Nintendo’s Wii U won’t come with a collection of simple sports games like its predecessor Wii did. Instead, the Deluxe model comes packaged with Nintendo Land, leaving the basic fun sports game for third-party publisher Ubisoft to tackle.
The result is ESPN Sports Connection, recently renamed from simply Sports Connection as ESPN came on to brand it. Like Wii Sports before it, the game offers up a small selection of simplified sporting events that take advantage of the console’s unique control scheme – in the case of Wii U, the GamePad.
I had the opportunity to play the baseball game in ESPN Sports Connection at E3 this past summer and it’s deceptively fun. So much so that I was bummed to have to put it down. Ultimately that’s what ESPN Sports Connection is designed to be: simple pick-up-and-play fun. Those of you with kids who plan on being early adopters, such as myself, will want to keep an eye on it.
The games in ESPN Sports Connection are soccer, football, baseball, tennis, golf, and karting. No bowling, sorry. You can still get your bowling fix from Wii Sports since the Wii U is backward compatible with Wii.
ESPN Sports Connection will be a launch game when the Nintendo Wii U hits stores on November 18. Click any of the ESPN Sports Connection Wii U screenshots below for a high resolution look.
