BigJKO

The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

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I'm pissed that the Finnish toy company Amo hasn't provided any demo machines of WiiU. And they should advertise more also.

We don't even have proper Nintendo involvement in Finland or Club Nintendo presence...

I would like to test Wii U somewhere, but I don't see myself buying it in the near future. 3DS XL seems more likely at this point.

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Don't really see the appeal of the thing. Wii was much less impressive than even the Gamecube and this looks worse.

Is it just me or is NSMB U the exact same game as the Wii ones? And the only other game anyone's talking about is some third-rate zombie fest that wouldn't merit a second mention if it wasn't a launch title.

I dunno, it just seems like Nintendo are trying to recapture lightning twice. The Wii was a good idea for a couple of years, it sold well and yeah not so many people had HDTVs so the low power and low price made sense. But by what, three years in, that thing looked like crap compared to the games coming out on 360 and PS3. All the controller innovation in the world didn't stop third party companies just using it as a dumping ground for waggle shovelware and spinoff inferior Wii versions of their main franchises. I don't see how that's different in any significant way this time around, and it will probably look seriously underpowered again in a couple of years.

So third party publishers will avoid it again, Nintendo will continue to run their franchises into the ground... It's just, god. Nintendo are still running on the same IP from the 19 goddamn 80s. Sure they've done a few new bits and pieces like Pikmin or whatever, but man who honestly jumps for joy to play another fucking Mario or Zelda game any more? And if they're not going to compete on graphics appeal like they did with every console before the Wii, and it's just left to relying on controller gimmicks, what's the point? You can't even say the gameplay's better, in fact it's worse since they're baby-proofed and tutorialed and unskippable-hinted out the ass, you can't actually just sit down and get lost in these worlds any more.

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I honestly jump for joy to play another fucking Mario and Zelda game. Well, not so much the NSMB series, but definitely the Galaxy games. Also super stoked for Pikmin 3.

The controller gimmicks are quite fun when done correctly.

If I cared about graphics, I would shun consoles entirely, as they're all inferior to PC...

The hand-holding is about the only legitimate complaint I see in your post. It's atrocious and I hate it. But it's not enough to drive me away. And, to be honest, of all the Nintendo games I played on Wii, it's only really an issue in Skyward Sword. U:

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Yeah, I don't know.. I can honestly say I jump for joy every time I play a new Mario and Zelda. That may also be related to the fact that I just don't play every single Mario and Zelda game. At least not on release.

I can understand the sentiment, if you're not someone who does that, though. I feel the same way any other franchise is updated, like GTA.

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I have never felt that "look at how old those franchises are!" is a fair condemnation of Nintendo when they're constantly doing new things with them. I find it kind of frustrating to see people decry Zelda as never trying anything new when each new game is so fucking dramatically different from the last. It's such a strange phenomena, and it probably has more to do with frustration over the fact that there's a few core Nintendo-isms that are never going to go away. (HEY LISTEN.)

The Mario myopia doesn't really help either.

NSMB and Mario Kart are pretty much the same thing every time, but the core Mario platformers and the Paper Mario series are always doing new things, for example.

When it comes to Mario, you kind of need somebody to guide you through things.

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Well, I recently got really tired of Zelda. I actually do think they're pretty much alike, specifically in structure. The visual design (though not the visual language) does always change, but halfway through Minish Cap I just suddenly got REALLY exhausted of visiting dungeons and getting an item and defeating a boss. Maybe I want something different in the series (which was promised in Skyward Sword), or maybe I just need a time-out.

Core Mario platformers are amazing though. I'm curious where they'll go after Galaxy 2. Hopefully something different, no matter if it's slightly worse.

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Egh, well, i think the handheld Zelda games haven't been very good for a long time. I don't like Minish Cap either, and i think the two DS games were pretty terrible. I was speaking mainly about the home games, which i feel have been pretty consistently great. (I think Twilight has a really bad Wii version, and i think the direction its art took was a big step back from Wind Waker, but i don't otherwise have any huge problems with it.)

I mean, and Nintendo has so much history, there's so many ups and downs. It gets dangerous to start talking about them in broad generalizations, on my part too. (Though Minish Cap wasn't even developed internally at Nintendo! It's a Capcom game.)

Okay, but those Zelda games basically all follow that same structure. There's an overworld with quests that direct you towards dungeons, and in those dungeons you collect items and fight bosses that teach you to use those items, which you then use to further the progression towards new dungeons.

Inside of that framework, i feel like the series is always trying new things, but it hasn't really ever changed that framework. What would Zelda be without that framework? I suppose that is the important question. (Or, if we're going to be that reductive about Zelda, why not apply that same reductive mentality to other games too? Suddenly everything starts looking really depressing.)

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Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass are both fun romps. Link's Awakening is still king of the 2D Zeldas, though.

But whatever blah blah everyone has opinions. It's not your fault if you're wrong!!!!!

The problem with Zelda is that they never do anything different. And, yes, that is a real problem. Majora's Mask is the only 3D Zelda that really stands out in terms of gameplay and world design. Wind Waker just takes the big empty Hyrule Field and replaces it with a big empty ocean. I like Wind Waker, but, speaking from a purely observational point of view, that's what it is. Twilight Princess is Ocarina of Time restructured. Skyward Sword was a pretty decently-sized step in the right direction of creating a seamless world (although it did still have the obviously-separate HERE IS A DUNGEON sections), but then the belligerent handholding threw it backwards in an entirely different backward direction.

Hnngh. I mean, I could write a lot about this, if I really wanted to put in the time, but everyone who is a fan of Nintendo and Zelda is no doubt already pretty familiar with all of the arguments I would make.

The biggest problem, perhaps, is that it doesn't matter. Zelda games continue to sell, and I continue to love every single one of them, despite their flaws. They're never outright terrible games. They're never even bad. They're always at least good. HNNGH.

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What's also pretty awful is that compared to Mario, Zelda doesn't even sell that well. It's always put up there as Nintendo's second big franchise, but it doesn't even come close to the sales.

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I just wish that Nintendo would take the mentality that they've adopted with the NSMB games and map it to their other franchises. I know that Phantom Hourglass is almost an overhead/isometric Zelda game, but it's not the same as my dream of basically another Link to the Past/Link's Awakening but with high-resolution graphics. They haven't really made an original sidescrolling Metroid since Fusion, which feels like FOREVER ago (actually replaying that right now on my 3DS). I'd kill for these things and I can only imagine it'd be cheaper for Nintendo to make than these full 3D titles that the core audience seems generally iffy on.

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One of you is arguing that Nintendo needs to do new things, one of you is arguing that Nintendo needs to stop doing new things.

I don't know how to have a conversation here.

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People have different opinions on the internet! News at 11.

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I just don't know which side i should be responding to.

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Well, in true internet tradition, I think your'e supposed to tell both sides they're wrong. So... have at it!

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Agreed! They're doing something right with Mario. One big release, with original gameplay, every three(four?) years or so (Galaxy, Sunshine, 64) And in between put out smaller releases, that don't break any major new ground and put a neat spin on the classic games.

They'd be wise to something similar with their other franchises. Keep people happy with some regular small releases, thus giving them time to develop something original, MIND-BLOWING stuff.

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To be fair, this year has seen a teeny bit of a Mario overdose. 5 out of 6 (!) [N]Gamer covers this year have featured Mario on the cover. We had NSMB2, NSMBU, Mario Kart 7, Mario Party 9, Mario Tennis, Mario & Sonic Olympic Shit and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. I don't blame anyone being a little Mario-fatigued at this point. It's understandable with the different development cycles coinciding and the launch of the Wii U needing a strong figurehead presence, but this really isn't doing the character any good. Saturation point way exceeded.

I do agree that it's nice to have some games being classic and nostalgic, others being super modern. There is no reason we can't have both. Hey surprise, we actually DO have both! Though I have to agree I am sometimes aching for a nice 2D platform game again. I mean; visually 2D with sprites. That's why 2011's Aliens Infestation on the DS resonated with me so much. If you have this yearning, do check it out.

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Agreed! They're doing something right with Mario. One big release, with original gameplay, every three(four?) years or so (Galaxy, Sunshine, 64) And in between put out smaller releases, that don't break any major new ground and put a neat spin on the classic games.

They'd be wise to something similar with their other franchises. Keep people happy with some regular small releases, thus giving them time to develop something original, MIND-BLOWING stuff.

Yeah, this is my sentiment exactly. Their love of minor iteration is what's bothering me most about Nintendo; they tease with these big, innovative, platform-proving games like Wii Sports and Nintendoland, but then deliver nothing but minor iteration for their main titles. I'd love big leaps every few years, with some real refinement of classic formulas with smaller projects in the interim years. Granted Nintendo's pedigree, they needn't be incredibly ambitious or flashy to see a lot of (financial) success - why not do that with classic gametypes that people who played Zelda or Metroid in their NES/SNES years would enjoy?

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I've been pretty indifferent about the Wii U thus far, knowing that it's destined to go down the same route as its predecessor in terms of third-party support. Then I went into GAME yesterday and saw New Super Mario Bros U on a demo machine.

For fucks sake.

I was immediately bitten by that Nintendo bug many of us must be familiar with by now. Being the first time I've ever seen a Mario game running in proper honest-to-god HD, I was pretty much floored by how crisp and beautiful it looks. The texture to the world and the sheer craziness of everything took me back to how Yoshi's Island amazed me in similar ways. Some bits literally look like moving paintings, and it's only now it's in HD that the art style of New Mario Bros really gets to shine — I always thought it looked a little sterile and boring in its earlier incarnations, apparently due to a lack of fidelity.

Shitting hell man, this game is great. I'm not sure why this one impresses me so much in comparison to the Wii iteration. Maybe it's because it'd been relatively little time since I'd finished the DS one and so the Wii one felt like too much of a good thing in the same way Ass Creed's 'sequels' have done, or maybe it's because the leap is bigger this time and it feels genuinely fresh over its DS predecessor. Whatever the case, I want this right now and am pretty much prepared to buy a Wii U for the privilege. The fact that they've brought back a Mario World-esque overworld is just the icing on the cake.

So, yeah. Even if the third-party support is as weak as I predict, knowing I'm going to get to indulge in some HD Mario, Zelda, and maybe even Donkey Kong is actually enough for me to sink some dosh into this thing. Shit.

There is one con I'm sure some (Jake) will empathise with, though: that stupid vocal sound effect continues to permeate most of the music.

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There is one con I'm sure some (Jake) will empathise with, though: that stupid vocal sound effect continues to permeate most of the music.

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It's just one of those things where you have to wonder what they were thinking. Does anyone think it's cute/funny/whatever? Maybe it's some internationalisation quirk and the Japanese love it.

Whatever the case, it really grinds my gears and literally ruins the soundtrack for me. After the majesty of Mario Galaxy's soundtrack it's so disappointing, doubly so after the revelation that the Galaxy composer was involved with the new New Super Mario Bros.

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BTW does anyone actually have a Wii U and happen to be in the UK? If so, are the DKC games in the store?

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I bought a Wii U at launch (for Pikmin 3, naturally), and I've enjoyed it, but I didn't really "get" it until I sat down and played Metroid Blast with a friend. I played more of that stupid minigame in one sitting than I played of Wii Sports since I bought my Wii at launch. I just have no idea where to go from there. It seems like Nintendo's big, dependable major games have gotten more and more "safe" and disappointing as time goes on, but every once in a while something just comes out of left field that completely changes everything.

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Concerning the Wah Wah, I thought it was pretty nice when it premiered in New Supes Mario Broes, but haven't encountered it since. So, can't say if it grates. Will say that maybe once I played with the Wii U it'll convince me too! But I haven't yet, so! I'll just keep playing Pushmo and Crashmo on my 3DS!

Crashmo has some really crazy hard puzzles, even though the game insists that the difficulty is only three stars. Three plus five, more like.

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