Wrapping Up Nintendo Special Edition: The Crazy Announcement Week

Welcome to a very special edition of Wrapping Up Nintendo.  This time, it's not a Nintendo Direct I'm wrapping up, but actually a serious tsunami of Nintendo goodness.  I'll give you all my thoughts on ALL the crazy news.

First, is the most ridiculous bit of news: A 3DS without the 3D slider at all (and without the flimsy hinge) that is called Nintendo 2DS. I can already see confusion amongst parents, BUT if Nintendo markets it right, it will become a surprise hit.  I figured Nintendo would do something like this sometime, but to put it out for $129 on the same day as Pokemon X and Pokemon Y was actually a stroke of genius.  The design's really cool (almost like a 7-inch Nintendo tablet of sorts), and I love the fact there is not a flimsy hinge that'd break the first time you looked at it funny.  I even like the specially made case, except I think that's sort of stupid of Nintendo not to include it with the device itself.  But hey, an extra $13 or so isn't THAT bad.  It could be worse, Nintendo could've seen fit to charge $30 for it.

Second is the long-awaited Wii U price cut!!   $300 for the Wii U Deluxe as of September 20th, plus a Wind Waker HD bundle!!  Should've been that way all along, with no basic version to speak of.  I know certain folks would've wanted the white one but I don't think they should have paid the same price for the Wii U Basic as the Wii U Deluxe will be priced at come September 20th.

Third, and last for today, is all the crazy release news bits.

First, first party Wii U game releases that were dated this week:

• Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will be available digitally September 20th (same day as the Zelda Wind Waker HD bundle), and physically on October 4th with a Ganondorf figure only at GameStop, all priced at $50.
• Wii U Party drops October 25th with a Wii Remote Plus bundled in for $50.  Good going, Nintendo.
• Super Mario 3D World drops November 22nd for $60, which is a red letter day for all Nintendo fans' wallets apparently.
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze drops December 6th for $50.  (FYI, it's St. Nicholas Day for those who celebrate it, whether in Germany or elsewhere.)

Next, first party Wii U games that were NOT dated this week but are still slated for this holiday:

• Wii Fit U is still slated for a holiday launch.  Here's hoping it comes soon because I have gone ahead and asked for a Wii U for Christmas.  Yeah yeah I know it's too early to think about Christmas, but I mean come on, it's not like we haven't all thought about that.
• Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is also slated to launch this holiday but they have not given a specific date yet.  I won't watch the Olympics this time I don't think, I'll be happier playing this video game instead. :)

And finally, the 2 3DS/2DS game releases that were dated this week:

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Comes out November 22nd for $40.
• Mario Party: Island Tour comes out November 22nd as well for $40.

I'm so glad to get this out of the way.  I'm so glad that this happened, even without a Direct, and now we'll probably get another Direct closer to the release of Pokemon X & Y detailing more stuff.  I can't wait!