aguststef

Late reply but yeah, the shiny stars are real. You can't die more than 5 times on any level on your first play through the entire game. To my knowledge you don't have to do this through the special worlds, only normal worlds 1-8. Here is a video showing shiny stars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWgImfrYVxk

To make things easier just save before playing a course, then exit and re-enter the entire game if you die more than five times in that course. It bypasses the whole 'don't die more than 5 times' thing.

@rebgav: December 2013 (Super Mario 3D World)

I'm not trying to say that the future of the Wii U is all bright but it's definitely not dead like many people say it is. When Nintendo lowers the price of the system it will sell.

And if you think for one minute that a big Mario game doesn't sell consoles you really have to think again about Nintendo.

Super Mario 3D world looks pretty good, I at least really enjoyed Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze looks awesome (DKC Returns was one of the best games on the original Wii)

Sonic Lost World will be out in October and is looking like one of the best 3D platformers in the later years. Sonic Generations was a huge step in the right direction for the franchise and Lost World will continue getting Sonic back on track.

Pikmin 3 is almost out now and the Pikmin games have never let their fans down.

Rayman Legends isn't Wii U exclusive any more but it will have some exclusive stuff for the Wii U because of the gamepad and that game will be great. Rayman Origins was fantastic and I think Legends will be even better.

Wonderful 101 is pretty interesting and one of the games I need to research better.

These are all exclusive games (except Rayman which has exclusive stuff) coming out for the Wii U before 2014.

Amazon.co.uk have been lowering the Wii U price for a limited time, Basic Model was 229£ and is 149£ now. Premium was 279£ and is 199£ now. I even decided to buy the Premium for that price although there aren't alot of games out on the Wii U right now that I want to play.

Amazon.co.uk did the same thing earlier this year and the sales numbers went up by over 800%, I believe that the same thing is happening right now with this price cut.

As soon as Nintendo lowers the price permanently on Wii U the console will be fine. There are some great games coming out for the system in the coming months so we will see software sales go up.

Don't forget that Nintendo consoles have quite alot of games that are only available on Nintendo consoles that a number of people don't want to miss out on. Nintendo consoles are always great as a side console next to your major console (PS4 or XBone)

I got my Vita yesterday along with a 8GB memory card and a copy of FIFA Football. All for around 215$ which is amazing here in Iceland (everything tends to be priced up to 2x more than prices in US).

Immediately I'm very satisfied with my purchase because of PS+ and Cross Buy titles. Never have I bought a system and had so many games to try out on a system without paying huge amount of money.

It's very easy to write the Vita off but as soon as you really look into the system and what it has to offer you can't go wrong with it, especially if you have PS+

If I am trying to get through some hard times I tend to play some happy games, games that are light on story and full of tight gameplay. I really need to focus on playing the game, because of this I tend to stick to some good 2D platformers.

I also play 3D Mario platformers, however other 3D platformers tend to be more story driven and have tutorials which really takes your concentration away from playing the game.

Totally agree with you, Saints Row is fun but GTA is in another class. After the gameplay trailer yesterday my expectations for GTA V are sky high!

Also Rayman Legends is going to be awesome. Rayman Origins was amazing but I am hoping that Legends will be even better. I am in the same pickle as you regarding on which platform to play it, however I will probably stick to PS3. The D-pad on the Dualshock is the best one out there for 2D platformers in my opinion.

One game I am looking forward to is Puppeteer on the PS3, it really looks to be a very fun platformer. However it worries me that nobody seems to be talking about it!

RIP Ryan, I really enjoyed watching your work, both on Gamespot and here on GiantBomb. I will miss your take on games and how funny and happy you always were. Really a big loss seeing you pass away.

To everyone at GiantBomb and others related to Ryan I feel for you, take care.

I definitely thought the Wii U would see more love in this thread but I have purchased a Vita and I'm just waiting for it in the mail now. Thank you guys so much for your help, it really helped me alot.

Now I just can't wait to really explore what the Vita is capable of and playing the best games the system has to offer. Also the Vita seems like it's really a good buy since the games are pretty cheap now and alot of games are free through PS+