The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[aprettycooldude]

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

 

Good lord, I can't wait for this to be $5 in a bargain bin. Seems like a perfect "get together and laugh/sob with friends" game.

[Thrik]

Wait, I don't understand that badger character model. Is that hair, or tentacles? Where does her head end and the various attachments begin?

Dude they're big, fat pigtails. Sonic has the same thing going on but without the ties.

[dartmonkey]

With every new Sonic game I scuttle out, watch a gameplay video and then retreat into my hole with my Mega Drive and the first 3 and 1/2 games. I've expanded into the Master System games because they have great music and I used to have a mate who had one. It's crazy that 20 years have passed since the last indisputably(!) great Sonic game.

 

I notice they're being a lot more realistic about the huge transparent plastic bits in the new Amiibo pictures.

 

Still waiting on Mr. Game & Watch.

 

You know, all the transparent bits in the 2015 wave look fine. The worst thing about the first wave was that everyone saw the hi-res pics of the prototypes at E3 and the 'pee-rod' plastic is rancid compared to the clear/frosted variety. From all the ones I've seen, I like Villager, Yoshi, Rosalina, and Toon Link best. The plastic doesn't do Luigi or Captain Falcon any favours, but who knows until you see them in the flesh.

 

That said, maybe these are glamour shots of the new wave and they'll all end up in traction too.

[aprettycooldude]

The last great console Sonic, yes. The Sonic Advance series I think gets *criminally* ignored, especially SA1 (2 and 3 brought only problems).

 

Sonic Rush (the first DS one) was great too, but that's because it had a Hideki Naganuma soundtrack. Pretty sure you could slap his name on Sonic Boom and I'd buy it in five seconds.

[syntheticgerbil]

I can't believe you like the Advance series. I finished the first two 100% (quit early into the third, good lord it was bad) and found them poorly designed in terms of level layout and mechanics. heavily relying on rehashing bosses and level art from the superior genesis games. I don't think everyone will ever realize that Sonic games suck because Hirokazu Yasuhara, the designer, left long ago somewhere in the middle of the Sonic X-Treme fiasco. Yuji Naka is a shill.

Yasuhara instead left to Naughty Dog working on the Jak and Dexter series as well as Uncharted. now he designs Mario vs. Donkey Kong games, ironically.

[Dewar]

Dude they're big, fat pigtails. Sonic has the same thing going on but without the ties.

 

I guess because Sonic has them swept back, you can assume that the entire front of his head is his face. With hers sticking out the side, they make it look like her head is the shape of a football with a tuft of hair at each end.

[Twig]

I honestly can't believe you like the Advance series

I honestly can't believe anyone likes Sonic.

[syntheticgerbil]

Sonic is like the Majora's Mask of video game mascots.

[Twig]

that doesn't make sense you gerb

[syntheticgerbil]

Sonic Team is like the Obamacare of developers.

[Twig]

thanks obama

[Merus]

Well the review copies are out and

 

 

 

Interestingly, it doesn't look like people are getting a repro on this particular issue. It's apparently mediocre but fun enough, nowhere near Sonic 2006 levels of terrible.

[syntheticgerbil]

Haha, I love it Twig.

[aprettycooldude]

I can't believe you like the Advance series. I finished the first two 100% (quit early into the third, good lord it was bad) and found them poorly designed in terms of level layout and mechanics. heavily relying on rehashing bosses and level art from the superior genesis games. I don't think everyone will ever realize that Sonic games suck because Hirokazu Yasuhara, the designer, left long ago somewhere in the middle of the Sonic X-Treme fiasco. Yuji Naka is a shill.

Yasuhara instead left to Naughty Dog working on the Jak and Dexter series as well as Uncharted. now he designs Mario vs. Donkey Kong game, ironically.

 

The third is an atrocity and the second is I think responsible for Cream the Rabbit and thus also infuriating for that reason alone, but I maintain that Cribbed Art or not, the Advance games were Good Sonic Romps that had solid difficulty progression and great replayability (which is just an ugly looking compound word). I played SA1 into the *ground*, and the fact that you could whip through it in an hour or so - much like the old Genesis games - was stellar. I was also in middle school, which come to think of it, probably had some sort of impact on my opinion.

[Yasawas]

Mario Kart DLC is quite literally flowing from the internet somehow into my Wii U right now. It's amazing to think that Nintendo of all people have not only made the best online console game this year but have managed to put a major update and DLC out exactly on time and without it fucking up. I have timed this week off work very well indeed.

[Griddlelol]

I hope it's updating while I'm at work! I WANT TO PLAY IN MY DAMN BLUE FALCON!

 

I don't actually think I've ever been this excited for DLC. Kinda feels weird! 

[Yasawas]

The Mute City track will break your heart. It's beautiful and it's close as we're ever getting on this machine.

 

The three tracks from previous games are odd choices - SNES Rainbow Road is fine but I think we already have two RR variations (?) and I would've vastly preferred the first Ghost House one from the original, Wario's Gold Mine is alright and the Yoshi Circuit is a wee bit dull although pretty. For £5.50 it's a cracking piece of DLC all in though.

[Griddlelol]

Such a shame, F-Zero are my absolute favourite racing games. I played X and GX to death. 

[Sno]

GX is still my favorite racing game all these years later, it just destroys me that the franchise has seemingly been buried by Nintendo, though if they're all of a sudden willing to do this much with it, maybe a revival isn't out of the possibility.

Also: Amiibos.

I don't know whether to post in the 3DS thread, the Smash thread, or this thread...

Shulk's Amiibo will be the first retailer exclusive, you'll only be able to get him at Gamestop.

Frankly, i'm surprised he's getting an Amiibo, i assume it just means every playable Smash 4 character is getting an Amiibo. Maybe it'll do something for Xenoblade Chronicles X, or the Xenoblade Chronicles port for New 3DS. (New 3DS has a built-in NFC sensor, right?)

Even Megaman is going to get an Amiibo, and the way Capcom has been about that character lately, i can't think of anything other than Smash 4 that might theoretically use him.

[Griddlelol]

Shulk's Amiibo will be the first retailer exclusive, you'll only be able to get him at Gamestop.

 

That's shitty. I assume you can still get it direct from Nintendo though...

 

Doesn't affect me since I'm EU.

[BigJKO]

Alright, Smash Bros 4 Wii U is now pre-order'd along with the GameCube controller adapter!

 

Hell yes, I'm so excited about this!!! :tup:

[kaputt]

Today I picked my first Wii U gam disc. Round edges! This is truly next-gen.

[dartmonkey]

Yep, those round edges are sexy. I wonder if rounding them off helps extend the life of the disc load mechanism or if it's simply an Easter Egg style differentiator.

After having my Wii U for a couple of weeks, I've now managed to clock up a few hours with it. Overall it's a solid little system. It could be faster, but seeing Miis in HD is still a novelty and firing up the old Wii menu now feels like I've got cataracts. The console itself is small and quiet and I'm embracing it as possibly the last one I'll buy physical media for. I've just plugged an old 320GB HDD into the back to handle eShop-only games which should be more than enough. One surprise is the browser is actually really good - fast and it makes sensible use of the game pad buttons. Scrolling with the left stick, hitting the bumper to go back and tapping with the stylus, you don't have to move your hands so much when using it. It's nothing groundbreaking but I think I prefer it to an iPad for quick general surfing on the sofa. The TV control is handy too, though the EU has yet to see anything from TVii.

In terms of the games, Nintendo Land is actually a really nice showpiece that suffers from some terrible tutorialising ('Monita' has all the personality of my BENQ). It also REQUIRES at least one other person to share it with, and does kind-of kill your new console buzz if you sit down alone with it. I managed to get my wife interested for an hour and we had fun (the Zelda, Yoshi and Donkey Kong games being particular hits).

ZombiU does what it sets out to do very well, though I'm not in the mood for that type of game. I may burn through it on Easy at some point.

Wii Party U was in the disc slot for about 10 minutes before I realised I need friends to get anything out of it. Could be a laugh with a few people, if Mario Kart's a bit too much for them, but even then I doubt it'd be the first thing you'd grab to get the party started.

Bayonetta 2 is the most mutherfuckin' video gamey video game I've played in years, and it's just beautiful. It crackles with arcadey Sega energy, from the fonts to the menu music, to the questionable accents (the squirrel kid's British accent is all over the place, don't you think, love?) It's batshit crazy but it's honed and precise and sublime to play.

The Wii Sports Club games function as you'd expect. I'll be getting golf to play with my Dad when he comes for Christmas.

Wii Karaoke isn't really my bag, but my wife got into it. Don't think it'll dethrone Rock Band though.

But here's the rub - I don't have 3D World or Mario Kart, and I NEED THEM! We had a load of people round last weekend, but the Wii U stayed off while we played Rock Band 3 and Johann Sebastian Joust. Mario Kart would have KILLED! And it will, come the end of the month, but damnit if the DLC isn't making me eye the credit card right now.

Also want to get Earthbound, though I'm tempted to wait to see if they announce SNES on the New 3DS VC - I'd rather have it in portable form. There are a few other things I may investigate in the future (like that longer life Gamepad battery) but right now it's all about 3D World and Kart. Gimme.

[undermind9]

there is a "power saving" mode on the game pad, it reduces brightness, etc - i found it helped a lot.  Also, the pro controller people say gets great battery life, so if playing mario, dk, or kart for long periods & the gamepad screen isnt necessary that is an option

[tegan]

The Pro Controller's battery is incredible. It lasted me from last November all the way to this September before I even charged it once.