Dear Nintendo of America...

Coffee Beans
Do you see that image above? It's an image Nintendo of America just included in an email to everybody signed up to receive promotional emails from them, and this email was specifically for the Wii U. It is titled, "Wii U Games, offers, and news for you", and I'm glad to see Nintendo of America actually promoting the Wii U. There's just one problem I have with it...

Do you see what is wrong with that image above? If not, take a look at the image below, as it currently appears on their Club Nintendo site, and see if you can spot it (same exact spot).

Why don't they like the Y button?

Now take a look at the image below that I have edited in an attempt to fix the one(s) above, using sub-$100 photo editing software. This is how the image should appear.

As it should appear, unless they're trying to promote the GamePad with a 3D display like the 3DS?

I'm not a billion dollar corporation. I don't blog for a living. I'm not a professional photo editor, have never taken an art course, and am pretty slow when it comes to editing basic things in Photoshop. BUT, the fact I spotted that image error, makes me wonder how quickly they throw things together at Nintendo of America without proofreading them?

 Perhaps, just perhaps, the employee(s) who edited it and put the email together just didn't have enough coffee during the day? THAT, I can understand (sort of).

So, in short:
"Dear Nintendo of America,

Please fix the first image above as it is currently seen on the Club Nintendo site (http://club2.nintendo.com/clubn-vc-promo-0613/), and please proofread emails and double check images before possibly sending them out to millions of Nintendo fans.

Thanks,
Scott"

Questions
Did anybody else, perhaps non-artist or non-graphic designer like myself, notice that error in the image? Would anybody like to donate me a few billion dollars?

Here is a newer version of the software I used to fix Nintendo of America's bad Wii U GamePad image:

It's Official - Wii's U.S. Nintendo Channel, Forecast Channel, News Channel & more taken offline.

The message you get now when trying to access the Nintendo Channel.

Coffee Beans
If you have read stories around here over the last few years, chances are you have probably seen my data report stories on Wii games. I would gather information from the Wii's Nintendo Channel, and then create images with the reported play-time on games that showed things like average times played and total hours played. You can even read a data report I did on the Everybody Votes Channel, HERE.

Well, as of now, the Nintendo Channel (seen above), Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, and Check Mii Out Channel have been taken offline on the Wii, to never return again. Perhaps Nintendo will release a News and Weather app on the Wii U, but I doubt they will ever release a Nintendo Channel app that shows play-times of Wii U and Wii games, because that data could provide hints of sales numbers for games as well.

You can see the how the other Wii Channels now appear if you attempt to visit them, in the image below.

Click to enlarge

Caffeinated Thoughts
I have used the Nintendo Channel almost weekly, for the last 3+ years. Even weeks and months when I didn't post data reports, I would record the data for my records (data nerd). Seeing the Nintendo Channel services discontinued is the biggest disappointment for me out of all the Wii Channels discontinued. There were some newer Wii games I was hoping to get to report on, like Pandora's Tower, but due to the Nintendo Channel service being stopped that data will now most likely never be known.

While we used the Forecast Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, Check Mii Out Channel, and News Channel, none of them were used anywhere near as much as the Nintendo Channel in our house, and some of them hadn't been used regularly in years.

The Nintendo Channel was by far my favorite Wii Channel and not just because of the data, but also because Nintendo started things like Nintendo Week on it and it provided a good way to watch trailers of new games coming out as well.

Questions
Did any of you use a Wii Channel (or two) regularly, and perhaps will be disappointed now that these Wii Channel services have been discontinued?

Did all of you know that the Wii Channels in the U.S./Western market were being taken offline? I didn't see any sites really report on them being discontinued in the U.S., but I did see it mentioned for Europe and Japan.

Mutant Mudds Deluxe, easy enough for kids, hard enough for parents? One big difference between the PC and Wii U versions.

Not all images are from Mutant Mudds, but one is inspired by it.

Coffee Beans
Mutant Mudds Deluxe released today on the Wii U and is available to purchase from the eShop for $9.99. The game was developed and published by Renegade Kid, and has an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE" with "Mild Fantasy Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.

I purchased the PC version of Mutant Mudds last year when it released, and you can read some of my impressions of that version HERE. Bean 1 (our oldest son) started playing the PC version, after watching me play it, and considering his age he is pretty good at the game using mouse and keyboard controls.

I was planning on buying the Wii U version today so he could play it with a more standard controller and button layout (like what he's used to with the Mario games); plus, I really enjoyed the PC version and wanted to play the new levels added to the Wii U version.

I saw that Renegade Kid was doing a contest giving away copies of the Wii U game. It was a drawing/art contest, but they even made it possible for a "non-artist" like myself to be able to enter, giving us an option to create a digital image or collage using existing images.

Did we win one of the contest giveaways? Brew yourself some coffee, and hit the jump to see the image I created (if you missed it already) for the contest, and a video of Bean 1 playing one of the levels in Mutant Mudds Deluxe on the Wii U!

Animal Crossing: City Folk, how much has it been played? Official Nintendo Channel data report

Tom Nook should be used in Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U, he could rob
you of your health as he does of bells in the Animal Crossing games.

Coffee Beans
The Animal Crossing games seem to follow the Mario Kart games formula, that formula being where only one game from the series is released per console. Animal Crossing: New Leaf just released for the Nintendo 3DS in the U.S. this week, and is the first 3DS Animal Crossing game. Before jumping to the trailer for the new 3DS game, we're looking at Tom Nook's Wii outing.

Animal Crossing: City Folk released for Wii on November 16, 2008. The game was developed by Nintendo's EAD studio, and it received an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE" with "Comic Mischief" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.

If you own a Wii, or even a Wii U because of its backwards compatibility with Wii games, you can now get Animal Crossing: City Folk for under $20 as a Nintendo Selects title. How many hours might you expect from the game if you have never played it though? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look at the official U.S. Wii Nintendo Channel data to get an idea!

Interview: Sniper Elite V2 Wii U - What about an eShop digital version, demo, and reasons to play this version?

Do armor-piercing rounds work on this, really?

Coffee Beans
Did you know that Sniper Elite V2 on the Wii U runs at a higher resolution than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, due to the Wii U's hardware strengths? If not, you can read where Rebellion's CEO and Creative Directory, Jason Kingsley, said it in the first interview about the game posted up last week, HERE.

Sniper Elite V2 released last month for the Wii U on May 21st, and it received an ESRB rating of "MATURE" with "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of. If you're looking to buy the game, you should be able to find it now on sites like Amazon.com and in stores like GameStop.

What if you're a Wii U Deluxe Set owner and like downloading your games to take advantage of the Deluxe Digital Promotion though? While there isn't a Wii U eShop digital version yet, I did ask 505 Games about it, as well as if they are planning a demo for the game. Brew yourself some coffee, and read on to find out those details as well as what features Wii U owners might enjoy if they have already played another version of Sniper Elite V2!

Sonic and the Secret Rings, how much has it been played? Official Nintendo Channel data report

Coffee Beans
On May 17th, Nintendo announced they had made a deal with SEGA securing the release of the next Sonic the Hedgehog title, known as Sonic Lost World, as an exclusive title for the Nintendo Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems. Sonic Lost World is said to be an "action platforming" game, which makes it the first Wii U Sonic game in that genre. Before looking forward at the Wii U's first Sonic action platforming game though, let's take a look at the Wii's first action platforming Sonic game that was released over 6 years ago now.

Sonic and the Secret Rings was Sonic's first retail outing on the Wii in the "action platforming" genre, the first of many though. The game was developed by SEGA of America, and released for the Wii on February 20, 2007. It received an ESRB rating of "EVERYONE" with "Cartoon Violence" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.

If you own a Wii, or even a Wii U, you can find Sonic and the Secret Rings for under $20 now if you're interested in the game. How many hours can you expect from Sonic's first action platforming Wii game though? Brew yourself some coffee, and let's take a look at the official U.S. Wii Nintendo Channel data to get an idea!

Interview: Sniper Elite V2 Wii U - What about the DLC and Miiverse updates?

Excellent sniping spot! Behind the planes, behind a tank, and behind sandbags!

Coffee Beans
Sniper Elite V2 released a few weeks ago for the Wii U, and the description for the game on the Wii U's eShop says, "You are elite US sniper, Karl Fairburne, sent behind enemy lines into besieged Berlin during the final moments of World War II. You uncover a horrifying plot which threatens to kill millions of civilians throughout Western Europe, and which would irreversibly change history as we now know it. Make every single bullet count or the world dies with you."

If you don't know, the game was originally developed by Rebellion and published by 505 Games for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 last year. The Wii U version currently has a MSRP of $59.99, and received an ESRB rating of "MATURE" with "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language" listed as content for parents and gamers to be aware of.

I reached out to Rebellion and 505 Games with some questions about Sniper Elite V2 on the Wii U, such as will the game be updated to allow in-game pictures to be posted to its Miiverse community? Also, what about the DLC for the Wii U version? I did receive answers to these questions about the game, and a few more as well, so brew yourself some coffee and hit the jump to learn more about Sniper Elite V2 for the Wii U!

Announcing the CoffeeWithGames Twitter contest winner...

Coffee Beans
Did you miss all the posts in May that showed how you could enter for a chance to win Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking? If so, starting in the middle of May I included in some of my regular Nintendo Channel data posts a way to enter to win the games, by simply using Twitter and tweeting out each post @ a company, and including a post specific hashtag in it as well.

From my count, there were seven chances to enter the giveaway (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7), but even with multiple opportunities to enter, only one person really took advantage of multiple chances to enter.

Congratulations to Jeremy on winning, and a big thanks to him for the multiple tweets and entering the contest! Jeremy is a regular around here (who even won the 2 years' worth of coffee a few years back), and you can follow him on Twitter, HERE!

If you missed out on entering this giveaway, make sure to keep an eye (or two) open for ways to enter to win more game giveaways, in the very near future!

If you didn't enter the contest, and are interested in the games, you can see see them on Amazon.com below:

May Brewed! Coffees Consumed & Games Played

Coffee Beans
It's already June, and that means E3 is right around the corner and I'm sure this will be a busy month with video game news. If you perhaps skimmed here occasionally during May, here is a recap of some of the posts from the month you may have missed, but possibly find interesting:
1) Do you enjoy FPS games and ever wonder how much FPS games on the Wii are/were played? If so, you may find the Conduit 2 official Nintendo Channel data report interesting, HERE.
2) Are you a Star Wars fan? Then you may find it interesting what the Wii's "least played" Star Wars game is, according to the average hours reported "Per person" in the United States, HERE.
3) What is the best Metroid game of all time? I don't know because I haven't played all of them, but Super Metroid is regarded pretty highly by many, and you can now buy it on Wii U's Virtual Console until June 13th for just 30 cents. If you wonder how many hours you might expect from the game, check out Super Metroid's official U.S. Nintendo Channel data, HERE.
4) The Wii U now has two Batman games that you can buy. One is Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, a Wii U launch title, which my neighbor has played and really enjoyed on the system. The other is LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes which released last month for the Wii U. If you're wondering about how many hours you can get from the game, you can read the LEGO Batman 2 Nintendo Channel data report for the Wii version, HERE.
5) Did you skip Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii, but are perhaps interested in it for the Nintendo 3DS? Are you curious as to how many hours you might expect from the game? You can see the average hours reported for the game, "Per person", in its official Wii U.S. Nintendo Channel data report from last month, HERE.
6) Did you not own a Wii, but do own a Wii U? I think one big benefit of the Wii U is its backwards compatibility with Wii titles. If you own a Wii U and have a Wii Remote and Nunchuk, you might be interested in the Super Mario Galaxy games. While I only played the original, you can see how many hours you might be able to expect from Super Mario Galaxy 2, HERE, in last month's Nintendo Channel data report.

Now, what were two new coffee blends I consumed in May, and what was our most played Wii U game during the month? Brew yourself some coffee, let's take a look at what games I played, and coffees I consumed during May.