This is the week when all of the WiiU Launch titles drop, so we’ve got a bit to get through. First up, of course, is New Super Mario Bros. U, which sounds like a place to take Mushroom Identification 101, but is in fact the new Mario platformer, which takes advantage of all the goodies going on with the WiiU controller (henceforth known as the WiimUte). Additional players can either join in the jumping action, or poke the WiimUte screen to add and remove blocks to help and hinder the other players. As usual, it will be an eight-world, princess-rescuing adventure with fire-flowers and whatever, but there will also be some new power-ups. If the game is half as fun to play with your friends as Super Mario Bros. Wii was, then it will be the most fun Nintendo game to play with your friends except for Super Mario Bros. Wii. (Ed. note: I’ve played it and it is extremely fun).
ZombiU is a survival-horror-humor game. Set in London during a Zombie outbreak, the player takes on the role of one of a number of survivors camped out in an impenetrable shelter, and who has been asked to go out and face the horde of risen Londoners. If the player’s character dies, that’s it. The player then takes on the next survivor who is sent out, and if he/she wants the stuff they collected in their other persona, they’ve got to go find the poor bastard, and rekill him/her – who is now a zombie, of course—to take it. The WiimUte will do a whole bunch of stuff, including serve as the player’s inventory management screen, forcing the player to literally look away from the screen to search around in their backpack. Online multiplayer allows you to try to survive as a team (or leave your buddy to get eaten by freaks, so that you can take his cool flashlight).
Continuing the Scribblenauts tradition of making each game a thousand times more impressively verbose, when you already thought that the limits of inclusion were being pushed by the previous game, Scribblenauts Unlimited has yet more ways to resolve situations than the addition of adjectives allowed in Super Scribblenauts. The new game adds compound nouns, allowing the player to create objects that are combinations of other nouns with adjectives. Want a blue t-rex with giant wings and a head-mounted laser-rifle? Sure thing. The game will also be more adventure oriented—rather than distinct puzzles—and some of the lore of the world will be revealed. The WiimUte will serve as a keyboard and design screen for compound creations, which can be saved for reuse. Also, that little icon over there isn’t a mistake, the game is also coming to Windows. Maybe they’ll port the first two games over too. That would be rad.
More surprising is the release platforms for Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, considering the original Epic Mickey was also only released on Nintendo. This one will see the introduction of a new playable character in Oswald, who will use his remote control in much the way Mickey uses his brush. The gameplay is mostly the same as the first one, but we can hope that the terrible camera has been fixed. Epic Mickey is best Mickey, but Epic Mickey failed as a game due to controls and camera problems. But that’s enough about WiiU’s launch titles…
If Super Mario Bros. Wii was the most fun Wii game to play with your friends, then Super Paper Mario was the most fun single-player game. Paper Mario: Sticker Star on the 3DS is the sequel. Get it. I don’t know why you’re still reading this paragraph like I’m going to say something else about it. I think I’ve made my point here.
The Icrontic Spotlight this week illuminates the pages of… wait… pages? Okay, so Wonderbook: Book of Spells isn’t really a game. Technically, it’s a multi-media, augmented reality experience, or a ‘virtualized book’ if you prefer. The main component of the experience is a new book by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, written under the in-canon pseudonym, Miranda Goshawk, and presented as being over two centuries old. The Book of Spells contains no narrative. Instead it is a textbook for wizards, describing the nature, history, and methodology for the spells of the Harry Potter universe. Books from the wizarding world are supposed to be more animated and interactive than muggle books, however, and so this one is. That’s where Sony’s Wonderbook software comes in. The physical book contains no text or images, but if the reader points the PlayStation Eye at the pages of the book, text, voices, and animations will show up on the screen. Readers will be able to interact with Goshawk, read and watch stories about the spells, and even practice the casting of the spells using the PlayStation Move controller like a wand. Also, readers will be able to link their Book of Spells progress to their Pottermore account to show off how many spells they’ve learned to the other members of the Harry Potter fan community. This is some deft multi-media entertainment, and while I’m not really into Harry Potter enough for this one to grab me, I’m very interested to see what comes next for the Wonderbook technology.
Following is a full list of this week’s announced North American releases:
Windows
- Angry Birds Star Wars
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- F1 Race Stars
- Magical Drop V
- Scribblenauts Unlimited
Wii
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Big Time Rush: Dance Party
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- Monster High Skultimate Roller Maze
- The Hip Hop Dance Experience
- Victorious: Taking the Lead
- Sengoku 2 (VC)
WiiU
- 007 Legends
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- ESPN Sports Connection
- Funky Barn
- Game Party Champions
- Little Inferno
- Madden NFL 13
- New Super Mario Bros. U
- Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
- Nintendo Land
- Puddle
- Scribblenauts Unlimited
- SiNG Party
- Tank! Tank! Tank!
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition
- Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
- Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
- ZombiU
DS
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Big Time Rush: Backstage Pass
- Monster High Skultimate Roller Maze
- Victorious: Taking the Lead
3DS
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion
- Monster Shooter
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star
- Rabbids Rumble
Xbox 360
- Ben 10: Omniverse
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- F1 Race Stars
- Power Rangers Super Samurai
- The Hip Hop Dance Experience
PS3
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- en 10: Omniverse
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- F1 Race Stars
- Wonderbook: Book of Spells
Vita
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified
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