The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[BigJKO]

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what I think of the Wii U. On the one hand, I skipped the Wii and felt like I missed out on some great games, and I could remedy that with a Wii U. On the other hand, its a bit more expensive than I was hoping, and I haven't seen anything that's really sold me on the whole tablet-as-controller idea. Also, as my tastes in gaming change, I feel like I might be better off spending my money on a small PC to hook up to my TV to run Steam through. Hopefully there will be some more news coming out of Tokyo in the coming week that will help sway me one way or the other.

This is exactly how I feel.

If I buy this, it'll be because I missed out on great Wii games like Super Mario Galaxy. The more I play my 360, the more I realize how much I miss Nintendo..

[Murdoc]

This is exactly how I feel.

If I buy this, it'll be because I missed out on great Wii games like Super Mario Galaxy. The more I play my 360, the more I realize how much I miss Nintendo..

Well if they keep going on the course they have been, you'll be able to play their wonderful games on a MS and Sony box within the half decade

[Twig]

Well if they keep going on the course they have been, you'll be able to play their wonderful games on a MS and Sony box within the half decade

I don't even.

[nateberna]

I think it's a mixture of growing up, having less time and money to commit to a new console, and my interests shifting elsewhere, but I just don't see myself getting this console without something that truly gets me excited. If I get any free time for games, I've already got a mess of stuff left unplayed, and the time usually goes to something like Spelunky or FTL or Dark Souls. As a lifelong Nintendo fan and supporter, this gives me mixed feelings.

[Roderick]

I have pre-ordered a Wii U, pretty much exclusively for reasons of work (can't review games if I don't have the console), but even so I'm getting a little excited for it. Aside from all the prospects of the machine failing or not, or where it'll stand two years from now, I'm just looking forward to checking out the GamePad and seeing how that'll affect games.

The one question I don't see answered anywhere online (and perhaps that's because it is a silly question?) is whether the GamePad functions as a Wii Remote when playing Wii games. The Wii Remote is compatible with the console, but I'm wondering whether I could play games like Super Mario Sunshine (that only very subtly uses motion controls) or Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (purely motion control based) with the GamePad. Does it use the sensor bar? I know that it in fact has its own sensor bar, so you could theoretically aim a Wii Remote at the GamePad. The reason I'm interested in this is that I dislike having three different controllers for one console and would enjoy a 'catch all' solution.

[JonCole]

This is exactly how I feel.

If I buy this, it'll be because I missed out on great Wii games like Super Mario Galaxy. The more I play my 360, the more I realize how much I miss Nintendo..

Just play Rayman Origins (if you haven't already) and a fair amount of Nintendo rose color will fall from your eyes. At least that's what happened to me.

[Merus]

Well if they keep going on the course they have been, you'll be able to play their wonderful games on a MS and Sony box within the half decade

I always got the sense that Nintendo would leave the games industry altogether rather than release games on other's people's hardware. They only make games because they need something to run on their hardware; they see themselves as a company that makes surprising devices.

I'm not sold on the WiiU - I've managed to get my hand on the GamePad and liked it enough. It's just that Nintendo's weakness has always been their inability to build a decent ecosystem on their platforms. Game Boy/GBA/DS developers built one themselves, particularly because the hardware stayed very similar, but the home consoles have never really had the kind of developer support that, say, Microsoft gives to their (AAA) developers. And that pales in comparison to the kind of support Apple gives their developers, although Apple has never really shown any understanding or aptitide for the games industry.

One of the key reasons the Wii never got the support it could have is because the industry more or less standardised on a few key technologies, Unreal Engine, Scaleform, etc., which weren't available or were in a crippled form on the Wii. While there's a little more support for this stuff on the WiiU, I can't see Nintendo going out of its way to make sure it has the most attractive suite of middleware available when it doesn't even let third-party developers access Miis. And if it's too much of a pain to make a WiiU version, developers won't do it.

I got burned by that one time too many, and now I know what to look for. So until I'm convinced Nintendo have got their act together, I'll save my money.

[Lu]

I'm pretty much of the same mind. I got a chance to check out the gamepad at Gamescom and it's a controller with a screen alright. I played Tank, Tank, Tank, which had no wait because it's an absolute turd and no one would voluntarily play that. I wouldn't like to see Nintendo fail, but I'm skeptical that their plans will work out for them.

One of the key reasons the Wii never got the support it could have is because the industry more or less standardised on a few key technologies, Unreal Engine, Scaleform, etc., which weren't available or were in a crippled form on the Wii. While there's a little more support for this stuff on the WiiU, I can't see Nintendo going out of its way to make sure it has the most attractive suite of middleware available when it doesn't even let third-party developers access Miis. And if it's too much of a pain to make a WiiU version, developers won't do it.

Yea, and next year the new round of consoles from MS and Sony will at least be unveiled and potentially released by years end. Then Nintendo will be behind the curve again. Why should a developer take a chance with Nintendo, at this point? Their track record with 3rd party speaks for itself. I fear that with Wii, they caught lightning in a bottle. The Wii remote, the moment they explained it, I got it. It made sense and it was exciting to me. The gamepad? I think the extra screen is really handy for utilitarian reasons, but other than that? I don't really care, I think; I thought it looked/felt kind of cheap, but I have no idea how finalized the pad I held was, so I'll have to defer judgement until I get to try out a retail version.

My outlook is pessimistic, is what I'm saying.

[Kolzig]

I would probably get a Wii U, but not in a long time. The Finnish prices are absolutely going to be insane just like European prices in general are.

The US price for this seems fine. It's just fucking insane that it will cost something around 400 euros here. US price is 233 euros

[Twig]

One of the key reasons the Wii never got the support it could have is because the industry more or less standardised on a few key technologies, Unreal Engine, Scaleform, etc., which weren't available or were in a crippled form on the Wii. While there's a little more support for this stuff on the WiiU, I can't see Nintendo going out of its way to make sure it has the most attractive suite of middleware available when it doesn't even let third-party developers access Miis. And if it's too much of a pain to make a WiiU version, developers won't do it.

They're actively pursuing Unity support for Wii U, I think (?), so I'm fairly certain they're definitely not against middleware.

The bigger problem is as PiratePoo states: soon enough the next generation of Sony/Microsoft consoles will be available, and UE3 will be a thing of the past...

[Vegas]

I always got the sense that Nintendo would leave the games industry altogether rather than release games on other's people's hardware. They only make games because they need something to run on their hardware; they see themselves as a company that makes surprising devices.

I don't think you can glom all of nintendo together like that. They do have a very strong hardware division but don't forget that they have distinguished teams of developers with real talent that have put out some incredible games over the years. If Nintendo hardware folded all those dev teams would still be valuable.

[Kolzig]

That's true, but I share the views of Merus that if Nintendo would stop making consoles, they would lock their licenses forever because I don't think they would ever want to see something like Mario or Zelda on non-Nintendo console (it only happened once in the past with the CD-i and we remember the end result of that weird experiment).

Nintendo is not the same as Sammy owned Sega.

Nintendo has so far been in many generations the most successful of all the console hardware companies so money isn't exactly running out in their bank account.

Problem is that all Japanese technology companies have lost insane amounts of money due to the market situation aka "bank crisis" and that yen has been way too strong for a few years now. Many companies like Sharp and Sony had to lay out over 10000 workers quite recently and there are doubts will some companies even survive in the long run, because investors are still putting a lot of money on yen for some reason so it's keeping it's too high value and almost rising all the time especially compared to the weakening euro and dollar.

It really is extremely disturbing to me that yen used to be 170 compared to one euro 4 years ago. Now it's 100 yen compared to euro. It's really expensive to buy stuff in Japan for a European and American customer, also it costs a lot for Japanese companies to export their goods to be sold. Every summer I see that things aren't what they used to be. Of course difference is caused also because Euro had artificially higher value than it should have had because countries and banks cheated in their financial reports for many years.

I did not hear at any point in Western media that Nintendo had laid off anybody, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did at some point because also Nintendo has suffered heavy losses because of strong yen = difficult to sell abroad and 3DS price drop.

Nintendo has incredible amount of talent in their Kyoto and Tokyo teams and of course many people would have to shift to another companies like Capcom or Namco to work if Nintendo were to some day fold and pack up their business and just continue making hanafuda and poker playing cards. Miyamoto is probably still few years from retirement so I think he will give his input a lot on Wii U and also on the next generation perhaps. Then after that it would be logical for him to retire and give the new guys a the lead.

They do make some weird decisions that seems really stupid, like friend codes. Also I have hoped that Nintendo would correct their 3DS mistake and make the hand consoles region free with 3DS XL for example, but no they didn't. Both Microsoft and Nintendo should learn from Sony and make also their main console region free. It's really annoys in this day and age that the hardware devs still put artificial stupid locks to stop people all around the world to enjoy their games. Same can be said about PC releases as well with their 3-4 day difference these days in release with many games between US and Europe.

But I blame Nintendo of Europe and other European companies for that region lock. Nobody would buy games from Europe because the games get slower here than in USA due to translation to various languages and also everything costs more here than when you order stuff from Canada or USA like I did with DS games.

[I_smell]

I randomly came across an old live-stream of the Nintendo Wii launch just now. It's kind of interesting, Times Square New York was like exploding over the Wii.

#1 thing that stood out though: First guy in line. Triforce Johnson. It's on his credit card, it's on his driver's license, that's his name.

Triforce Johnson was super excited, and was the first person to get his hands on the centre of the toy universe. So I thought to myself "Where is Triforce now?" and NO DOUBT HE IS NUMBER 1 AT THE WII U LAUNCH. GOD SPEED, TRIFORCE JOHNSON.

[Orv]

That dude is, I am pretty sure, legitimately insane.

[Roderick]

To be fair, I believe his surname is Isaiah, Triforce his middle name. It has a nice ring to it, actually. It's not half as bad as Optimus Prime.

[Twig]

"(since the middle of October)"

What.

[Merus]

I randomly came across an old live-stream of the Nintendo Wii launch just now. It's kind of interesting, Times Square New York was like exploding over the Wii.

#1 thing that stood out though: First guy in line. Triforce Johnson. It's on his credit card, it's on his driver's license, that's his name.

Triforce Johnson was super excited, and was the first person to get his hands on the centre of the toy universe. So I thought to myself "Where is Triforce now?" and NO DOUBT HE IS NUMBER 1 AT THE WII U LAUNCH. GOD SPEED, TRIFORCE JOHNSON.

I believe being at the launch of Nintendo products is his speciality. He's been there for a few now.

[Sno]

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-zombiu/17-6810/

This looks pretty damn great, i think.

[toblix]

SO WHO'S GATTING A WII U

[Sno]

I am not, but... i guess i've never actually bought any of the Nintendo consoles at launch, excepting handhelds. Bayonetta 2 might be a system seller for me when that shows up, but nothing in the launch line-up looks particularly interesting, Zombi U aside. I'll probably get a Wii U sooner or later, there will inevitably be those first/second-party Nintendo exclusives that i cannot will myself to skip out on.

I anticipate a 3DS-like arc for the Wii U, a rough launch window with a lot of doom-saying, and gradually building momentum.

[JonCole]

I wasn't going to buy the Wii U for a little while, but it may be a little while longer with what I'm hearing in these reviews. Three-hour battery life for the gamepad is pretty pitiful and that's something that can't be fixed (at least substantially) through software. Beyond that, it won't be clear for at least a couple months if their online system is worth a shit especially since they released it in that day one patch.

Anyways, reviews -

Polygon (6.5) - http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/18/3660470/wii-u-review

The Verge (7) - http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/18/3658130/nintendo-wii-u-review

Joystiq - http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/18/review-nintendo-wii-u/

Destructoid - http://www.destructoid.com/review-wii-u-238856.phtml

IGN (final review pending 11/20) - http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/17/wii-u-review

[I_smell]

Oh wow, numbered reviews of game consoles... I didn't know people were doing that. Am I supposed to compare this to the one they did of the Xbox 360 when that came out?

How many stars does Video games IN GENERAL have? I'm only interested in hobbies that're above an 8.5.

I'm gonna watch this ZombiU quick look, cos I've not really been able to tell if ZombiU is a GREAT GAME, or just the best thing to get with a Wii U.

[Orv]

Giant Bomb is playing basically all of the WiiU launch titles today.

http://www.giantbomb.com/chat/

[Frenetic Pony]

Oh wow, numbered reviews of game consoles... I didn't know people were doing that. Am I supposed to compare this to the one they did of the Xbox 360 when that came out?

How many stars does Video games IN GENERAL have? I'm only interested in hobbies that're above an 8.5.

I'm gonna watch this ZombiU quick look, cos I've not really been able to tell if ZombiU is a GREAT GAME, or just the best thing to get with a Wii U.

Watched that, looks very fun! I might have considered buying it were it available on a platform I already own, but since it's not *shrugs*

[darthbator]

I've watched a good bit of the giant bomb wii-u day. Does not look impressive....