The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[Zeusthecat]

We recently bought New Super Mario Bros U and it is really good! Surprisingly good! It feels like a love letter to both Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World and is easily the best of the New Super Mario games. I was expecting to be disappointed but the levels have been fun, the overworld is the best one since Mario World (having one contiguous overworld that covers everything is the best), and the items and mini games are reminiscent of Mario 3 in the best way. I know I'm in the minority here but I think this is a very good Mario game.

On another note, as much as I love my WiiU I think we've reached a point where we can call it an utter failure. I kept holding out hope that this system would end up being something special in the long run but they totally fucked up with this one. This is by far the most disappointing Nintendo console and that makes me sad.

[Griddlelol]

Ouch Zeus, you're so wrong that it's painful. The WiiU is probably my favourite Nintendo console since the N64. It doesn't have a lot of games, but man, it has the best games.

[Kolzig]

I'm so damn excited for Thursday. I've been waiting for the arrival of Fast Racing Neo for so long.

Simply amazing what those couple of crazy Germans have managed to do.

 

 

Also Xenoblade X just came out. So many exciting things happening now. I haven't even picked up Super Mario Maker yet.

 

So many unplayed games, Project Zero/Fatal Frame 5 is already on my shelf waiting, just haven't had the time and will have even less time in the future.

 

Also excellent that Minecraft is finally coming to Wii U, the only console where the controls should make sense since you can put the inventory to the gamepad screen and just have a clean UI on the tv screen. I don't really care myself about Minecraft, but I've been reading a lot of comments from people that they are really happy to buy it for their kids on Wii U.

[dartmonkey]

On another note, as much as I love my WiiU I think we've reached a point where we can call it an utter failure. I kept holding out hope that this system would end up being something special in the long run but they totally fucked up with this one. This is by far the most disappointing Nintendo console and that makes me sad.

Commercially, yes. I think there's still money to be made from it before NX but Nintendo fucked up the messaging and squandered a massive head start.

Personally, even with a small library, it's got far more games that I want to play than Xbone and PS4 combined. The gamepad finally gets a solid killer app with Mario Maker. Xenoblade looks pretty essential. Even mediocre games like Yoshi or NSMBU or Kirby have things to recommend them. I've got loads of stuff yet to play. I'm having a great time with it. Firing up the PS3 the other day, I immediately tried to turn the volume down using my pad. I'm going to miss that if NX doesn't have that feature.

Different strokes. I'm anything but disappointed.

Edit. I've never tried Minecraft but that's now on the Wii U list too. Better late than never. I think this could be an indication that NX will play Wii U games or interact with the system somehow - it makes little sense for MS to release this version if it's only going to have legs for one holiday season before a new system. I guess it's an evergreen title, but still.

[Merus]

It's entirely possible that NX will be built on existing hardware, so once the port's happened, an NX release would be trivial.

[Twig]

http://www.techinsider.io/nintendo-nx-patent-photos-2015-12

 

nx is lookin' nuts if this is anything to go by

[dium]

If the NX is backward compatible with the WiiU, I might be convinced to get one in its first year. But I am not at this point interested at all in new hardware that won't play any games I already own.

I understand that the WiiU was a big flop for Nintendo, but I was quite satisfied with it while it survived. Like dartmonkey, I found more to be interested in with the WiiU than either of its competitors, despite almost all of the games coming from a single company. That said, I bought it in 2014 expecting it to last me longer than a year and a half. Perhaps that was too optimistic.

[Twig]

Also yeah the Wii U has an amazing library. Some really fucking amazing games! It's definitely a flop commercially, but besides how it relates to the continued survival of Nintendo, I don't really care about how their stuff does commercially.

[Griddlelol]

Also yeah the Wii U has an amazing library. Some really fucking amazing games! It's definitely a flop commercially, but besides how it relates to the continued survival of Nintendo, I don't really care about how their stuff does commercially.

 

Seconded.

 

Although I care about how it does commercially, in the way I want them to keep making things, and they need money to keep making things. 

[Twig]

I did say that!

 

"besides how it relates to the continued survival of Nintendo"

 

I guess no one finds that patent info interesting. I do! Like do they intend this to be their final hardware, and it'll all just be modular from here on out? Otherwise I can't see why they'd do it like this. But even if that's what they plan, that's unrealistic, as eventually there will be some big breakthrough in power or architecture and then they'll have to start over again. Curiousssssssssssss.

 

I'd love it, though, if I could take a piece of my home console with me when I go out, then come home and plug it in and play the same game I've been playing all day, but at a higher resolution with better anti-aliasing, etc. That'd be really cool!

 

(is there an nx thread, i forget)

[TheLastBaron]

I find that patent super interesting!

[SuperBiasedMan]

My interest in that patent is pending.

[Twig]

cool

[Zeusthecat]

With the N64 and GameCube, I always felt like I had plenty of games and was able to pretty much do all of my gaming there. While the good WiiU games are really good, there are nowhere near enough of them. I can't think of any other console (and I own a shitload of consoles) I've played aside from original Xbox that has so few offerings.

The list of games I still want to play on my PS4 is at least five times as long as the list of games I still want to play on my WiiU. I still need to get to Smash Bros and maybe Captain Toad but there isn't much else that I'm really that interested in.

[syntheticgerbil]

I'm never sure how many good games people need to feel the console was a success. If I can get like 8, I feel it was a good run.

[eRonin]

I've had my Wii U for less than a year and I have 6 retail games for it plus a handful of downloaded titles, so I'm happy with what it's doing for me. I have yet to get other older cool stuff like Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 1/2 and Windwaker HD. By the time NX is released (probably late 2017) I'll probably have about 20 games for it, which is plenty for me! I think that's a good investment.

 

Anyway, that NX patent sounds pretty exciting, and it's pretty in-line with what people are speculating the "hybrid" console to be. I think a 6-7" tablet/controller thing that can run its own game, which can then dock to a home unit for beefier processing sounds very appealing to me. 

[rohlfinator]

I've been pretty happy with my Wii U as a supplement to the PC, primarily for Nintendo games. But yeah, the lineup is pretty thin outside of those. Kinda the problem with all recent Nintendo consoles, but even more severe in this case since the third-party support disappeared fast.

 

That patent is kinda wild. The "harness the power of nearby devices" thing sounds like one of those feverish fan theories that would be a technical nightmare to actually pull off.

[Zeusthecat]

In a vacuum I think it's fine, yeah. And depending on your tastes, the WiiU could definitely work as the only console you might own.

But I really think going with the withered technology approach again after doing it with the Wii was a really bad move. We've speculated for awhile whether or not it would pay off and I think enough time has passed that it is fair to say that this console is a pretty huge disappointment. There are so many major games that it doesn't have and won't ever get because of the corner they painted themselves into. Again, in a vacuum the situation might not seem so bad. But when I think back to my time with the Gamecube, I was able to do the majority of my gaming on that console because most of the games I was interested in, Nintendo or not, were coming to that console.

And just to be clear, I still like my WiiU and play it regularly.

[Merus]

I don't think Nintendo needs to abandon their withered technology hardware design - they've had many more hits with it than misses, and their ability to ship hardy products cheaply is because the 'withered technology' approach is also used for things like controller buttons, power design and packaging. Nintendo routinely ship amazing controllers because their controllers are built on cheap hardware and great engineering. Nothing I've heard suggests Nintendo's problem is with hardware, except for that one guy that complained that the Wii was just two Gamecubes duct-taped together, which was sort of ignorant because most every computer these days is made up of older computers stuck together.

 

Their problem has been with development tools and building the ecosystem, and as far as I can tell, that's never been properly addressed.

 

As for this patent: there's been an idea kicking around for a while for modular smartphones. I never thought it was a great idea because people's preferences change when they're required to get things piecemeal (i.e. no-one would ever buy a phone camera if it didn't come with the phone) and this feels like Nintendo going for broke on the peripherals front, which has worked out approximately never.

[Twig]

But it's not talking about peripherals, it's talking about actual processing power. As in you buy a new bit and it enhances the actual power of your console.

[Merus]

You will not convince me that the N64 Memory Pak was not a peripheral, but you are welcome to try.

[Twig]

You will not convince be that this is anything like the N64 Memory Pak, but you are welcome to try!

[Vulpes Absurda]

My big issue with the Wii U is that most of it's games are ones I've played before. Mario Kart 8 may be the best Mario Kart but it is just another Mario Kart. And the same can be said for 3D world, Smash Brothers, Pikmin, Woolly World, and even Splatoon doesn't really feel all that different to me from most other online shooters. So all I'm left with is a console with one game I really love (Bayonetta 2) a bunch I've basically played before and Wind Waker. Which I'm not sure time has been especially kind to, but I imagine that's just me. I honestly think I may have gotten more use out of the thing as a way to play old GBA games then anything else.

[dartmonkey]

I think that criticism could be levelled at the other consoles though, more so. The PS4 is an embarrassment of remasters and sequels. This gen has been slow to start, still hasn't produced much that is genuinely fresh and the hardware is looking creakier every week. I like that they tried something with the gamepad, even though they didn't seem sure themselves what it was for until now. I would miss having the screen now.

 

Edit. Hmm. It appears like the no-brainer inventory-on-Gamepad option for Minecraft...er, isn't! I'm sure it's not an insignificant amount of work but come on. Off-TV play is always welcome but this'll need a patchy patch.

[Sno]

My big issue with the Wii U is that most of it's games are ones I've played before. Mario Kart 8 may be the best Mario Kart but it is just another Mario Kart. And the same can be said for 3D world, Smash Brothers, Pikmin, Woolly World, and even Splatoon doesn't really feel all that different to me from most other online shooters. So all I'm left with is a console with one game I really love (Bayonetta 2) a bunch I've basically played before and Wind Waker. Which I'm not sure time has been especially kind to, but I imagine that's just me. I honestly think I may have gotten more use out of the thing as a way to play old GBA games then anything else.

 

Putting aside that i think you're kind of crazy for saying Splatoon feels the same as most other online shooters, what about Xenoblade Cross, or Captain Toad, or Wonderful 101?