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It’s that time of the year again. No, not fall. I mean, that’s technically what the season is called, and sure, there are leaves falling and all that good stuff. What I’m talking about, though, is the autumnal beast known as the holiday release season. Game after game after game after game makes its way to the market starting from September into December, but it’s right around November when things really start to go nuts. From 3DS to Wii U (and the distinguished competition, who we shall not mention), every platform that plays games becomes host to an endless parade of new and returning faces. Let’s take a peek at what has and will be coming out for Nintendo systems leading up to the end of the year. I know that some folks don’t snag everything when it comes out, so I’ve listed a couple titles that have been out for a bit because it’s highly likely they’ll be going into someone’s stocking.
Wii U
- Bayonetta 2 (October 24)
- LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (November 11)
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (November 18)
- Watch Dogs (November 18)
- Super Smash Bros. (November 21)
- Amiibo (November 21)
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (December 5)
- NES Remix Pack (December 5)
3DS
- Super Smash Bros. (September 13)
- Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (November 4)
- Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (November 11)
- Pokémon Omega Ruby (November 21)
- Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (November 21)
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (November 25)
- Ultimate NES Remix (December 5)
Wow! Talk about a lot of games! This list doesn’t even cover all the digital titles coming, too. It’s an exciting time of year for gamers, but it’s an expensive one, too. It can be disheartening looking at all these titles and having to decide what’s worth a purchase. Though we can’t definitively dictate what should and shouldn’t be purchased, let’s try to break things down from a different perspective than normal. Rather than rank titles from must-have to low priority based on quality, let’s base it instead on practicality!
Take Amiibo, for instance. Nintendo’s line of figurines is slated to release alongside Super Smash Bros. on Wii U, but fans were thrown for a loop recently when Satoru Iwata declared that not all of the lineup will be sticking around for the long-term. Some Amiibos, once sold out, will not return, but sadly Iwata failed to specify which ones. For completionists that can be a bit maddening, especially if money is tight and it’ll be impossible to pick them all up at once.
Iwata did offer some insight into which of the figures will return, noting that shelf-space was the main motivator for limiting which Amiibos will make a comeback. Though it seems likely that fan demand will play some role in which figures come and go, it seems reasonable to expect that Mario, Link, and Pikachu would remain after their initial run sells out. Those three are some of the most prominent figures in Nintendo’s marketing materials across all media, so it would be odd if they were one-offs. That being said, there’s no way of knowing for sure which Amiibo to bank on being evergreen, so use your instincts and choose carefully!
Between Ultimate NES Remix on 3DS and NES Remix Pack on Wii U, it’s hard to say which should take priority. For those who have both NES Remix games on Wii U, the Remix Pack is simply both of those titles on a disc. So, if you’re already got them, be forewarned that you’d be buying them again. Ultimate NES Remix on 3DS, however, is the first time that series has appeared on the portable…which would be a little more exciting if it were the full experience that Remix Pack is bringing to the table– Ultimate NES Remix is a truncated version of both games, offering a sort of greatest hits assemblage of pieces from NES Remix 1 and 2. Either one should be fun, but choose knowing exactly what’s coming in each box!
Finally, there is something to be said of scarcity– namely, the games that will be fetching ungodly sums of cash on eBay after not too long. Persona Q will likely be pretty hard to come by once it launches, and anyone interested would do well to camp out their local game store for the game. So if it comes down to picking between either of the Pokémon games and Persona Q, just keep this in mind: Pokémon is going to be on shelves for quite a long time after launch day, but Persona Q most certainly will not, or at least not in as much abundance. Especially the collector’s edition!
Every fall is an exciting time for gamers, and 2014 is no different. Hopefully our primer here has helped give some direction and insight to those who need it. We’ll be back soon with a more thorough holiday buyer’s guide as we get closer to December, but in the meantime, hopefully this will help get some of you on the right path. No matter what, have fun if you have the chance to play any of these titles!
