Wii U - General Discussion Thread

[quote name='Erad30']You do realize it's NOT a tablet, right? It never has been, Nintendo has never pushed it as such. It's a home console. More portable than most since you don't need a TV screen for many titles, but it's still pretty meant to be played at home just like any other home console. The gamepad is a way to play games differently, be it finally not having to fight over the TV (hence why I'm getting any mutli-platform titles on the Wii U in the future) or using the second screen for various things they mentioned, most importantly playing two different ways (asynchronous gameplay I believe it was called) at the same time which is shown off rather well in Nintendoland. It's a simple example for now, but you simply can't do games like that on the 360 or PS3, and odds are the next systems from those companies won't be capable of gameplay like that either because they mainly care about how shiny the graphics for next gen are, not what they can do gameplay wise.[/QUOTE]

You do realize that everyone calls it a "tablet" outside of core gamers right? If Nintendo doesn't want people to think of it as a tablet then they have done a terrible job explaining what the fuck it is. Of course if people knew what it was, most of the non-gamers that bought the original Wii wouldn't want it anyway. So Nintendo probably wants to keep the ambiguous nature of the controller out there.
 
Has anyone watched netflix on the gamepad and used headphones for the audio? I could barely hear anything at max volume. Made it very tough to watch something while my wife was watching her show on the tv.
 
I played this for the first time outside of a store today and I couldn't be less impressed. I am not sure why in 2012 with itunes, amazon, android marketplaces how nintendo can take a digital shit in the form of their wii u shop and the wii mode shop. The fact these don't just work seemlessly with your new piece of hardware isn't ok in 2012 when all app stores in 2012 work on all your devices is enough for me to never trust a nintendo system again without this being fixed. Not having an online account with your purchases tied to your account, not just wii u but 3ds and wii purchases as well, is shameful and there is no acceptable response that can save this fact. No achievements isn't a dealbreaker nor is voicechat or the awful pro controller layout, nintendo not understanding how to operate an online marketplace is.

The fact the games simply suck is not the nintendo I used to be into. I could be wrong and it could be a success or the owners could be happy with their purchase but I just don't need the updates of games that don't innovate other than forced awful controllers. Mario Kart, 2d mario, ports, no third parties and not making anything remotely adult oriented means there is no interest from a hard working male who just loves good games. The motion controls on zelda were unplayable and not making the game available in HD on Wii U with a pro controller instead of leaving it on a dead console are just insulting to core gamers who own everything and would buy one if there was anything interesting because most will agree there are few better days than getting a new console with a game they must play and will even happily pay $500 for everything to do it. The first time in my life I am forced to say I can't justify that
 
[quote name='bnl11311']...Mario Kart, 2d mario, ports, no third parties and not making anything remotely adult oriented means there is no interest from a hard working male who just loves good games. The motion controls on zelda were unplayable and not making the game available in HD on Wii U with a pro controller instead of leaving it on a dead console are just insulting to core gamers who own everything and would buy one if there was anything interesting...[/QUOTE]

While I agree with your point about the shop and online accounts, this part is just full of wrong information and contradictions. I'll let others tackle that ;). But I'll get it started: had any Zelda game been made available for the Wii U (especially if it was an older one since I assume you mean Skyward Sword) it would be panned by the Nintendo haters as a port/rehash/kiddie game...

I finally got around to registering my Wii U on my Club Nintendo account and thus finally had to venture to the Nintendo eShop or whatever it is called on the Wii U. I agree that it sucks it isn't all integrated with the Wii and 3DS stores and tied to a single overall account like on PSN (with PS3 and Vita). But I do like the layout of the store better than Sony's abominable "update" of the PS store. I was pleasantly surprised at the content and how fast it was to navigate.

One thing they need to add: a single place for demos. As far as I can tell, to see if there is a demo for a game you have to go to each game and click all the way through nearly to the purchase page to see if there is a demo available. There should be a front page icon to take you to a list of demos. I had heard that the Rayman demo was available for download so I got that. Then on a whim I decided to check out the Sonic racing game and guess what? That has a demo too - who knew!?

They do have a pretty nice way of queuing up downloads and turning the system off when they are all done, though. So kudos to Nintendo on implementing that feature which is a huge improvement over the Wii.

Also, in yet another plus for being able to fire up the gamepad without using the TV, I was able to do all this while my kids watched their after-school shows on TV. I often find that I can't check out the MS or PS stores much of the day because someone is using the TV. With the Wii U I can just pop on there, check things out, and put the pad back in its cradle while it downloads.
 
[quote name='io']But I'll get it started: had any Zelda game been made available for the Wii U (especially if it was an older one since I assume you mean Skyward Sword) it would be panned by the Nintendo haters as a port/rehash/kiddie game...[/QUOTE]

You obviously didn't play shadow of the colossus in 3d and HD at any point b/c everybody loves that game and anybody who cries about exposing more people to great games (if skyward sword is one again motion controls are unplayable on all 3 systems to me) is wrong.

The fact Nintendo continues to make kiddie zelda when the best thing I have seen about the wii U was the zelda tech demo is as dumb as their online marketplace. One of the best things I have seen on PS3 is the final fantasy 7 tech demo and the same can be said for sony and square.

It is really a stretch to be impressed by how downloads get queued up in my opinion when there is so much wrong.
 
I'm all for HD remakes - I've bought nearly all the ones for the PS3 (and I've even played Ico but not yet SotC). I'm just saying that if Nintendo had come out with a bunch of (or even just a few) HD remakes of GC or Wii games that would fall under the ports and rehashes that people like to criticize Nintendo for. So that would be a no-win for them in the eyes of many CAGs.

Personally I'd love to see some. Give me Mario Sunshine in HD, please. Rogue Squadron? Hell yes!

As for my comment on queuing downloads, that wasn't meant to be part of the same discussion - it was just an observation as I was not aware they had that feature. All in all, the shop is vastly improved over what we got on the Wii and that is just a part of it. Sure, it would be nice to have a unified store and online account for all Nintendo systems, but I get the feeling they are (programatically) boxed into what they have now for a while. While those things are mildly frustrating, they don't break the system as far as I'm concerned. You obviously feel differently. To be honest, I'd have prefered an achievement-like system more than them copying the online aspects of the PS3/360.
 
Yeah, the launch definitely didn't need any more ports. I'm open to them in the future, but a new console deserves new games.
 
[quote name='Corvin']Yeah, the launch definitely didn't need any more ports. I'm open to them in the future, but a new console deserves new games.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. Although having a remake in their back pocket to boost sales isn't a bad idea. But with a new console I don't want to play an HD Twilight Princess.
 
[quote name='Erad30']You do realize it's NOT a tablet, right? It never has been, Nintendo has never pushed it as such. It's a home console. More portable than most since you don't need a TV screen for many titles, but it's still pretty meant to be played at home just like any other home console. The gamepad is a way to play games differently, be it finally not having to fight over the TV (hence why I'm getting any mutli-platform titles on the Wii U in the future) or using the second screen for various things they mentioned, most importantly playing two different ways (asynchronous gameplay I believe it was called) at the same time which is shown off rather well in Nintendoland. It's a simple example for now, but you simply can't do games like that on the 360 or PS3, and odds are the next systems from those companies won't be capable of gameplay like that either because they mainly care about how shiny the graphics for next gen are, not what they can do gameplay wise.[/QUOTE]

i would disagree on the 360 part. SMart glass if it's used by game devs can do same thing the wii u game pad can do gameplay wise. I think it's very possible the next xbox comes with some kind of tablet device that works just like the wii u game pad.
 
The problem is developers making a game that needs smart glass and requiring people that buy the game to have a tablet. Unless they are going to package in a tablet with their next system.

Also, smart glass would have to use touch controls, which is just crappy.

But really, instead of Sony and Microsoft trying to rip of Nintendo again, why not just do their own things?
 
A fourth patch for Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge is out. I'm not sure what it's for. Perhaps European compatability or fixing a mistake.

And SmartGlass is a dead end. Almost no one will support that, and it wouldn't work as well in-game compared to what you can do with Wii U.
 
Smartglass is only supported by about a dozen games and most of them use it for the most trivial bullshit that they should not have even bothered with it. By trivial BS, I mean offering links to websites, a list of controls, and an achievement list. It's nowhere close to what MS hyped it up to be at E3.
 
Smartglass is an awesome feature- but they don't have a guaranteed attach rate for smartglass enabled devices for every xbox sold, so we won't see anything really innovative for it ever. It's just like the kinect, the move, the wii balance board, etc. Really cool, (arguably) effective tech but it just doesn't make sense to spend time building in support if the audience isn't there.

It isn't a 1:1 attach rate, but the number smart devices are ubiquitous enough that if they support the right platforms it may just be a matter of microsoft convencing people to sync their devices.

What we can hope for is that on future multiplatform releases where the Wii U is utilized well, they can port over the Wii-U tablet screen features to Smartglass if it makes sense.


The forza stuff is pretty neat though.
 
I don't get why anyone would even want Sony and Microsoft to copy what Nintendo is doing. Id rather they just both work on their own, innovate things then just trying to copy something Nintendo is doing.
 
[quote name='nbballard']Smartglass is an awesome feature- but they don't have a guaranteed attach rate for smartglass enabled devices for every xbox sold, so we won't see anything really innovative for it ever. It's just like the kinect, the move, the wii balance board, etc. Really cool, (arguably) effective tech but it just doesn't make sense to spend time building in support if the audience isn't there.

It isn't a 1:1 attach rate, but the number smart devices are ubiquitous enough that if they support the right platforms it may just be a matter of microsoft convencing people to sync their devices.

What we can hope for is that on future multiplatform releases where the Wii U is utilized well, they can port over the Wii-U tablet screen features to Smartglass if it makes sense.


The forza stuff is pretty neat though.[/QUOTE]
The difference is that Kinect and Move sold well enough that they continue to get a decent amount of support two years later with fairly good launches that had games to show off what they could do.

Forza Horizon and Halo 4 seem to be the games that use Smartglass in an interesting manner, but that's about it. It looks like they rushed it to launch alongside Windows 8 and had next to nothing to show why this should exist.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']The difference is that Kinect and Move sold well enough that they continue to get a decent amount of support two years later with fairly good launches that had games to show off what they could do.

Forza Horizon and Halo 4 seem to be the games that use Smartglass in an interesting manner, but that's about it. It looks like they rushed it to launch alongside Windows 8 and had next to nothing to show why this should exist.[/QUOTE]
But it's also free. If it were a 50-150 accessory, it would be a different discussion, but the reality is that this is a free service being added to existing 360s that doesn't really require any new peripherals. They don't really need to release products to rationalize their customer's purchase. It'll receive (or not) a steady up-tick of products that support it until the system retires and the app will likely carry over to the next generation system at launch, etc, etc.

I agree they may have shown their hand a bit soon- but i think it had less to do with Windows 8 and more to do with the impending release of the Wii U. It certainly didn't do nintendo any favors for microsoft to essentially patch in free support that gave their console a 2nd screen for free (regardless of it working well or not). Sony also began pushing the "Vita as a second screen" functionality towards the Wii U release. When the casual crowd sees a new wii and the obvious difference is the giant control (which many thought was just an accessory for the old wii), the free Smartglass app sounds like a homerun.

Anyway- never thought i'd be on a forum supporting the 360. I just think the 2nd screen concept is interesting and it's been kind of neat seeing how each of them has arrived at a solution so quickly.
 
The pity is a Vita costs nearly as much as a Wii U (probably the same w/ storage). Microsoft's reaction was impressive (and free, for once), but heck, I can run the PS3's netflix app from my phone - just not that well.

The impressive bit, which is hard to grasp until it's in your living room, is that the wii is instantaneous. It's convenient. I can browse the eshop while watching tv. I can share a youtube video without having to turn a laptop.

As far as innovation goes, this is a 30 year old idea from Nintendo. It's the disconnection & independence of the second screen that makes it interesting. The application in games remains kind of lackluster.

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[quote name='FriskyTanuki']The difference is that Kinect and Move sold well enough that they continue to get a decent amount of support two years later with fairly good launches that had games to show off what they could do.[/QUOTE]
Sales aren't the only thing that entice a publisher to support a feature. It's possible that Microsoft offers financial incentives (lower royalties, lower maintenance fees, etc.) for games that include Kinect integration as a way of pushing support. They almost have to do this to offset the fact that most purple-box games are $50 on release instead of the usual $60.

So, a publisher tells the developer to do something tiny - regardless of how silly, useless, or impractical (I'm thinking of that Tom Clancy game they demo'd where you could navigate menus very... very... slowly... with... voice... commands...) - to qualify for the financial incentives, they stick an ugly purple banner on the box, and they spend a bit less money in the end.
 
The problem with Smartglass is that I never remember to try it. Or rarely. I have an iPad and can easily use it, but I don't. Often times it's because when I turn on the 360 I don't happen to have my iPad next to me and I don't feel like going to get it.
 
[quote name='moothemagiccow']
The impressive bit, which is hard to grasp until it's in your living room, is that the wii is instantaneous.
[/QUOTE]

You must have gotten a magical WiiU. There isn't a single thing about the WiiOS that is instantaneous.
 
[quote name='Deader2818']Again, Microsoft and Sony should worry about making their own innovations then simply just coping what Nintendo is doing.[/QUOTE]If the new innovation is worth anyones attention, it's going to be copied. That's just how the world works. That's why vibration, analog sticks (dual analog sticks), wireless controllers, motion controls, voicechat, digital downloads, etc made their way to each of the consoles.

I think what we are going to see now that these machines have become somewhat future proof through patching and unique peripherals aren't going to define systems (even if they don't get a great software attach rate until they are included in the next gen release). The real deciding factor is going to be ease of use, how well they function as set-top boxes through partnerships (netflix, music, browser, etc), and how strong their "walled gardens" are compared to the competition. Basically, who can keep their users from having to switch to a different device to do something. Nintendo was one of the first to understand this by incorporating the news and weather into the Wii, but the lack of HD (and a harddrive) prevented it from becoming a good solution for a media center. Also- they have handled network IDs poorly so far.

I like my xbox and my wii U, but i'm more invested in the PSN at this point and as a result I favor it for 3rd party games and media. It isn't that PSN better, they are just the ones that got their claws into my first.

Anyway- TL-DR, i don't think its really about hardware innovation anymore, it's about interface and convenience.
 
The problem with smartglass is you need four hands for it to be effective

[quote name='Corvin']You must have gotten a magical WiiU. There isn't a single thing about the WiiOS that is instantaneous.[/QUOTE]

Screenswitching
 
WiiU is instaneous. The gaming is at least. Switching to the settings menu isn't though. :)

Anyone with a Gamepad that loses connection a lot? Might suddenly started acting flakely a week ago and today I finally sent it in for repair. Worked fine since launch. I couldn't think of anything that changed in my setup to set it off.

Smartglass is a business response to the WiiU. I don't think it will work nearly as well as the Wii U but with the right marketing consumers might be confused enough to believe it is the same thing.
 
So, I know that I can hook up a Wii U with Wii cables... does it work the other way around?

Basically, I'm planning to give/lend my mom my Wii when I get a Wii U. My TV runs composite, hers is new and has HDMI. Can I switch the video cables so the Wii is running on the Wii U's HDMI and vice-versa? It's be great not to have to buy another set of cables off the bat.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']So, I know that I can hook up a Wii U with Wii cables... does it work the other way around?

Basically, I'm planning to give/lend my mom my Wii when I get a Wii U. My TV runs composite, hers is new and has HDMI. Can I switch the video cables so the Wii is running on the Wii U's HDMI and vice-versa? It's be great not to have to buy another set of cables off the bat.[/QUOTE]

The Wii doesn't have an HDMI port, so no.
 
[quote name='advanced']The Wii doesn't have an HDMI port, so no.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info- I'm in the middle of a work-crunch thing and can't get to my Wii to check for things like that.

So, I'll have to try and find time to get behind the folks' TV and figure out how many non-HDMI ports they've got.
 
I have not really had a lot of luck with things from monoprice that are not just cables (but their cables are great). I'd be wary of that thing. Of course I'd love for somebody else to try it and let us know. :)
 
[quote name='Blaster man']Anyone have this? Is it a true upscaling? Seems a bit suspect to me. I bet it's still 480p for the Wii but says its 1080 like the way the Wii U does it.[/QUOTE]

If you read the comments on Monoprice, you should get your answer. It seems to be just a gimmick, but does seem to provide the benefit of allowing you use an HDMI connection (if you need to do so).

It also seems to be one of the pricier things in the Monoprice inventory.
 
Honestly, I can't imagine it'd do anymore than simply playing a Wii game on the Wii U, which isn't really all that noticeable of a difference. For me, anyway. So, yeah, if you absolutely *needed* to hook it up through HDMI, great... but I'd be shocked if there's a huge 'benefit' to it.
 
I wouldn't say it's night & day on Wii U, but it's definitely night and not quite night. Text and sprites are crisper, not sure if jaggies are any less jaggier. Will have to look at mario galaxy, that was jaggy city.
 
My thoughts regarding using an HDMI adapter with the Wii:

I tried an HDMI adapter a while ago with the Wii. It didn't improve the quality over the component cables I'm using. It also gave everything a slightly blue tint/hue. I had honestly gotten it because I wanted to add my Wii to my HDMI switcher, but the switcher couldn't recognize it unless I did something strange. I say that because I don't remember exactly what I had to do to get it to work through the switch; I think I had to turn on my 360 as well and sort of fool the switch into passing the Wii's signal. Even when I had tried to manually select the Wii with the switch, it just wouldn't work.

I returned it and decided I'd just wait until the Wii U. So I'd personally say to just stick with the component cables unless you have a really significant reason for needing HDMI on the Wii.

I could probably have tried other HDMI adapters for the Wii, but the experience I had with this one (it was an HDMIKey) turned me off from pursuing it further. In other words, maybe other people have had more luck than me.
 
Basically, I plan to buy a Wii U with my tax return money, when Rayman (and hopefully the Wonderful 101) hit. I have an old non-HD tv that I'm choosing not to upgrade until me and the fiance get a place, so I can have it on-hand for old school systems. So I'll need a composite cable for said Wii U- no biggie.

In other to save space in an already clogged setup, I'd like to pull the Wii in favor of the Wii U. I mentioned this to my mom, wondering if she'd like to use the Wii for bowling in Wii sports- fully expecting her to say no. Surprisingly, she was on board.

Now, mom invested a couple years back in a 50-60" Sony Bravia (I forget the excact measurement, only that they had to downsize at the last minute when they realized the TV they originally picked out wouldn't fit in the size for it.) I've never been able to convince her bluray is a good idea with the fancy new TV, so it's got 1 composite slot used by the DVD player. 1 open composite, 2 open component, and like 4 open HDMI.

Upscaling's not really a concern, just the cheapest way to get a Wii hooked up to that TV with a serviceable picture. Nice to know there's so many options...
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']
Now, mom invested a couple years back in a 50-60" Sony Bravia (I forget the excact measurement, only that they had to downsize at the last minute when they realized the TV they originally picked out wouldn't fit in the size for it.) I've never been able to convince her bluray is a good idea with the fancy new TV, so it's got 1 composite slot used by the DVD player. 1 open composite, 2 open component, and like 4 open HDMI.

Upscaling's not really a concern, just the cheapest way to get a Wii hooked up to that TV with a serviceable picture. Nice to know there's so many options...[/QUOTE]
Another possible solution is to check to see if her DVD player has an HDMI port. Many new DVD players have this port and most people don't even know it, so that would be the easiest and cheapest option to free up that composite slot (if available).

You can almost even get a new / used DVD player with an HDMI upscaling port for about the same cost as the Wii HDMI adapter. Would make better use of the HDTV for DVDs and free up a composite slot, two birds, one stone...
 
So i had to replace my Wii U yesterday and ran into the NNID problem that was reported earlier. I've sent an email to nintendo asking to see if they can reassociate my NNID with the new system. I'll keep everyone updated on how they handle it. Honestly- if they can't get my old ID tied to the new system, I'm just going to return it to best buy and wait until they get all their ducks in a row. I'm not super attached to my user name (yes i am), but poor management of system transfers at this point is just not something I want to deal with as a consumer. I'm on my 6th PS3, my 4th xbox, and my 2nd Wii U (for various reasons- and had no trouble at all regaining access to my IDs on the other systems)
 
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/17/lego-city-undercover-titles-dated

Update on some release dates:

Wii U
Publisher Title Available
Activision The Amazing Spider-Man™ Ultimate Edition March
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct March 26
Capcom Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate March 19
D3Publisher The Croods: Prehistoric Party! March 19
Electronic Arts Need For Speed Most Wanted March 19
Nintendo LEGO® City: Undercover March 18
SEGA Aliens™: Colonial Marines Q1
Ubisoft Rayman® Legends Feb. 26
Nintendo eShop for Wii U
Gaijin Games BIT.TRIP Presents… Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien Q1
Neko Puddle Q1
SEGA The Cave™ Jan. 22
TECMO KOEI AMERICA Corp. Fist of the North Star®: Ken’s Rage 2 Feb. 7
Two Tribes Toki Tori 2 Q1
Zen Studios Zen Pinball 2 Q1
 
Follow-up: Nintendo told me that I would have to create a new NNID, and that once the new ID was established, I would tie it back to my original club nintendo ID and all of my purchases and whatnot would be linked to the new system. That's better than nothing- but I've still lost my original NNID that matches all of my other online community names. I don't understand why they have 2 user names (NNID & Club Nintendo), or why they can't remotely deactivate these things. Really annoying.
 
[quote name='nbballard']Follow-up: Nintendo told me that I would have to create a new NNID, and that once the new ID was established, I would tie it back to my original club nintendo ID and all of my purchases and whatnot would be linked to the new system. That's better than nothing- but I've still lost my original NNID that matches all of my other online community names. I don't understand why they have 2 user names (NNID & Club Nintendo), or why they can't remotely deactivate these things. Really annoying.[/QUOTE]

Wow. That kind of makes me sad that by selling my system I'll be losing my NNID, but I haven't played a whole lot of Nintendo stuff since Gamecube (and even then it was bare bones) so I guess I won't be too butthurt about it.

Still, just goes to show that Nintendo is behind the times when it comes to stuff like this.
 
[quote name='elessar123']lol a 55"ish mid-high range HDTV with composite DVDs. What a waste of money.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Mako1215']Tell her bluray players play DVDs[/QUOTE]

Oh, trust me- I've tried every pitch I can think of. She has zero interest in blu, period. Honestly, at this point I'm pretty much gonna have to buy one and hook it up one day when she's not home just to get the point across. At least she watches the HD cable channels.

Anyone hear anything about the Wonderful 101 lately? I'd really like to put off buying the system until it's out, but knowing me I'll wanna jump all over it as soon as I have the tax return in hand. Perhaps there's some news I missed that might slow me down...
 
[quote name='Deader2818']Was announced today that Wonderful 101 is to be released first half of 2013.[/QUOTE]

Shoot, Pikmin 3 delayed, as well. I'm very sad ... might swap out the WiiU for the upcoming 3DS fire emblem bundle. Being an early adopter is painful.
 
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