Any thought on the Wii U?

So now that the Wii U's been out for a while, I'm wondering, what do you think of Nintendo's newest offering? Do you think it's worth the price, or are you holding off?

Personally I'm not going to go and bash it, but as of right now I have absolutely NO desire for the blasted thing. Sorry if that ticks some people off, but the game pad does nothing for me; not to mention the abysmal lack of launch titles save for ports (some of which are nearly a year old). I actually bought my PS3 a day after the WiiU launch, and was darn glad I did. Now I'm not saying that I won't be buying a Wii U per se...but it'll likely take an HD Zelda to force me to drop the cash, and even then I may be hesitant...

i also got 'Project Starbucks' at midnight and yes the launch line up is not the best in the world it does prove one point (or at least to me it does) the Wiiu can play all games the same (or better) as the xbox or PS3. i also got the special edition Wiiu that has Nintendo land and im addicted to it. Yes this may be part fanboy talking but i feel good about the future for it because it can play all the games that the xbox and ps3 can do

Well, I'm glad you're enjoying Nintendo Land. Personally, I have a bit of a grudge against that game (yes, I know I have never played it!) simply because at last year's E3 event, half, yes, HALF of Nintendo's show was taken up by this rather disappointing game. I recall watching it live on gamepot's live feed, and watching the comments alongside the video screen go from excitement to downright outrage when NINTENDO LAND was revealed to be the main focus of the show, and I pretty much shared that outrage. From that point on, my already reluctant attitude towards the Wii U was solidified...I felt Nintendo as a company had went off the deep end, and I think that a very large group of gamers and Nintendo fans felt (and likely still) the same way.

Really, I think a lot of gamers wonder: why can't Nintendo have just made a high-powered, modern system with the current "pro-controller" as the MAIN controller, and perhaps a tablet as a secondary controller. Impressive graphics, gamer profiles, trophies/achievements of some kind, and streamlined interface, and no gimmicks in game play. Nintendo could spend less time on gimmicks and more time developing old/forgotten franchises, or creating new franchises. For all Nintendo's talk of moving the gaming industry forward, it is, perhaps more than any other company, a corporation that lives in the past-that uses nostalgia for profit so frequently that even the rehashed glory days of Nintendo will be milked to the point of becoming stale. This was a turning point for Nintendo, and I personally fear they may be heading in a rather disastrous direction.

I think you really hit the nail on the head, Forsaken. While I'm not feeling quite so harshly towards the Wii U, I honestly don't see any reason to buy it yet. None of the launch titles really makes me want to drop the cash right away, and I'm extremely skeptical of the new controller. I'm sure I'll get one eventually, Nintendo fanboy that I am, but, after the mostly disappointng Wii remote, I'm not too thrilled about the newest gimmick. I can't help but worry that once again, Nintendo's offering me a controller to play with, instead of a game....

.....Maybe I should stop trying to rant after midnight.....

Forsaken Lament 44 wrote:

Really, I think a lot of gamers wonder: why can't Nintendo have just made a high-powered, modern system with the current "pro-controller" as the MAIN controller, and perhaps a tablet as a secondary controller. Impressive graphics, gamer profiles, trophies/achievements of some kind, and streamlined interface, and no gimmicks in game play.

I don't really disagree with the notion that Nintendo needs to focus on making new franchises, or at the very least, finding new concepts for older ones. While I think that Nintendo Land is very fun (as I said in the chat), I'll focus the bulk of my post towards this because I don't feel I have much else to add; that's all opinion stuff, really. I know that, at least for me, I hope to buy one when I get the cash together to do so. It is a point that right now, there really aren't too many killer apps either. I think I even covered the issue of trophies/achievements (which are going to be called/are called 'accomplishments' in chat last time we spoke). I'd agree that having just the pro controller and game pad would've been enough, leaving the Wiimote aside for just backwards compatibility or skipping it all together. That said...

The main problem I have with this argument is twofold. The first is: even if you do all that, what's going to separate them from the competition? I say this because, really, when you think about the video game industry as a whole, Nintendo has always managed to make itself distinct in some way, even if you might not agree with what they've chosen to do. On the other hand, Microsoft and Sony generally play it safe. They have a target audience - 'core gamers' (a term I personally think is incredibly asinine, but that's a rant for another day) - which they know will bring them in cash, and generally just don't take risks with their products. The Xbox 360 is basically the same device that came out in 2001, just with prettier graphics and a better online system. The PlayStation 3 is basically the exact same console as the original iteration just with, again, prettier graphics and an online system. This isn't to say that I don't enjoy either, I do, but I'm going to call a spade a spade here.

Nintendo has gone from a core system - the GameCube - to something more casual, but the jump between that and the Wii was distinct. Regardless of what someone thinks about it, it was at least some sort of bold move. While it's true that Nintendo in the past tried to stay on top of its competitors in regards to hardware (indeed, the GameCube was actually the most technically impressive of its generation, believe it or not), in hindsight, every Nintendo console has actually had a gimmick. NES? D-pad. SNES? The addition of X, Y and shoulder buttons for more complex game play. N64? The analog stick itself. GameCube? Turning the C buttons of the last console into another movable stick which, at least in my opinion, is actually a little more comfortable than the Xbox's and PS2's were; I actually think it's the best 'feeling' controller ever made. The Wii and now Wii U are pretty self explanatory.

With that in mind, even if Nintendo were to pursue that path, what makes them really all that different from Sony or Microsoft then? Their 1st party games? A lot of the people who decry Nintendo's move to the game pad already bash on those pretty hard, so I highly doubt going with the pro controller would make much of a difference. Not to mention: if anyone's angry at their franchises right now and, as you say bank on nostalgia, what difference would it make if we went back to traditional controls? That seems to me like a recipe for being even less creative with their game design. We also look to these companies for franchises we're fond of. If Mario, Pokémon, etc. are stale, I think it's fair to also say that about franchises like Halo, Uncharted, etc. They may make slight improvements upon their last iterations, but really, are they any different than those entries that came before their latest games? I'd be inclined to say no, as this is, for better or worse, just a side effect of the sequel process as a whole. It does not mean that those games are bad, it's just that I don't think this is a very good argument.

It also seems that Nintendo is influencing the industry in a sense. Recently, Computer and Video Games confirmed that the PlayStation 4 is (finally) ditching the DualShock design and are going for a controller with a Vita-like interface, though there were no concrete details exactly. Sony all but confirmed this to be the case (though it was with a typical 'no comment on rumors' remark); apparently we'll know more about the console in the coming weeks. I don't foresee Microsoft going this route (they'll probably push for more connectivity between Windows Phones and 720s, though), this certainly bodes well for Nintendo sharing games with Sony's next successor, at the very least. Not to mention, I have a sneaking suspicion the graphical leap will not be as great as it was between the last two generations. Sony's hurting too badly from the (early) failure of the PS3 and it'd be too costly for Microsoft to go ahead with on a large scale.

Let's talk about something else, too: in comparison, Nintendo has not put any freezes on stopping people from buying and selling used games. It's never even been, so far as I can see, on anyone's minds at all. The latest rumors state, for the Orbis and Durango (the code names, so it's been said, for the next PlayStation and Xbox), that they're going to implement technology that will either simply let you do a trial run of a game if it's used before forcing you to buy a new copy or simply not playing a used game at all. If this turns out to be the case, I may seriously consider boycotting in protest. Wanting your company to get profits for your hard work is all fine and good, but essentially putting a gun to the head of a consumer and telling them they can't pursue their hobby on a budget seems almost criminal.

Well, I thought I'd weigh in with my two cents. I know I discussed lot of this on the chat with Everlong already, but I'd like to have a chance to hear every else's thoughts.

You have some good points, Everlong, and I think I'd agree with most of them. The thing is, while I don't mind Nintendo choosing to experiment with the controller in and of itself, I can't help but feel it's actually limiting creativity, when all's said and done. Take the Wii remote, for instance. For every game that used motion control well, like Skyward Sword and Metroid Prime 3, there were more than a dozen where it felt either forced, or worse, like the game was nothing more than a tech demo. So many games would have been better off without the distraction.

That's why, while I don't have quite the same perspective Cory does, I share his frustration. I can't say I personally care that much about achievments, or any of his other preferred gimmicks. It's just that I'm afraid it'll go down the same path the Wii did, where the controller often got more attention than what it was controlling. As I said, I don't mind Nintendo trying to distinguish itself from the competition, but at the end of the day, if I had to choose, I'd prefer a good game to a merely unique one.

So, in short, I don't think that Nintendo is heading off the deep end like Cory suggested. If it really was such a disaster for them, then the turning point have been the Wii. I just don't see why the Wii U would be much different than the Wii, except with gamepads instead of Wii remotes. It's not like Nintendo had much reason to consider the Wii a mistake. While you (Everlong) did have a point in the chat that the Wii U has a more flexible control system than the original Wii, I can't help but wonder if it'll make a real difference. I suspect that, even with the variety of controllers to work with, there'll be quite a few developers who feel the need to cash in on the gimmick of the hour.

Anyway, despite my slightly heretical statements, I'm still a Nintendo fanboy, and I'm sure I'll get one of those "blasted things" sooner or later. Even if it turns out to be another Wii, I'd probably decide it was worth it, once a few of the heavy weights got released. I don't see myself skipping out on the next Zelda, or Smash Bros. I'm just afraid that Nintendo won't feel a need to fix their mistakes, given that they would hardly consider the Wii a disaster.



So that's my mildly cynical 0.2. I think we can agree on the rest. Did I mention that the "No used games" policy is ridiculous? I can't see myself getting either system if they do that, because I know that if I decide to drop the cash, it's likely to be some time after they're released, which would mean that I couldn't play any games that were no longer in production....not to mention I generally prefer to by used games. I seriously hope that it's just a rumor, or that Sony and Microsoft reconsider. Anything else would just be insane.