The Nintendo Wii U roster grows with Mass Effect 3

By: Musa Afridi

  |   August 30th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

BioWare has confirmed that they are busy with Straight Right, an Australian developer, to bring the final chapter of Sam Shepard’s trilogy on to the Wii U.

It may not be the huge new game announcement that prospective Wii U owners will have been hoping for but it seems that Nintendo is continuing its trend of playing it safe and bringing solid existing titles on to their platform.

The move seems to be in order to attract the attention of core gamers and make then consider picking up a Nintendo console as their primary means of gaming. The Nintendo Wii may have sold like warm cakes and hot coffee, or tea, on a rainy morning, but it catered to a number of market segments with a list of casual and party games.

That brand image is something Nintendo wants to expand on with the Wii U and at the moment it is struggling to do so. Many wonder whether Mass Effect 3 is the right game to do so but it joins the ranks of Assassin’s Creed 3, Call of Duty and Batman: Arkham City, all of which, when combined, prove to be quite a list for attracting core gamers.

At the moment however, BioWare are on their own as Straight Right are working on bringing Shift 2: Unleashed on the iOS for Apple. Once that is completed however, the studio will focus their attention on the Wii U version of Mass Effect 3.

The Wii U was slated early on for not being as advanced technologically as the other consoles were rumoured to be, as well as the fact that the console was limited to catering to only one controller. Throw in a less than spectacular E3 Press Conference and hopes for the Wii U were not as high as the manufacturer would have liked.

However, the list of release titles for the console is growing and the price point is a subject of much speculation. Add Ubisoft’s incredible looking ZombiU and there is potential for the console to do well for itself – provided of course, that the combination of games and pricing entice consumers.

There has been no release date for either the console or the game but there has plenty of speculation with a majority of reports indicating that the Wii U will hit stores this holiday season. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen.

Nintendo will be hoping that their console can gain some early ground in the next generation console market and emulate the success of the Wii.

But what about the reader; has the announcement of Mass Effect 3 excited them about the Wii U or is it just another announcement that will soon be forgotten? Let us know in the comments section below.