It won't have as big of a day one without NSMBU as a day and date launch game, but as long as Mario is available by the holiday then WiiU will be fine.

Well the Wii didn't have a Mario platformer for an entire year after launch, and the Wii was Nintendo's most successful console ever. So what does that say about the "Must have a Mario at launch" theory?

The trouble with NSMBU is that it looks so, so very similiar to the previous three games in the series. Even the theme music is identical. The art style hasn't changed at all. The level design looks the same, just with more things going on due to the horsepower.

Not saying it won't be a big seller, and I'm certainly not saying that it won't turn out to be a classic. What I am saying is that on it's face, that game does not differentiate itself enough from previous games in the 'NSMB' line, and I can't be the only person who is skeptical of paying $59.99 for more of the same. NSMBWii was not all that great of a game.

NSMB2 looks really good, but only because of the clever "collect 1,000,000 coins" theme and the raccoon tail that appeals to the NES fanboy nostalgia. NSMBU does not have that same appeal, and it's supposed to be a system seller?

It really needs to be. Its launch lineup is looking promising (y'all know I played and reviewed half of it for ya at E3 :) ), but there is no big system-seller. Pikmin will do well for them and will probably be my favourite launch title, and Zombi U looks fantastic but ultimately won't be a huge seller. Nintendo Land won't be anywhere near the system-seller Wii Sports was, as it requires too much explanation.

Bottom line, having Mario on launch day will seriously improve the system's outlook.

They have reiterated that it is "Holiday 2012" so at worst it will be like what they did with Melee, which released a few weeks after the GameCube proper.

The key is, Nintendo's going to sell day one Wii U's whatever is on there. They did it with the 3DS, Sony did it with the PS3, everyone does it, so it won't be critical so long as they don't miss Christmas 2012 with NSMBU

I think they should let Mario quiet until Christmas

1 - To not steal Nintendoland spotlight.
2 - Bad showcase of the system new features - gorgeous game, pretty bad implementation of the gamepad.

It was Confirmed that the NSMBU was still a launch Title even after those comments were said

I'd imagine, as others have said, it'll be there day 1.

Never saw the hate for Nintendo's conference. It did what people wanted, but it wasn't enough???

The Wii had Wii Sports which made all the casuals and kids go crazy for the system, in this case the Wii U have NintendoLand, but unlike Wii Sports that game doesn't really appeal that much to the casuals.

OP: Depending on how long the game it's from the launch date, if it's just a couple of weeks I think it's not really a big deal, of course it will be better if it was at launch.

I think it'll be really smart for Nintendo to hold off NSMB U for a couple of weeks.

Nov. 11 (Sunday) - Wii U launch w/ Nintendo Land, Pikmin 3, Rayman, Assassin's Creed 3, Zombi U, etc.

Nov. 13 (Tuesday) - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Nov. 25 (Sunday) - New Super Mario Bros. U (right ahead of Black Friday week)

Would be smart. It gives third parties a chance to sell a little more to the early adopters. Especially Ubi Soft I think would really appreciate this.

I think it kinda forces some people to take a good look at perfectly good games like AC3 or Rayman instead of just grabbing Mario + Wii U and leaving the store. Mario is going to sell no matter what.