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Nintendo is reportedly sending developers of smartphone games conversion software to encourage game designers to port their products to the Wii U. Considering the touchpad nature of the Wii U's GamePad controller, this is a logical if not desperate move. Sure, you could probably play games like Angry Birds on the GamePad, but will that be enough to save the Wii U?

Well, it's hard to call this good news for Nintendo: The storied game company announced late yesterday that it will not be putting on the standard "big goofy to-do" press conference at this year's E3 gaming showcase in Los Angeles.

Nintendo sure would love it if you went out and bought a Wii U, their shiny console which is still warm from the factory. Particularly because it's a product they're still supporting. It's actually best if you don't even look at the older ones. They don't really count anymore. In fact, Nintendo is shutting down a some of the Wii's online services -- you don't use those anymore, right? They seem to assume not.

With Sony's big Playstation 4 event yesterday, and details continually being rumored about the next Xbox it looks like the next round of console wars is heating up. Sure, it doesn't actually matter whether Sony or Microsoft come out on top, but it's still something people love to speculate on. Now you can get a little skin in the game by betting cash money on which console is going to come out ahead.

There used to be a time where you could easily find hard data on exactly how many units video game consoles manufacturers managed to get out the door, but the NPD Group has all that locked up tight these days. That said, they do release some numbers still, and a little extrapolation goes a long way. For this past January, it looks like Nintendo's really taking a beating. Not only has their Wii U software not been selling, but the Wii U console itself is said to have only moved around 50,000 units. That's worse than any of the other current generation consoles ever did, for a little perspective.

The Wii U sold 3.06 million units between its November launch and the end of the 2012. Those numbers are stronger than we would have guessed considering how underwhelmed we were with the system, but it looks like Nintendo is even more disappointed by the Wii U than we were. Because of the slower-than-expected performance, Nintendo is cutting their sales projections through March by 1.5 million units. Bummer.

Nintendo's apparently abandoned making major announcements at, you know, trade conventions and the like. Who needs E3 when you can drop a whole mess of news at the end of January? Whatever the case, we're still pretty excited that they've decided to drop all of this for whatever reason. It's also probably a sign of the Wii U not exactly meeting expectations, but any day where Nintendo announces that Atlus and Intelligent Systems are developing a game based on Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem is a good day.

Regardless of sales, Nintendo's latest console entry, the Wii U, has been met mostly with a tepid reception from the gaming community and hasn't gotten much market traction since last year. With a library of titles ranging from the mundane to recycled material seen months ago on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Nintendo didn't exactly make as much of a presence as they needed this past holiday season. The company's PR may dwindle further going into 2013 since it's been announced to the chagrin of all that highly anticipated titles such as Pikmin 3 and Game & Wario would experience delays, though it was promised they'd hit shelves no later than this spring. While it's common for one game to be held back until a later date, so many at one time is just an egregious bungle.

It goes without saying that the Wii U is one of the hottest must-have gifts this holiday season with plenty of people at toy stores looking to get their hands on a console, though whether they do isn't a guarantee. Last time we checked, abiding by the honor system doesn't get you a game system. In fact, if you want it bad enough, you're going to have to break man's law to get one, and that's what a group of ambitious thieves did when they absconded with 7,000 Wii U systems from Seattle's SeaTac airport, because those 7,000 copies of Super Mario Bros. U aren't going to play themselves.

Part of the current video game landscape is the ubiquitous day-one patch required for nearly every game that comes to market. Regardless of whether they actually have some kind of online connectivity, developers and publishers are increasingly pushing patches to fix eleventh hour problems as soon as consumers press start. The Wii U is no exception. As frustrating as it is, this won't be changing at any point soon as the current day-one patch won't be built into the system's firmware until at least next year.

With the Wii U being a little more than a week old, it might seem a little early to be seeing rumors about a redesigned Wii, but that's not stopping the rumors from coming in. There are reports of an internal release schedule of an undisclosed "major retail source" that says a Wii Mini console is coming December 7th. With the release of their new system, why would Nintendo look back on the original Wii for a redesign?

Nintendo's been somewhat behind this entire console generation. The Wii is often referred to as more of a half step rather than a whole step, in that both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are simply more powerful machines despite the Wii being the last to release. Nintendo's just released their latest console, making them the first to hit a new generation, but they might fall victim to a similar problem a second time. Is the Wii U worth buying if it's just going to be outclassed next year? Hit the jump to watch Rollin and Justin take a look at the Wii U, and go with your gut feeling.

Of all the games available when the Wii U launched on Sunday, Nintendo Land is the obligatory minigame collection that everyone's come to expect Nintendo to put out. Everyone loves a good minigame collection, right? Right. It's essentially the equivalent of Wii Sports in terms of function. Though the game is packed in with the Deluxe version of the console, those not willing to pony up the dough for the bundle will have to purchase a copy separately. Is Nintendo Land worth buying if you didn't get it automatically with your Wii U? Hit the jump to watch Glen and Justin hop on the fun train to Nintendo Land, and go with your gut feeling.

As you're probably already aware, the Wii U launched in North America yesterday. Like any console launch, the games currently available are a mixed bag. It's always difficult to tell which games are worth the time and money, and which have been lobbed over the plate by the console's developer in order to make some quick cash. For example, is New Super Mario Bros. U actually worth getting? Hit the jump to watch Sean and Justin take a tour of the Mushroom Kingdom's latest outing, and go with your gut feeling.

A new era of video game consoles kicked off at midnight with the launch of the Nintendo's dual-screen wielding platform, the Wii U. Whether you've already run to the store and picked one up, or still aren't sure whether you see a new Nintendo console in your future, you probably have a lot of questions about it: "What exactly can this thing do?" "What games should I buy?" "Do I really need to download that day-one patch?"