The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[BigJKO]

Alright, is anyone getting a bit of Nintendo fever again? Or did all sympathy for them disappear with their "We don't play with Garage Developers" comments?

I'm pretty excited. Don't know if I'd buy it. I got excited for the Wii, but never bought it. Didn't buy 360 or PS3, either, so I might jump on an HD capable console from Nintendo.

But still, all that aside, this is all very interesting. What with touch-screen controller rumors, and all.

Anyways, anyone else have thoughts? Figured we could start babbling about it in this thread come E3 in June.

So, Idle Thumbs Forum is ready for Nintendo E3 now!

Edited February 1, 2015 by BigJKO

[Sno]

I refuse to get hyped until i see games and hardware, is kind of where i'm at with all this.

[subbes]

Haptics!

I'm excited to explore the texture of a tree, but not so much to feel the heat of lava.

[Thompson]

They've been saving the Vitality Sensor for this, it's going to be mind blowing.

[Sno]

They've been saving the Vitality Sensor for this, it's going to be mind blowing.

I want an Eternal Darkness sequel that starts messing with you whenever you start feeling at ease.

I would buy a vitality sensor for that.

[subbes]

I want THIS to be an Emotion Engine.

[Raff]

I want an Eternal Darkness sequel that starts messing with you whenever you start feeling at ease.

I would buy a vitality sensor for that.

I want insanity effects built into the dashboard and eShop.

[Kolzig]

Not going to get excited about this. Not at least until the final unveiling happens in E3. Some of the rumours seem to be so bogus stuff.

[syntheticgerbil]

I have so many Wii and Gamecube games still left to finish, that even if I had all the details at hand, I would not be excited.

Really I just feel kind of sad when every console line gets the next iteration, especially now, when I feel like improvement in the hardware department is pretty moot.

All the Wii lacks is the HD resolution and graphical power, but the games still work fine.

[Thrik]

I can't really use the Wii because its technology is fairly shit. I'd love to finish games like Twilight Princess and get Mario Galaxy 2 but it's too painful.

It does excite me that Nintendo's finally getting a HD console so I can enjoy Mario and Zelda in HD, although I'm not sure I'm keen on this new world of generations starting in such a staggered fashion. In a couple of years or so the chances are Sony and Microsoft will bring out new consoles that — no matter what you say now — will make the current generation look like ass, and Nintendo will once again be behind as rumours imply the Wii 2 will barely be more powerful than the 360 and PS3. But then if Nintendo come out with something even better halfway through those consoles' lifespan like they are with the Wii 2...

It's about the right time, whatever the case. The Wii is now getting towards being five years old, and its technology was never particularly inspiring beyond being novel in the first place. It's well due a successor.

[Sno]

I can't really use the Wii because its technology is fairly shit. I'd love to finish games like Twilight Princess and get Mario Galaxy 2 but it's too painful.

I'll give you Twilight Princess, the Wii version of that game is largely ruined by motion control for me as well.

Really wish i had played the Gamecube version. (Which is unfortunately extremely rare.)

Galaxy though, really? The motion control in both of the Galaxy games is so cursory as to not even really be there. Waggle to spin, and tilt control in a couple of gimmick stages. That's it.

[CaptainFish]

The Wiimote and Nunchuck are probably the most comfortable controllers ever for regular use. That's where Cheeto dust man comes from, your hands don't even have to leave your sides.

Sometimes the waggle/motion stuff was the best way to proceed. Examples include RE4 for the aiming* and Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the quick directional smashes.

*I will admit it took me a while to get used to this, but once I figured out the right way to aim in that game, everything felt really natural.

[Thrik]

I was more talking about the literal technology rather than the concept. The Wii literally doesn't work for me, because the distance between me and the large TV is more than average (Good for things like Kinect!) — the pointer just completely craps out, even of I tweak the sensitivity. It's because of the IR way it passes the data, which is a fairly crude approach.

Move on the other hand should be entirely fine as it uses a much more accurate and sophisticated approach, as will the Wii successor I imagine.

Also the games looking very dated doesn't help to lift my enthusiasm, but the jankiness of the core hardware just makes it a horrible experience. It's well overdue an overhaul.

[Sno]

I was more talking about the literal technology rather than the concept. The Wii literally doesn't work for me, because the distance between me and the large TV is more than average (Good for things like Kinect!) — the pointer just completely craps out, even of I tweak the sensitivity. It's because of the IR way it passes the data, which is a fairly crude approach.

Any bright lights, big windows? Sunlight can really mess with the pointer.

Still... Ah, i see... That sucks.

Also the games looking very dated doesn't help to lift my enthusiasm, but the jankiness of the core hardware just makes it a horrible experience. It's well overdue an overhaul.

There's a few Wii games that i think are absolutely gorgeous to look at, and that the Wii wouldn't seem so dated if it could push out HD resolutions. (Metroid Prime 3 and the Galaxy games are the ones that come to mind.) I think the problem is that there's no real expectation for high-end visuals on the Wii, given the audience Nintendo platforms tend to pull in, so nobody really tries. I think it's a problem the Gamecube faced as well. It's usually not thought of as powerful hardware given the kinds of games that were released for it, but it was actually a relative beast, almost as powerful as the x-box and far more capable than the PS2. (Once again, what i feel are the best looking games on the Gamecube were first-party Nintendo games, Metroid Prime and Wind Waker.)

I don't think Nintendo simply putting out a more powerful console will end this trend of people making cheaper looking games for the Nintendo platforms. I feel it's probably a combination of people not even really trying to compete with Nintendo on their own terms, and the market not really demanding it. Whenever 3rd party devs do try to step up on Nintendo platforms, they tend to get steamrolled. (Hey, Conduit 2 just came out, did anybody buy that? No? Ok.)

Edited May 7, 2011 by Sno

[Roderick]

I'm fairly excited about the NEScafé (that there's genius). But I reserve some enthusiasm. Firstly, this will be only Nintendo finally catching up with the current hardware. It remains to be seen whether Sony and Microsoft release new consoles of their own in the next few years, which might blow Nintendo's out of the water again, and we'll be in the same situation as we're in now:

The Wii is ridiculously outdated. It was two years ago. Back when it came out, it was passable, graphically, and the newfangled controls smoothed things over. But the last few years have been an absolute disappointment. The games were shit, just shit. Besides a few first party titles, it's been an embarrassment. I own 7 or 8 Wii titles, no more. In comparison, I have thirty+ 360 games and I got that consoles after the Wii. It's just insane how crappy the Wii line up is, and the console itself has long since become completely obsolete.

The NESCafé could be a step in the right direction. Will it be enough? Will it last long term? We'll have to see.

[Kolzig]

(Hey, Conduit 2 just came out, did anybody buy that? No? Ok.)

Conduit 2 however is a pile of steaming shit.

The first one was at least ok with a crappy story and solid voice acting (Kevin Sorbo! ), but the second one utterly destroys the really smooth controlling scheme they had for the first one and also they got some douchebags doing the voice acting and the main character is acted out like trying to be like Duke Nukem junior.

How is it even possible to totally fuck up the controls when those were the best part of the first one that they totally got working?

[BigJKO]

Yeah, if there's going to be decent third-party support on the Striim, the developers also need to stop making half-assed shit for Nintendo. Nintendo needs to straighten out their support for third-party's of course, but if they do then Rockstar and Capcom etc. better bring out their big guns. Otherwise, they can't expect anything to sell.

On the bright side, this might possibly happen. It's rumoured that Nintendo might not release their first-party stuff on launch, to give third-parties a chance to be exclusive on launch. Sounds a bit far-fetched (and again, those third-party titles better be friggin' good if this happens) but hey, it could happen..

[Thrik]

But the last few years have been an absolute disappointment. The games were shit, just shit. Besides a few first party titles, it's been an embarrassment.

This is a very big point too. When you actually think about how many good games that people like us would like to play have come out on the Wii in almost five years it's fairly shocking. A handful at best have been truly worthwhile, and even then I find myself constantly thinking "imagine how awesome this would be on the PS3".

It does it even if I close the blinds and keep the lights off, Sno. I can see how it's struggling: it confuses where the IR has bounced off my white walls for a second beam, it struggles with the distance, and it's just generally really awful to use. Even in my last home where I had ideal conditions (six feet away, perfect darkness, chair right in front of TV) it wasn't exactly smooth.

[Nappi]

Wii was a huge disappointment for me in the end. The hardware was largely unimpressive even on release and the motion controls didn't turn out to be as hot as I was led to believe. The real disappointment was the games catalog however.

My collection: Wii Sports, Zelda, Mario, Mario, Mario, Donkey Kong.

What used to be my wishlist: Mario, Metroid, No More Heroes, Zelda.

(Now a list of games I wish that were released on some other platform.)

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Zelda and two of the Marios and quite liked the Donkey Kong. It's still very sad, though. :(:(

I'm not sure what to think of the upcoming console to be honest. Nintendo is clearly capable of doing incredible things but they are also quite competent at disappointing (me at least).

[Kolzig]

I guess storage clearing has started as shops start their preparation for the successor of Wii.

The Hut is selling Wii 2000 points cards -50%.

[BigJKO]

God, this thread is amazing! Everyone having a seizure about the Wii name. And me arguing bull-shit, and revealing that I didn't know what googol was..

And then Wii became a normal thing to say in public, after all!

[Drath]

Two words:

Horsebag II

[Thrik]

That thread is absolutely hilarious to read in hindsight.

[BigJKO]

Even though I was secretly hoping they'd go for NESCafé (I mean, c'mon!) the latest rumours seem to indicate it might be called, simply.. Nintendo. That would be great and simple, but hasn't that rumour surfaced everytime they announced a new console?

Also, they might possibly have done away with the ridiculous friend codes. Finally.

We won't have to wait much longer to know. To watch the live stream on Tuesday go to e3.nintendo.com.

[brkl]

The Nintendo Nintendo? I don't know, sounds a bit silly to me.