Ripstone "thrilled" about the Wii U price drop, and 2DS

Coffee Beans
Earlier this month, indie games publisher Ripstone announced their plans to support both the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS systems. Currently, they are planning to release Pure Chess on the Wii U and 3DS eShops later this year, and Knytt Underground should be releasing for the Wii U's eShop early next year.

After Nintendo made the announcement about the planned Wii U price drop and the new 2DS system earlier this week, I had the opportunity to ask Ripstone's Co-Founder and Creative Director, Phil Gaskell, about it.

He said, "We were thrilled to hear the news today from Nintendo about the price drop for the Wii U bundle and the new 2DS console. It's a fantastic move by Nintendo and again it shows they shouldn't be underestimated. Pure Chess and Knytt Undergound will be available for new Wii U and 2DS/3DS owners this holiday season and early next year."

I agree with Phil and I think this is an excellent move by Nintendo. I hope the Wii U price drop and introduction of the lower priced 2DS system this holiday season will help get both systems in more consumers' hands in a significant fashion, and hopefully in turn create an excellent environment for developers and publishers to continue to sell their games.

I have made comments on other sites, but not here, that Mrs. Coffee and I are now debating on grabbing Bean 1 (our oldest) a 2DS for Christmas, because of its lower price point.

As I mentioned in the anniversary post that interviews will be a more common feature now, early next week I will be posting an interview with Ripstone's Phil Gaskell about the upcoming Wii U and 2DS/3DS eShop release of Pure Chess.

Questions
Are any of you that haven't purchased a Wii U or 3DS yet, now more likely to get one of them (or, both) this holiday season because of the Wii U price drop and new 2DS system?

Do you agree with Mr. Gaskell's opinion that the Wii U price drop and new 2DS system are a, "fantastic move by Nintendo"?

Coffee Shop! Online Wii U deals - save 20%, or more!

Coffee Beans
I told a friend back in June who was interested in the Wii U then, that I thought a price drop would happen for the system pretty soon and I would wait a little while to see what Nintendo would do. So, earlier this week when Nintendo announced the Wii U Deluxe Set is getting a new MSRP of $299.99 starting on September 20th, I was glad to see it happen and immediately told my friend about it.

The Wii was hard to find in many locations for nearly 2 years after it released, and because it was selling like hot coffee on a cold winter's day, the prices of many first party Wii games rarely dropped below their MSRPs. Even now, some Wii games have their original MSRPs of $49.99.

The Wii U has been struggling with its monthly sales compared to the other consoles, since January of this year. The biggest beneficiaries of this unfortunate situation for Nintendo though, are the consumers. The Wii U hasn't even been out a year yet, and already many Nintendo published Wii U titles are seeing some significant discounts off their MSRPs.

If you currently own a Wii U, or plan on getting one soon (like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Wii U Deluxe Bundle), hit the jump to see some current Wii U deals on games and gear that are at least 20% off their MRSPs/List Prices!

What's a birthday without a gift? CoffeeWithGames turns 4!

CoffeeWithCupcakes...coming soon? Maybe in my stomach.

Coffee Beans
What's a birthday without a gift? If you have been wondering if my coffee supply ran out and I went into a deep sleep because of it and that's why I haven't been posting, I can say that has not been the case! I have been doing some CoffeeWithGames related things behind-the-scenes, even though I haven't been posting.

At the end of June, I decided to get all of the Nintendo Channel data I had recorded during the final week (EVERY. SINGLE. WII. GAME!), before Nintendo took the Nintendo Channel offline, into a nice spreadsheet form. I spent my spare moments doing that for about 3 weeks, from late June and into July.

I have enough game-play data recorded from Wii games, that I could continue doing the Nintendo Channel data stories for another 10 years, at my usual pace. While I can tell you the Wii's most played game in the United States, as well as the Wii's least played game in the United States, I have decided to refocus and change the type of consistent content I deliver.

Instead of focusing just on past Wii games, CoffeeWithGames will now focus on more current games and systems. Here are a few things CoffeeWithGames will be doing on a more regular basis now:
1) Reviews! Reviews will now be happening on a more regular basis, and game reviews will have a slight twist from the normal method most sites use when reviewing games today.
2) Interviews! I have done interviews randomly in the past, but not on a regular basis. There will now be at least one interview a month (that's my goal), either from developers, publishers, or people within the industry.
3) Videos! I enjoy creating and editing videos. I'm a bit detail oriented (see: OCD) when it comes to things though, and can spend way too much time editing and creating content (not just game related). So, I will now do more standard gameplay videos now of games I'm currently playing, and/or that the Beans are playing like what I did with Mutant Mudds Deluxe.
4) Opinion pieces! I don't do these often, but I am looking to change that. An example of what these may be like, would be what I wrote about and wished for the first Wii U update to fix, before the first system update was released.
5) Coffee Shop! I browse Amazon.com pretty much every single day, for a number of reasons. One, is checking for any incredible deal I might not be able to pass by, another is more data related. So, I will be doing more Coffee Shop posts to share games deals, at least once a week.
6) CoffeeWithGames Game Nights! I enjoy playing games online. Call of Duty: Black Ops II is my most played Wii U game because of the online multiplayer. Instead of just playing by myself though, I will now try and schedule at least on CoffeeWithGames Game Night a month, and announce what game I'll be playing and when about a week in advance. Hopefully, this will make it easier for some of us game together, and of course, recording the footage and doing a video of it might be possible as well.

While these things should provide a decent amount of content each month, there will also still be the random pieces from time-to-time like the "Critics vs. Customers!" pieces, Sales Ranks Analysis pieces, and maybe even the random Grounds for Celebration! piece(s) will make an occasional return.

Now, what about that birthday gift? Hit the jump and keep reading to find out!