Wii U

[hobbsyoyo]

So, what do you all think of Nintendo's new machine?

I'm worried that they are depending on the new controller to sell the machine too much. From what I've read, while the specs of the Wii U are pretty good right now, when the new Playstation and Xbox launch, the Wii U will face the same problem the Wii did - it won't be able to play the same games so developers will abandon it.

The Wii was great for a couple of years for me as a serious gamer. What I couldn't get on the Wii, I could get on the PC and I was happy. It was definitely good for Nintendo for several years after that. But they reached a point where no new games of note were coming out for the Wii so I increasingly felt left out of a lot of fun games. I think the Wii U is going to end up in the same place as the Wii but even faster because it doesn't seem to be the smash hit the Wii was.

For one, many people already have tablets and if they don't have one, the last thing they'll think to get is a Wii U. So the controller comes off as gimmicky, not really new and exciting like the Wii mote (which, while compatible with the Wii U, isn't exciting - it's old). Plus, I can tell you as a Wii owner that the way the Wii motes capability was used in many games (and especially ports) was downright gimmicky and distracting and not fun. So I fear the new tablet remote will wind up the same way.

I'm a Nintendo fan at heart, but I'm afraid the Wii U will suck and seriously hurt the company. They promised it would pack processing power to keep pace with the next generation, but it appears they oversold it's capabilities and made the same mistakes they made with the Wii.

What do you all think?

 

[MoreEpicThanYou]

As always, no matter what setbacks its hardware and lack of third-party titles gives Nintendo, they will turn a good profit with excellent first-party titles.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

You think so? I thought they weren't having very good sales.

 

[Nintz]

They aren't.

Nintendo would actually be far better off as a company if they were a third-party publisher for other consoles, I believe, but as long as Nintendo is making consoles, they will make good games. The Wii U may not be the craze the Wii was, but it will not kill Nintendo, the company will endure and keep releasing games on it.

 

[Maniacal]

I couldn't care less, there aren't any amazing games for it that I know of and it is barely better than the last gen consoles.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I don't know of any good games for it either, but it will of course get the big hits, Zelda, Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party, etc. I'd like those and you can only get them on the Wii U. But I have to weigh that against all the other games on the other consoles that I would miss out on.

And it is underpowered despite Nintendo hyping up it's supposed super awesome processor(s) before launch.

And it can only work with 2 tablet controllers per console? Yeah...it's not gimmicky at all.

 

[Maniacal]

Like I said, no amazing games.

 

[warpus]

I own a wii and don't play it too much, but I own an N64 and gamecube too, so I'm a nintendo fan.

Can you play wii and/or gamecube games on the wii u? I don't have a need to buy it, but I wonder if I'd get it in the future, when prices go down. I probably won't if it's not backwards compatible, I have a ton of gamecube games that work on the wii and a bunch of wii games as well.

From what I've read Wii U sales aren't that great, but most of the flagship games aren't out. Sales are supposed to pick up once those come out, but that's just what blogs seem to be saying

 

[Rub'Rum]

Consoles have been dead to me since the first era of 3d games. I was an avid nintendo player in the NES and SNES era. Playstation 1 and N64 were so generally terribad that they made me switch to PC gaming, never looked back. I won't deny that I have good memories of a select few good games like Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy VII, and giggling like idiots at Twisted Metal 2. But the minute you had access to Ultima VII, turn-based strategy games, Diablo, etc. Eh.

So Wii U? I forget every day it even exists. It seems consoles are going the way of "peripheral focus" instead of "game focus". We were given a wii some years ago, and while I try to resurrect my interest in it once every year, I just give up. The dust on it is starting to have its own noticeable gravitational field. I almost got a PS3 at some point, but every game I wanted to play I could have more fun with on the PC. The only exception I can recall is Red Dead Redemption.

 

[Ailedhoo]

Nintendo is still strong as a first party power, for it is in the interest of Nintendo... and the gaming industry... that Nintendo remains first party as the last of the classic console developers after Sega left the first party directive. Sales of the Wii U are not that of the Wii but keep in mind that the Wii was the fastest selling console in history, a catch up that is difficult to claim. Zelda, Pikmin and Super Smash Bros may aid.

I have heard Zombie U has used the system quite well. Perhapes from that can be experience for other games to take account of.

With the great collection the Wii gave me (especilly Brawl, Little King's Story, Sin and Punishment, the Mario games, Epic Mickey and a more) I am hopeful great collection may appear, especilly with Pikmin 3 and the new Yoshi game.

Still: I wonder when the next Kirby will come about...

 

[Maniacal]

Nintendo could go out of business today and I don't see how it would negatively affect anyone else aside from the few 3rd party developers who actually make decent games for their consoles. If anything, it would be a huge boon for Sony and their PS Vita (it may even get more titles made just for it rather than games that tie into console series). They haven't really contributed much, if anything, to the gaming industry since the 1990s or early 2000s. I can't name a single game that actually uses the PS Move, or one that uses the Kinect well aside from Dance Central. Most games using motion controls have been shovelware and even nintendo hasn't used it very well in many of their games (it was pointless and incredibly disappointing in that twilight zelda game).

 

[civvver]

You buy a wii specifically to play mario and zelda titles. That's pretty much it. So yeah I feel like nintendo would do better as a 3rd party dev for other systems, kind of the way that sega went although on a much larger scope.

But to me it's not a big deal if the wii U can't keep up with modern titles because I'm not going to buy the wii U expecting to play the latest call of duty on it. For that I'll stick with pc or get a ps4. For the record I'm a pc gamer, my wife bought us a wii and it is fun to play as a family but I have never seriously used it. Though smash bros brawl is a lot of fun.

Console gaming will always be a low priority to me just because retail copy games are so 5 years ago and they take so much longer to go on sale. The only series I feel like I missed out on was gears of war and maybe uncharted.

 

[Ailedhoo]

The reason for Nintendo's importance is for its classic status as a the only console releashing company that is focused on gaming as its primal industry, to lower chance of monoporlies and have produced some important considerations. 90% of everything is shovelware, even PCs. Nintendo has been contributed well, especilly in expanding the industry to new customers or customers that had left gaming but returned. You do not buy a wii to simply play Mario and Zelda. There is more. Graphic power is not of gaming but gameplay is. The wii was not design to catch up but to set another level. I am hopeful the Wii U might provide some additions.

I find harmony in both console and PC, since consoles cannot do strategy well (Pikmin among the exceptions) but I find consoles better for 3D platformers.

 

[Nintz]

Clinging to Nintendo's hardware out of a sense of nostalgia is among the worst reasons I've ever heard. Yes, they made a lot of great consoles. Yea, they have made (and are still making) great games for those consoles. Yet, without the third-party support that Sony and Microsoft have, Nintendo will continually be forced to support its consoles by itself. It doesn't matter who you are, that is a difficult task to accomplish.

If Nintendo wants to actually become a competitive console manufacturer again, they need to stop and re-evaluate their hardware decisions on the manufacturing end. Making a console that is significantly weaker than the soon-to-release PS4 and Durango while at the same time introducing another novel control scheme isn't good business sense. It makes it less and less cost-effective for both developers and the players.

I actually hope Nintendo can turn this all around and prove me wrong, I just am no seeing it at this point.

 

[Ailedhoo]

Clinging to Nintendo's hardware out of a sense of nostalgia is among the worst reasons I've ever heard. Yes, they made a lot of great consoles. Yea, they have made (and are still making) great games for those consoles. Yet, without the third-party support that Sony and Microsoft have, Nintendo will continually be forced to support its consoles by itself. It doesn't matter who you are, that is a difficult task to accomplish.

If Nintendo wants to actually become a competitive console manufacturer again, they need to stop and re-evaluate their hardware decisions on the manufacturing end. Making a console that is significantly weaker than the soon-to-release PS4 and Durango while at the same time introducing another novel control scheme isn't good business sense. It makes it less and less cost-effective for both developers and the players.

I actually hope Nintendo can turn this all around and prove me wrong, I just am no seeing it at this point.

I am not on about nostalgia. "Weaker" is a intresting term considering the success of the Wii and the fact that graphics are not the central to gameplay. Nintendo has proven itself able.

 

[Nintz]

As a developer, certainly. I was more referring to the fact that, objectively, the Wii and Wii U were less powerful machines then their counterparts.

And while graphics are definitely not equal to gameplay, it does tend to attract larger audiences and more money.

 

[Maniacal]

I am not on about nostalgia. "Weaker" is a intresting term considering the success of the Wii and the fact that graphics are not the central to gameplay. Nintendo has proven itself able.

Nintendo barely used the Wiimote very well themselves, it was pretty gimmicky in many of their games. Third party developers were even worse for the most part, although a few titles used the Wiimote quite well, but it had no real effect or contribution to upon games outside of the Wii.

Plus it isn't just graphical power, the CPU and RAM aren't very strong either. The online gameplay was a mess too.

The reason for Nintendo's importance is for its classic status as a the only console releashing company that is focused on gaming as its primal industry, to lower chance of monoporlies and have produced some important considerations. 90% of everything is shovelware, even PCs. Nintendo has been contributed well, especilly in expanding the industry to new customers or customers that had left gaming but returned. You do not buy a wii to simply play Mario and Zelda. There is more. Graphic power is not of gaming but gameplay is. The wii was not design to catch up but to set another level. I am hopeful the Wii U might provide some additions.

I find harmony in both console and PC, since consoles cannot do strategy well (Pikmin among the exceptions) but I find consoles better for 3D platformers.

None of that explains how they are important to modern gaming. Pretty much everyone bought a Wii because of nintendo's games as there aren't many big non-Nintendo Wii only games.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I am not on about nostalgia. "Weaker" is a intresting term considering the success of the Wii and the fact that graphics are not the central to gameplay. Nintendo has proven itself able.

As a nintendo fanboy who is totally on board with the notion of gameplay > graphics myself, I still have to admit that the Wii falls woefully short on gameplay and the graphics are so subpar that 3rd party developers ditched it precisely because it was so underpowered it couldn't deliver comparable gameplay experiences to the other consoles.

As Maniacal points out, the Wiimote is extremely hit or miss and is usually a miss in that at best it doesn't add anything to the experience except the hassle of constantly dead batteries, innacurate input and the need to sit right up next to the screen because the range is so limited. Plus, you could absolutely count on 3rd party developers making the controls basically unuseable. I bought a Rampage game that is unplayable because the controls are so awkward. I also bought a Flying Aces port that is only playable under a non-default control scheme, a concession that most developers didn't even think to include.

Plus, think about all of the Wiis that have been sitting on shelves collecting dust because the last decent games that came out for it came out 3 years ago. Sure, it brought in new types of gamers, but only temporarily because there's only so many times you can play Mario Kart.

Plus it isn't just graphical power, the CPU and RAM aren't very strong either. The online gameplay was a mess too.

The online gameplay really wasn't that bad, especially since it was and always will be free. I don't know where that's coming from, but it did suck that some ports didn't include the online play at all.

None of that explains how they are important to modern gaming. Pretty much everyone bought a Wii because of nintendo's games as there aren't many big non-Nintendo Wii only games.

It was also a fad, so don't underestimate that.