 is just a sign that EA will just want to being over as much as possible. I'm super shocked we didn't get a Madden demo at E3 btw.

@Zero
It's not that I'm gagging for Monkey Ball. It's what the lack of Monkey Ball means, symbolically.

I have no problems with sequels this gen since each one has been better than the last. They refine and improve and completely fix any problems with the previous game, so I'm all for it.

@carlosrox Depends on the franchise. Assassin's Creed's history seems a bit spotty. 1 merely got "good" reviews while 2 and Brotherhood were highly praised... and then Revelations (is this the new trendy word for titles?!) is back to merely "good" again. Which I think disappointed a lot of people.

And of course, Ninja Gaiden III.

1.) Do you think that these games are coming to WiiU in a smart way?

I would definitely hope earlier games in the series would find its way to the Wii U eventually. A collection would be awesome. It reminds me of how Sonic Adventure 2 came out first when ported to the GCN, followed later by the first S.A.

2.) Is anyone here looking forward to these games on the WiiU?

Most definitely. Just like @Mr_Mustache, I'm strictly a Nintendo gamer (not necessarily because of 'fanboy-ism' but more because I want to spend my limited game time playing the games I enjoy the most), even though I do have a PS3 (it's my blu-ray player).

These titles appeal to me because I've heard great things about them, and they look like games I would enjoy. I just never bothered checking them out when they first appeared on a non-Nintendo platform, and you can label me hypocritical for having not checked them out before, but it's not like that at all. I will now consider playing them because they appear on the console I primarily game on, and I have some notion of wanting to support developers who put the effort into making a worthwhile game using features that enhance or differentiate the game from the other systems.

I'm not necessarily turned off that I haven't played the other games in the series, especially if it's not really necessary to enjoy the gameplay of the new game. Though I would probably sing a different tune if it were a Nintendo game. Call me biased, it's ok…

I'm not sure how well these games will do, ultimately. I think it really depends on how much extra content the games will truly add and if gamers can be persuaded that the extra content and different way to play is worth their money.

I agree @Pogue, these stand the best chance at launch. It truly is a critical moment in the console's life cycle.

@GameDadGrant

No. Mass Effect I & 2 were impacted by your choices. Lucky, Bioware knew Mass Effect 3 was going to WiiU while making the game so the ending is completely non-reliant on any choices you made.

@Zero

Ninja Gaiden III is an interesting ome for Wii U because it got sucky reviews, I heard Nintendo are now working with Team Ninja to improve the game before it releases on Wii U. The Big N are also publishing it.

Regarding sequels, I'm kind of mystified that Nintendo made a big deal about Darksiders, yet RE6 isn't heading this way. They HAD to have talked to Capcom about bringing that over, right?

I don't even want RE6, but Nintendo has typically been pretty good about getting RE games on their consoles.

@Zero
True, but then look at AC3. It's the first in the series I'm actually interested in. And same with Halo 4. We've gotten to a point now where developers are really learning how to improve on their previous games.

@warerare Hmm... if the game was like mid 7s and stuff I could maybe get more excited, but apparently it's just plain trash on a lot of levels. I'm not sure that they can salvage this one.

@carlosrox I honestly don't follow the series but what is so special about 3 that is more impressive than games like 2 and Brotherhood were at the time? I'm actually curious, because I'll be buying X amount of Wii U games at launch regardless, so if some of the other games I want don't live up, I might end up with this one.

I might get Arkham City, since I've already played Arkham Asylum and haven't played Arkham City yet, but the others I'm not sure about. I've never played an Assassin's Creed game, but I'd want to play through the previous games before moving onto 3. I have no interest in the Darksiders series, and Mass Effect 3 I already played. Even if I hadn't played the Mass Effect games, being able to carry your save data from one game to the next is such a core part of why the series is so good, so playing Mass Effect 3 on the Wii U would force you to miss out on everything regarding that. I think it would be better for EA to release a compilation of all three games on the Wii U, so that people could enjoy the entire series as intended. I don't know think the first Mass Effect being published by Microsoft should be such a problem, since Ninja Gaiden II was also published by Microsoft, yet was ported to the PS3 later on.

Darksiders is pretty neat for those of you who want a dose of Zelda-esque adventure with a ton of exploration and light RPG elements.

If 2 is as good as the first, I'll be happy.

The only one that's being really mishandled I would say is ME3. With that they should have bundled it with ME2 along with the summary DLC from ME1. It's not perfect but it would at least be as whole as an experience as the PS3 gets. Having 3 only though cheapens the game though I think. 1 was linear enough that you could do the summary type thing but I don't see a good way to adequately represent choices made in 1 and 2 in the third as a standalone. That makes the Wii U the worst option for playing that game which is not a good precedent.

Arkham City ties only loosely to Asylum and AC3 is a whole new setting/protagonist for a majority of the game. Darksiders I don't really know too much about.

@warerare
It will be interesting to see if they can 'fix' it. I have my doubts, kind of. It didn't appear that they were making many changes, but we'll see.

@anon_mastermind

I can see not wanting to pay full price for Batman. Why AC3?

@Zero

Two was much better than One, and Bro was better than Two. Rev was on par with Bro, I thought, and the additions were neat but didn't change things as much as the previous sequels.

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