Current Gen Console Discussions (PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch (Pro?) OFFICIAL THREAD

The Wii U is backwards compatible, has no used game restrictions, no DRM other than needing the disc, has embraced downloadable games, has an open policy for indie developers (unlike Microsoft), has a decent (though not brilliant) community function, no charges for the online network, has a very attractive back-library for the Virtual Console (though they need to speed the release there, especially for those already released on Wii, though you can still use the Wii VC anyway on it), it's small, it's very attractively priced compared to the other consoles...

.. oh, GAMES, yeah. They forgot that bit.

I don't care there as my only interest in console gaming is quirky stuff like the Wii U does; I do all my other gaming on PC. The Wii U suits me well, and Monster Hunter Ultimate alone has kept me busy for a good while. More boradly, though, there is a bit of an irony here that the console which ticks so many boxes about what gamers want from consoles is in difficulties because it's failed to tick the most important box of all.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
The Wii U is backwards compatible, has no used game restrictions, no DRM other than needing the disc, has embraced downloadable games, has an open policy for indie developers (unlike Microsoft), has a decent (though not brilliant) community function, no charges for the online network, has a very attractive back-library for the Virtual Console (though they need to speed the release there, especially for those already released on Wii, though you can still use the Wii VC anyway on it), it's small, it's very attractively priced compared to the other consoles...

.. oh, GAMES, yeah. They forgot that bit.

I don't care there as my only interest in console gaming us quirky stuff like the WIi U does; I do all my other gaming on PC. The Wii U suits me well, and the Monster Hunter Ultimate alone has kept me busy for a good while. More boradly, though, there is a bit of an irony here that the console which ticks so many boxes about what gamers want from consoles is in difficulties because it's failed to tick the most important box of all.

That is mostly my issue, I'll consider when they have more attractive games. I never was that much into Nintendo's franchises, so they are not a must have for me. Also the gamepadtabletwhatever seems really gimmicky and sort of terrible, but I haven't tried it IRL.

How much do you think that the relative underpowerdness in terms of specs is an actual issue to people though (rather than say a secondary issue cause developers choose not to develop for it because of that)

Other than possibly being an unwelcome addition to the price, the Wii U gamepad works surprisingly well, from my experience. I think as gimmicks go it is better than 3D is on the 3DS, for example, which has basically now been relegated to a fringe feature whilst the 3DS does well on the back of actually having games available.

Sorry just edited while you replied, I'll repost the question in case you don't see it:

How much do you think that the relative underpowerdness in terms of specs is an actual issue to people though (rather than say a secondary issue cause developers choose not to develop for it because of that)

Regarding the 3DS I am still immensely disappointed by it. Nintendo made what I consider the best portable console ever (and one of the best tech gadgets ever period) with the Nintendo DS Lite, and the 3DS is a massive let down compared to it.

It's a bugger-all issue to me, for sure. To take an example, Monster Hunter Ultimate's visuals are just an upscaled port of the Wii Version- and some of those textures were never meant to be seen at high definition up close- but the art design is good and you have these big bastard monsters beautifully animated at 60fps in high def throughout, so as far as anything actually important to the game is concerned, the visuals are no problem.

When the Wii first came out, I maintained that Twilight Princess was prettiuer than Oblivion. Oblivion had the better resolution, decent anti-aliasing and fancy tricks with reflections (complete with dumbass shiny sheep), but it just looked boring where TP, despite poor textures, had beautiful uses of lighting and animation. Super Mario Galaxy- overrated as a game, in my opinion- was visually stunning relative to any game on the market at the time. Ninten do just made it work on the Wii if they had to.

In short- you can make these things work if you try. I don't think sheer horsepower is THAT important. Indeed, the secondary development problem is a different issue, but I don't care there as I don;t buy the game for ports of things available on other systems, and Nintendo systems never really do well with those sorts of games anyway.

It's harder to speak for people in general, but I honestly think horsepower not as big of a deal as people may instinctively think, and it certainly won't affect the quality of any games being made for it that ever had a shot of being decent.

As for the 3DS- well, I bought two games for it in year one, but thrice as many since then. It's picked up well enough for me. The 3D there is more parasitical though; it drains from the power of the system, and likewise its battery life. What we essentially have is just a more powerful DS with a functioning online component, and there it has done well enough.

Funny thing is, I HAVE a Wii U and it's not even out of the box yet. Bought it due to having extra cash at the time but haven't gone to the trouble of installing it on our TV. There are just too many PC games I need to finish that got stalled due to me going thru an MMO phase (played SW:ToR til about 3 weeks ago). Now I gotta install play the games I bought for the PC and haven't played yet (Bioshock, Metro and Dishonored).

The Wii U hasn't really had any exclusives that "call out" to me to play. I'm waiting on Zelda so far but that's it.

If you ever have friends over, Nintendo Land alone is worth unpacking it for. Some decent stuff there, including some co-op goodness for four players (Zelda) or five (Metroid).

Me and my gf so far and she's more into going outside than games, lol (she hikes). My RL friends prefer pen-and-paper RPGs to playing consoles, tho. We're a bit old school.

Edit. Will def give it a try eventually, tho. I guess I'm stalling cuz I've got way too many games to finish and too little time to do it.

The gamepad has a lot of potential imo and has already been used pretty well in a couple of games that I've played. Some of the stuff in Nintendo Land is legitimately good and the boost mode challenges in NSMBWU are probably the most fun I've ever had with a 2D Mario game.

YouTube video

Give it time with the games, the Wii ended up with the best exclusives this generation (Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2, Skyward Sward, Metroid Prime 3, Xenoblade Chronicles etc.) and I have no doubt that the Wii U will do the same. If you take into account stuff that has already been released and stuff that has been announced, it already has an exclusive lineup of:

Super Mario 3D World
The Legend of Zelda Wii U
X
Pikmin 3
Bayonetta 2
The Wonderful 101
Sonic: Lost World
Mario Kart 8
Super Smash Bros. 4
New Super Mario Bros Wii U
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Most of the good stuff on the Xbox and Playstation is usually multi-platform or ends up on the PC anyway. If you have a gaming PC and want to supplement it with a gaming console, your best bet would be the Wii U.

Originally posted by noitseuq
If you have a gaming PC and want to supplement it with a gaming console, your best bet would be the Wii U.

I agree with that, definitely. But if you don't have a gaming PC, and want to play most of the next gen games (excluding Nintendo's own), you are better served with the Xbox One and PS3 obviously.

All the Wii U and Wii stuff just seems to be rather counter-intuitive to me. It just isn't as practical and easy as moving you finger a centimeter to press a button is.

Originally posted by Nephthys
All the Wii U and Wii stuff just seems to be rather counter-intuitive to me. It just isn't as practical and easy as moving you finger a centimeter to press a button is.

That's my problem with all these motion gaming things. It completely kills immersion. I'm pretty good at moving my finger an inch, but if the game expects me to actually move like Batman when playing a Batman game I'll very quickly realize that I am not Batman.

Not really an Wii U issue as I have experienced it. Your mileage may vary with the gamepad but I rather like it. To use Monster Hunter, again, it made playing that game much easier as it took care of the clunky inventory selection.

The Wii U controller for the most part functions just like any other regular controller and it's surprisingly light and comfortable to hold. The tablet screen is used pretty appropriately for the most part, and you have the choice of using either the screen of just the regular controls for a lot of the stuff. Where the tablet screen becomes essential in its use is where I feel it benefits the application, such as when the game wants to introduce asymmetrical information to the players (such as the Luigi's Mansion or Mario Chase minigames in Nintendo Land) or have a player provide additional support to another player (good example being the boost blocks in NSMBWU) and it works great for things like displaying maps and going through menus.

With the Wii, a lot of the games had the option to use the gamepad or to turn the Wii remote on its side and use it as a regular controller, such as Xenoblade Chronicles.

Forgot to add Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem to the Wii U exclusive list btw.

No! This Nintendo advocacy makes me even more unsure what console to get initially! Stop it right now, the lot of you!

Well, just wait for some more games to come out for it and see what kind of deals get offered.

I need a bit of excitement for Wii U right now. The game list is ok, but I am not a huge Mario fan, Zelda is all in the mind right now, and of all the games that Retro could have been announced as making a new Donkey Kong is is the most boring (I;ve played through 99% of the original with a friend and it's very well made, but compared to Retro doing Metroid, Zelda or a new ip, it has now 'wow' for me). Xenoblade was pretty good (dumb ending though), so a new game there is welcome, and I am starting to take a peek at Wonderful 101... the Fire Emblem/Shin crossover is a bit weird but maybe worth a look... but my pulse isn't racing here yet.

Originally posted by Nibedicus
Not really sure as I don't own a Wii U, googled this, tho:

http://wiiudaily.com/wii-u-backwards-compatibility/

Get the PS4, tons of solid exclusives and it is the overall more powerful system between the two (tho not by that much).

Originally posted by Zack Fair
What is your favorite genre? Sounds like you're a big gamer. Never got that impression from you. Kewl.

I hide my nerdom well. It started in highschool when I didn't let on I was into comics. People didn't realize what was up until after college and I came out of the comic book geek closet. 131

Originally posted by Ushgarak
The Wii U is backwards compatible, has no used game restrictions, no DRM other than needing the disc, has embraced downloadable games, has an open policy for indie developers (unlike Microsoft), has a decent (though not brilliant) community function, no charges for the online network, has a very attractive back-library for the Virtual Console (though they need to speed the release there, especially for those already released on Wii, though you can still use the Wii VC anyway on it), it's small, it's very attractively priced compared to the other consoles...

.. oh, GAMES, yeah. They forgot that bit.

I don't care there as my only interest in console gaming is quirky stuff like the Wii U does; I do all my other gaming on PC. The Wii U suits me well, and Monster Hunter Ultimate alone has kept me busy for a good while. More boradly, though, there is a bit of an irony here that the console which ticks so many boxes about what gamers want from consoles is in difficulties because it's failed to tick the most important box of all.

Originally posted by noitseuq
The Wii U controller for the most part functions just like any other regular controller and it's surprisingly light and comfortable to hold. The tablet screen is used pretty appropriately for the most part, and you have the choice of using either the screen of just the regular controls for a lot of the stuff. Where the tablet screen becomes essential in its use is where I feel it benefits the application, such as when the game wants to introduce asymmetrical information to the players (such as the Luigi's Mansion or Mario Chase minigames in Nintendo Land) or have a player provide additional support to another player (good example being the boost blocks in NSMBWU) and it works great for things like displaying maps and going through menus.

With the Wii, a lot of the games had the option to use the gamepad or to turn the Wii remote on its side and use it as a regular controller, such as Xenoblade Chronicles.

Forgot to add Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem to the Wii U exclusive list btw.

Well that doesn't sound too bad, although I do still have misgivings. I mean, I'm still not buying a Wii U, but not because of the controls I guess. I just still haven't forgiven them for supporting SOPA.

Originally posted by noitseuq
The Wii U controller for the most part functions just like any other regular controller and it's surprisingly light and comfortable to hold. The tablet screen is used pretty appropriately for the most part, and you have the choice of using either the screen of just the regular controls for a lot of the stuff. Where the tablet screen becomes essential in its use is where I feel it benefits the application, such as when the game wants to introduce asymmetrical information to the players (such as the Luigi's Mansion or Mario Chase minigames in Nintendo Land) or have a player provide additional support to another player (good example being the boost blocks in NSMBWU) and it works great for things like displaying maps and going through menus.

With the Wii, a lot of the games had the option to use the gamepad or to turn the Wii remote on its side and use it as a regular controller, such as Xenoblade Chronicles.

Forgot to add Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem to the Wii U exclusive list btw.

Yeah in truth the wii u is a solid system! people hate on it because its not an Xbox or a PS but it honestly is more a third party/party system that has some fun games. But I love it! I still need to get an old Wiimote so I can play my Super Mario RPG!

Either they changed their minds or it was a simple misunderstanding but if you get banned from XBOX Live, you don't lose access to your games on the XBOX One.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/16/banned-xbox-one-accounts-will-retain-access-to-purchased-games/