Nintendo's Wii U Blowout: The Full Rundown

So you've probably heard by now: Nintendo is launching their next platform, the Wii U, on November 18th.

It didn't take a whole lot of thinking to figure that figure out that Nintendo would try and get the Wii U out into the world before Black Friday, a.k.a. don't get trampled or maced day. Still, you never know what kind of supply chain problems or freak accidents can get in the way, so it's good to know we're going to be seeing the Wii U in time to put it on our holiday wish lists.

The date of the Wii U's coming out party was only the first part of the announcement, though: Bundles were laid out, rumors were confirmed, and new games were announced! In other words, a whole lot of stuff happened. Now that we've sifted through all the info, here's everything we heard, saw, and played as Nintendo gave us a little glimpse into the future of one of the biggest names in gaming.

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If there's one thing you should take away from Nintendo's Wii U event, it's that the Wii U will hit stores on November 18th. That's a Sunday, people, so keep that weekend clear if you're planning on camping out to get one at midnight.

Taking after the multi-tiered set of Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware, the Wii U will come in two different bundles, with two different prices. The basic bundle comes comes features a console with "basic" 8GB hard drive, and a Gamepad controller. When you buy "basic", both the console and the gamepad are White.

The "Deluxe" version also comes with a console and a gamepad, but the "deluxe" hardware sports a much bigger 32GB hard drive. The deluxe also comes with a few extra goodies, like a charging cradle for the gamepad, and stands for both the controller and the console. Most importantly: Nintendo's franchising mash-up minigame collection, Nintendoland, only comes packaged in with the deluxe version.

One more thing; there's also a digital incentive. Players who get the deluxe bundle will be enrolled in a program on Nintendo Network where buying games and content digitally through the e-shop nets you points to spend on future digital purchases.

So Which Should you Buy? The difference between the two black and white, literally. Despite being priced higher than most would want, the deluxe version of the Wii U comes with so much extra content that it seems like a mistake not to shell out the extra dough.

Regardless of which bundle you buy, Nintendo confirmed at the event that the connection between the Wii and Wii U won't be limited to reusing the Wiimote - The Wii U will be backwards compatible with "almost all" Wii games and peripherals.

Speaking of games that sometimes use Wiimotes, Nintendo showed two new "attractions" (mini-game sections) from the Wii U's pack-in game, NintendoLand. During their presentation, Nintendo focused on two multiplayer-centric stations, the recently announced Metroid Blast, and a faster, action-oriented version of Pikmin, predictably titled; Pikmin Adventure.

Metroid Blast is a heavily improved version of one of the original Wii U tech demoes playable when the Wii U was first announced at E3 2011. The game has three modes, all of which feature Miis dressed like Samus, shooting, rolling, grappling in different types of competitive action. Metroid Blast has three modes: a wave-based co-op mode called "Assault Mission". "Surface vs Air" mode, where a group of Wiimote wielding Samus-cosplaying Miis gang up against a guy piloting Samus' ship with the Gamepad. Lastly, there's a free-for-all deathmatch "Ground vs. Ground" mode, where everybody just runs around shooting.

Meanwhile, Pikmin Adventure purely a co-op experience. Using the gamepad, a single player controls captain Olimar, who throws Pikmin enemies and generally directs the action, while other players using wiimotes assist as some of Olimar's Pikmin friends. Unlike Nintendo's Lemmings-style puzzler, Pikmin Adventure is a straightforward action experience. The goal of the is simply to reach the end, and to do that players will have to take out a bunch of enemies along the way by throwing Pikmin into action, since they're apparently much tougher than the puny space captain.

As the Wii U's pack-in game — at least if you buy the deluxe console — NintendoLand will be the first thing many gamers see when if they pick up a Wii U in November. Wii Sports was a fantastic game and a great way to learn the ins and outs of the Wii experience, but it's good to see that Nintendo's also focusing on making a game that will keep gamers interested even after the they've scaled the learning curve and are ready for an engaging challenge.

Nintendo also took a little time to show off some the new... eccentricities of New Super Mario Bros. U. Nintendo's betting big on the hero plumber this year: According to Nintendo, New Super Mario Bros. U will be one of only two first-party titles available on Wii U on day one. The other is the console's franchise mashing mini-game collection, NintendoLand. (To be fair, Nintendo says they have more games coming within their "launch window", though that means anytime between launch day and March, 2013.) Given that fact, there's a pretty good chance that many gamers will decide whether or not to pick up a Wii U based whether New Super Mario Bros. U manages to impress. Luckily for Nintendo, the game looks like it has more to offer offer than HD visuals.

During the show, Nintendo revealed a couple of new power-ups Mario will find this time around. My personal favorite? Flying Squirrel Mario - A variant of Mario's famous Raccoon suit (at least in my head), when Mario picks up an acorn, which looks like a brown mushroom with a little stem on top, Mario can glide over long distances and hold onto walls without sliding.

We were also happy to see that Yoshi will make the jump to the Wii U, though in a much smaller way than his central role in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Balloon baby Yoshis, which inflate until they float away, can carry Mario and his friends as far across the level as can before he loses steam.

After the presentation, we tried out "Boost Rush", Nintendo's take on the "speed runs" that are so popular among retro Mario Bros. fans. In Boost Rush mode, a group of players try to ge through a preset series of levels as quickly as possible. At first glance, a group speed run doesn't seem to make any sense: Traditionally, speed runs are the culmination of a person's reflexes and muscle memory, and would never work as a group activity. Through a series of specialized mechanics, Boost Rush changes the dynamic, molding the speed run into a challenge designed as an equally impressive test of a team's synchronicity and speed.

As with the multiplayer sections of NintendoLand, one player takes the Gamepad, while the rest of the group plays with Wiimotes. Taking the lead, the player using the Gamepad places platforms on the screen, making it easier for the other players to move across the level. The rest of the team, holding wiimotes classic controller-style run through the auto-scrolling level. Picking up coins makes the level scroll faster, which ups the challange, but will help your time. Similarly, using a set of platforms placed by the Gamepad-player will trigger Super Boost mode, which lets him kill enemies and hit coin blocks by touching the second screen.

That was just a brief explanation of one mode. If everything in New Super Mario Bros. U is as well thought out as Boost Rush Mode, this could be the deepest New Super Mario Bros yet.

Once upon a time Nintendo said they plan on getting serious about non-gaming media when the Wii U comes to out. Now, with the console just a couple of months from hitting stores, they finally revealed what they meant - Nintendo TVii will serve as a universal entertainment app that will united and "enhance" the experience of watching TV and movies, regardless of how many services you use to get a hold what you like to watch.

Unlike Xbox 360 and PS3, which facilitate, if not encourage players to "cut the cord", getting rid of cable in favor of services like Netflix, Hulu, and on Demand content. Nintendo TVii stands apart it actually puts everything, including cable, into one big content pool that you can manage with the Wii U gamepad.

So how does it work? Basically, Nintendo TVii acts like a funnel that will takes the content from all services you own, like cable, your TiVo, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and makes them all available in one place. Let's say, for example, you want to watch TV: When you sign into Nintendo TVii, a list of shows appears on the gamepad screen, when you pick the show you want, then a list of available episodes appears. When you click on the episode you want to watch, different buttons will appear, allowing you to choose which service you'd like to watch it through (assuming there's more than one.) Internet's on the fritz? Watch it through cable. Prefer not to sit through channels? Check it out on Netflix.

Of course, in addition to the services you pay for, there will also be options for you to purchase content as well. Shows and movies that you don't "own" may also pop up in your library if a friend reccomends something to you, and there is a special reccomendation section for users to scroll through your friends' favorite content.

Movies are selected pretty much the same way, though Nintendo TVii adds integrated imdb, wikipedia and movie reviews. The service will also show trailers for your selection on the gamepad screen.

Ninetndo TVii also has a separate section for watching sports. While you're watching the game, the gamepad will let you check scores, switch games (assuming you have access to them) and watch a play-by-play tracker similar to what you'd be looking at if you were tracking a game on ESPN.

Regardless of what you decide to watch, Nintendo Tvii is also meant to augment the viewing experience by making it easier to interact with other viewers online. As you're watching, the gamepad will show a timeline of "moments", times when noteworthy things occur in whatever you're watching, and give you the option to comment on what you're watching and post to Facebook, Twitter, et al.

If game consoles and dedicated streaming devices like Roku streaming boxes and the Apple TV have brought the television into the age of the internet, then Nintendo TVii will do the same of TV remote. Is it less glamorous? Yes. Will it be quickest, most user-friendly way to watch stuff on your TV? It looks that way.

The biggest shock of the day, by far, Nintendo revealed that 1) Bayonetta 2 Is real, and 2) it's a Wii U Exclusive! Platinum games is working directly with Nintendo to bring the sequel to their crazy precision beat-em-'up to the Wii U.

Nintendo kept mum on Bayonetta 2's release date, plot, and new features. In fact, we barely even caught a glimpse of the hair-whirling Bullet Witch in the game's surprising teaser trailer.

Then again, the logo was all Nintendo needed to get fans' blood pumping.

Platinum Games' other project with Nintendo, the game former known as "Project P-100", has a real name now. The Wonderful 101 mixes Viewtiful Joe-esque art style with Pikmin-like increasing your power by drawing more and more people to watch (and help) you save the day.

As you might expect, heroes who need crowd encouragement aren't exactly all-powerful, in fact, the "wonderful" team includes guys like "Vending Machine Man" and "Toilet Bowl Man"... These isn't the Justice League or anything.

So why did Platnium change the name of the team from 100 to 101? The 101st member of The Wonderful 101 is you, of course.

After months of rumors, Activision finally confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops II will, in fact, be coming to the Wii U. Though it may seem that impressive or even be a surprise, getting one of the world's biggest franchises onto the platform is a huge deal for Nintendo, whose lack of HD graphics and decent online capabilities meant largely missing out on one of this generation's biggest success stories.

The Wii U version of Black Ops II isn't just a simple port, though. Developer Treyarch has tweaked certain aspects of the gameplay to take advantage of the Wii U's unique capabilities. Mostly, you'll notice that most HUD elements have been mapped to the gamepad screen: There no more clutter in the form of mini-maps. In fact, they took the idea a step further: In multiplayer, players will be able to change classes and call in scorestreaks by pressing buttons on the gamepad screen.

The menu stuff on the second screen is all well and good, but the place where Black Ops II really stands out on the Wii U is in splitscreen play. Well, calling it splitscreen is misnomer, really: When two people play the game locally, one player plays with a pro controller and uses the TV, while the other player plays on the gamepad screen. No more complaints about mixing up who's supposed to be looking where... Just keep your eyes on your own screen and you'll be fine.

Activision also announced that, when playing solo, players can also play the single-player campaign of Black Ops II autonomously on the gamepad screen. That feature alone will makes the Wii U a must-buy for any parent who's been kept up in the middle of night by the sound of virtual gunfire.

Nintendo didn't limit the conversation to just a few games yesterday: In fact we saw, played, and heard about a whole bunch of the games coming to the Wii U, inlcuding ports of already released games like Darksiders 2, highly anticipated multi-platform titles like Assassin's Creed III, and third-party Wii U exclusives like Rayman Legends.

Here's the thing: Nintendo was vague on exactly what games we'd get to choose from if we pick up a Wii U on November 18th. Instead they presented with a long list of games that'll come out during the console's "launch window." According to Nintendo, any game that comes out for the Wii U between November 18th and March, 2013 is, by their definition, a launch title.

Technically there's no definition for how long it takes for a console to go from launching to established, but if there's any ties between a game that comes out five months after the console and it's initial success, I can't see it.

Anyways, without further adieu, here's project launch (window) lineup for the Wii U:

One final note: Though they didn't reveal it until after the event had ended, Nintendo has revealed that the standard price for a retail Wii U game will be $60.

Even though yesterday was the Wii U coming out party in North America, we left yesterday's event with a few unanswered questions about the console:

First up: Nintendo announced how much the Wii U hardware bundles would cost, but they didn't go into how much any of the accessories would cost on their own, including an extra Gamepad controller, and the Wii U Pro controller, which doesn't come with either bundle.

As luck would have it, this question has already been answered. Nintendo confirmed to Polygon that the Wii U Pro controller will retail for $49.99, and will be available when the console launches on November 18th.

At the same time, Nintendo also conceded that they would not be selling the Wii U gamepad on its own, at least not when the console launches. In Japan, extra Wii U gamepad were announced, and will cost ¥13,400 at launch. (Around $178.00 USD)

To be fair, the only reason someone would need to buy an extra gamepad is if they break their first one: At the moment there are no announced games that will be able to support gameplay with two Gamepads on a single console.

Second, Nintendo has still not shown their online interface, the Nintendo Network, in action. We've also yet to get details on how the Wii U's e-shop will run. Based on the "deluxe" promotion detailed yesterday, it sounds like Nintendo may opt for Microsoft-style points instead of straightforward dollar-based pricing.

Lastly, other than with NintendoLand and Super Mario Bros. Wii U, Nintendo has yet to show how games will integrate with the Wii U's social network, Miiverse. The system, that allows players to comment on friends' high scores, leave notes, and provide gaming advice in still largely undefined.

Chances are we won't know everything there is to know before the Wii U hits stores this November. The question is; have you heard enough to take a chance on Nintendo's upcoming dual-screen wielding HD hardware?

Pre-ordering a Wii U? On the fence about picking one up? Tell us what you think the Wii U in the comments or on Twitter.