The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[tegan]

To play Wii stuff on Wii U, it just boots to what is for all intents and purposes an emulated Wii. It doesn't accept any input from the Gamepad or Pro Controllers, though you can use the Gamepad as a display. To play VC stuff properly on the tablet with savestates and not having to use a Wiimote and stuff, you need to pay a small upgrade fee (I think it's like $1 for NES and $2 for SNES?) for each game, and they need to be available on the Wii U eshop.

 

No idea what to tell you about an HDMI converter, but it seems like there must be an easier way.

[Yasawas]

Transferring Wii VC games to the Wii U equivalent does cost a small amount, yes.

Also my Wii was soft nodded and transferred my stuff OK, that bit is not a problem.

[Twig]

That... actually sounds entirely reasonable compared to the uproar I'm recalling. Can I actually download it from the eShop, too, or can I only transfer what's already downloaded? I know that seems like a silly question, but as far as I can tell, there's no way to access the old Wii Shop from the Wii U? Thanks!

 

I was thinking maybe I could get a component-to-HD converter and that might be better/cheaper than a Wii-specific one (but yet again I am totally ignorant in this area). But as for easier solutions, not that I know of. Unless I borrow somebody's TV. I can't navigate the Wii without seeing the screen!!

 

Yasawas: Cool, thanks for the info! At least I know I won't have to go back to stock firmware. Wouldn't have any problem doing so, but it'd be a hassle for sure.

[Merus]

So I played Splatoon at PAX (and dominated btw).

 

It's very cute looking but I have no idea how deep it's going to end up being.

 

You score points based on covering territory, with a bonus for killing other players. You can move faster when you swim in your team's ink, so there's a clear combo move there to quickly get out to the centre of the map, with two people cleaning up in the rear. You also have a special meter that charges based on points scored, so there's an incentive to go back, paint up parts of the map that have been missed, and charge your special. You're stunned (and it seems like you take damage) in opponents' ink, so territory control is paramount, but it's also fairly easy to flip so it's hard to know how that'll go in practice.

 

The shooting mechanics are very, very simple - you have an ink gun, a grenade, your special and that's it.

[Twig]

I'm super interested in Splatoon, but I worry that its cartoonish exterior will drive people away from what LOOKS like a very fun multiplayer competitive game.

[RubixsQube]

I agree. I think that Splatoon, given the right crowd, could be really interesting. I was really excited to watch it being played at E3 this year, because it seemed to be balanced quite well, although maybe that was a result of the people playing it being inexperienced. I'm glad that the mechanics seem simple, because I think that Nintendo's MO is diversity through simplicity. Make something with solid, easy-to-understand systems, and see how they work in concert. I am not the world's biggest fan of the art style, but I'll play it providing it has a robust online component. (Ha ha, that's unlikely)

[syntheticgerbil]

EDIT: Oh, and I long ago modded my Wii (specifically to be able to turn off dumb annoying text boxes in Skyward Sword U: ). Is... is that going to be a problem?

I think as of right now, you can actually still install the Homebrew stuff in the Wii portion. I don't think Nintendo seems intent on fixing this ever since the Wii part is more there as a convenience. I'd probably move my stuff over as well and install Homebrew again if I didn't need my Wii to play Gamecube since I got rid of my Gamecube for a Wii.

 

Instead of trying to borrow a converter can you maybe borrow a TV or something from a friend or go to their house and set stuff up for the transfer?

[Twig]

No, I don't have any friends! ;_;

[undermind9]

Could use a cheaply converter. It only has to work for half an hour, could get rca to dvi and use monitor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1TX0K17008&cm_re=rca_to_dvi-_-9SIA1TX0K17008-_-Product

Could return it when done too

As Regan said still need to use Wii accessories if playing in emulated Wii mode, but can clone to gamepad screen.

I haven't paid to upgrade any vc games,but that seems useful for a few of my favorites

[syntheticgerbil]

No, I don't have any friends! ;_;

Hmm... drive to Austin, I'll let you use my TV for an evening. I bought one long ago with like 6 different input options for all of my old consoles. S-Video and VGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Twig]

Haha, I don't have a car, either. Or... a license. Soon a friend will be not in Taiwan anymore, though, and then... Well, anyway.

 

I went ahead and ordered a cheap converter. No big, it's only a few bucks. As long as it works. Which, I have no reason to believe it won't! Unless my Wii is dead. I haven't started it up in... wow, years, I guess.

[Griddlelol]

So I played Splatoon at PAX (and dominated btw).

 

It's very cute looking but I have no idea how deep it's going to end up being.

 

The shooting mechanics are very, very simple - you have an ink gun, a grenade, your special and that's it.

I'm really interested in splatoon, I actually think its art style might save it from being populated with teenagers like every other shooter.

What do you mean by "that's it" though? I can't say in was expecting more than that. The thing that concerns me the most is whether the shooting mechanics will be fun. If I'm spraying a wall with paint, that sounds tedious!

[CollegeBaby]

I guess it depends what you want from a shooter. Splatoon will probably be the casual local co-op party game equivalent of a shooter (just speculating, I don't really know for sure), but I think it would be very bold for it not to be. Wii U doesn't have a large player base to support much of a competitive online community outside of massive titles like Mario Kart and Smash Bros, which have been building their fan bases for over a decade.

 

On the other hand the casual audience haven't exactly been flocking to the Wii U so maybe they should be making it more competitive? I don't know, Nintendo these days seems too conservative for that especially on an unproven franchise.

[Yasawas]

There isn't but the act of either doing the transfer or linking your Club Nintendo account to your Wii U (I can't remember which) lets it know that you've already bought it before so it'll show up in teh Wii U eShop at the reduced price.

 

I'm on IE8 at work which doesn't let me enter text below a quoted post for some reason which is why this is the wrong way round.

 

That... actually sounds entirely reasonable compared to the uproar I'm recalling. Can I actually download it from the eShop, too, or can I only transfer what's already downloaded? I know that seems like a silly question, but as far as I can tell, there's no way to access the old Wii Shop from the Wii U? Thanks!

[Merus]

What do you mean by "that's it" though? I can't say in was expecting more than that. The thing that concerns me the most is whether the shooting mechanics will be fun. If I'm spraying a wall with paint, that sounds tedious!

 

Well, TF2 has a melee weapon and a class-based weapon or two, depending, and ammo is a real limiter. Splatoon doesn't have classes, and you're constantly shooting with easy access to ammo, so most of the depth is going to be in the territory control with very little depth in the shooting.

 

You are sort of spraying walls and floors with ink but in practice you're running forward towards the fight.

[Griddlelol]

Classes would be cool, I just didn't expect them in there. I guess my expectations were "low" which doesn't mean I think the game is going to be bad, just that I wasn't thinking about classes, multiple weapons or melee action. 

 

So is it advantageous to sit at the back, just painting every spot you can find, or is it better to work your way forward and paint over the opponents paint?

[JonCole]

For what it's worth, this is the HDMI converter I got for the Wii and it works pretty well - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RKXN46/

[miffy495]

That... actually sounds entirely reasonable compared to the uproar I'm recalling. Can I actually download it from the eShop, too, or can I only transfer what's already downloaded? I know that seems like a silly question, but as far as I can tell, there's no way to access the old Wii Shop from the Wii U? Thanks!

 

I was thinking maybe I could get a component-to-HD converter and that might be better/cheaper than a Wii-specific one (but yet again I am totally ignorant in this area). But as for easier solutions, not that I know of. Unless I borrow somebody's TV. I can't navigate the Wii without seeing the screen!!

 

Yasawas: Cool, thanks for the info! At least I know I won't have to go back to stock firmware. Wouldn't have any problem doing so, but it'd be a hassle for sure.

 

Yeah, I've been happy to pay the $1 or $1.50 to upgrade, depending on system. It's great.

 

As for accessing your Wii games, I believe that if you go into the Wii submenu on the WiiU and access the shop from THERE, it's the old Wii shop, and you can re-download any Wii games and even purchase new ones if you really want to. If you go into "Shop" from the WiiU menu, it'll only take you to the new eShop. Also, I thought that there was a way to play Wii stuff on the tablet? Not sure, honestly, as I've never tried, but I remember hearing last year about a firmware update that let you play Wii games on the tablet with a remote...

[BigJKO]

You can use the GamePad as a screen, but the controls do not work. So you'd have to have the GamePad lying in front of you and then control the game with a Wiimote....

 

Yeah... 

[Griddlelol]

Out of the VC games I've tried, Super Metroid is the only one that I can truly say I like. I like it a lot though, and I'm starting to see the love for the Metroid series that I never understood. 

 

Are there any other must play games in the Metroid franchise? I'd rather go forward in time, as I really struggle to enjoy NES games.

[RubixsQube]

If you liked Super Metroid, you should try Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Fusion, the GBA sequel/prequels. Only Metroid Fusion is out on the Wii U virtual console, and while it's a little bit more linear than Super Metroid (and a little more hand-hold-ey), it's still very good. Eventually, Metroid: Zero Mission will come to the US virtual console, hopefully, and that's an update of the NES game, which makes it control and look a lot better. I have played and beaten all three of these games scores of times, and while Super Metroid is still far and away the best of the three, the others are well worth your time. 

[JonCole]

Well Rubixs beat me to it, except I think that they're all pretty much equally good.

[RubixsQube]

You know, I think that what I liked about Fusion, specifically, was it's kind of unreigned art style and specifically the color palette. It's very pretty in many places. Also, Fusion is a game where you can beat it and not really get into the metric boatload of extra items and passageways threading through the game. It's super, super dense with secrets. 

[JonCole]

You know, I think that what I liked about Fusion, specifically, was it's kind of unreigned art style and specifically the color palette. It's very pretty in many places. Also, Fusion is a game where you can beat it and not really get into the metric boatload of extra items and passageways threading through the game. It's super, super dense with secrets. 

 

I agree with all of that. In some ways, I feel like Fusion is the most linear because it has the most plot points that kinda drive it forward as well as an overarching map design that leads you from one environment to the next without ever having to do much of the Metroidvania thing of "which direction should I actually be going?". Because of that, I have a lot more ease recommending that one over the others to newcomers. 

[SecretAsianMan]

We discussed Super Metroid and other games in the series in this thread if you care to look at that.  Fusion, as was said by Rubix and Jon, is much more linear than most other Metroid games but no less fun.  It does introduce the worst plot element in the series though, which comes to back to haunt Other M.  Zero Mission is mostly an enhanced remake of the original Metroid but it plays like Super.  It also has the first stealth sequence in the series.  If you'd like to experience the first Metroid but can't take the NES version, I'd suggest that Zero Mission is a more than adequate substitute.

 

If you want to go outside the 2D games, the Prime series is fantastic.  The atmosphere and design are excellent and the gameplay is solid even though its a drastic departure from the rest of the series.

 

Other M is a mixed bag.  In terms of gameplay I thought it was fun and energetic, but it also contains the worst thing to ever happen to the series.  I'm going to slightly spoil the story because it's TERRIBLE, but basically Samus has to work with her former commander who limits her abilities until he allows her to use them.  Encounter a hot room that makes you take damage?  Better equip the Varia suit.  Oh wait, YOU CAN'T because he didn't tell Samus she could use it.  It makes no sense.