It's going to be a Nintendo Christmas!

Two very strange things have happened to me recently. One is that I never get excited about Christmas. I usually think of it as my worst time of year. I would almost go as far as saying that I hate Christmas. But this year, something strange has happened...I have found myself (quite possibly for the first time ever!) actually looking forward to Christmas. I've already been humming Christmassy tunes and got very excited at spotting the first Christmas tree of the year on the way to the shoe shop the other day.

And here's the other strange thing. When you're a blogger, you tend to get press releases from various companies regularly hitting your inbox. And to be honest I find them boring! Unless it's a brand that we totally adore, I will often scan the email quickly, then hit delete.

But when Nintendo sent their Christmas press release, I actually found myself getting incredibly excited. It is obvious that we are big Nintendo fans in this household and even before the days of being Nintendo Family Bloggers, Nintendo games and products regularly featured on the kids' Christmas wish list.

Reading through all the great stuff that Nintendo have available this Christmas was really great because I knew that we could hand on heart endorse many of the games on there having reviewed and thoroughly enjoyed them over recent months.

So we were going to pick out a few of our favourite items to highlight here but as we went through the list, there were SO many that we loved so here is a run down of some brilliant Nintendo gift ideas for Nintendo fans!

Nintendo 3DS games

I'm going to start with some of the great Nintendo 3DS games available...

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes. We reviewed this very recently and found it is a highly addictive game. It is perfect for playing with 3 players in total working together cooperatively. It is possible to play alone (controlling all three Links as Doppels) but it's much more fun with 3. (Despite this imagery on this pack, the game is actually a PEGI 7 and not PEGI 12)

Tomodachi Life. I honestly don't know where to start when it comes to Tomodachi Life! It could well be a parallel universe to our own lives as J has created mii's of our whole family, his school friends, his school teachers as well as his other heroes like Mr Moshi and Matt Smith. These characters take on a life of their own, getting married, having children, even splitting up. Another game that you can really get stuck into. You can see our review of Tomodachi Life here. 





Super Smash Bros. This is not one that we have played yet as it is a PEGI 12 and we have always been strict about sticking to the age ratings of games. J will be 12 next summer and he can't wait to play this! So if he was old enough for this one, it would definitely be on his Christmas list.

We've watched the trailer for Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash and it looks just the sort of game my boys would love. So definitely one for the Christmas list. It has just been released so very new too!

And of course, if you don't have one already, the New Nintendo 3DS would just make an awesome gift for Christmas (Priced at £149.99 on the Nintendo official UK Store). Or if you do already have one but it needs a little re-fresh, remember that you can get those cool changeable cover plates! We have Yoshi ones that look great and you can see our review of the New Nintendo 3DS here.







Nintendo Wii U games

Now onto Wii U games. Our kids were sooooo excited when they first got a Nintendo Wii U and have some real favourite games to play on there including the utterly brilliant Splatoon...

This Splatoon game and T-shirt pack is available on the Nintendo Official UK Store priced at £34.99.

Splatoon is such a fun game to play. You can play as single or two player and has become a firm favourite in this household. You can read our full review of it here (and see the Splatoon birthday cake we made!)








Super Mario Maker was a brilliant game release to coincide with Mario turning 30 this year. We've had great fun building our own levels and enjoying playing with the most famous of the Nintendo characters (I remember good old Mario from my childhood days). Read our full review of Super Mario Maker here.

I really truly believe that this game is an absolute MUST have for all Nintendo fans!

Yoshi's Woolly World just has to be the cutest, most adorable Nintendo Wii U game I have come across. How can anything be cuter than a game with a baby Yoshi made from wool playing in a woolly world? Oh wait, actually there is one thing that is cuter and that is the woolly Yoshi amiibo which really is made from wool and is so cute that we had trouble getting it out of Miss T's hands to actually use for the game! (you can read about that in our Yoshi craft post here)

Yoshi's Woolly World and Green Yarn Yoshi amiibo is available from the Nintendo Official UK Store and you can read our review here.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is not one we've played yet as it is not yet out (due for release on 20th November 2015) but it is definitely one I know the kids would love to play. They seem to love all games featuring Mario and really enjoy the hands-on aspect of sports games on the Nintendo Wii U so this is definitely one to look forward to.






Nintendo Wii U bundles

There are a few Nintendo Wii U bundles available that are worth a mention if you don't yet own a Nintendo Wii U. The bundle packs from Nintendo are a great way of getting started as you get a great game to play and in the case of the Mario Kart 8 pack and the Splatoon pack you get a themed Wii U game pad protector so your Wii U controller will really look the part!

Mario Kart 8 Green Luigi Bundle

Available on the Nintendo Official UK Store for £279.99. Prices will vary between retailers. PEGI 3

Splatoon Wii U Premium Pack  

Available on the Nintendo Official UK Store for £249.99. Prices will vary between retailers. PEGI 7

Super Mario Maker Wii U Premium Pack 

Available on the Nintendo Official UK Store for £259.99 Prices will vary among retailers. PEGI 3 

Stocking Filler Ideas

Don't forget there are plenty of stocking filler ideas at pocket money prices on the Nintendo Official UK Store. The Bowser key ring shown here is only £3.99 as is bound to brighten up a Nintendo fans Christmas. Have a look at more cool stocking filler ideas here.




 Don't forget that the many amiibos available would also make a great surprise in a stocking on Christmas morning!

And finally, here are some handy links for further updates on Nintendo:

Nintendo Official UK Store: http://store.nintendo.co.uk/home.dept

Wii U Website: http://wiiu.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS Website: http://www.nintendo3ds.co.uk  

Nintendo 3DS Guided Tour: http://guidedtour.nintendo.co.uk

Nintendo 2DS Website http://www.nintendo.co.uk/nintendo2ds
Wii U on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WiiU.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS (UK) on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo3DSUK
Nintendo UK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/NintendoUK
Nintendo of Europe on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendoeurope
Nintendo UK on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendouk

Important note: Prices may vary between retailers. Always check current price when making your purchase. Information about these products has been provided to us by Nintendo, however we have used our own words and views when writing about them.