The Nintendo Wii U is Great Thread

[kaputt]

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.

Wat

[Griddlelol]

I'll second what tegan said, I've charged it twice in about 6 months. Even while using it as a PC controller.

[tegan]

Wat

 

 

 

 

It's bonkers. I've been using it for everything: Mario 3D World, Wind Waker, Mario Kart, virtual console, everything.

[Sno]

The wavebird used to get over a hundred hours on two AA's, didn't it? Nintendo can really stretch out battery life when they want to.

[JonCole]

Meanwhile I have to charge my PS4 controller after every other play session *grumblegrumble*

[Thrik]

Yeah the PS4's is a bit rough. I don't understand why it's so much worse than the PS3's comparatively infinite-seeming longevity, considering that I'm playing games where it does nothing that the PS3 controller didn't do — apart from the ostentatious light being emitted from it.

[kaputt]

This is freaking amazing! I'll have to buy one of those.

Anyway, now I have Bayonetta 2 and Mario 3D World in my house, but no Wii U to play with. Damn, the vendor took like a week to send me the package, and since I'm going on a trip on Thursday, I'll probably only play with the Wii U next week. That's not good at all for my anxiety.

Also, thanks for your impressions, dartmonkey, I also feel that some of Wii U games can only be good with other people to play. Speaking of which, how does match making works on Wii U? Do you still need the person's social registry number to play online, or is there something like playing with random people?

[kaputt]

Yesterday I had my first couple of hours with my Wii U. I thought I'd have more hours with it, but the system update took hours to download.

I really enjoyed the looks and the build quality of the system/controller, the small form factor of the console is so beautiful. The controller was better than I expected to be honest, no hassle despite it's size.

The screen on the controller is really unnecessary in my opinion, it's a cool addition, but I'd rather not have it. The best use I found for it is to turn down/up the volume without needing to use the TV remote, that's truly amazing, however, I wish I could turn the screen off when playing on the TV. It doesn't help the the screen has such a bad resolution when compared to all the mobile devices I already own. I'd love a handheld system with the design of this gamepad, but for a home console it doesn't make a lot of sense.

As for the games, Super Mario 3D World starts slow, but its getting better, I think I'll end up loving it. The visuals are so colorful and shiny, there's nothing like it on other platforms.

But what really justified my Wii U purchase was Bayonetta 2. Fuck, this game is bonkers! I was having quite a bad day and wasn't really having much fun playing games. But the, already on the prologue, Bayonetta starts with one of the silliest action sequences ever, I couldn't get any happier. The game's also so smooth to play, there's nothing else like it. And it also comes with the original Bayonetta, in a much upgraded version when compared to the shitty PS3 port I've played. This is the best thing ever, thanks a lot Nintendo.

[RubixsQube]

 

Last night they showed off more of the upcoming Legend of Zelda game, which they indicated would be released next year (with Starfox preceding it).

, where you can hear some of the battle music. The game is still a year out, but it looks as if it will make good on the promise of

, or at least the last thirty seconds where Link launches from Epona into an arrow attack. Also, the neogaf thread has a good post looking at what was shown of the world map. 

 

(Still hoping Link's gender is either something you can choose, or female)

[Thrik]

Absolutely splendid. Some parts did look a bit sparse, but I think that was probably a combination of the video camera blowing the image and its details out, and there being that ever-amazing Nintendo Polish™ still to come.

[Twig]

They looked incredibly sparse. Like even worse than the awful worlds of OoT and TP. But it's still early so I'm reserving judgment.

[eRonin]

It's not a gameplay trailer that gets me excited (in the sense that it wasn't an adrenaline-filled rush like most game trailers these days), per se, but I did like what I saw. I'm not fussed about sparseness, we saw literally less than 5% of the world, even counting that landmark in the distance.

[syntheticgerbil]

Reggie could really break you in half.

[undermind9]

We decided to open gifts early in celebration of an extra long weekend (and if my wife didn't like any thing I have tomorrow still to return/try again)

 

Anyways, Commander Toad is great! The first 10 levels I've played are diverse, interesting, and fill that itch of an easy-but-fun puzzle game.  I am going to need to pace myself though, I imagine once on a roll could easily blow through all the levels in a weekend

 

It would have been nice if you could play as toadette from the start and just swap which androgynous mushroom person was captured

[Tanukitsune]

Has anybody played the WiiU version of AssFlag 4? I kinda don't like playing Ubi games on PC and this seems like the next better option? 

 

By the way, is anybody else with a "Premium" WiiU trying to get a final discount coupon?

[Griddlelol]

Has anyone actually beaten

Champion road?

I tried again after leaving it for months and I still can barely get anywhere. Maybe it's not possible in single player...unless you're a Mario god.

[Thrik]

Ah man, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. This fucking game, you guys!

I'm now into the fourth world, and I can say without hesitation that this stands alongside the original trilogy as a classic. I was waiting for the initial delight to wear off as it quickly did with Returns, but it just isn't happening here. Everything is so immaculately and lovingly put together — the enemy designs, the gameplay, the music, the effects, the set pieces — that I just keep coming away from it with a huge smile.

I enjoy that one 'killer feature' of Retro's take on the series seems to be insane-ass environments that seem impossible to craft platforming gameplay out of. For example, one takes place inside a tornado with all kinds of huge debris forming the level. Another is within some gigantic ancient underwater semi-functional spaceship thing. They use the semi-3D perspective to do so much cool stuff, I love it.

I also wrote a load of stuff here about this game's outstanding soundtrack, but I thought it'd be better suited to the video game music thread so I shifted it there:

https://www.idlethumbs.net/forums/topic/9007-the-official-video-game-music-corner/page-6#entry334818

[pabosher]

I'll second what tegan said, I've charged it twice in about 6 months. Even while using it as a PC controller.

 

 

Wait, what, you can do that?!?

[Griddlelol]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Wii-Pro-Controller-Adapter/dp/B00E6553PW

Seems like it's gone up in price, I got mine for only £10.

You then have to find a key binding changer or many gems will read X and Y wrong and A and B wrong, which can be a little confusing. Best controller around though, I find it incredibly comfortable.

[JonCole]

My embarrassing level of enthusiasm in unboxing my Wii U has been dashed by the 2+ hour process of setting it up and updating it. Nifty that they included the system update on the pack-in games like Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 so you don't have to download them, though.

[miffy495]

Did they? That's nice. I remember the joy of buying my Wii U being kinda tarnished by hours of downloading and installing updates. Nice of them to streamline the process a bit.

[JonCole]

It's a surprisingly savvy, if not hacky, way of doing it -

 

[syntheticgerbil]

Sounds like they included at least some of the update. I remember spending about 5 hours of my time, but my connection was slower back then and the download failed after two hours the first time.

[melmer]

I brought shovel knight off the eshop ealier today really good, I could've happily played through the whole game in one sitting, but thought I'd stop and savour it. Beat 5/8 bosses.

It's on sale at the moment

[BigJKO]

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker is great! Am really, really REALLY digging it so far! And it's starting to get a little bit harder now, which is good!

 

Also, it's a perfect eShop purchase since it doesn't take up all of your Wii U space.. I'm one of those who doesn't have an extra HD hooked up to it, though..