Wii U - General Discussion Thread

Not too shocking at all, really. But a ~28% downward revision? Still early in the console's cycle, but yikes. Did they do the same thing in the 3DS early months (and if we have that info, how much did they revise that)?

The system will be fine, but for right now, I'm kinda stoked and bummed about news like that. Bummed because I see what fucking awful system sales do for third party support (hi, Vita!); stoked because these are the kinds of conditions that produce price drops, memory upgrades, and bundles - the sort of things that produce incentives to buy.
 
Here's the immediate breakdown:
  • They launched with a passable-at-best selection of titles, many of which were bad ports of year-old games
  • There was no killer app. Nintendoland is merely ok, severely hampered by lack of online and no real meat; NSMBWU is the same - a 2D Mario is great but it's not enough in modern times
  • The price is at least $50 too high for both SKUs
  • There are ZERO first party games coming out for the next two months
  • Third parties are barely on board, but only with ports
  • Nintendo apparently pissed off EA between 2011/2012 E3s and lost a bunch of supposed support/online expertise, purportedly due to talking to Valve about maybe getting integration with Steam; the end result is their awful attempts to do online themselves when they've repeatedly shown a total lack of comprehension
  • Few (currently) attempts to bolster a true console/handheld ecosystem (for fuck's sake, Sony is beating them at this right now)
  • Numerous problems for customers in terms of account handling
  • Shit marketing, shit shit shit shit shit
  • Only JUST LAST WEEK made announcements that might be construed as positive in terms of software lineup, and yet none of that will be around for a year, which is violating their "we won't announce until closer toward launch dates" mantra, which SCREAMS OUT scrambling-to-not-look-like-they-are-fucking-up

Go into Panic Mode, Nintendo. You had six years of massive profits to buy up/start development houses and strengthen your ability to float your own hardware with first/second party titles, and instead you fucked around for half that time.

I maintain that we won't know anything for two years minimum, but this certainly makes the future a little grim.
 
Good list. You left off half-assed OS. It's not as detrimental to moving units as delays in first-party title development, but it's a sign that they didn't think this one out much. Also, I disagree that the pricing is necessarily off (at least in the sense that it hampered sales significantly).

As for "panic mode," I think the past two E3s are evidence of the fact that the WIIU *is* their panic mode. So much about this is rushed, back-of-the-envelope stuff: the delays, a "launch" becoming a "window," all the placeholder titles/announcements.

Finally, I think two years is maybe a little too conservative an estimate of when we'll have a solid indication of doom. It's likely that we'll have a good indication of the direction after the results of next holiday season are in...so we'll have that info Jan/Feb 2014.
 
Your last point is the most frustrating. They were riding high on the Wii and DS sales, and they should have used that time to buy the best talent in the industry to produce their OS and network experience. They could have said "3rd parties don't want to make games for us? Lets buy them and make them First parties!". Think about what the launch could have been like if they had funnelled their wii money into talented teams. Hell- they could have bough THQ outright (granted their general approach to games with flesh-swords is different).
 
The fact that it feels rushed is the most baffling. They had to know from the day the Wii released that it was a short term system being in SD. Then they have banner year year after banner year of billions upon billions rolling in and they sit on their hands and do nothing? They've had 5 years to develop a stable of HD games ready to roll out with the next system.

As for tacking on tablet controls to those games developed prior to a final design, it would be no different than the launch titles we got anyway.
 
[quote name='Corvin']The fact that it feels rushed is the most baffling. They had to know from the day the Wii released that it was a short term system being in SD. Then they have banner year year after banner year of billions upon billions rolling in and they sit on their hands and do nothing? They've had 5 years to develop a stable of HD games ready to roll out with the next system.

As for tacking on tablet controls to those games developed prior to a final design, it would be no different than the launch titles we got anyway.[/QUOTE]

Eh, the 360 launched without HDMI. HD wasn't as a big of a consideration back then. So, yeah, it was short-sighted, but it was at least a reasonably different market in 2005/2006.

And yeah, I'd like to think they should've been working on stuff, but Nintendo is... well, gonna be Nintendo. Nintendo gave the 3DS Pilotwings. The Wii has Zelda, but it was really a glorified port that they held onto in order to bolster launch. Honestly, while the games weren't great, I'd argue that the Wii U was hugely supported by the company compared to their last two launches. Low bar, but still.
 
[quote name='007']Eh, the 360 launched without HDMI. HD wasn't as a big of a consideration back then. So, yeah, it was short-sighted, but it was at least a reasonably different market in 2005/2006.
[/QUOTE]

But the 360 was HD capable, either through component or VGA cables, which were available very early on in it's life-cycle, if not at launch (I can't recall in my old age). While it didn't have HDMI at launch, MS had their fingers on the pulse of the technology, unlike Nintendo who still has theirs firmly jammed up their ass. Chocolate covered pretzel, anyone?
 
Making the transition to HD game development takes time, especially when Nintendo's just now getting into it, so their development teams will obviously require more time to make their games. A lot of their development teams have been busy with 3DS development since their last Wii games, so I'm not sure how they've had five years to get these games ready when they haven't been sitting on their asses since the Wii's launch.

The only way you could've gotten a lot of Wii U launch games is if Nintendo cancelled all of the 3DS games that have been in the works since launch and moved all of those teams to Wii U, which would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. I'd rather they take their time to make their games the right way. This is how most platform launches are with regards to the release schedules of first-party games, as you get a few up front and they trickle out over the first year up leading to the big first holiday season. Nintendo's having issues telling/showing us what games they're making for the system when that's the entire point of announcing/hyping the system at two consecutive E3s before launch, as we need that big bullet point list of familiar IPs and new titles that people obsess about before we see which games actually made the cut. I don't recall ever seeing that for the Wii U, which is why people have issues with the upcoming games library because there's no sign of development commitment by Nintendo.

The OS is a 1.0 OS. There are things I want to see fixed/changed/improved, but this is how all console OS are at first. It's just a matter of how quickly Nintendo can address them and add new things you didn't even think about on top of that. The account stuff is more serious and a symptom of Nintendo being naive and ignorant of the standards of online marketplaces at this point, but that's not really an OS thing unless Nintendo has a way to overhaul all of that underlying network stuff to meet those standards.
 
I think New Super Mario Bros. U would've been a system seller IF New Super Mario Bros. 2 wasn't released 5 months prior. It's not like Pokemon where you can release 2 similar products at the same time and expect great results. NSMB2 ultimately cannibalized NSMBU's sales because A) It's cheaper and B) It was released first. I'll throw in C) NSMB isn't a core gaming franchise.

A lot of people forget that a lot of the early drive for Wii's sales were on the back of the core and Twilight Princess. That caused early sellouts, which allowed Nintendo to market Wii Sports to the masses, causing years upon years of sellouts. If Skyward Sword was delayed a year (ala Twilight Princess) and put on WiiU, they could have repeated that Wii magic because the hype of Zelda would've driven early sales, no matter the cost. But again, like 3DS, Nintendo was left with no core title that their base was really excited for to get at launch in droves.

The problem here however, is that Wii U is being sold at a loss. How? I don't really know, as it appeared all year that it'd be the opposite. I'd really love to know how. With 3DS they could afford to slash the price to what they did (and before you go off on a tangent about them selling it a loss, I know that the end result was basically them breaking even on 3DS hardware). If they cut the price of Wii U, it'd be horrible news for them not only now, but going forward as well.

Horrible now because they'd have to think of a way to cut costs of the system dramatically and horrible in the future because it would set the precedent that Nintendo drops their system price a few months after launch. This again, would bring it back to the situation now. They can't keep going in that circle, as it is very bad for business. Nintendo wouldn't be in business for very long if they kept this trend up, now would they?

Am I frustrated by Wii U? Yes, on many fronts. I think they put too much emphasis on the controller this time around, especially when it comes to the system's overall cost. I think Miiverse is cool, but the system is poorly optimized. I think the system software isn't there, especially with no core Nintendo games. Nintendoland is probably the closest core game you have, and that's still a mini-game collection. And no, I'm not joking about that. It goes back to Reggie saying Animal Crossing was a core title back in 2008. No one in their right mind thinks that. EVER. Same goes for New Super Mario Bros.

Another thing I'm frustrated about is Iwata's continued promise of third party support, even at the latest Nintendo Direct. I don't think he has any credibility on the matter here. He keeps mentioning it, but little to no results are produced. Year+ old, half-assed ports aren't doing it for me, especially at full price where I can go elsewhere for half the price or more. So unless they're going to announce every 3rd party title that's coming to PS4/720 is also coming to Wii U at E3, I'm not holding out much hope for it again on this front and will be forced to buy another console because of it.

Anyways, sorry for the rant.
 
[quote name='007']Eh, the 360 launched without HDMI. HD wasn't as a big of a consideration back then. So, yeah, it was short-sighted, but it was at least a reasonably different market in 2005/2006.
[/QUOTE]

I'm not talking about the Wii. I mean they had to know eventually that the next system would have to be 100% HD. With that in mind and knowing there would be a learning curve they should have devoted teams to HD gaming a few years ago. That in turn would/should have led to a stronger launch lineup.
 
I think I'm confused by the term "core game". NSMB isn't a core franchise and Nintendoland is more of a core game than it?
 
[quote name='KingBroly']
A lot of people forget that a lot of the early drive for Wii's sales were on the back of the core and Twilight Princess. That caused early sellouts, which allowed Nintendo to market Wii Sports to the masses, causing years upon years of sellouts. If Skyward Sword was delayed a year (ala Twilight Princess) and put on WiiU, they could have repeated that Wii magic because the hype of Zelda would've driven early sales, no matter the cost. But again, like 3DS, Nintendo was left with no core title that their base was really excited for to get at launch in droves.
[/QUOTE]
No one's "forgetting" that because it's not true, you're recreating history to fit this view that better accommodates the WIIU and this idea that it was a Zelda title away from huge sales.

First, Nintendo was moving Wiis on the strength of Wii Sports. Wii Sports was more than a pack-in, it was a killer, it generated HUGE interest in the console prior to launch and through two or three holiday seasons. TP for the Wii was an afterthought to generate appeal for the core Nintendo fans (and avoid an exclusive launch on a dying console), that much is true, but in no way was it moving Wiis or generating "Wii magic" the way the promotional spots featuring Wii Sports were.

Now to move along to the WIIU, the idea that pushing SS would've lead to "Wii magic" at launch for the WIIU is dishonest at its core. Part of why SS was held to the Wii was this implied lesson that Nintendo done TP wrong by forcing it onto the Wii. They weren't going to do the dirty on SS with the WIIU, and I thank them for that.
 
[quote name='dothog']No one's "forgetting" that because it's not true, you're recreating history to fit this view that better accommodates the WIIU and this idea that it was a Zelda title away from huge sales.

First, Nintendo was moving Wiis on the strength of Wii Sports. Wii Sports was more than a pack-in, it was a killer, it generated HUGE interest in the console prior to launch and through two or three holiday seasons. TP for the Wii was an afterthought to generate appeal for the core Nintendo fans (and avoid an exclusive launch on a dying console), that much is true, but in no way was it moving Wiis or generating "Wii magic" the way the promotional spots featuring Wii Sports were.

Now to move along to the WIIU, the idea that pushing SS would've lead to "Wii magic" at launch for the WIIU is dishonest at its core. Part of why SS was held to the Wii was this implied lesson that Nintendo done TP wrong by forcing it onto the Wii. They weren't going to do the dirty on SS with the WIIU, and I thank them for that.[/QUOTE]

Think for a moment. What was the game everyone was excited to get a Wii for leading up to launch? Come on, tell me. You can do it. It was Twilight Princess. Wii Sports was a good, pack-in title that most thought would spend 20-30 minutes on and put it on the shelf to never play again. Twilight Princess sold the Wii out on launch day. The core did that, NOT Wii Sports. Why? Because it had been hyped to hell and back for 2 and a half years. Gamers didn't give a shit about the cost, they wanted to play the awesome new Zelda title they'd been waiting forever to play. This caused the initial excitement for Wii, the initial sellout, and led to everything else.

If you do the same thing for Skyward Sword, you probably get the same result because you have an honest to goodness core title at launch instead of New Super Mario Bros U playing imitation.
 
[quote name='Corvin']I'm not talking about the Wii. I mean they had to know eventually that the next system would have to be 100% HD. With that in mind and knowing there would be a learning curve they should have devoted teams to HD gaming a few years ago. That in turn would/should have led to a stronger launch lineup.[/QUOTE]

But I think Frisky covered that pretty well. It's not like they sat on their asses and did nothing for 5 years. The only thing worse than sitting on your ass is talking out of it, which is what some CAGs (not pointing at anyone in particular here ;)) do about the Wii U. Sure, it has problems. However, there isn't much being said about it now that wasn't said about the 3DS a year and a half ago. But like Frisky said, if they had moved all those teams to the Wii U, the 3DS would be faltering now in a more critical phase in its lifecycle.

And of course the parallel with the 3DS is not exact. The Wii U has more hurdles to overcome (namely MS and Sony's next-gen systems). But the game library will develop iin a similar timeframe as it did with the 3DS. I'm not the slightest bit worried that we won't be getting a stellar lineup of first-party games at some point and the system will do well enough because of that. It may not be a home run, but it will do well enough to keep Nintendo going with what we all want: the games.

There is a certain segment of the market Nintendo will never, ever get. And it seems like some of you want them to compete there which is just not going to happen. I'll call that the "CheapyD" market. If you listen to the CAGcast you can tell that Cheapy puts a premium on the big-name cross-platform games and a gamer like that is going to want those on the 360/PS3 (or next gen versions) and will never have an interest in a Nintendo system (even if it had the same specs as the MS/Sony equiivalent, even if it had a wonderful, integrated, online system, and even if they just used a standard controller and nothing else). Cheapy was underwhelmed and dismissive of the announcements Nintendo made - which were all the games most of us thought should have been announced earlier (plus a few awesome surprises like Xenoblade sequel and Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei). He just isn't interested in a 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Fire Emblem, etc. And there are a lot of other gamers (including my 13 year-old son) who are like that and that Nintendo will never get back. Despite all that, I think they can do reasonably well with the Wii U. But of course it remains to be seen.
 
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[quote name='io']But I think Frisky covered that pretty well. It's not like they sat on their asses and did nothing for 5 years. The only thing worse than sitting on your ass is talking out of it, which is what some CAGs (not pointing at anyone in particular here ;)) do about the Wii U. Sure, it has problems. However, there isn't much being said about it now that wasn't said about the 3DS a year and a half ago. But like Frisky said, if they had moved all those teams to the Wii U, the 3DS would be faltering now in a more critical phase in its lifecycle.

And of course the parallel with the 3DS is not exact. The Wii U has more hurdles to overcome (namely MS and Sony's next-gen systems). But the game library will develop iin a similar timeframe as it did with the 3DS. I'm not the slightest bit worried that we won't be getting a stellar lineup of first-party games at some point and the system will do well enough because of that. It may not be a home run, but it will do well enough to keep Nintendo going with what we all want: the games.

There is a certain segment of the market Nintendo will never, ever get. And it seems like some of you want them to compete there which is just not going to happen. I'll call that the "CheapyD" market. If you listen to the CAGcast you can tell that Cheapy puts a premium on the big-name cross-platform games and a gamer like that is going to want those on the 360/PS3 (or next gen versions) and will never have an interest in a Nintendo system (even if it had the same specs as the MS/Sony equiivalent, even if it had a wonderful, integrated, online system, and even if they just used a standard controller and nothing else). Cheapy was underwhelmed and dismissive of the announcements Nintendo made - which were all the games most of us thought should have been announced earlier (plus a few awesome surprises like Xenoblade sequel and Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei). He just isn't interested in a 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, Fire Emblem, etc. And there are a lot of other gamers (including my 13 year-old son) who are like that and that Nintendo will never get back. Despite all that, I think they can do reasonably well with the Wii U. But of course it remains to be seen.[/QUOTE]

Bravo! I completely agree. Nintendo does not have to compete with Sony and MS. I bought a WiiU for the Nintendo games that I will eventually be able to play as most others did as well. Throwing in some support for potentially innovative games that we wouldn't see on a Sony or MS system is a possible perk, but time will tell. Nintendo is a brand-name/franchise that Sony and MS just haven't reached yet. Zelda and Mario are system sellers across the board to a very loyal base; meanwhile Uncharted and Halo appeal to a select, albeit rather large, group. If Nintendo were to try and run neck and neck with the other guys at this point it would be foolish.

That being said, announcing a few games we all KNEW would be coming to the WiiU, without any concrete images or gameplay news, is poor form. As I said, Nintendo does not have to compete directly with Sony and MS but they do have to provide a reasonable show of support to those of us that bought their system. A shitty OS coupled with a completely antiquated online strategy (locked I.D.s etc.) and a sheer absence of new games and/or compelling third party support is very unimpressive. Not having to compete with the competition is not always the best thing...
 
[quote name='Tronny']Nintendo is a brand-name/franchise that Sony and MS just haven't reached yet. Zelda and Mario are system sellers across the board to a very loyal base; meanwhile Uncharted and Halo appeal to a select, albeit rather large, group.[/QUOTE]

Cept the newer generation don't see Nintendo the same way you do. Except for Pokemon games. So the obvious real answer to sell Wii U is an exclusive Pokemon game for the Wii U.
 
[quote name='elessar123']Cept the newer generation don't see Nintendo the same way you do. Except for Pokemon games. So the obvious real answer to sell Wii U is an exclusive Pokemon game for the Wii U.[/QUOTE]

If Nintendo does not have a Pokemon game with Skylanders-like figures in the works (using the RFID reader on the Gamepad) then they have completely lost their touch. I say that even as someone with no interest in Pokemon whatsover. I'd rather see Pikmin, AC, Fire Emblem, Metroid and a whole host of other games before a Pokemon exclusive, but I recognize what it could do for sales and thus install base allowing for better games to come out.
 
I don't see why Pokemon isn't an MMO.

Nintendo's hurting because it's still largely ignoring online. I feel like a dumbass forcing my wife to play Nintendoland with me.
 
[quote name='io']If Nintendo does not have a Pokemon game with Skylanders-like figures in the works (using the RFID reader on the Gamepad) then they have completely lost their touch. I say that even as someone with no interest in Pokemon whatsover. I'd rather see Pikmin, AC, Fire Emblem, Metroid and a whole host of other games before a Pokemon exclusive, but I recognize what it could do for sales and thus install base allowing for better games to come out.[/QUOTE]

So...Poke Park 3 with NFC Figure and TCG card support? Iwata said that an NFC-specific game would be coming to Wii U this year, but didn't give a name or anything.
 
Pokepark is complete crap, I would hope they wouldn't waste the technology on something this stupid. The younger generation plays Nintendo but they quickly grow out of it, and grow into the PS3/Xbox 360. It really depends on where you live and what is popular with kids in the neighborhood. There are definitely areas in the USA where Nintendo is very popular. I have noticed Nintendo seems to be more popular with children of other nationalities living in America. American children tend to favor the violent games like Halo and Call of Duty and anything else is uncool from ages 10 and up, thus Nintendo is not very popular with this group, it may be popular if you are in grade school and are under 10 years old but that is about it. But even these young kids seem to have a natural affinity for the violent games (completely ignoring any societal problems that might be causing of course). A child that refuses to play the violent games because they don't like that type of game when given them is definitely an anomaly over here at least. We have kids as young as 5 years old playing Halo and Call of duty. My point being since children get into CoD and Halo so early on anything with a cutsy vibe or anything that is not M rated becomes uncool much faster than it should be happening thus children are not interested in Nintendo's offerings. Sure there are plenty of parents that disallow the violent games, but even moreso that buy them on a whim for the child (trust me I see it all the time), for the parents that disallow violent games they have XBox's and PS3's with other games.

Pokemon has a pretty diehard fanbase consisting of a large variety of age groups including everything from small children all the way up to adults. There are tons of people who are closet Pokemon players who would never admit to being. I really don't know why support of Pokemon was so weak during the Wii era but it certainly hurt Nintendo.

I have also noticed that if tech makes it to one household with children its likely making it into the households of that child's friends and that child's friends, and nearby children etc. There may also be tech that is being completely ignored since friends seem to focus on one particular product since children have to have what their friends have. Especially since parents here will pretty much buy anything their kid asks for on a whim.
 
If you have ever been around kids this does happen. They stop playing Nintendo and want to move onto bigger and more popular, and more violent games. It is possible to grow out of certain kinds of video games, however you can't really grow out of video games as a whole (that would be like growing out of movies).
 
[quote name='io']But I think Frisky covered that pretty well. It's not like they sat on their asses and did nothing for 5 years. The only thing worse than sitting on your ass is talking out of it, which is what some CAGs (not pointing at anyone in particular here ;)) do about the Wii U. Sure, it has problems. However, there isn't much being said about it now that wasn't said about the 3DS a year and a half ago. But like Frisky said, if they had moved all those teams to the Wii U, the 3DS would be faltering now in a more critical phase in its lifecycle.
[/QUOTE]

That's the point that's getting missed. In between all those press releases announcing how many billions of dollars were rolling in(there's a reason the "it prints money" meme exists) they could have hired new teams, started up new development houses not just shifting people around.

It is absolutely a matter of them sitting on their asses. They had the time, they had the resources but didn't use either very effectively.

Then again this has been my complaint with Nintendo for a few generations. They never put in 100% on the console. Something is always gimped or shortsighted in some way.
 
Pish-posh. That's relevant news if it spreads more broadly. I keep up with the Wii U news on account of this thread, largely. $300 deeeeeeluxe? I'm more interested.
 
[quote name='Deader2818']I like how people some how think you "grow" out of Nintendo and into PS3/Xbox.

They are fucking video games, lol. You enjoy them or you don't.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='SaraAB']If you have ever been around kids this does happen. They stop playing Nintendo and want to move onto bigger and more popular, and more violent games. It is possible to grow out of certain kinds of video games, however you can't really grow out of video games as a whole (that would be like growing out of movies).[/QUOTE]

As much as I wish it were like that Deader, I've experienced what Sara is saying in my own household. I've watched my oldest son (who will be 13 in a week) grow up on the Gamecube and Wii and now become a diehard, hardcore 360 fanboy. He won't touch the Wii, Wii U, or even PS3. I did rope him into a little NintendoLand when we first got it and he seemed to enjoy that a little - perhaps it triggered a little nostalgia from his earlier days playing Pikmin and Animal Crossing (Strell may remember him yelling over the Wii Speak during a few sessions of AC City Folk). But he soon got over that and hasn't wanted to play it since.

My 10 year-old is in that transition period now. He still likes playing games like Rayman and NSMB. But he plays more often on the PS3. There he is playing NBA 2K13, NBA Jam, and games like LBP and LBP Karting. So he's a "tweener" with the game types. In sort of a reaction against his big brother, though, I think he has no interest in shooters (Halo and the like). He likes watching me play games like No No Kuni and Xenoblade Chronicles. So I'm hoping that while I screwed up with the older one, this one will have some better tastes (not that there's anything wrong with Halo, but it is pretty much all the older one plays and I'm trying to get the younger one to like all the systems and a more diverse selection of games).

The funny thing is that I can't get any of my kids interested in handhelds of any type. I got my 10 year-old a 3DS for a road trip a year and a half ago and other than that, he hasn't really touched it. Yet I see kids all over playing DS/3DS systems. So that is just an anomoly with my kids I think.
 
[quote name='Corvin']That's the point that's getting missed. In between all those press releases announcing how many billions of dollars were rolling in(there's a reason the "it prints money" meme exists) they could have hired new teams, started up new development houses not just shifting people around.

It is absolutely a matter of them sitting on their asses. They had the time, they had the resources but didn't use either very effectively.

Then again this has been my complaint with Nintendo for a few generations. They never put in 100% on the console. Something is always gimped or shortsighted in some way.[/QUOTE]
So now you're saying that they don't have to move all of their current teams to Wii U a long time ago, but that they should've hired a bunch of new teams to do nothing but Wii U development? It seems like you're changing the goal posts and suggesting things that only a company with an infinite amount of money and resources could pull off.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']So now you're saying that they don't have to move all of their current teams to Wii U a long time ago, but that they should've hired a bunch of new teams to do nothing but Wii U development? It seems like you're changing the goal posts and suggesting things that only a company with an infinite amount of money and resources could pull off.[/QUOTE]

I'm simply saying they could have done far more than they did.
 
[quote name='io']As much as I wish it were like that Deader, I've experienced what Sara is saying in my own household. I've watched my oldest son (who will be 13 in a week) grow up on the Gamecube and Wii and now become a diehard, hardcore 360 fanboy. He won't touch the Wii, Wii U, or even PS3. I did rope him into a little NintendoLand when we first got it and he seemed to enjoy that a little - perhaps it triggered a little nostalgia from his earlier days playing Pikmin and Animal Crossing (Strell may remember him yelling over the Wii Speak during a few sessions of AC City Folk). But he soon got over that and hasn't wanted to play it since.

My 10 year-old is in that transition period now. He still likes playing games like Rayman and NSMB. But he plays more often on the PS3. There he is playing NBA 2K13, NBA Jam, and games like LBP and LBP Karting. So he's a "tweener" with the game types. In sort of a reaction against his big brother, though, I think he has no interest in shooters (Halo and the like). He likes watching me play games like No No Kuni and Xenoblade Chronicles. So I'm hoping that while I screwed up with the older one, this one will have some better tastes (not that there's anything wrong with Halo, but it is pretty much all the older one plays and I'm trying to get the younger one to like all the systems and a more diverse selection of games).

The funny thing is that I can't get any of my kids interested in handhelds of any type. I got my 10 year-old a 3DS for a road trip a year and a half ago and other than that, he hasn't really touched it. Yet I see kids all over playing DS/3DS systems. So that is just an anomoly with my kids I think.[/QUOTE]

My family is all apple but my one cousin is a diehard Nintendo fan at 12 which is really an anomaly for my area. He doesn't have HDTV or anything like that in his house so he is pretty much stuck with the Wii or older consoles. He has actually lost friends since he doesn't play CoD but I don't think that was a very good friend anyways. I think Nintendo is more popular with the 20+ in my area or little kids but there is no inbetween. I have gone to Pokemon events in my area and seen every age group imaginable but the events are wifi now so no events in store so the last event was a while ago. I think your kids will play the 3DS once more games come out, right now the game lineup isn't too good but the next few months are gonna bring some real heavy hitters. Be sure to introduce your kids to the upcoming games. If not hey you get the system all to yourself!
 
Tell me if I've got this wrong: the option to pay a fee to upgrade a Wii VC game to a Wii U version playable on the Gamepad only applies to games that are officially released on the Wii U Virtual Console. For example, it wouldn't be possible to upgrade Mega Man if it had not been released in the eShop yet.
 
Sort of. It's not REALLY an upgrade fee though. You can still play the original version in Wii mode, with the original save data and save state data. You're paying for a new version of the same game, with additional features (Miiverse, customizable controls, real save states, Gamepad play support) at a discount, as long as you've transferred your data over from Wii, because it basically syncs it to your NNA.
 
Is there a way to turn the system on and navigate netflix/amazon video without the wii-pad? I want to start using the wii-u in my bedroom instead of my PS3, but I don't want to always have the wii-pad floating around the room because my wife will almost certainly break it.
 
Whenever you turn the system on, the Gamepad turns on, regardless of what controller you use (you can use the Wii Remote or Pro Controller to navigate non-Miiverse/non-eshop menus).

EDIT:
Just tested, you can't use the Wii Remote for Netflix.
 
The compartmentalization is ridiculous. It's actually worse than Microsoft's insistence that no one else can make wireless controllers.
 
The netflix app is fine but it's in sore need of an update. Remote support would be nice, as well as an option dual audio on the pad and turning off the damned episode descriptions everywhere. I don't want to see spoilers for everything.
 
I caved and bought a Wii U Deluxe during the Costco $50 off sale.

Should arrive some time next week according to the tracking info. I also decided to pick up a Wii U Pro Controller from GoHastings (used, $30) in preparation for Monster Hunter next month :D.

Will eventually pick up NSMBU, and Pikmin 3 when it comes out in a few months.

Those games along with my Wii backlog should hold me over till Wind Waker HD, 3D Mario, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros (hopefully) later this year/early next year.
 
I just got Nintendoland brand new and sealed off ebay for $25 shipped, beats Nintendo wanting to charge me $60 plus tax to download it off the E-Shop. All I use the WiiU for web browsing/Mii-verse forum's,(drawing and responses) media streaming via playon to watch my HD rip's of movies and season's of the Big Bang Theory. I still have yet to beat Ass Creed 3 on it because the control's are cumbersome and annoying on the tablet. To me the WiiU is a overpriced streaming media appliance.
 
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