OK… so who is actually excited about playing the Wii U? Following Nintendo’s fairly mediocre display at E3 2012 and the casual-friendly nature other Wii, I feel that the Wii U has been met by a slightly lukewarm reception.

Even I am having some doubts, and I have owned pretty much every Nintendo console since the SNES (I even bought a 3DS at launch).

But we shouldn’t be worried… it’s Nintendo! We should show some faith in the developer that has brought us classic franchises like Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. So let us look forward to the Wii U, and get excited for the big N’s latest offering!

Price and Release Date

Right, let’s get this stuff out-of-the-way with first. Basically, there is nothing particularly concrete about the release date or the price of the Wii U, but we can certainly speculate.

When questioned, Nintendo stated that they were looking at the “holiday 2012” release window. Recently, Amazon’s German website posted a listing for the Wii U that claimed that the console will be available from the 21^st December. Although this may be subject to change, it is easy to imagine that Nintendo will have their console in store in time for Christmas.

Nintendo has also refused to confirm a price for the Wii U, although many retailers are guessing that it will be around the £300 mark. Shopto.net, for instance, has listed the console for £279.85, while Blockbusters pre-order price is at £299.99.

The Games

Fans expecting a Zelda HD or a Super Mario U(niverse) may be a bit disappointed by the launch line-up, but I think it’s fairly decent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sure that there is a true “system seller” within the release catalogue, but some of the titles look pretty interesting.

Personally, I really like the look of Pikmin 3. Of all of the first-party developed Wii U titles, Pikmin is definitely the prettiest game and it certainly shows us what the Wii U engine is capable of.

Despite the new lick of paint, the game will be instantly familiar to fans of the previous two games, with red, blue, and yellow Pikmin all making an appearance. There will also be the brand-new Rock Pikmin that can be used to smash crystals and even armour. We are still yet to hear about the white and purple Pikmin, but I’m sure they’ll be in the game.

Yet the most disappointing thing about the Pikmin 3 demo was that the players were using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. This reduced the Game Pad to a secondary role, where it simply displayed a 2D map.

Although I do enjoy the Pikmin series, and I’m sure that Pikmin 3 will be a good game, I’m not sure that it will make much use of the Wii U’s new features.

Perhaps the only Wii U launch titles that makes intelligent use of the Wii U’s hardware is Zombi U. This Wii U exclusive came as a real pleasant surprise, as the E3 footage and press reaction was generally very good.

As many of you may know, the game is set in post-apocalyptic London, where a virus called the “Second Black Plague” has turned the population into shambling zombies. And they’re after blood… preferably yours.

The good thing about this game is that Ubisoft has gone for scares as opposed to mindless action. Simply put, Zombi U is a survival horror game, which means that you need to carefully plan all of you moves in order to save ammo and survive. So you can’t just run around dropping zombies left, right and centre.

Again, I really like the look of Zombi U, and I can’t wait to see the final version of this game.

Other Wii U games that are shaping up nicely include Rayman Legends, Project P-100, and Game & Wario. Oh… and that Mario guy also has a game coming out, it’s called New Super Mario Bros U.

What do you think about the Wii U? Are you going to get it? Also, what games are you looking forward to playing? Let us know in the comments below…