Wii U eShop Is Live With Netflix, Mario, And $10 Indie Games

Here’s a quick look at the Nintendo eShop for Wii U, which you control using the touch screen. Nintendo put full retail games like Assassin’s Creed III, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Nintendo Land online. Each game has its own page with screenshots and trailers. You can tap any item to view the media on the GamePad and TV simultaneously.

Retail games like Nintendo Land are the same price in stores and as a download. If you purchase the 32 GB Deluxe set you get 10% of your purchase back as points which can be redeemed for Nintendo eShop credit. You can also link your Club Nintendo account to your Nintendo Network account. Some games like Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition and strangely Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition are retail only. Perhaps these games will be released digitally at a later date? Namco Bandai announced Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition for Japan’s eShop.

Wii U has a few indie games available at launch like Nano Assault Neo and Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition. The cheapest download only games are $10. Chasing Aurora and Little Inferno are $15. Trine 2: Director’s Cut is the most expensive at $20.

You can search for downloadable software by genre and Nintendo has categories for training, study, practice, and utility. It looks like Nintendo has plans to release more apps, but Netflix is the only video application available right now. Even though Hulu Plus, YouTube, and Amazon Video are on the system menu, you can’t run or download them.