Wii-U in stores, first impressions?

[davepesc]

I saw yesterday that Target has Wii-U hooked up in its demo units. I didn't spend a lot of time with it, but my first impressions weren't that great.

 

The controller: I felt that it was way too big and had buttons all over the place. Not intuitive at all. My 2nd-grade daughter wondered why you need a screen on the controller when it's hooked up to a TV. On the plus side, it's not as heavy as it looks, but being a flat tablet, I could imagine it getting uncomfortable pretty quickly.

 

Graphics: Looked nice, but I don't think they looked up to 360/PS3 standards.

 

Overall, I remain skeptical. It's a pass for me.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I'm not cancelling my Wii-U deluxe preorder. I have large man hands, and even the Supaboy handheld SNES (which is quite bulky) feels comfortable for me to hold. GBA-SP, on the other hand, unbearably painful to play for more than a few minutes. I imagine the Pad will feel awesome to game on. On issue I see with gamepad gaming for competitive multiplayer, is that the player with the gamepad can also see his buddy's movement on the TV screen, but his buddy may not be able to view the gamepad. That would be a huge tactile advantage for FPS games like Halo. My friend used to wonder how I kept besting him in Mariokart battle on my N64, because I was always lurking around every corner with a red shell. Truth was, I was using the split-screen info as well as the radar tracker to keep tabs on his movements. I'm just saying, the guy with the pad will always have the upper hand during competitive play. Gaming for me is mostly a single player affair, so I'm not concerned.

Edited November 3, 2012 by stardust4ever

[jd_1138]

Can't you use the Wiimote for gaming? So if you don't like the large controller, you can just use the Wiimote or the Wii classic controller.

[xenomorpher]

Can't you use the Wiimote for gaming? So if you don't like the large controller, you can just use the Wiimote or the Wii classic controller.

 

I suspect a few 3rd party games in the future won't really take advantage of the screen, so the Wiimote, classic controller, and updated controller will most likely all be viable options. I know for a fact CoD:BO2 can be played with the updated controller. Not sure if you can use the Wiimote and nunchuck like Wii FPS games, but I thought I heard that somewhere. If I have some money left to spend I'll probably get the updated controller because it looks like it'd be very comfortable for FPS games.

[GKC]

Staying away from kiosks so my true first impressions will be when my kids open it up Christmas Day and play it. At this point I've decided to get it regardless of reviews. I make enough money and cant take it with me when I leave this world

 

Thanks for the thoughts though. You said it didn't look up to PS3/360 standards, which game did you play?

[CGQuarterly]

I saw the kiosk at Target the other day and messed around with it a little bit, but it looked like none of the games were playable. They were all just videos. I thought the thing was pretty cool, though, and it looks like it might get better third-party support. My interest is definitely piqued. I didn't pre-order it or anything, though.

 

Chris

[davepesc]

Same for me. I didn't actually play anything. Just navigated menus and watched gameplay videos.

[Rex Dart]

Local gamestop had (has?) a kiosk a few weeks back. Played some Rayman on it, wasn't terribly impressed. I wish they'd picked a better game to demo. The system sure doesn't seem like a must-have yet, but I'm sure it'll eventually have some games I want.

[+HatNJ]

Im sticking to the Original Wii may get one when Homebrew channel and emulators

are hacked on it

[onlysublime]

Local gamestop had (has?) a kiosk a few weeks back. Played some Rayman on it, wasn't terribly impressed. I wish they'd picked a better game to demo. The system sure doesn't seem like a must-have yet, but I'm sure it'll eventually have some games I want.

 

Rayman looks great! I don't know if there's a "wow" looking game in the lineup. They all look 360/PS3 level.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Im sticking to the Original Wii may get one when Homebrew channel and emulators

are hacked on it

I'm definitely planning on hacking my Wii to experience the joys of homebrew, after I transfer all my VC/Wiiware stuff to Wii-U. I've got well over $300 worth of software downloaded, so I wouldn't dare tamper with my Wii until after I get all my games transferred. Also, my Wii is kind of starting to go on the fritz now, possibly due to years of having sat overheating with WiiConnect24 running, so I've avoided gaming on it the last few months until Wii-U comes out. I had a hard time booting it up, but once I disabled Wiiconnect, it seems to have run stable since. Netflix and Internet Browser still crash it though. I'll feel a lot better about my Wii once all that expensive software is transferred. After the transfer process is complete, it will become strictly a homebrew console with no risk of losing my purchases, so who cares if it goes kaput or I brick it by accident?

[CGQuarterly]

I have to say, the Wii U has some cool possibilities as far as home brew goes, once it gets hacked. Imagine playing emulators on that thing. Hacked, it probably wouldn't have that rule about proximity to the base station.

 

Chris

[Segataritensoftii]

I have to say, the Wii U has some cool possibilities as far as home brew goes, once it gets hacked. Imagine playing emulators on that thing. Hacked, it probably wouldn't have that rule about proximity to the base station.

 

Chris

Judging by how long it's been taking for the 3DS to be hacked, I probably wouldn't expect the Wii U to be hacked until close to or after the end of its commercial lifespan.

[+wood_jl]

I saw a kiosk at Gamestop, just playing videos.

 

Sure, the graphics are nice, but they're not at all discernible from Xbox 360-quality, which is really no surprise, but means it brings nothing to the game, in that department.

 

I just don't think I'm going to want to hold that huge iPad thing, and I don't want to play Super Mario Bros with some other guy having to tap on the screen to "create blocks" for me to jump on; that just seems like a tacked-on gimmicky "requirement" for the huge controller. I understand you can use the old controllers, but what that means is the new system clearly lacks the door-opening innovation of the original Wii.

 

I also don't get the gimmick of playing on the little iPad screen. Why? In this affluent society, there are a few-to-several big TVs in the house.

 

What drives me to Nintendo systems is always the unique software, like the Mario games. By the time I ever get one, it will have had to accumulated several Mario/platform games, and experience a few price drops - of both the games to "Greatest Hits" and the system. But then again, I just got the regular Wii, and Xbox 360 (finally) and even before I got these systems, I have such a glut of games I'll never have time to play them all in my lifetime. I think most "collectors" have a similar situation, and serious collectors here have collections that would dwarf my stuff.

 

I suppose if you gotta have everything, gotta have the latest - even before killer software, are starved (somehow?) for entertainment/videogames, or just like to spend money, then it's a good deal right now.

Edited November 7, 2012 by wood_jl

[akator]

^ Well said.

 

In our house we can play games on consoles, laptops, desktops, tablets, phones, PDAs, and handhelds. We have more games in the house that I can play in a lifetime, and that's after having culled most of my collection. That doesn't include all of the inexpensive games easily acquired online for the devices we already own.

 

I love new tech, but the Wii U can wait until it offers something of significance above and beyond another Mario game that I can't get elsewhere.

[cimerians]

This is pretty big news for me:

 

Wii U allows 12 registered users per system:

http://www.destructo...em-238161.phtml

 

I still won't get one for a while but its nice to know.

 

Thumbs up Nintendo

Edited November 7, 2012 by cimerians

[toptenmaterial]

I thought that Rayman looked next-gen, like true 3D. The animation was the smoothest I've ever seen. Better than Vita, which I personally believe holds the graphics crown... at least Rayman-wise!

[HammR25]

I was in Best Buy today killing time when I noticed a 7 or 8 year old playing the Wii-U. Rayman had excellent graphics but I thought it was telling that he was playing the game with a nunchuck and wii-mote and completely ignored the tablet thing. The tablet thing looked way too big for him to use comfortably.

[GKC]

I was in Best Buy today killing time when I noticed a 7 or 8 year old playing the Wii-U. Rayman had excellent graphics but I thought it was telling that he was playing the game with a nunchuck and wii-mote and completely ignored the tablet thing. The tablet thing looked way too big for him to use comfortably.

 

This was a concern of mine with my son. He seems to be fine using the Vita so hopefully he'll be just fine with the gamepad though it does appear to be a little bigger than the Vita.

[Asaki]

Sure, the graphics are nice, but they're not at all discernible from Xbox 360-quality...

Even most PC games from the past five years have the same graphics as their console counterparts, so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a while for devs to move forward.

 

Heck, it's usually id Software that really makes the push towards next-gen technology, but then they decided to make RAGE a 360 game... =|

[+wood_jl]

I don't get the deal with "up to 12 registered users." An Atari 2600 has up to "unlimited" number of users, and nobody has to bother with registering. I GUESS if you're using it for web browser settings or something, but in this world of PCs and stuff that's better suited for that, it's not like when Web TV was popular.

[Tempest]

I haven't actually played one, but I saw a commercial for it before Skyfall. To me it looks like a giant gimmick (much like the Wii was in the beginning). Sure the tablet controller is interesting, but how long is going to be before the touch screen a. breaks or b. gets scratched up beyond use? I also don't think people are going to be as keen on constantly looking down at their controller and tap on it during gameplay as Nintendo seems to think. It all seems very awkward to me. I remember when Nintendo tried this the first time around with the GBA cable and the GC. It never caught on for a reason.

 

Beyond the tablet gimmick, I'm really not seeing much that makes the U look better than the regular Wii. Slightly better graphics maybe, but I didn't really notice as the games don't seem to be taking advantage of them (not uncommon for launch titles). The commercial I saw was making a big deal about how you can keep playing the game on the controller when someone else wants to use the TV. While that seems like a nifty idea, how often is that going to happen? I also can't believe the tablet screen has the same resolution as a TV, so you'd think the game graphics would suffer.

 

Nintendo seems to think their path to glory again is the gimmick. Maybe they're right, but it's just not as enticing as the Wii's motion control gimmick was (remember when everyone on earth was playing Wii Sports?). I might pick one up later on if there are a few must have exclusives, but it's just not capturing my interest right now.

[+Cafeman]

I don't see the appeal either. However, my son does. It is called "Pikmin 3".

[xenomorpher]

Fairly new video with new info on Miiverse and such. I think it's pretty cool that I can use the console browser to look up hints without exiting the game, like the 3DS I think, since most likely I'll be using my PC monitor as the display. Miiverse looks pretty interesting and seems like a neat way to make "friends" to play games with.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu1kGo5j7NU

[+save2600]

Saw it yesterday and the first thing I thought was, gee... yet another tablet type thing only this time, from Nintendo. After Wiki'ing this today, realize it's a new console and the massive controller pad thing is just that. Funny how I hadn't noticed that at Wal-mart or Target last night. Just thought it was a new portable gaming system that (finally) outputs video to a monitor.