jdpatri

Oops. I thought the review had just been posted since the timestamp said something like five minutes before I read it.

By this point, I think our expectations for these games is pretty spot on. There will be two, perhaps three, top tier games at launch. And that's not terribly bad. That's more than the Wii had.

Groucho

Let's hope that ZombiU is a sleeper hit, unless we all want five more years of casual mini-game collections.

chuckd21

No TVii or streaming video at launch:

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/wii-u-...nch-with/4454/

edstein

I got an email today from TRU about my preorder and they will not be getting theirs in on the 18th. Delayed.

Groucho

Now I'm nervous. My Best Buy order is still in "Payment Validated" status.

Brent L

It looks like someone got one early and is streaming various things here...

http://www.own3d.tv/messaffect/live/400562

Brent L

GT Live is doing their thing on the Wii U now...

http://www.gametrailers.com/live/wii-u

Groucho

That's basically what my store has told me the last few times I've called.

RichC2

Odd, I didn't know Sheldon from BBT worked for Game Trailers.

Michael Corvin

Launch scores are always inflated, a lot. I wouldn't put stock into any of them.

Noonan

I received tracking info from GS. Scheduled to arrive on Mon by 3.

Adam Tyner

Mine says it's ready for pickup now!

Brent L

Ugh, ZombiU got a 4.5/10 from GameSpotUK and a 7 from Edge. A total wait and see now. Ugh!

Here is the GSUK review...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3wSG2BGe3_c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I have a feeling this one is going to be one of those games where the reviews are all over the map. I still have it on preorder at Game Stop, and as of right now I still plan to take it home with me. If, by chance, the reviews come in on Sunday morning and they are just awful, at the time of pickup on release day, can you transfer your payment to another item in the store?

If ZombiU ends up truly being awful, Scribblenaut's will be my backup game to pick up for sure. IGN gave it an 8.8, and I love those games anyway...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/...limited-review

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/utOOckuag-U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

windom

My Best Buy order shows the same thing...but I got an email saying it would be ready for pickup on 11/18. It doesn't really matter to me since it won't be opened until Christmas day anyway, sadly.

MasterofDVD

Well I drove up to Wal-Mart after I got off work at 9. There were 5 people waiting, 2 couples and one solo person. I figured I'd get in line and see if I could possibly score one. They had 4 Deluxe system and 3 Regular ones.

My interest in the system up to yesterday was almost nonexistent. My wife is going to freak, and not in a good way, when she finds out I have it. I've never bought a family gift for Christmas before but with a 3 year old and another one on the way I want to get into the habit of getting stuff the family will enjoy together. I think this system will have more entertaining games that my will be be able to get the hang of and that we'll feel comfortable letting my son play. I was married for over 10 years before we had our first and it was HELL getting my wife to play a game with me. Now she plays Skylanders with my son. If it takes buying a new console to get all of us gaming together then I am all for it.

devynal

Memory/Speed of WiiU

Seems..underwhelming.

loneranger

Got mine hooked up but this system update is taking forever!!! #firstworldproblems

mhg83

How big is the update? I heard something like 4 gb

wlj

You are a braver man than I. My wife would skin me alive if I just made a $300-350 impulse buy...especially if it was for a game system

chuckd21

Wise words:

Groucho

Went into Best Buy at opening this morning (no midnight release) and was able to walk right in and pick up my in-store order. No signs, no hoopla, no lines. Really, overall there's been hardly any hype for this thing, especially given that it's the first major console launch in six years.

I think it's going to flop. Badly.

Adam Tyner

Reviews aren't the problem...it's the way people misuse and/or misinterpret them.

I've always thought the "decide for yourself!" mentality is poorly thought-out. I mean, reviews are a tool to help readers make an informed decision. They're (usually) not saying "this game is great; if you disagree, you're wrong" or "this game is terrible, and if you like it, you have poor taste". Reviews-as-a-concept shouldn't be deified or denigrated...they're just points on a graph.

The only ways the "decide for yourself!" school works are (a) you rely completely on publisher marketing materials, which seems absurd if you're decrying the existence of reviews, (b) you play every single game that comes out, or (c) you eschew formal reviews in lieu of friends' recommendations, message board posts, etc., which are, in effect, reviews. I mean, I obviously agree that, at the end of the day, the opinion that matters the most is one's own, but reviews can be a helpful tool to turn you onto games/movies/etc. that might not have been on your radar, they can help push you one way or the other if you're on the fence, etc., etc., etc. A negative review will probably not steer me away from something I'd decided I was really interested in, but they have introduced me to plenty of stuff I wound up really loving that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise.

Just ignore the hyperbole, pay more attention to the text of the review than the arbitrary number at the top of the page, and seek out reviewers whose tastes seem to best align with yours.

It might also be worth noting that no one really says "decide for yourself!" when reviewers agree with them, though.

For the past few generations, I'm not sure I've ever seen consoles available on day one like this. Same story for me at Best Buy, and I'm told the Targets in my neck of the woods are really well-stocked too. No preorders necessary, no endless lines, etc.

FWIW, though....!

Brent L

Wow, the reviews for ZombiU are literally all over the map. I can't remember the last time I saw such a spread of reviews.

I got my system with ZombiU this morning - it's all set up, updated, NSMBU is being downloaded right now, and I'm ready to go. Netflix is working just fine, but the other two and TVii will be enabled at some point in November. I LOVE that they are allowing us to download things in the background while doing pretty much anything else from what I can tell.

Now to just try to play some games. I'm still trying to decide if I want to open ZombiU, but I likely will. I have a feeling that you'll either hate it or love it, depending on what you are expecting from it. I kinda wanted NSMBU to be the first game I tried, and it says I only have about 13 more minutes to go before the download is complete. I may just wait for that.

Liver&Onions

So three hours after places opened on the west coast, there is still a lot of the Regular Wii U available at stores. I just called 2 and each said they had over 10 of the regular left, no deluxe.

And the target inventory online says they have both versions in stock. Hmm. Are people wary because they got bit the the Wii last time? Or just that the marketing push wasn't effective? I mean, it looks like the Wii, sounds like the Wii...and the HD differentiator and gamepad are new, but those aren't being pushed like the name is. Perhaps they should've gone a whole new name. Even Wii 2 would at least set it apart more than Wii U in my mind.

Supermallet

to Adam. Instead of saying "all reviews are BULLSHIT!@!#", read the reviews and decide for yourself whether the game is something you'd like. Even a negative review can give you an idea, because you might enjoy the things that the reviewer disliked. A good review will give you detailed reasons for why the writer did or did not like the game, and those details should be what you focus on.

For example, you might have two reviews for New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS, one positive and one negative. The positive one enjoys the focus on collecting coins, while the negative review thinks that collecting coins isn't the point of a Mario game. Instead of throwing up your hands and saying, "I can't figure out if this game is good or bad because these are conflicting reviews," decide whether or not YOU like the idea of collecting coins as the main focus of a Mario game. If you do, get the game. If not, skip it.

So, for something like ZombiU, if the reviews are mixed, read a few reviews and figure out what it is that's making these writers disagree, and then decide whether or not that's something you'd like.

Or just buy every game and hope that it's good and that you're not wasting your money.