E3-Nintendo

[PhattyEwok]

Lez get this party started. Not a huge fan-boy but can't wait to see project cafe.

http://www.gametrailers.com/netstorage/e3/e3-live.html

party starts at 9am PDT

[haiddasalami]

Predicting more Reddit gif's

[nalwayv]

Watching live via gametrailers. :P

[Tyler]

does the gamespot stream keep buffering for anyone else? Or is it just my poor internet connection?

[teaandcigarettes]

Live version of the Zelda theme, nice :D

[odium]

Colour me un-impressed with the E-Shop shit so far. Terrible slow browser and hardly no games on the shop. What little is there is rubbish or priced way, way too high for what it is. And no 3d screenshots/videos... WTF?

Still...

I'm hoping Nintendo really bring it this year. After the Skyrim & Tomb Raider stuff, I'm hoping they don't do the same old "nintendo" stuff (but at the same time, I want more of it? Oddness). Metroid 3ds thats in the same style as super metroid but in 3d please Ninty kthx.

[PhattyEwok]

Yea the gamestop stream is acting up so I posted game trailers link instead

[mheyman]

Let's hope for something good. I'd really like a new Pikmin or something unexpected. Not really looking forward to Mario Galaxy 3 or a new Zelda.

Also new console is exciting.

[odium]

Four swords coop for free on DSI, I must be dreaming... But no 3DS? Strange move, hope its just a miss translation.

[mheyman]

Oh god this guy's a tease. I really want to love this new console :D

[d1ver]

Comeoooon Iwata! Give us Wii 2 now!

[Cexar]

I see the future of flying genitals with Star fox :P

[moose]

dude! Kid Icarus looks fucking rad! hahah

[odium]

Happy to see Luigi's Mansion is back, thats one under-rated game that would be spot on with 3DS. I'm ab it unsure about Mario however, that control looked... Stiff...

Now I'm just waiting for Metroid :D Its GONNA happen :D

[mheyman]

Luigi's Mansion yes. Sucks it just looks like 2.5d though. Was hoping for more from the 3ds.

[nalwayv]

Yaaaaaaa Luigi Mansion 2, loved the first game on gamecube. :P

[teaandcigarettes]

Their lineup looks solid so far; nothing new here but that was to be expected. I hope the will show some new IP's though.

Btw, augmented reality is the buzzword of this E3:poly142:

[Skamberin]

Now I'm just waiting for Metroid :D Its GONNA happen :D
Of course it's gonna happen, Nintendo have been remaking the games they thought up since the NES era :P

[d1ver]

Oh come on, Nindendo pimpin tetris. wtf %\

[teaandcigarettes]

Come on Reggie, stop talking about Poke-a-man and show us the new console.

[mheyman]

What is this Pokedex stuff. Just show me games man.

[aesir]

weeee yuuuuu!

[Cexar]

How about wee on u?

[mheyman]

I was honestly expecting the Nintendo Yuu. Not even kidding.

[wasker]

WiiuuuuuuuUuuUuu!

[Tyler]

PAhahahaha, wow... Wiiu

[Skamberin]

That looks like a really uncomfortable controller.

[mheyman]

We have buttons, thank god.

[Oniram]

Wii U?! they really need more people working on the names of these systems. lol

[xvampire]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JElywbkSbY

new nintendo console!

WII U

[mheyman]

Oh wait this is not the new console?

[wasker]

oh yeah! a sketchpad! im so getting this

[teaandcigarettes]

Holy shit...it's a tablet?

[Skamberin]

so they made an Ipad with regular buttons, for the Wii.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad94/tomekolek/seinfeld.gif

[nalwayv]

It's an IPad controller.

[TheMadArtist]

I'm confused...

[PhattyEwok]

Yeah it looks like a square for your Wii

[mheyman]

Biggest disappointment of any e3 ever? They better announce a new console right after this.

[odium]

So is the pad a new console, or what...? Does this mean theres no "wii 2" and its just a new pad :S

[wizo]

back to the dreamcast's controller, the circle of gaming : ) !

[Calabi]

Its great but its just a gimmick thing. Developers will have to figure out of ways to use it even though they havent fully figured out how to use the normal controls.

[teaandcigarettes]

So is the pad a new console, or what...? Does this mean theres no "wii 2" and its just a new pad :S

I'm confused about that too. Iwata's explanation is only making it worse.

[odium]

Actually, with this being (I'm guessing) BlueTooth, I can't WAIT to see how amazing this gets hacked on PC... That would be a pretty damn amazing tablet to have on PC. Imagine MudBox on that thing...

[TheMadArtist]

I get the feeling there is a lot of head scratching going on in that room. Does it have a box? I have no idea...

[mheyman]

Well Nintendo you definitely just pushed away more 3rd party devs. I dont think game companies are interested in figuring out all your little gimmicks. Sigh.

[ScudzAlmighty]

all it is is a tablet controller for the Wii, hence the added U to the name. there's no actual new console.

[aesir]

Well I like it!

[PhattyEwok]

This looks awesome but please please let there be a new console

[adam]

Graphics generated by WiiU, transmitted to controller. There is a new console.

[Jason Young]

Well, there's new hardware also?
http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/117/1173491/CONSOLEInline_1307462236.jpg

[Skamberin]

Buy a 3Ds a Wii and a Wii U and you can play the new Smash Bros properly!

Still not buying a Nintendo product :|

[xvampire]

wow amazing! now graphical demo is starting, definitely new console

[Skamberin]

Okay, tech demo of stuff that's been doable for the past 3 years or so.

[teaandcigarettes]

Damn, that tech demo was neat

[mheyman]

It can show prerendered cut scenes, impressive? Well it's not better than sony but I guess it's not as bad as MS's showing.

[PhattyEwok]

wah wah wah wawawawawaw

[tommywomble]

I wish they'd say what this actually is

[ScudzAlmighty]

Grand Theft Lego! Woot!

[odium]

New game... *YESS!!!!*
That we can confirm today... *YESSSS!!!*
That isn't a tech demo... *YESSSSSSS!!!!*
And its Lego... *turns off*

[Calabi]

I wish they'd say what this actually is

Its a peripheral, hence the additional WIIu. The next console will be called the WIIUUTOO

[wasker]

yeah, eat that! Arkham city and dark siders 2 !

[Skamberin]

Wait what?
Is this a NEW console? with NEW hardware?
Or are they just going to GIMP the shit out of Arkham City and Darksiders 2 visually for it to fit on the Wii :|

[teaandcigarettes]

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lluhfghVea1qc1cm3o1_500.png

[dfacto]

Its a peripheral, hence the additional WIIu. The next console will be called the WIIUUTOO

With the optional body interface WiiOnU.

[Sectaurs]

i like lego games

[teaandcigarettes]

Battlefield 3 on WiiU? Oh wow

[aesir]

I like the idea of a madden game on the wiiU where you can draw plays and routes for people to run on the controller.

[MikeF]

what am i missing here? how are these titles possible on the wii without new hardware? is the controller adding to the processing power of the host wii or something?

[odium]

Get me a motion tracker on the control screen for Aliens Colonal Marines and I'll pretty much tattoo a picture of Regie on my face.

[luke]

http://files.sharenator.com/my_mind_is_full_of_fuck_This_little_lamb_takes_her _head_off-s450x268-187579-580.jpg
But I'm quite liking this!

[odium]

what am i missing here? how are these titles possible on the wii without new hardware? is the controller adding to the processing power of the host wii or something?

Its a new console, its just, they never bothered to SAY its a new console... Stupid way to tell everybody about it.

[megalmn2000]

Wii U = Nintendo iPad?

[Martin Henriksson]

what am i missing here? how are these titles possible on the wii without new hardware? is the controller adding to the processing power of the host wii or something?

There IS new hardware. WiiU is a new console.

[mheyman]

That was the worst way to announce a console. Nintendo NEVER called it a console, they only called it a controller. Only 3rd party devs called it a console. It's so confusing can we get specs, details anything?

[MikeF]

ah, so it just ties in with the wii...
ok how much $$$ now?

[ivars]

gief specs! plx!

[Martin Henriksson]

I dont think it has anything to do with the wii except that it is backwards compatible

[TomDunne]

WiiU = new console with high-end HD graphics + iPad/button controller.

I can't believe any of you guys are skeptical - Nintendo is fucking KILLING with this. The uses for the screen are awesome, and they've got tons of legit third party. They're directly putting Arkham City and Assassin's Creed on there, those are huge AAA titles!

*edit*

John Riccitiello mentioned Battlefield, and they showed shots of the game. Looks 100% as good as it does on PS3 or 360, as far as I can tell..

[wasker]

I can't believe any of you guys are skeptical - Nintendo is fucking KILLING with this. The uses for the screen are awesome, and they've got tons of legit third party. They're directly putting Arkham City and Assassin's Creed on there, those are huge AAA titles!

Agreed. I actually think we'll see something similar from Sony and Microsoft in a year or two.

[mheyman]

We didn't see much but were those graphics comparable to the other two consoles? I'm not a believer that it's going to surpass the current gen console hardware..

I guess to get more 3rd party devs on board they wanted to make it easier to develop for.

[ivars]

I'm not confident about it's rendering capabilities untill they show some specs. I'm guessing 360/PS3 hardware.

[glottis8]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JElywbkSbY&feature=related

[Cexar]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8701158/WiiU.jpg

[d1ver]

I'm not confident about it's rendering capabilities untill they show some specs. I'm guessing 360/PS3 hardware.

Totally. Was waiting for specs the whole time and since they didn't give none I think they ain't got that much to be proud of.

[aesir]

I'm not confident about it's rendering capabilities untill they show some specs. I'm guessing 360/PS3 hardware.

I bet the internals aren't even finalized yet.

[Del]

~ console image because they forgot to show it

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/06/medium_new_nintendo_console_detail_01.jpg

via: http://uk.kotaku.com/5809482/the-is-the-first-picture-of-nintendos-new-console-the-wii-u

[Calabi]

I'm not sure we can trust what they are showing of the graphics yet, but I dont know I'm confused.

[odium]

I can see it being a tad better than 360/PS3 specs, but not a major leap. To be fair, thats all they have to do.

Also, they released pics of the new Zelda HD, and... Well it doesn't look like anything much the current Wii couldn't do, aside from the resolution. But even then it looks like its 720p upscaled to 1080p... So not sure what to think about this, specs wise...

http://h5.abload.de/img/untitled-1h886r8gc.jpg

Thse lower res textures have me thinking its still 512meg memory, which for a future proof console would be utter bollocks, imo...

But its gonna open up some amazing ideas for gaming that you wont find elsewhere.

[ivars]

It's almost like a NGP/Vita but not portable :\

With slightly better hardware hopefully....

[luke]

~ console image because they forgot to show it

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/06/medium_new_nintendo_console_detail_01.jpg

via: http://uk.kotaku.com/5809482/the-is-the-first-picture-of-nintendos-new-console-the-wii-u
WHAT my mind is full of fuck, so there is new hardware apart from the controller hardware?

[moose]

the normals on the spiders front right leg are flipped, yay mirroring :)

[TomDunne]

WHAT my mind is full of fuck, so there is new hardware apart from the controller hardware?

Dude, it's a whole new console. The controllers are part of it.

[haiddasalami]

Yeah was confused throughout that presentation. Kept calling it a controller and then shows the bird tech demo and I was like wtf. Someone needs to talk to them about presentations.

[Entity]

If this means I can take the controller to the toilet and continue playing, I'm in.

[Jesse Moody]

and in a year or two when the new round of consoles from Sony and Microsoft are announced or previewed it will once again make the wiiu look like the wii does now compared to the current hardware.

Online play. Check already have that in the 360/PS3... Meh.... Nintendo had nothing that interested me. Kinda sad really.

[MattQ86]

Did anybody else notice the motion graphics between 3rd party game trailers that seemed to hint at tessellation?

[gsokol]

Sweet...so the controller is probably empty aside from the screen, and the console just streams everything to it...wonder what kind of range that would have.

[Skamberin]

I got a Ps3, 360 and high end PC. How would Nintendo win someone like me over :|

[haiddasalami]

Sweet...so the controller is probably empty aside from the screen, and the console just streams everything to it...wonder what kind of range that would have.

Might be something akin to remote play on PS3. IE you can stream on wifi network. Man really wish Sony would pick up their act with remote play/hope its in PSVita. They had the whole play PS3 games on psp but only Pixel Junk actually used it :(

[Andreas]

I am cautiously optimistic about this, but the words I really wanted to hear were 'Backwards compatible with gamecube'. Give me Wind Waker in HD dammnit!!

Buy a 3Ds a Wii and a Wii U and you can play the new Smash Bros properly!

Still not buying a Nintendo product :|

Yeah thats not what they said at all.

Posting negative untrue things in the sony thread, posting negative untrue things in the nintendo thread, but said negative untrue things suspiciously absent from the xbox thread... hmm... see what I'd suggesting at Skamberin?

EDIT: Oh and Reggie is just an incredibly disingenuine non-gaming muppet, Iwate should have done the whole presentation...

[aesir]

I got a Ps3, 360 and high end PC. How would Nintendo win someone like me over :|

The games? The gameplay? How is that not the selling point?

[Entity]

Andreas, just load up Wind Waker in the Dolphin emulator. I've been enjoying crisp Zelda graphics for a while now :)

[PolyHertz]

thoughts on Nintendos conference:

http://imagemacros.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/care_so_little.jpg

Wiiu completely underwhelmed me. Its a tablet that doesn't work unless close to the system or connected to the net. In fact Sony already did this with PS3+PSP years ago where you can run console games on a handheld screen. The menu info in a controller screen was done by dreamcast too, and it sucked, no one wants to have to keep looking back and forth between their screen and controller. Plus basically nothing game wise was shown other then ports. wth nintendo?

the words I really wanted to hear were 'Backwards compatible with gamecube'. Give me Wind Waker in HD dammnit!!

Same.

[Bigjohn]

This is just a half odd half weird bizzare thing. So that ipad thing is just a controller? That's gotta run more than $100. What if I want a second one? So we gotta spend hundreds of dollars on controllers?

And really all this does is bring it up to par with 360/ps3 graphics. Like has been said here, couple more years and we'll start seeing the xbox3/ps4 capabilities, and this thing will be have the same relative power as the Wii does today. Only with expensive controllers.

[Andreas]

Andreas, just load up Wind Waker in the Dolphin emulator. I've been enjoying crisp Zelda graphics for a while now :)

My friend did that, didnt get it working right, the gameplay/music would be fine out on the world map, but would speed up in a house etc... known bug apparently, did you get around it?

[Skamberin]

The games? The gameplay? How is that not the selling point?
I played Super Mario 64 and Zelda Ocarina of Time (new Zeldas and Marios are pretty much remakes of those), I don't play FPS games on Console other than Halo, so what NEW and INNOVATIVE and AMAZING can the Wii U actually present?

Oh and I don't care about playing multiplat games in a different way by using some peripheral.

[Jason Young]

Wii was the last nintendo console I'll buy, and I've owned every one of their systems up to this point. I imagine most of the additional functionality will be gimmicks tacked on to existing games. There will be a few exclusives that are neat, but ultimately not worth the cost to play and the in-ability to play next-gen games in a couple years.

[Richard Kain]

Wow. Okay, I'm going to have to give the overall press conference award to Sony.

I'm not saying that Nintendo's presentation was bad. But it was definitely confusing. That was probably the worst "reveal" I've ever seen.

And it wasn't because of what was being revealed. I think the WiiU is a very interesting concept, and could be a really sweet system. But it wasn't until three quarters of the way through the presentation that I was sure that they were presenting a new console, and not just a new controller for their existing console. It wasn't until someone who DOESN'T work for Nintendo came out and told us this was a new console that my confusion was put to rest.

As neat as their new controller is, they did a terrible job of explaining WiiU. Also, I wasn't really seeing any new software for the 3DS. This may have been the first big reveal for Luigi's Mansion, but I can't help but feel that I had heard about it before. And the poor original Wii languished without any major game announcements.

Nintendo dominated last E3. But a fairly shallow software showing combined with a very poorly planned console reveal held them back in 2011. Congratulations, Sony.

[Jeremy Wright]

and in a year or two when the new round of consoles from Sony and Microsoft are announced or previewed it will once again make the wiiu look like the wii does now compared to the current hardware.

Worked out pretty well for 'em the first time. How many new consoles do you think Nintendo can sell in that stretch between now and when Sony and MS release a new console? And does it even matter when the target audience is not exactly the same. Not everyone cares about playing the hottest military simulator with eye busting graphics. Some people just want to play a silly/fun game, on a console that doesn't cost as a much as a car payment.

Apples and oranges.

[Entity]

Thank god I got a Wii dirt cheap, the only game left to look forward to is Skyward Sword.

[Skamberin]

I am cautiously optimistic about this, but the words I really wanted to hear were 'Backwards compatible with gamecube'. Give me Wind Waker in HD dammnit!!



Yeah thats not what they said at all.

Posting negative untrue things in the sony thread, posting negative untrue things in the nintendo thread, but said negative untrue things suspiciously absent from the xbox thread... hmm... see what I'd suggesting at Skamberin?

EDIT: Oh and Reggie is just an incredibly disingenuine non-gaming muppet, Iwate should have done the whole presentation...
Nice that you missed how I have a PS3.
I didn't like the Sony press conference because it didn't present anything that ringed awesome for me other than Uncharted 3.
Microsofts press conference stopped being good after the gears 3 footage, then got good again with the Halo reveals, too much Kinect.

If you're so hurt about people criticizing a company you likes presentation, suggesting others are a fanboy might be a bit off.

[Striff]

very Meh

[xvampire]

I really like the new console, however the presentation seems heavily aimed to someone who are not into hi-tech stuff.
yet they tries to convince some hardcore gamer in the same time ( but yet .., not enough effort)

[nalwayv]

Does it come in Black.

[eld]

Worked out pretty well for 'em the first time. How many new consoles do you think Nintendo can sell in that stretch between now and when Sony and MS release a new console? And does it even matter when the target audience is not exactly the same. Not everyone cares about playing the hottest military simulator with eye busting graphics. Some people just want to play a silly/fun game, on a console that doesn't cost as a much as a car payment.

Apples and oranges.

To be fair, after buying accessories for the wii it pretty much evens out.

It's the illusion of buying a cheaper console.

[Jeremy-S]

From what I've seen, I get the feeling we're still gonna be hearing dev's saying "it's coming to all the platforms, PS3, Xbox, and PC"

I don't know, it seems like Nintendo is losing itself. They don't know what they want to be anymore, and it's kinda sad. It's almost the Sega consoles again.

[EDIT] And Reggie is still creepy as fuck, and downright scary when he's being asked questions he doesn't wanna answer. Seriously, they need ANYone else as their spokesperson.

[PolyHertz]

Reggie just announced Wiiu WONT render Wii/Gamecube games at a higher res or upscale them. :(

[glottis8]

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/htwfy/new_nintendo_console_wii_u_fact_sheet/


Some specs

[Andreas]

Reggie just announced Wiiu WONT render Wii/Gamecube games at a higher res or upscale them. :(

God damn it Nintendo... making a career out of falling short. Bastards. BASTARDS!

[Entity]

My friend did that, didnt get it working right, the gameplay/music would be fine out on the world map, but would speed up in a house etc... known bug apparently, did you get around it?

yeah, but getting it configured to your hardware is quite tricky. I've only managed to run Wind Waker properly, both Mario galaxy games have tons of bugs. Still, worth a try :D

[Bombshell]

all the WiiU is, is a DS minus the D and only works near a wii... its an S
... a Suck?
... a Salami?
... a Shi- you get the idea.

[MattQ86]

ibm-puts-watsons-brains-in-nintendo-wii-u/ (http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/07/ibm-puts-watsons-brains-in-nintendo-wii-u/)

Hide the neurotoxin!

[leilei]

God damn it Nintendo... making a career out of falling short. Bastards. BASTARDS!

The Broadway XFB of rhose are a hard limiting factor. HDing a GCN/Wii game would be pure luck given the ways they statically set up their screen buffers in games.

[Joseph Silverman]

I missed it. This looks kinda neat!

Odium, you're still SO HARSH on game tech. This is definitely very post wii. Maybe xbox 360 level? I mean we can all agree it's comically outdated without pretending it's not a gigantic step forward. My cheapass computer can do better in sleep mode, of course, but it still looks like semi-modern tech.

[Andreas]

The Broadway XFB of rhose are a hard limiting factor. HDing a GCN/Wii game would be pure luck given the ways they statically set up their screen buffers in games.

True... hopefully they rerelease Wind Waker in HD, or make the WiiU's next Zelda in the same style... yeah, I hope that happens. Also... those are circle pads on the controller. Who is going to play BF3 on circlepads lol...

[eld]

God damn it Nintendo... making a career out of falling short. Bastards. BASTARDS!

It's a hardware safety measure, you run a game in the hardwarespecs it requires, and lock everything else down, it prevents running unsigned code in full (in this case) wii-u mode, and it ensures the games work.

But yeah, I share the pain, microsoft touched on the subject a bit with backwards compatibility games in HD, sadly it never became popular.

[moose]

I think its cool how they handle tech. They aren't racing to a finish line of OMG WE MUST HAVE THE BEST GRAFIX EVER, but hit the core concept of why we play games. Sure, it may be a little bit of a let down that it isn't the "omg wtf new tech" demo people hyped their minds up hoping it would be - but in reality we over exaggerate our own expectations with a sense of entitlement that is unhealthy and disrespectful.

It is a little OT, but sure Nintendo (or insert: Apple) could do a lot more with their tech, and we think that because people say "Well I came up with this idea, surely <insert company> should have too? I want it, i feel cheated!" In reality, if someone had that idea, or think the tech is easy to do, then start a company and make it possible. Its easy to complain, hard to make a difference. Getting pissed off and or frustrated/let down when the labor of someone else (or in this case many people) isn't what you wanted is lame.

I think this new thing is great. I thought they'd go with the Yuu instead of Wii U, but haha Wii U is a little easier to relate with their other products.

and btw... Batman: AA on Wii U, and also a UE3 game ;)

[ParoXum]

Even if it wasn't a new tech or whatever, nothing surprised me at all here. And when I watch E3 it's not to see the upcoming sequels to sequels but to have a big woaw.

All three conferences failed giving me that, yet again.

[Cheez]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE97AlpjRr0&feature=player_embedded

WiiU (soooo wierd !) montage.
I dunno, looks pretty solid. Of course, when they showcase the new Mario and Zelda titles, I'll scoop one of these up without thinking.
Such is life.

[glottis8]

But non of those games are rendered in the WiiU. They cleared that up saying that all titles shown there were footage from 360, pc and ps3 titles.

[Cheez]

But non of those games are rendered in the WiiU. They cleared that up saying that all titles shown there were footage from 360, pc and ps3 titles.

Ohhhhhh.




(nevermind)

[slipsius]

fail....

that controller has potential, but all the games they showed, you are holding that big ass controller up infront of you. how long will your arms last playing that thing? and for core games, the controller doesnt look very comfortable.

But, potential. I gotta play it to believe it. the screen would be useful for sports games where you pick plays, and rpgs for inventory or map or vitals and what not. but i dunno. I think nintendos conference was a fail.

Sony won in my books.

[glottis8]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-nintendo/715143


specs on it from IBM:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/07/ibm-puts-watsons-brains-in-nintendo-wii-u/

[eld]

"..And that's no longer an excuse!.."

Until nintendo realizes that the main line hardware just got way more powerful as MS and sony announce their new consoles further on..

They will, fast forward a year or two, be the lower end platform.

[leilei]

Yeah but with the lack of graphical innovation lately it'd be hard to differentiate and have an incentive to other than 'ok new gfx now play cod u kidz'. Nintendo could probably pull forward this gen.

[glottis8]

watching the second part of the video it stopped to buffer and this is what it looked like haha

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q317/glottis8/chemistry.jpg

I think there is some chemistry there :P

[eld]

Yeah but with the lack of graphical innovation lately it'd be hard to differentiate and have an incentive to other than 'ok new gfx now play cod u kidz'. Nintendo could probably pull forward this gen.

There's quite a lot of innovation and technology going on today in just the pc platform, when a normal computer or even laptops comes loaded with 16 times as much RAM compared to that in a ps3, not to mention that GPU's have come quite a long way since ca 2005.

We have 360 games struggling at 30fps and pulling all the tricks in the book to fit inside the memory, and most games still running at 720p, (and while the wiiU is as capable of 1080p as the other consoles, nothing says it will default games to 1080p)

[dfacto]

Nintendo makes games; casual, underwhelming, graphically unimpressive games.

And they've been damn successful with it, so you're all worrying/bitching about something completely irrelevant to their business strategy. Considering how successful the Wii and Kinect are it's pretty clear that gimmick hardware is a safer bet for a goldmine than high end graphics. People will eat this up as long as it's moderately priced, low specs or not.

That being said, that reveal was some stupidly bad work. First thing you say is, "It's a new console, here is the case, here is the controller, now moving on." Nintendo apparently doesn't feel that relevant information is important to their customers when they have a screen controller. :P

[eld]

Nintendo makes games; casual, underwhelming, graphically unimpressive games.

Nintendo can only make so many games, third party is always where it's at.

[teaandcigarettes]

That being said, that reveal was some stupidly bad work. First thing you say is, "It's a new console, here is the case, here is the controller, now moving on." Nintendo apparently doesn't feel that relevant information is important to their customers when they have a screen controller. :P

Well, they've been succesful at one thing; people are talking about it.

I wonder whether they tried to confuse people on purpose, or whether I'm overestimating Reggie's evil-genius-power-level.

[Jeremy Wright]

They will, fast forward a year or two, be the lower end platform.

They're the "low end" platform (graphically speaking) NOW, and look how it's worked out for them.

Releasing a new platform while your competition is years away from releasing theirs is a smart move. It's almost like your taking turns instead of engaging in head-to-head competition. People who want to play the new Zelda, Metroid, whatever, are going to buy it, regardless. People who aren't into those games weren't going to buy it, regardless. Why should Nintendo invest heavily in mindblowing graphics and inflate their price chasing non-customers?

I play on the PC, so I don't really have a stake in it, but you can't argue with Nintendo's success. Aging gamers seem to be irked that Nintendo didn't "grow up" with them.

One word: Famicom. Nintendo has always been about FAMILY gaming. We can all point out third party games that eschew the family friendly side of gaming that were on Nintendo systems, but at it's core, Nintendo is about family gaming.

With that said, it does kind of seem like a cop out that they just keep tweaking Gamecube level graphics, but they would rather invest in innovative gameplay and keep their price point low.

[aesir]

I do wish nintendo was still the sort of company that actually created new IPs, rather than just re-using the same ones for the last 2 decades.

[dfacto]

I do wish nintendo was still the sort of company that actually created new IPs, rather than just re-using the same ones for the last 2 decades.

So, the last ten years...

MS - Halo
Epic - UT/Gears
Blizzard - Warcraft
EA - same fucking sports games since the dawn of time itself, and also Battlefield series
etc etc.

IP recycling has been the rule rather than the exception lately. I hardly think Nintendo can be blamed for doing it with some of the most iconic franchises in the industry. Sure, something new would be nice, but why make a platformer that isn't Mario when you can make Mario again? Fresh IPs makes creative sense, but it's economically retarded.

[aesir]

eh, that's not fair dfacto.

Epic created the Gears IP, and EA and created a lot of franchises from mirror's edge, to dead space, and a lot of others. Even Halo was created in in the xbox generation.

Nintendo on the other hand is still re-using things from the original nintendo console. Back then they were creative. Now they just re-hash. Not that I mind remakes. I love a new mario. It'd just be nice if they also were trying to make the next metroid/mario/whatever too.

[Justin Meisse]

Nintendo can only make so many games, third party is always where it's at.

The Wii hasn't been too friendly to third parties, sales-wise, hopefully this won't be the case with the new one.

[dfacto]

eh, that's not fair dfacto.

Epic created the Gears IP, and EA and created a lot of franchises from mirror's edge, to dead space, and a lot of others. Even Halo was created in in the xbox generation.

Nintendo on the other hand is still re-using things from the original nintendo console. Back then they were creative. Now they just re-hash. Not that I mind remakes. I love a new mario. It'd just be nice if they also were trying to make the next metroid/mario/whatever too.

Scale for company lifespan (in terms of game development) and it becomes pretty fair. Doesn't matter what you think of it, but there have been a whole lot of games with numerals in their titles in the last ten years. Nintendo can't be blamed for milking their cash cows anymore than other companies. Less even since they have guaranteed income from their sequels.

[eld]

So, the last ten years...

MS - Halo
Epic - UT/Gears
Blizzard - Warcraft
EA - same fucking sports games since the dawn of time itself, and also Battlefield series
etc etc.

IP recycling has been the rule rather than the exception lately. I hardly think Nintendo can be blamed for doing it with some of the most iconic franchises in the industry. Sure, something new would be nice, but why make a platformer that isn't Mario when you can make Mario again? Fresh IPs makes creative sense, but it's economically retarded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_video_game_remakes

You'll find that no other games or characters of those you mentioned will ever come near this.

[acc]

Scale for company lifespan (in terms of game development) and it becomes pretty fair.
It does become fair... if by fair you mean completely meaningless. Filtering reality on random criteria does not lead to useful conclusions.

MS does a lot of stuff other than Halo and 'MS' is an umbrella for a bunch of studios. Same with EA, and comparing seasonal sports to IP bankruptcy is pointless. Epic is busy making middle-ware, Gears isn't that old and there is Infinity Blade & Bulletstorm.

Even Capcom with their 80%+ sequel policy has created new franchises in the last decade.

The only company that compares with Nintendo for rehashing IP is Blizzard, but we know they're working on a new IP so that still puts them ahead.

Nintendo had Mii's though. I guess that counts, sort of?

The point isn't whether or not Nintendo is successful; it's how long will this keep working?

I still haven't bothered to pick up Super Mario Galaxy 2. Okami/Batman/Darksiders has destroyed any interest I had left in Zelda games. Metroid is a big meh now and Starfox was driven into the ground years ago. I was raised on Nintendo and now I don't care for them at all and have no faith they'll ever evolve. That's a little scary.

[Jackwhat]

They're the "low end" platform (graphically speaking) NOW, and look how it's worked out for them.

Releasing a new platform while your competition is years away from releasing theirs is a smart move. It's almost like your taking turns instead of engaging in head-to-head competition.



Didn't work out for the Dreamcast, although that was only 1.5~ years ahead... but still.

[leilei]

Dreamcast wasn't helped by the Saturn, Nomad and 32X disasters before it. As far as I know, Nintendo only had one crap system in their history being the Virtual Boy... so they're not really in the same "my money anus is bleeding" situation SEGA had.

[crazyfingers]

What Leilei said. Nintendo is in a unique position that their user base isn't as obsessed with hardware specs. We also see other systems emerging and starting to match current hardware power in handhelds and phones putting their system in a place for more cross platform products.

Now simply isn't the best time for a company like nintendo to try to come out with a huge leap in console power. They are the master of peripherals right now and they're going to push that strength with a console that can do what everything else can while doing it in fun new ways.

[j_bradford]

This thing seems really confusing to me for a few reasons. For one, it's as powerful as a 360, uses your TV but also has an LCD screen built into the controller for optional viewing. What the hell? What would I want to switch back and forth between both controller and TV for viewing? It seems like that would tire you out pretty fast. The fact that it's slightly less powerful than a 360 is weird. I mean it's obviously going to get a bit more 3rd party support with multi platform titles. But considering it doesn't come out until next year and we're already closing in on the end of this gen cycle, that doesn't seem like a lot of time left to grab 3rd party. The minute 360 and PS3 push out their next systems this unit will be ignored by 3rd party for the most part. Why didn't they release something with higher end graphics, ditch the weird controller gimmick and keep the backward compatibly with the Wii hardware/games? That would have made a lot more sense and kept it more future proof.

[Shadownami92]

This thing seems really confusing to me for a few reasons. For one, it's as powerful as a 360, uses your TV but also has an LCD screen built into the controller for optional viewing. What the hell? What would I want to switch back and forth between both controller and TV for viewing? It seems like that would tire you out pretty fast. The fact that it's slightly less powerful than a 360 is weird. I mean it's obviously going to get a bit more 3rd party support with multi platform titles. But considering it doesn't come out until next year and we're already closing in on the end of this gen cycle, that doesn't seem like a lot of time left to grab 3rd party. The minute 360 and PS3 push out their next systems this unit will be ignored by 3rd party for the most part. Why didn't they release something with higher end graphics, ditch the weird controller gimmick and keep the backward compatibly with the Wii hardware/games? That would have made a lot more sense and kept it more future proof.

Where do you get that it's slightly less powerful than a 360? Personally I might get it based on the price. The tablet seems nice and I would love removing interface clutter from the big screen and throw it on a smaller screen. Worked well for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and I think it could work well for lots of other games.

I could also see a combination of the drawing part of the tablet and character customization be used for future games like they showed for that Tekken game.

But yeah, until they show more games for it, price or system specs I won't make too many judgements about it. Love the tablet controller concept though. But I hate the name.

[HonkyPunch]

From what I remember hearing, Sony won't be pushing out a new console any time soon.
Bit dissapointed with the specs on the new console, but overall it should be nice.
Just hoping they make standard games again, rather than gimmicky stuff.
Skyward Sword = Uninterested
New Zelda = Interested
OOT 3ds = played it before <_<
Still. Seems nice, but i'll probably get an NGP first.

[dfacto]

It does become fair... if by fair you mean completely meaningless. Filtering reality on random criteria does not lead to useful conclusions.

Hardly random, and the conclusion is self evident and has been so for years. Sequels are in. This is sorta good, sorta bad, all business. Whatever *shrug*.

The point isn't whether or not Nintendo is successful; it's how long will this keep working?

It's been 30 years of Mario; You have to assume it will keep working for as long as they keep it going. Through that span you will constantly engage new people who never played the earlier games, so it's a self-renewing franchise when it lasts that long anyways.

[PolyHertz]

It's been 30 years of Mario; You have to assume it will keep working for as long as they keep it going. Through that span you will constantly engage new people who never played the earlier games, so it's a self-renewing franchise when it lasts that long anyways.

I dunno about that, they basically coasted on the sales of their handhelds (thanks to Pokemon reviving the Gameboy brand) sense the ps1 era until Wii was released. If it wasnt for that they'd likely have gone the way of Sega or at least be a shadow of what they are today.

[Joshua Stubbles]

they're going to push that strength with a console that can do what everything else can while doing it in fun new ways.

The WiiU tablet doesn't really do anything that the PSVita can't do. While the Vita is a separate console costing as much as a normal console, it does in fact do much more, while still covering the same bases as the WiiU tablet.

so they're not really in the same "my money anus is bleeding" situation SEGA had.

orly? "Nintendo profits fall by 66%" :o
http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6310161/wii-successor-confirmed-for-2012-nintendo-profits-fall-by-66/?tag=result%3Btitle%3B0

I'm not saying the console won't sell well, but it's not future proof and for that reason alone I likely won't get one unless there's massively insane must-have exclusives (of which I've seen none announced yet). Within two years, Sony and MS will launch new consoles that make a technical leap far outside of what the WiiU can do. This makes it a huge pain in the ass for developers (much like it already is) in that they have to spend a lot of resources to convert their titles to get them running on such low spec hardware. Most just bypass the console altogether. Those that do get ported are often watered down versions lacking content.

[TomDunne]

I dunno about that, they basically coasted on the sales of their handhelds (thanks to Pokemon reviving the Gameboy brand) sense the ps1 era until Wii was released. If it wasnt for that they'd likely have gone the way of Sega or at least be a shadow of what they are today.

They weren't coasting with the N64, totally the opposite. Nintendo had far and away the most powerful fifth-gen console - the first 64-bit chip, the first with unified memory and I believe Super Mario 64 was the first true 3D game on a home console. Nintendo did then what people are complaining they won't do now, making the most graphically advanced system on the market.

Nintendo lost the battle to the inferior Playstation in part because they made the mistake of going with cartridges rather than discs and part because Sony beat them to market by a full year. If you had the choice on launch day of an N64 and Mario 64 for $310 or the PS1 with Battle Arena Toshinden for $350, you'd take the Nintendo.

I can see bagging Nintendo for phoning it in with the GameCube, that wasn't a great machine, but the Nintendo 64 was a bad motherfucker. If Nintendo stuck with discs like they had originally planned, Sony probably doesn't even make a Playstation, much less win the generation.

[TomDunne]

orly? "Nintendo profits fall by 66%" :o
http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6310161/wii-successor-confirmed-for-2012-nintendo-profits-fall-by-66/?tag=result%3Btitle%3B0

Yeah, but they still had profits of nearly one billion dollars. Let me say that again with my Dr. Evil Voice: one BILLION dollars. That ought to keep them stocked up on Ramen until the next system debuts.

And of course their profits have dropped, as nearly everyone has a Wii already. It's currently the third-best selling console in history, and anyone who wanted one probably has it by now. Sega wishes to hell it had that problem - Nintendo has already sold more Wiis than every single unit of every Sega console COMBINED.

[Ace-Angel]

Nintendo didn't create measures to ensure they would find new projects and revenues streams once people stopped buying the Wii.

The scary part, they're either extremely lucky to have the timing correct for new sales or they planned the cycle in such a way that it fell on their revenues plans.

Either way, Nintendo ain't going anywhere...unless you know, people STOP buying that stuff.

[slipsius]

Bit dissapointed with the specs on the new console, but overall it should be nice.



what specs.... They`ve said jack shit about specs, besides that it wont be using bluray, but rather their own developed format, flash memory inside, and an IBM processory. Thats about it. No real specs there.

[JacqueChoi]

Nintendo's drop likely has to do with iPhone completely dominating and destroying the handheld market. I think the 3DS was long dead before it even hit the shelf.


Like most hardcore gamers, I'm very wary about any Nintendo product. I won't consider buying until there's that system selling 'killer app' worth buying it for.

[Entity]

All that matters are the games, and since we have no indication of what will be out for the Wii U (beside the multiplatform games, which will come out on PS3 & 360 anyway) we'll have to look at how they handled the wii...

..yeah not so comforting :(

[eld]

The WiiU tablet doesn't really do anything that the PSVita can't do. While the Vita is a separate console costing as much as a normal console, it does in fact do much more, while still covering the same bases as the WiiU tablet.

Big difference being, a screened controller comes as a standard with the wiiu, every console will have it.

They'll never be able to fully design ps3 games around the a vita control, as much as they never did it with the psp + ps3 even though they could, because they'll never know if their userbase will have it.

what specs.... They`ve said jack shit about specs, besides that it wont be using bluray, but rather their own developed format, flash memory inside, and an IBM processory. Thats about it. No real specs there.

It's pretty much widely known that it's a slightly better than current console generation.

While they're earlier than they were the last generation (wii, ps3, 360) it's still pretty much equalent to what they did with the wii.

But it's still going to be much more expensive than current generation.


While sony and ms sell their consoles at a loss, they can afford that, because their userbase buy a lot of games, but nintendos userbase will not buy anywhere near the amount of games a typical 360 or ps3 owning gamer will do, so they will sell their periphirals and console at a profit, getting most of their money from that.

Boating high console sales (but never actually being able to boast number of games sold in total)

[HonkyPunch]

what specs.... They`ve said jack shit about specs, besides that it wont be using bluray, but rather their own developed format, flash memory inside, and an IBM processory. Thats about it. No real specs there.
To be fair, I was just going off of what others have said.
Perhaps I put too much faith in the knowledge of the polycount community.
Eld, on the other hand...

[Andreas]

It's pretty much widely known that it's a slightly better than current console generation.


Not according to a developer from DICE, who tweeted that it was actually slightly less powerful than the 360 :(

[Sectaurs]

...who tweeted that it was actually slightly less powerful than the 360 :(

it must be true! he tweeted it!

regarding the controller - personally, i think it looks clunky and not something i'd want to play with. but i'll have to get my hands on it to be sure.

will be strange seeing multi-platform games on a nintendo again!

[Andreas]

it must be true! he tweeted it!


Well uhh... hes probably been playing with a dev kit for a while now?

Believe me, I want this thing to be the most powerful console on the market, so there can be multiplatform titles on it, but I'm just going by what I've read.

[Gilgamesh]

For a company that used to be ahead of the curve and setting standards for consoles in the old days to playing catch up now.

They again putting too much on new control method (aka gimmickry) and not enough of third party support and power into the console, as far as I can make out it's going to be ps3/360 level, so why on earth would I want to buy this PoS when I have both of those + a pc ... I've had enough of mario over the last 10+ years and unless they bring something new to the table there is no point.

[eld]

The rumoured power7 cpu in use in the wiiU doesn't come in anything less than 4 cores.

Also, unreal-engine 3 will be running on it too considering arkam city will be released for the platform.

And since we are expecting a pretty similar platform to the 360 and ps3 in terms of performance, it would be strange of it to have less memory than those.

[Jeremy Wright]

For a company that used to be ahead of the curve...

Uh, Wii comes out with motion control and then MS and Sony come out with motion control. If that's not being ahead of the curve, I don't know what is.

"Better graphics" does not equal innovation.

[TomDunne]

For a company that used to be ahead of the curve and setting standards for consoles in the old days to playing catch up now.

They again putting too much on new control method (aka gimmickry) and not enough of third party support and power into the console, as far as I can make out it's going to be ps3/360 level, so why on earth would I want to buy this PoS when I have both of those + a pc ... I've had enough of mario over the last 10+ years and unless they bring something new to the table there is no point.

What you describe as a 'gimmick' is the thing that made the Nintendo Wii stand out and sell better than its competitors.

For all intents and purposes, an Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3 are the same thing. Yeah, PS3 has blu-ray and the online services aren't identical, but if you want to play Assassin's Creed or Arkham Asylum, you can play it on either system with essentially no difference. Same look same feel, same inputs, etc. That's two consoles dedicated to high-end tech and 'hardcore' gamer experiences. Why should Nintendo try doing that? Do we really need a third console that's attempting to do what the other two do?

If what you want out of your next generation of consoles is simply more power, there are already two options out there for you. Nintendo's just not for you.

[SHEPEIRO]

i couldnt understand this until i thought:

so its like an ipad with better controls that controls a console connected to a TV...but doesnt nessecairly need the TV...bam i get it...

i have a console... i have an Ipad...and i have a girlfriend...sometimes the two are NOT compatable....

also you can think about it like this its a DS for the home... with decent graphics capabitlitys...

i just hope that the controller is a bit better looking at the moment its a bit playschool

[eld]

What you describe as a 'gimmick' is the thing that made the Nintendo Wii stand out and sell better than its competitors.


It did sell better but for many reasons the overall game sales have been better on the other platforms, luckily they sold the console at a profit, but they never pushed more games than the other platforms.

The name of the console could've essentially been wii sports.

playstation network and xbox live has done (dare I say it) a lot more for gaming than the wii-mote has, not to mention that both sony and microsoft have much healthier relationships with indie-developers.

[eld]

So apparently the wiiU will be one tablet-screen controller only, no extras will be sold, no extras will be supported.

All the local multiplayer potential crushed in an instant.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306087/news/wii-u-console-and-controller-wont-be-sold-separately/

[Richard Kain]

It did sell better but for many reasons the overall game sales have been better on the other platforms, luckily they sold the console at a profit, but they never pushed more games than the other platforms.

Not actually true. In terms of cross-platform games, it is true that the Wii versions pretty much never sold as well as their PS3/360 equivalents. But a LOT of Wii-exclusive titles pushed more units than games on the other platforms. And not just Nintendo titles, either. Just Dance is one of the stand-out third party success stories of this console generation.

It just goes to show how effective properly targeted development can be. If you are trying to pitch Call of Duty on a console who's primary user base is small children and the parents of small children, you're going to come up short. Produce an accessible family-friendly dancing game on the same platform, and you're rolling in cash.

The danger of the WiiU is not whether or not it can sell games. It's whether or not Nintendo can actually appeal to the teens and young adults who have embraced the Playstation and XBox brands. A lot of that crowd was raised in an environment where "Playstation" was synonymous with "video games," and where the XBox hosted the first multiplayer shooter they ever knew.

A lot of the Wii crowd are now parents with less free time and children to think about. Those people grew up in the age of Nintendo, and trust Nintendo to provide child-friendly games that can still appeal to adults. They are also more susceptible to nostalgia, and actually prefer for Nintendo to take advantage of that. With the Wii, Nintendo managed to appeal directly to this demographic, while reaching out to other groups.

The danger of the WiiU is that Nintendo might be overreaching. They have their cake, and now they want everyone else's cake as well. I don't think it will be difficult to sell current Wii owners on the WiiU. But drawing in teenagers and young adults is going to be a much steeper challenge.

[eld]

Not actually true. In terms of cross-platform games, it is true that the Wii versions pretty much never sold as well as their PS3/360 equivalents. But a LOT of Wii-exclusive titles pushed more units than games on the other platforms. And not just Nintendo titles, either. Just Dance is one of the stand-out third party success stories of this console generation.

I know there were great hits on the wii, even obscure anti soccer-mum games like monster hunter tri hit quite nice.

But it still remains the fact that your average wii owner will be buying less games than your average 360/ps3 owner.

That's the thing nintendo wants now, they've made a fantastic success in reaching out to markets that were unreachable, but these markets aren't into buying games in the same scope the 'hardcore' market is.


Nintendo does one thing fantastically right, they are very strong on backwards-compatibility.

[Richard Kain]

So apparently the wiiU will be one tablet-screen controller only, no extras will be sold, no extras will be supported.

All the local multiplayer potential crushed in an instant.

I'm not so sure. And if this turns out to be less of an issue than expected, Sony and Microsoft are to blame.

Local multiplayer has become the realm of casual party games. It has also become the realm of the Wii. The Wii has from the beginning embraced local multiplayer, and a lot of games have been built for it that take advantage of local multiplayer. It is well know as the "party" system.

The PS3 and 360 both have a much stronger focus on internet multiplayer. If you are playing the latest shooter, you do your multiplayer on-line. There are even some games produced for those systems that don't have ANY local multiplayer, preferring to focus on the on-line component.

For on-line multiplayer, you only need one PS3/360 equivalent controller. (the WiiPad) So only having one WiiPad per system isn't going to damage on-line multiplayer in the slightest, or prevent any of the 3rd-party ports from coming to the WiiU.

It is sad that we won't be able to enjoy touch screen games locally. But it won't be a difficult up-sell for existing Wii owners. Their current accessories will still be useful.

[Richard Kain]

But it still remains the fact that your average wii owner will be buying less games than your average 360/ps3 owner.

That's the thing nintendo wants now, they've made a fantastic success in reaching out to markets that were unreachable, but these markets aren't into buying games in the same scope the 'hardcore' market is.

That's a fair assessment. It is immaterial from Nintendo's perspective, since most of those few games are published by them. And of course, the fact that they make a profit off of their hardware insures that they are making money even if NO games are purchased. (part of the reason why the Wii was such a huge success)

And of course, that's why they are trying to get more "hardcore" gamers with the WiiU. They already have the casual market sewn up. Up-selling existing Wii owners on the WiiU is going to be a walk in the park. Expanding into Playstation-era demographics is going to be much more of a challenge.

[eld]

Think four swords kind of potential, or people playing any kind of game locally where they have results on the big screen but can hide data on their own pad.

One big bane of local gaming is that you always had to either design the game around everyone being aware of everything that's going on, even in split-screen games where you wouldn't want it.

[TomDunne]

So apparently the wiiU will be one tablet-screen controller only, no extras will be sold, no extras will be supported.

All the local multiplayer potential crushed in an instant.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306087/news/wii-u-console-and-controller-wont-be-sold-separately/

Wow. If this turns out to be true, that is a colossal fuckup on Nintendo's part. some of the best possibilities involve multiple players having access to separate screens. Maybe the PR guy was just confused, and meant it's not sold as a stand-alone device.

[ScudzAlmighty]

Up-selling existing Wii owners on the WiiU is going to be a walk in the park. Expanding into Playstation-era demographics is going to be much more of a challenge.

is it though? I know a lot of people who bought thw Wii for the fun/novelty factor or whatever and none of them still actually use it (well except for my mother-in-law but only for netflix). I don't know if there's any way to track how many people actully use their Wii's but I'm pretty sure that most of them will think about how much dust it's collected before they go and buy the WiiU.

[Richard Kain]

Think four swords kind of potential, or people playing any kind of game locally where they have results on the big screen but can hide data on their own pad.

Oh, I have thought about it. And I'm very sad that it isn't going to be feasible with the WiiU and its one-pad-per-console approach. It was the first place my mind went when I heard they were including a screen on the controller, and I'm sure a lot of other gamers were thinking the same thing.

At the same time, I'm also thinking about a real-time playable version of Dungeons and Dragons where the guy with the tablet is the dungeon master. There is still a lot of potential for local multiplayer with this concept. It's not the same kind of potential, but it's still there.

[eld]

http://fastcache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/06/playstyle6.jpg

[Richard Kain]

is it though? I know a lot of people who bought thw Wii for the fun/novelty factor or whatever and none of them still actually use it (well except for my mother-in-law but only for netflix).

And how many of those people were between the ages of 17-30? And how many of them will be snagged once again by the fun/novelty of another Nintendo console that is once again doing something different?

It is easy to question the longevity of the Wii. But then, Nintendo just announced its successor. They weren't expecting it to last as long as either the 360 or PS3. Hell, they probably didn't have any idea that it would do as well as it has. I think its quite canny that they are billing the WiiU as an extension of the successful Wii branding. Even if there are Wiis collecting dust right now, that doesn't negate the positive response that it got when it was novel and fresh.

Of course, that's also where the price becomes a major factor. Novel and fresh is a lot easier to swallow when it is inexpensive. Nintendo needs to keep the cost of the WiiU closer to impulse levels. And that's not going to be easy with the current lowered prices of the 360 and PS3. It's true that the situation at present is far different from when the Wii launched. There is still no guaranteed success for the WiiU.

[slipsius]

and nintendo stocks fall!!!

http://wii.ign.com/articles/117/1174333p1.html

[Jason Young]

If they're looking to support all of these 3rd party core games, I do hope they include a classic controller pro or something.

[Calabi]

Wow. If this turns out to be true, that is a colossal fuckup on Nintendo's part. some of the best possibilities involve multiple players having access to separate screens. Maybe the PR guy was just confused, and meant it's not sold as a stand-alone device.

The bandwith is probably the problem, streaming all the that information, high def visuals lots of analog controls would put the strain on any wifi(if it is wifi),even for just a single controller.

[Two Listen]

Concerning the Wii U, I have absolutely zero interest in putting a big, clunky, undoubtedly expensive controller on the floor to pretend it's a golf tee.

Nintendo needs to cut the bullshit. I didn't mind the Wii, my wife and I still sit down to play it every other night or so (though we held off on buying that, too, so we've still got games we don't have or haven't gotten through). But the Wii U I'll likely be skipping over.

[Jason Young]

The bandwith is probably the problem, streaming all the that information, high def visuals lots of analog controls would put the strain on any wifi(if it is wifi),even for just a single controller.

It may have more to do with not being able to render all those images and stream them as well. Having to render an HD main image + 4 480p(or whatever res it is) images is quite a bit.

[Gilgamesh]

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/4878/cafeintdev.jpg

Shameless stolen from another forum (not even sure if it's 100% legit).

[eld]

It may have more to do with not being able to render all those images and stream them as well. Having to render an HD main image + 4 480p(or whatever res it is) images is quite a bit.

Rendering could be dirt cheap, it's all depending on what it has to render, split screen has been done before, it wouldn't have to be full resolution, nor do I suspect the pad is even HD.

I can't see bandwidth as being an issue either.


I think this boils down to some other reasons, like the amount of money people would have to put into the wiiU to have a full family multiplayer experience, and the disappointment of that family when their children realizes only one of these new 'gameboys' can actually play a singleplayer game at the same time.

Nintendo wants to be seen as the family friendly company first and foremost, this is why online had previously suffered so much in such a similar fashion.

[TomDunne]

The bandwith is probably the problem, streaming all the that information, high def visuals lots of analog controls would put the strain on any wifi(if it is wifi),even for just a single controller.

Hadn't thought about that, but you make a good point. It's just very disappointing to think that the best thing about the WiiU is essentially single-player only. I guess that's the 'U' they were talking about, since it's not really a 'We' console out of the box.

[TomDunne]

Concerning the Wii U, I have absolutely zero interest in putting a big, clunky, undoubtedly expensive controller on the floor to pretend it's a golf tee.

Nintendo needs to cut the bullshit. I didn't mind the Wii, my wife and I still sit down to play it every other night or so (though we held off on buying that, too, so we've still got games we don't have or haven't gotten through). But the Wii U I'll likely be skipping over.

Why do they need to "cut the bullshit"? They won this generation in hardware sales, hands down.

[bounchfx]

Concerning the Wii U, I have absolutely zero interest in putting a big, clunky, undoubtedly expensive controller on the floor to pretend it's a golf tee.

Nintendo needs to cut the bullshit. I didn't mind the Wii, my wife and I still sit down to play it every other night or so (though we held off on buying that, too, so we've still got games we don't have or haven't gotten through). But the Wii U I'll likely be skipping over.

I completely disagree. I wasn't a huge fan of the Wii (latency problems on the controller pissed me off), but at least Nintendo had the balls to go out and do something different, and they're doing it again. At least someone is.

I don't simply want xbox 720 and ps4,5, and 6, because without Nintendo they'd most likely be the same shit with better graphics. I want new experiences. graphics are more than fine as they are. Companies just need to let their artists be more creative.

[eld]

So where is the shadow of the colossus of the wii, where's the god of war of the wii.

Where can I play a game like heavy rain on it.

How will I get a seamless online experience like in demons souls on the wii.

Where are the huge openworld elderscrolls equalents on the wii?

I could go on forever, but do know that in calling every other console off as unimaginative, or not different enough would look past the fact that these companies have made solid consoles for the third party developers to make beautiful solid game experience sans any kind of superfluous input method.

I'd like to see Nintendo have some balls to do that, maybe with their new platform they have.


I think everyone here on this forum would love to get way more swinging room on future consoles, especially in terms of memory.

[flaagan]

Not even released, and Apple's already got Nintendo crushed...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/real-racing-2-hd-beats-wii-u-to-the-wireless-dual-screen-gaming/

[Richard Kain]

So where is the shadow of the colossus of the wii, where's the god of war of the wii.

Where can I play a game like heavy rain on it.

How will I get a seamless online experience like in demons souls on the wii.

Where are the huge openworld elderscrolls equalents on the wii?

These are all terrible examples for the point you're trying to make.

Shadow of the Colossus was produced on the PS2, and the biggest complaint in that game was how badly it chugged on the PS2's dated hardware. It probably would have been a better game if it had been designed from the ground up for the GameCube. (and would have run even better if they had ported it to the Wii)

God of War's claim to fame was a well-told story in the first game, and decently polished hack-and-slash mechanics. Every God of War since the first one has had crap stories, and very little has changed in the combat mechanics. (they're still good, but they aren't any different from the first game)

You can play a game like Heavy Rain on any console, because it's mainly just a series of glorified quick-time events. When they added Move support to it, they basically made it much more similar to most Wii games. Aside from the highly detailed graphics, it would be right at home on a Nintendo console.

Demon Souls? Where the on-line integration you boast of is people leaving random notes around for each other? The Wii already has Monster Hunter Tri, which has much more involved and coordinated on-line multiplayer.

Given the overwhelming proliferation of open-world games on every console other than the Wii, I don't think Nintendo is hurting for that particular genre. Any game the Wii got would be another grain of sand on a very large beach. And again, the Wii is capable of such things. (constant game streaming was first explored in Metroid Prime, on the GameCube) There just isn't nearly as much demand for that genre on the Wii.

[Richard Kain]

Not even released, and Apple's already got Nintendo crushed...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/real-racing-2-hd-beats-wii-u-to-the-wireless-dual-screen-gaming/

Seriously? Crushed?

So for this you need an iPad (between $500 - $700) and an AppleTV ($100). So that's $600 bare minimum, for a video game solution that doesn't include any buttons, and doesn't have any dedicated hardware for the game's themselves. Not to mention that any game that you want to play multiplayer will cost you an additional $500.

As expensive as the WiiU controller looks, I seriously doubt it is going to be THAT much.

[flaagan]

Hey, at least the Ipad and Apple TV have uses beyond just gaming, and I'm not having to shell out for useless accessories to clutter the house. And the Ipad (and "any Apple computer that can hook up to a tv") already have a huge install base that just keeps growing.

[Richard Kain]

Hey, at least the Ipad and Apple TV have uses beyond just gaming, and I'm not having to shell out for useless accessories to clutter the house. And the Ipad (and "any Apple computer that can hook up to a tv") already have a huge install base that just keeps growing.

I'm not attempting to knock the iPad, or the iOS development platform in general. Being able to develop a game pretty much identically for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad is really freaking awesome, made more so by Apple's much more open approach to iOS developers.

However, Apple TV is not a part of that package. And very few developers are going to produce a game designed to work in tandem with both devices. Even fewer developers are going to develop games that demand the use of multiple iPads. A little head-to-head multiplayer I could see as a bonus feature.

The strength of the original Wii was that Nintendo built the special features into the core hardware.

[PolyHertz]

"Wii U can play Wii games, but isn't backwards compatible to GameCube" -Kotaku

wat?

[Andreas]

Shadow of the Colossus... and the biggest complaint in that game was how badly it chugged on the PS2's dated hardware

Never ever heard that complaint before, nor experienced it , neither on a phat or slim PS2.

[Two Listen]

I want new experiences. graphics are more than fine as they are. Companies just need to let their artists be more creative.

This is exactly the sort of thing I think shit like the controller on the Wii-U hampers - depth and creativity.

One of the main reasons my faith in Nintendo has fallen over the years is that they're all about the gimmicks, or at least a large portion of what they've released over the recent years reads as such. I didn't mind the Wii, and I can sit down and enjoy myself while playing it - but there aren't near the amount of decent titles out for it I'd like - and I don't blame the developers.

The point of a console in my eyes, is to give developers an outlet, to give them the platform they need to deliver an awesome gaming experience. But Nintendo seems like they're completely working against that, their gimmicks distracting developers, sucking up precious development hours that could be spent on coming up with a great story, or a unique art style, or sense of depth, or adding polish to a product, etc - and instead those hours are spent with people having to figure out "Now how in the fuck are we going to implement this monstrosity of a controller into our gameplay?"

The Wii's a fun enough system. But a lot of what saved it was the number of games that let you use a classic controller, or were you didn't have to worry about the motion shit during play. The Wii-U seems like an extension of everything I DIDN'T like about the Wii, which topples the scale. More expensive shit we'll have to get pop-up tutorials for every 10 minutes during a game to explain how in the hell we're supposed to use the Wii-U controller/Wii remote combo just right.

Because that's real immersive.

I'm enjoying the 3DS and look forward to future games for it, but I guess my future more heavy game machine will continue to be my PC. Plenty of innovation right there, except it's coming from the developers and the games, which where it winds up being best.

[Andreas]

This is exactly the sort of thing I think shit like the controller on the Wii-U hampers - depth and creativity.


Hmm, interesting point Listen. Reading on kotaku about Aliens: Colonial marines and their developers illustrates this perfectly; they are going out of their way to find something to do with the screen, instead of using the screen to do something they really wanted to do before but really had no idea how to go about it. Hmm.

[Entity]

"Wii U can play Wii games, but isn't backwards compatible to GameCube" -Kotaku

wat?

Yeah i had a brain fart reading that

[eld]

These are all terrible examples for the point you're trying to make.

Shadow of the Colossus was produced on the PS2, and the biggest complaint in that game was how badly it chugged on the PS2's dated hardware. It probably would have been a better game if it had been designed from the ground up for the GameCube. (and would have run even better if they had ported it to the Wii)

God of War's claim to fame was a well-told story in the first game, and decently polished hack-and-slash mechanics. Every God of War since the first one has had crap stories, and very little has changed in the combat mechanics. (they're still good, but they aren't any different from the first game)

You can play a game like Heavy Rain on any console, because it's mainly just a series of glorified quick-time events. When they added Move support to it, they basically made it much more similar to most Wii games. Aside from the highly detailed graphics, it would be right at home on a Nintendo console.

Demon Souls? Where the on-line integration you boast of is people leaving random notes around for each other? The Wii already has Monster Hunter Tri, which has much more involved and coordinated on-line multiplayer.

Given the overwhelming proliferation of open-world games on every console other than the Wii, I don't think Nintendo is hurting for that particular genre. Any game the Wii got would be another grain of sand on a very large beach. And again, the Wii is capable of such things. (constant game streaming was first explored in Metroid Prime, on the GameCube) There just isn't nearly as much demand for that genre on the Wii.

So now you made a counterargument on that each of these games weren't really that good?, or that nintendo doesn't need them?

Monster hunter tri is a great example, it's a game that bypassed nintendos own online-system so that it could really shine, and you could play it using any of the controllers, there wasn't any heavy waggle integration, not to mention that the series came to life on the standard non-revolutionary and widely popular ps2.

I bought that one and wish more of those games were released on their console.


Maybe these games aren't for the wii target group.

[Uly]

eld: bummer :( i was having happy flashbacks of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures deathmatch until you dropped that little bit of knowledge.

[EVIL]

I hope the guy who leaked the info to the press will be quartered. He is single handily responsible for ruining Nintendo's plans. From what I understand, this console shouldn't even have seen the light of day until E3 2012. They where forced into a reveal (if they would have denied it and would have revealed it next year, good chance mircosoft or sony would have come out with a similar concept earlier)because of the leaked info just like they did with the 3DS, although for that platform they had more time.

None of the hardware is final, and allot of features are still in flux, Its also why they showed 360 and ps3 footage for those third-party titles, since they where hoping for another year of preparation.

I am personally very impressed with it. I can already see various functions for it from a game design perspective, and I hope they can either clear up some stuff on gamescom, or TGC and try to repair the damage done.

[Andreas]

I hope the guy who leaked the info to the press will be quartered. He is single handily responsible for ruining Nintendo's plans. From what I understand, this console shouldn't even have seen the light of day until E3 2012. They where forced into a reveal (if they would have denied it and would have revealed it next year, good chance mircosoft or sony would have come out with a similar concept earlier)because of the leaked info just like they did with the 3DS, although for that platform they had more time.

None of the hardware is final, and allot of features are still in flux, Its also why they showed 360 and ps3 footage for those third-party titles, since they where hoping for another year of preparation.

Where are you getting this from. Everything they have shown suggests otherwise. They showed titles that are coming out this year, what would be the point of releasing darkstalkers or BF3 6 months too late? IBM and AMD's chipsets are finalised, and I'm sure ATI will be involved again. I don't see where you are getting this, or what features 'are in flux'.

[EVIL]

Where are you getting this from. Everything they have shown suggests otherwise. They showed titles that are coming out this year, what would be the point of releasing darkstalkers or BF3 6 months too late? IBM and AMD's chipsets are finalised, and I'm sure ATI will be involved again. I don't see where you are getting this, or what features 'are in flux'.

http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/09/darksiders-2-already-running-on-wii-u/

Bilson commented on Nintendo’s reluctance to reveal the system’s full specs, saying some of the details are still in a state of “flux”.

“There are still some improvements to be made to some parts of it,” he said.

those titles you saw, are simply shown to give you a glimpse of what kind of software you can expect. It does not say that for example battlefield 3 (which you clearly saw footage off) which will come out October 25th, would be playable on the wiiU at that date, since the WiiU is stated for release before or at the holidays in 2012

If hardware would be final, you really think they would still keep it a secret? Gamers are wondering if the wiiU will be powerful, and from what I hear from developers, its more powerful then the ps3/360. so if the hardware would be final, then I would let everybody know what kind of badass rig the Wii U really is to put those doubts to rest.

[Andreas]

That link proves absolutely nothing... I heard about the early-outing of the 3DS, yet heard nothing about the WiiU being outed prematurely... I really don't know where you are getting this... never mind wanting someone 'quartared' over something that didn't happen...

[SHEPEIRO]

well they certainly know how to get people to talk about their shit...while have having fuck all to tell

[Calabi]

Yeah cutting someone into four pieces for leaking some games console nonsense is a bit excessive. I think waterboarding is the preffered method these days.

[EVIL]

Don't take the Quartering part seriously, I mean comon, this is the community that pretty much invented penis tanks.

I don't want to get to much into an argument here since this is such a great community and its the last place I want to argue, but you should not be surprised that there are many professionals here, working in the industry. And I happen to work at a company that makes allot of games for Nintendo's handheld systems. While working at such company you hear things, and from what I see at e3, it perfectly fits the stuff I heard. and I am going to leave it at that.

[eld]

...That it will in fact print money at a substantial faster rate than the ds did?

[Rai]

While working at such company you hear things, and from what I see at e3, it perfectly fits the stuff I heard. and I am going to leave it at that.

Aaanndd it's a cliffhanger.. =[

[Andreas]

...That it will in fact print money at a substantial faster rate than the ds did?

I dunno... I think the controller has people nervous. I think thats what was behind the drop in Nintendo stocks. One, its expensive. Two, the Wii has a big kiddy market, I imagine parents will be concerned about handing their grimy accident-prone kiddies such an expensive controller.

[Richard Kain]

I hope the guy who leaked the info to the press will be quartered. He is single handily responsible for ruining Nintendo's plans. From what I understand, this console shouldn't even have seen the light of day until E3 2012.

Talk of torture aside, I seriously doubt that Nintendo's hand was forced in this particular matter. For starters, Nintendo has never kowtowed to the press. If they didn't want to reveal their new system this year, they wouldn't have.

If you look at their past hardware reveals, the WiiU reveal is almost boilerplate. This a typical example of how they handle their hardware launches. A year to a year and a half before launch is right in line with past examples. They could have held off until TGS, but that would have been a difference of a few months. And if they really expect to launch in calendar year 2012, they had to reveal it at either E3 or TGS 2011. Either show next year would just have been too close to launch.

Then of course there's the 3rd-party development that they are clearly eager to drum up. A public reveal was necessary in order to attract more developer attention. You can only get so many developers on board "behind-the-scenes" without publicly revealing your new platform. The developers themselves are going to want assurance of marketing support ahead of launch. If you keep something like this under wraps until a few months before launch, you risk upsetting those developers that Nintendo seem so eager to court.

[Richard Kain]

I dunno... I think the controller has people nervous. I think thats what was behind the drop in Nintendo stocks. One, its expensive. Two, the Wii has a big kiddy market, I imagine parents will be concerned about handing their grimy accident-prone kiddies such an expensive controller.

Quite the opposite, I would think.

If the drop in Nintendo stocks was affected by the controller reveal at all, it wasn't because of the potential cost. Controllers are the bread and butter of the game industry. A system with complex, expensive controllers would mean considerably more profit. That concept combined with Wii's strong branding would have made investors very happy.

The second part of your argument is a tad silly. This is Nintendo we're talking about. Their products have the best track record in the industry for durability and standing up to abusive children. Anyone familiar with Nintendo knows this quite well. And there hasn't been a single account from E3 where the WiiU's controller has been accused of being flimsy or fragile. If there was anything less "kiddy" about the WiiU, it is the overabundance of buttons. (much more in line with traditional consoles than Nintendo's typical kid-friendly button layouts)

No, I would point to a different culprit as far as the WiiU's design. The more Nintendo has spoken about their new console, the more they have indicated that it is designed to be an extension of the Wii, and to work with existing Wii peripherals. If anything, this is what would make investors leery.

Expensive controllers, and a system that encourages customers to buy several controllers? That's an investors dream come true. But Nintendo seems to think that there should only be one WiiPad for most games, and all the other multiplayer will be through existing Wii accessories. Current Wii owners would have to purchase almost nothing aside from the base WiiU console. This is actually quite good for the end consumer, but a terrible approach from a money-making perspective. In terms of business, the Wii's controller "racket" was one of the best things going for it.

Personally, I put the blame on the way in which Nintendo "revealed" their new system. It was an incredibly confusing presentation, and did a terrible job of explaining exactly what Nintendo was actually showing off. They really should have started off with a shot of the WiiPad next to the actual WiiU console unit, to highlight the fact that this is a new console reveal. I can understand their emphasis on the controller, and it's entirely possible that the current exterior of the WiiU hasn't been finalized. (hence why they might want to downplay it for the time being) They also did a fairly poor job of explaining how the WiiPad would work in conjunction with the WiiU system.

[Andreas]

No, I would point to a different culprit as far as the WiiU's design. The more Nintendo has spoken about their new console, the more they have indicated that it is designed to be an extension of the Wii, and to work with existing Wii peripherals. If anything, this is what would make investors leery.

Why? Surely the fact that it retains the branding that people recognise would be a positive factor? I mean, even the main console looks pretty much exactly the same as the Wii!

I think you are giving the market way too much credit here :D, the market is far more fickle and puts far less thought into things before it panics. I don't think this controller is gonna be a 'bread and butter' product at all; I reckon, that if you have one of these controllers, you've bought the console. I can't see any of my friends coming over having just bought the controller for multiplayer, and I certainly ain't buying any extra controllers for it. Shoot, it was gonna be a day one buy for me if they had included upscaled Gamecube/Wii game emulation, but now I doubt I'll be buying it in it's first year.

[Richard Kain]

I think you are giving the market way too much credit here :D, the market is far more fickle and puts far less thought into things before it panics. I don't think this controller is gonna be a 'bread and butter' product at all; I reckon, that if you have one of these controllers, you've bought the console.

And that's exactly the reason why investors would be worried about the WiiU. Nintendo is making it clear that they only intend for there to be one WiiPad controller per console. From a business standpoint, that is much less profitable. Investors don't care one bit about gameplay innovation. They are concerned with what would effect the bottom line. In the case of the WiiU, they are seeing a console that seems to be designed to be less profitable than its predecessor.

With the WiiU, Nintendo has done something they've never done before. They have designed a new system that will not encourage the purchase of new controllers.

And of course, it is worth pointing out that Nintendo's stock dipped when they announced the Wii, and again when they announced the 3DS. So this sort of behavior is hardly unusual. Nintendo's recent experimental designs have always made the market leery, even if they eventually end up making obscene amounts of money.

[glottis8]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/110606.jpg

[Jeremy Wright]

Two, the Wii has a big kiddy market, I imagine parents will be concerned about handing their grimy accident-prone kiddies such an expensive controller.

My 2 year old nephew has his own iPod Touch. He calls it "the big phone". He knows how to use it, and hasn't broken it, yet.

[eld]

My 2 year old nephew has his own iPod Touch. He calls it "the big phone". He knows how to use it, and hasn't broken it, yet.

hiw own ipod touch?...

2 year old?...

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ld85qyCYIY1qcgz8qo1_250.jpg

[Jeremy Wright]

Well, think about how much parents spend on crappy toys. my brother in law saw that all the little dude wanted was to play with his iPhone, so he got him an iPod, put his movies on there (Wall-E, Fox and the Hound, etc).

It's equal parts brilliant and insane, and I guess it depends on the kid, but we shouldn't act like today's children are going to see a controller with a screen in it, and decide to play frisbee with it like a caveman. They're used to tech, more-so than us, even.

[Andreas]

I'm with Eld on this one... WTF?

[glottis8]

hahaha my 2 year old nephew is too busy playing outside.

[Andreas]

Yeah... I guarantee you 8ft, your example is way WAY in the minority, specially that age. I know two six year olds and they've only just got a DSi... and one has broken theirs. I'm not a parent but if I was I would look at that controller, look at the price tag (of the standalone controller), and say no way.

Also, I'm hearing that only one wiiu controller can be hooked up to the wiiu at any one time... this true?

[Justin Meisse]

Considering the strong words Nintendo had for Apple in the past I get the feeling this is their reaction to the popularity of the iPad, iPhone (and touch based gaming in general). So instead of being revolutionary like the Wii they are now reactionary like the PS Move & Kinect, this could be the reason investors are nervous.

[Shadownami92]

Considering the strong words Nintendo had for Apple in the past I get the feeling this is their reaction to the popularity of the iPad, iPhone (and touch based gaming in general). So instead of being revolutionary like the Wii they are now reactionary like the PS Move & Kinect, this could be the reason investors are nervous.

Considering Nintendo has been doing a ton of touch based gaming with the DS for all these years I don't really see that being a reason investors would be nervous.

[xvampire]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/06/07/could-project-caf-233-be-the-best-platform-for-darksiders-ii.aspx


Could Wii U Be The Best Platform For Darksiders II?

. When we asked Bonstead if he thought it was possible that the Wii U version of Darksiders II would be the best version of the game, he said, "Yeah, just because the hardware is more powerful and it will have some extra features that I think will actually be useful to people playing the game. With it’s controller, [the Wii U version of Darksiders II] might be the best version of the game."

[Andreas]

I saw a video of Ghost recon on the WiiU, and I must say the added features look really cool! Could be one of the best launch titles. I am still concerned about the circle pads on the controller istead of real analogue sticks though...

[Lamont]

hiw own ipod touch?...

2 year old?...
I retire my old iThings so the kids can play with them. New iThings stay well hidden and put away.

The specs of the system seem nice, just wondering how that controller feels, and what the price of each will be. Oh and fun games...

[Andreas]

http://kotaku.com/5811614/the-wii-u-might-be-a-little-more-powerful-than-we-thought

Yum.

[glottis8]

I still have not seen any specs on the hardware to back this up tho. I tried loading that website through kotaku but it gives me an error in the website.

I am hoping this is true tho. To have more resources, there will be more you can do with it graphically and in design. I hope it gets better. I also hope you can hook more than one fancy controller by the time this comes out.

[teaandcigarettes]

Well, it better be more powerful if Nintendo wants to stay relevant once MS and Sony roll out new hardware :poly142:

If that is indeed true, I wonder if we will see the hardware fully utilized before Sony and MS roll out their new consoles. I wouldn't count on Nintendo nor other Japanese devs to do that anytime soon, western devs on the other hand would most like do straight forward ports of their multiplatform titles.

Guess hardcore Nintendo fanboys will soon join the PC elitists and start bitching together about how their platforms are being held back by the 360 and PS3. I should get my popcorn ready.

[Andreas]

Guess hardcore Nintendo fanboys will soon join the PC elitists and start bitching together about how their platforms are being held back by the 360 and PS3. I should get my popcorn ready.

Doubt that'll be for long... that's more likely to happen when the PS4 and Xbox 3 come out, then the modern warfare 6 kiddies are gonna be bitching that the graphics would be way cooler if they werent aiming low cause the WiiU ain't as powerful.

[Andreas]

http://kotaku.com/5812014/some-details-on-the-wii-us-graphics-chip

Interesting... might not be great that it doesn't have a DX11 chip in it down the road, especially for multiplatform titles, but I am glad they are talking about being able to use multiple controllers on the system, there were rumours it was only the one.

Also interesting... new timesplitters for launch of the new Xbox? http://kotaku.com/5812016/timesplitters-developers-already-working-with-the-next-xbox-console

If they get that right, could be a day one buy for me! :D

[eld]

http://kotaku.com/5812014/some-details-on-the-wii-us-graphics-chip

Interesting... might not be great that it doesn't have a DX11 chip in it down the road, especially for multiplatform titles, but I am glad they are talking about being able to use multiple controllers on the system, there were rumours it was only the one.

Also interesting... new timesplitters for launch of the new Xbox? http://kotaku.com/5812016/timesplitters-developers-already-working-with-the-next-xbox-console

If they get that right, could be a day one buy for me! :D

Wouldn't matter if it did, the hardware isn't aimed to be competing with the upcoming platforms, it's a current-gen platform hardware wise.

But then again, it's not a microsoft platform, so it won't be supporting directx at all ;)

a dx10 comparable gpu is still nice though, since it implies shader model 4.0, and geometry shaders, which makes for some interesting things that can be done.

[Andreas]

it's a current-gen platform hardware wise.

I don't think we are expecting WiiU 2 in time for the PS4 and Xbox 3 ;) This console will be competing eventually. I don't think it will be a big deal, it'll just be like the current Aliens vs Predator. There's a DX11 version, and a DX9/10 version. Both look good. The multiplatform titles on the next xbox and ps4 will just look a little better than the wiiu versions, thats all. I wonder if the PS4 will come out much later than the next xbox... wonder if its a strategic move to seperate the release dates out...

[eld]

I don't think we are expecting WiiU 2 in time for the PS4 and Xbox 3 ;) This console will be competing eventually. I don't think it will be a big deal, it'll just be like the current Aliens vs Predator. There's a DX11 version, and a DX9/10 version. Both look good. The multiplatform titles on the next xbox and ps4 will just look a little better than the wiiu versions, thats all. I wonder if the PS4 will come out much later than the next xbox... wonder if its a strategic move to seperate the release dates out...

Think xbox vs xbox360 in terms of the different it'll be.

The wiiU will most likely be slightly faster than both ps3 and 360, but it'll still be very much like how the xbox was faster and packed more memory than the ps2.

[onionhead_o]

i personally wont buy a wii U no matter how good the controller is. to me its the games that will persuade me to buy a console. Wii has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. rite now its sitting there collecting dust.

[Two Listen]

...ok, bump time.

This just finished up:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/nintendo_direct_pre_e3_2012/en/index.html

Video introducing and discussing a lot of the Wii U's "features". Looks like E3 is going to be mostly showing off Wii U games so there's a lot of talk on the controller and social features here in the video.

I'm feeling pretty much exactly like I was a year ago (http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1366441&postcount=204). Sounds like you're going to need a whole damn bookcase just for the Wii U and its various controllers. The Wii remote, nunchuck, the huge "it's got a screen but who cares let's put it on the floor" Wii U controller, and the Wii U "pro" controller.

I'm assuming this will wind up being a lot like the Wii, where some of it sounds cool in theory, and close to release they release a sports resort that has decent implementation of most of the features. And then pretty much every other game that's released from that point on struggles to implement the gimmicks in a halfway passable manner while I as a consumer have to check the back of every box to see if it lets me use a controller that actually makes sense (in this case, the "pro").

I really hope to god there's a way to turn off the social features and bits of player-relayed information popping up everywhere. He addressed it in the video, "What if I don't want this stuff cluttering up my game?" And then went on to say pretty much "Well don't worry, it'll only happen consistently on the controller..." I'm also hoping the whole "You don't even own this game but we think you should so we're putting it on your home screen" is...optional.

...I keep saying "I hope" as if I'm going to run out and buy one. This will probably be the sort of thing I wait two or three years after release, and then when there's a Zelda game I just HAVE to have, I'll patiently wait for some super bundle deal with included controllers and gift cards at a discounted price...or something.

Edit: For balance and because being positive is healthy, I am excited to see what the new hardware could do for some of Nintendo's IPs. It's probably because I'm a fan of Nintendo's games that I'm so bummed by the gimmicky features and current presentation of the Wii U. But because the core of any console IS the games, here's hoping E3 shows how some kick ass stuff game wise. High res Mario Galaxy type stuff would be awesome, and the immediate option of a "pro" controller does give us some more potential in the overall game library.

[PolyHertz]

Demons Souls 'esk commentary in all WiiU games.
Built in message board functionality for each game to discuss and ask questions
Touch screen controller is even bigger then before, has normal clickable analogs now.
Pro Controller redesigned for WiiU.

That's all well and good, but what I want to know is will all games support the normal/classic/pro controller? A lot of Wii games that should have supported it didn't (DCKR). It would be nice to know that nintendo will let you play all games the way you want to instead of forcing one control type over another.

[Andreas]

I thought the presentation was pretty poor, was expecting something exciting I guess. Nice pro controller, and yay real thumbsticks.

[Marine]

How did the pro controller announcement go? Did the crowd go silent wondering why they were showing off old MS hardware?

[Andreas]

I actually think the placement of everything on the xbox pad is pretty smart. DPad and buttons for fighters, twin sticks and triggers for everything else, specifically shooters. It'll mean a lot of the buttons for things like 3rd person games will move to the bumpers and triggers, but I can't see that being a bad thing.

[bounchfx]

Yeah, I'm a little worried about the joystick on the top right instead of angled down (which is proven to work), but I have to imagine they tested it... :\

I'm looking forward to the actual news this tuesday.

[ZacD]

Why don't we create the Nintendo Sony and Xbox threads for 2012 instead of bumping these, rumors are starting to pick up.