Holiday Games Gift Guide – Wii U December 21, 2012

The Holidays are coming pretty soon and I know that many of you may very well be opening up brand new gifts including a wide range of consoles and handhelds for the first time. However, with a new console or handheld comes the responsiblity to find some of the best games to get for it. The hope is to bring you a list of currently in print brand new games which are either some of the best for the platform or the best deals on the platform that you can easily pick up at the store for a reasonable price, pop it into your new gaming system and enjoy every second of it! So, in the time leading up to Christmas, I’m going to be posting a series of articles for each platform and handheld system currently on the market and tell you what are some of the must-have games for new console owners!

So lets talk about the Wii U. Given the fact that the system has only been out for a little over a month, it doesn’t have as big a gaming library as the other consoles do but it does have an amazing launch lineup with a wide spectrum of good games. If you just got a Wii U, here’s some great games to get for it!

ZombiU – This is without a doubt the third party killer app for the Wii U. I know it had a mixed reception from the critics, but to me it felt like the issues critics had with it were unfounded. It has a pretty steep learning curve, but this is a survival game, not an action game. The developers tried something new and I thought it worked. I also thought the game’s atmosphere was great, not that many games that can capture a great atmosphere like that. You can find it it for $59.99.

New Super Mario Bros U – This is the Mario launch title for the Wii U. A continuation of the highly popular “New” Super Mario Bros series, this game is a throwback to the classic Super Mario Bros platformers of the 2D era. This game is also great to play with friends. If you have some WiiMotes around, you can play levels together with four friends. If you were a fan of any of the New games or fondly look back at games like Super Mario World, give this game a look. It’s $59.99 US.

Nintendo Land – To me, Nintendo Land is just as important to showcase all the capabilities of the Wii U as Wii Sports was to showcase all the capabilities of the Wii was. There’s also games for all your favorite Nintendo icons. Zelda, Mario, Metroid all have their own park rides, and they’re joined by Pikmin, Donkey Kong, and Animal Crossing. Nintendo Land is included free with all Wii U 32GB Deluxe Editions. It is $59.99 US normally. Trust me, get the Deluxe Edition Wii U, its only a $50 premium over the 8GB model and that alone will cover the cost of Nintendo Land, saving you ten dollars and give you a Wii U with a higher memory capacity.

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – If you’ve got yourself a Wii U, don’t get the Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, this is the true Arkham City Game of the Year Edition. Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition comes with ALL the previously released downloadable content for Arkham City, but retools all of its gameplay to take full advantage of the Wii U’s controller. In my opinion, out of all the multiplatform games that was released for the Wii U, this game takes advantage of the Wii U’s controller better than any other multiplatform game did. When you’re done, you’ll never know how you could play the game without it. The game also features exclusive armored suits for Batman and Catwoman, as well as access to the new B-A-T feature during gameplay, making Batman and Catwoman ever more devistating during battle. You can probably find the game for $59.99 US normally, but I’ve seen some stores selling it for $49.99 US for the holidays.

Hope you’ve been enjoying this holiday game guide! More articles will be coming all weekend! Got a lot more platforms coming up!