Wii U: To Download or Not to Download

 So downloading video games is nothing new.  PC has been doing it for a long time and Sony & Microsoft have been doing simultaneous physical copy with downloads for most of its games for years.  Nintendo's Wii U has had a rough year.  It had a decent launch line up; New Super Mario Bros/ Luigi U was the best Mario sidescroller I've played in a long time.  Zombi U got flack when it came out, but an audience of older school gamers that enjoy a challenge have been rewriting those reviews lately.  I played the demo of Zombi U and liked it, but it'll have to wait until I have enough time (about to beat M&L Dream Team).  There wasn't a ton of games launched until Pikmin 3 a monthish ago.

This brings me to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker this week.  Sorry, I meant the digital version of Wind Waker.  My physical copy is preordered (has been paid off for a while), but I have to wait until Thursday to play it.  I didn't order the Ganon figure with it (wasn't available at the time and never got around to upgrading it).  This will not stop with Wind Waker.

Wii Fit U (make fun of me... whatever, I like the Wii Fit series, been busting out jackknives like a beast) comes out on November 1, but the physical copy doesn't drop until mid December.  This being said, the 'demo'(technically it's a full version) of WFU comes out for free on Nov 1.  If you buy a Fit Meter for $20 and synch it up with your Wii U, WFU is free.  This has a time limit, but you get the game free.  This isn't even a contest, that's a digital version for basically all early adopters.  That's a huge deal. For everyone else it's $60 or $90 with the balance board.  $20!!!!!! In case you're confused about what a Fit Meter is:

Also Wii Sports Club are releasing Wii Sports games for download only for now. Each Sport is seperate, but is in HD (for what that's worth) and it had online play and league options, which is cool.  I heart Bowling, so that's a day 1 buy and at $10 a sport, getting the one sport you like isn't that big of a deal.  I think they either need a physical copy with a Wii U bundle or with all 5 sports installed in the Wii U in the box at the store from the get go.  This would sell Wii U's like... well Wiis.

I'm surprised there was basically no coverage of this on the main gaming sites.  Nintendo is giving away a free fucking game.  A game in a series that made them a shit ton of money on the Wii.  I know GTAV came out, but really?  IGN's article was buried in its Wii U section and not on the main site that I could find when this broke.

All of that aside, if Nintendo gets its ass in gear and create online accounts that link the games to my profile and not my console, I may be a download adopter faster than I thought.  I thought I was going to have to be forced into it, but if I can't play Super Mario 3D World on Day 1 unless I download... well, looks like I'll be downloading.

I mean the strategy makes sense.  It takes time to burn the discs, package and ship them.  Downloading cuts that entire process out.  And of all companies, Nintendo embraces this first.  The company that had the worst online of the last generation steps up to the plate with a decent console, good online, quick loading and pre-physical copy digital downloads?  I know that the Wii U won't measure up graphically to XBone and PS4, but if they start dropping boss games (the next year looks good for the Big N in that dept).  Graphics aren't everything (the Wii had its share of awesome games).  There are at least a dozen Nintendo franchises that haven't touched HD yet.  I had one friend buy a Wii U yesterday and another one strongly considering it (I don't have a ton of friends, so that's a lot... wow that sounded pathetic...umm.. I work 3rd shift, my own family doesn't really try to see me around my schedule, so the friends that do are awesome).

If I can count of keeping my games if my Wii U/3DS breaks down, my physcial collection may end up consisting of classic games only or games that I get used a bit after release (like Zombi U).  I think this is just up the individual.  Nintendo may thrust us dinosaurs into the digital only realm faster than we thought, but maybe that's not an all together bad thing.