The big marketing push for the Wii U keeps on growing, this time, with the announcement of a newly expanded partnership between Norwegian Cruise Line and Nintendo of America. The new goal for this partnership is to offer Wii U units and Wii U games fleetwide, featuring Nintendo’s newest video game console in all ships\’ atriums and youth and teen centers. In addition, the new HD Wii U systems will be front and center at various competitions and events on board each ship.

Norwegian first partnered with Nintendo in March 2007, when Wii systems were introduced fleetwide. Naturally, with the introduction of Wii U, the successor to Wii, the gaming experience is being elevated to new levels in a valiant effort to increase awareness about what makes the Wii U so unique. The interactive Wii U gaming system complements Norwegian’s Freestyle Cruising by offering gaming opportunities to guests of all ages. The new consoles give guests the chance to experience a variety of new action, adventure, party, racing, strategy, puzzle and sports games. Upcoming game rollouts will include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, a high-definition re-release of one of the highest received games in the Zelda and a game we defined as \”a marginal improvement to a classic; a prettier, more streamlined game of excellent quality;\” Super Mario 3D World, the first multiplayer 3D Mario game for Wii U and also a game that has been receiving a lot of promotion by Nintendo of late; New Super Luigi U, starring Mario’s green-clad brother; Pikmin 3, which asks players to command an army of colorful creatures; and The Wonderful 101, a decisive game, putting players in control of a band of superheroes fighting off an alien invasion.

One thing that the Wii U does uniquely is deliver potentially great video game experiences with exclusive Nintendo characters in HD. Wii U also features the GamePad controller, which removes the traditional barriers between players, their favorite games and the television by giving one player a second touch screen, while other players use traditional controllers. That lets different players experience the same game in different ways. It’s perfect for the kinds of multiplayer game-playing parties found on board cruise ships.