Wii / Wii U I feel like i've made a mistake getting a Wii U

Saw the Nintendo E3. Won't spoil it, but:
-> New IP
-> Promising second party games
-> Games of characters known but didn't have a game associate to them (kinda new IP?!), which looks fun to me
-> Cool info on coming up games.
-> Hint of an old IP making a come back that everyone asks for.. but my guess next E3 for more info.
-> Fun to watch (and not a pain like the old Nintendo Directs)

http://e3.nintendo.com/

 

The only new IP was Splatoon, an FPS game that uses paintball guns rather than guns, because, well, Nintendo.

 

Zelda looks awesomeballs.

 

New game published by Nintendo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yTldFe2m-A
(not safe for work, contains violence and insults)

Shame it uses the old DarkSider 2 engine, makes it look outdated (WiiU can do better, much better). But interesting to see Nintendo publishing it.

To me though it looks like a Duke Nukem Forever game.. where it won't be good. It is apparently a THQ IP purchased by the creator, from my understanding but don't quote me on that. But, what peek my interests is if I wonder if Nintendo is finally willing to take a step in a new direction, especially with Bayonetta 2, which looks like it will be a good game, much like the first (also coming with the second iteration of the game).

(personally I think Nintendo should step in, update the engine, and see in making the game more interesting.. maybe get RetroStudio to help out)

 

I too was one of those who always thought Nintendo should make some new IP/characters but a while back Miyamoto had a good quote which was basically to the effect of what was the value of a new characters/IP? If they can pull from their stable of well known and loved characters and plug them into some new game concept, that game's quality would stand on it's own regardless of whether or not it's staring Mario or Captain New Guy.

It would be nice to see new Nintendo stuff, but thinking about it that way, I'm not really dying for it. Some of their best games have been takes on their existing IP. Example: Metroid Prime and Smash.

Then again, I look at Disney who has a massive library of characters that they pull from, but they are always making new stuff at the same time. Sometimes it's a flop, but every now and then you strike "Frozen" gold.

So I guess while I don't really pine for new Nintendo IP, it would be nice to see them trying at least.

I think they had a great E3 this year and as a WiiU owner I'm looking forward to their 1st party games.

 

Nintendo made a gamble and lost. Big time.

They survived for too long on low cost, child friendly handhelds and struck gold with the Wii. Seems that everyone wanted a slice of nintendo and motion controls so they sold a bucket of units even though the horsepower inside the machine wasn't quite cutting edge. The Wii and it's bundled Sports was unbelievably family friendly with an 'I want one' coming out from every young kid you got to try one.

The gamble with the Wii U was that they could sell it to those that wanted a more grown up experience, but continue selling it as a kid / family friendly unit as well.

So they skimped on performance and didn't seriously attempt to make a true next gen machine. They still had the motion controls and they added their new half tablet / half controller as the 'hook'.

It failed. PC, PS4 & Xbone are wonderful gaming platforms but the U.... it doesn't have a comparable level of 'grunt' so any simultaneous release is going to be more work for the devs and make the nintendo version look pants compared to the shaderrific 1440p, 1080p, 900p output of the PC, PS4 & Xbone.

If I was a dev I'd ignore the U. If I was a customer (Oh I am) I'd ignore the U (I did).

I wanted a fairly cheap, kid friendly console for the living room. So I recently bought a PS3. Loads of titles. Good graphics. Cheap everything. I would have been crazy to buy a U for me or the kids. Motion control? We have PS Move. Want tablet gaming? I have five iPads in the house! Want big name big releases? I have a PC!

The PC, which IMHO is the real winner of the console wars. It was a second class citizen for a while, but now I think it's way up there.... and we no longer have to play around with memory managers to free up some of that precious 640k base memory to get Monkey Island, Wing Commander or X-Wing to load!

PC Gaming is so easy nowadays

 

I've kind of lost it with Nintendo. I've owned EVERY Nintendo console, including a lot of the obscure japanese only releases. Their games used to innovative; fun and frantic games that stood above others as goliaths of their company. THey're now the same crap over and over, innovating little and delivering little. The only zelda games we've had lately are Skyward Sword for the Wii which was terrible (I've played every Zelda game, it sucks trust me) and a rereleased Wind Waker which did bugger all different except some fancier graphics.

I stick mostly to PC anyway because it looks better and games are superior, whether they be Crysis, Elder Scrolls or Monkey Island ;p. I can play some emulators and boot up Metroid Prime on PC too or Mod the hell out of some random game I found online. Even Doujin shooters are something on PC you don't get on consoles.

Nintendo have lost big time and they're in danger of going the way of Sega here. I love nintendo but they need some GOOD new IP, not rehashed versions of what they already have, and certainly not using dated, last gen engines. I would've rather had the hardware of the other consoles and had ZOMG graphics instead of this tablet crap.

 

You've forgotten the last Zelda game "A link between worlds" on the 3DS, Which took the normal Zelda formula and turned it on it's head by letting you tackle the dungeons in any order by renting (or purchasing) the "Key" equipment instead of looting it from a dungeon.

Looking at the new open world Zelda they showed at E3, I wouldn't mind betting that they'll take a similar approach.

I thought Nintendo's E3 presentation showed a lot of promise, most of the games shown looked fun it's just a waiting game now to see how they turn out.

 

The reality of things is that Nintendo has never changed.
You grew up, and like many teen age, you need to be playing overly manly man war games to show you are not a kid anymore. Some sticks with it, others simply don't care. If it the game is fun, it is fun, and aren't socially pressured.

To me there is no value on the PS4 or XBox One.
XBox One is only great in the U.S, as everything works and full featured, and that is you are a big TV watcher. I am not. As for its games... well they are nearly all available on PC. ANd teh exclusives are not enough to make me want to justify the price of the console.

That last point also applies to the PS4. The only game that interest me on the PS4 is Little Big Planet 3. Worthy of 400$ + game? No.

Games on PC are mostly a miss. Most games are not really fun. I feel like I am forcing to play the game to justify my purchase, like it was work. And I am starting a collection of games that I cannot finish, because the game sucks, reviewed by people with extremely low standards. Where you fit with the controller, or just not fun.

Nintendo games are games I finish at 100%. I am having a blast, and the attention to details is just incredible. Games never crashes, no bugs in your face, and really hard to find bugs, and just plain awesome, and original to extremely original despite using the same IP.

My list of games on PC that I loved (no order):
-> HalfLife 2, and its episodes, Arkham Asylum (City sucked horribly, waste of money), StarCraft 1/2, WarCraft 3, Hitman: Blood Money, Hitman: Absolution, COD MW3 (just this version), The Cave, Broken Age, Stacking, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango. And that is about it. I am missing a few, I am sure, but that is wht comes to mind for now.

Nintendo (home console):
-> Zelda Skyward Sword (second best Zelda), Zelda, Link to the Past, Zelda Ocarina of Times, Zelda Twilight Princes, Zelda Majora's Mask, Mario Brothers 3, Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong series on SNES, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario Kart, Mario Kart Double Dash (best one in my book), Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Brothers series, Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Paper Mario series, StarFox (SNES/N64), Metroid (all of them, except Other M), Pikmin 3, Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Paint, Resident Evil 4, and I am sure I am forgetting a few as well.

As you can see, Nintendo has a lot more awesome games for me. And what is unique, is that each games, despite being the same series is just different and refreshing to see. Nearly, all third party games and mostly PC games are: "We got a success, we don't don't how, we don't care on how we did it, lets do a carbon copy, and needs to be released NEXT YEAR".

Nintendo caries its IPs for every, but they take serious care about them. It might be "Oh look another Mario game", but the game itself is drastically different from any previous games, in terms of experience. They are exceptions, but those are highlighted by the title, showing it is from the same series, but it is mostly different. They could have put different characters, same game, and people would see it as a new IP. So to me, all the mentioned games are new IPs, despite having the same name, and characters. The game experience is just different. And only people that play Nintendo games knows this. Ignorant, don't. And this is how you can pin point people that ACTUALLY played them, or claim they played them, but never did.

 

I have never read such a load of nonsense in my life.

I need to play manly war games to show I'm not a kid? Right, okay, the last game I completed was Child of Light. Oh no, your generalisation just utterly fell apart. The game before that was Final Fantasy X on the Vita...

You're also stating that your opinion is the only one that matters, and that because you're still happy with the endless rehashes Nintendo puts out, everybody else should be as well. Oh, and that anybody who disagrees is "ignorant" and that none of us have actually played Nintendo games, we just lie about doing so.

Seriously, get off the high horse. We can all see you are a massive Nintendo fanboy who believes they can do no wrong.

PS: As a further point to refute, Super Smash Bros hasn't changed one jot since it first came out. Each game Nintendo releases is not "drastically different" from the previous, in fact, most of them are the same.


On a side note, I'm floored Nintendo are finally going open world with Zelda. It's only like, seven or eight years behind the times.

 

Well this is all very civilised.


#Ahem#

After E3, The Wii U certainly looks more promising and Ubisoft's decision to hold stuff back makes a bunch more sense.

New Zelda looked good, because I can't remember Nintendo letting a 'proper' home console Zelda be anything else than excellent.

New Starfox, given that I must have played 64 through hundreds of times by now that was my stand out, assuming it's good it would could persuade me to buy a Wii U.

No FZero, no Metroid, that left me supremely disappointed, I fear Other M may have killed Metroid for the foreseeable future. Quite why Nintendo wanted to deviate from the Prime/Echoes style of gameplay is still beyond me.

Splatoon looks, interesting. All I could think of during the video was Counter Strike For Kids!, we'll see if Nintendo can finally master a FPS type game.

Based on that showing the future doesn't look terrible for the Wii U, Nintendo seem to have remembered that games bring them success, not crippling reliance on faddy hardware.

I am still waiting for a touch screen free Wii U, that would make it perfect.

 

You are pissed off because you know I am right, and you are a Sony fanboy, that can't understand that people like different types of games. And are claiming that I assume that only my opinion mater, because this is what you want to portray your opinion to be.

Yup... never even looked at a screen shot of the game.
If I said Uncharted instead, you would be praising what I am saying.

 

Where exactly did you deduce I'm a Sony fanboy? I spend 90% of my gaming time on the PC, and in terms of consoles am quite happy to use/buy whatever is worth buying at the time. I've owned every Nintendo console up to the Wii, (including a 3DS XL), an Xbox 3066, Dreamcast etc etc in addition to Sony's efforts. So yeah, what?

Uncharted hasn't changed either, but hey, you're the one bringing it up. However, Uncharted currently stands at four games, with a fifth one coming, whereas Mario has how many games? (Please, come back to me with an answer on that). Nobody gets a free pass on overuse of IP - but Nintendo take it to the utter extreme. Yet you're the one claiming Nintendo's sequels are radically different each time they release. Ignoring the change in graphics that comes from new hardware, here we have SSB:





Yep. Three games, three different consoles. Same character rosters, pretty much, with the game being based around an arena with platforms where characters fight each other. So how is each one drastically different again?

 

Yup different. playing mechanics, different roster.
And what is the funniest, is that you talk, but you don't know the meaning of "exceptions", which I mentioned.

My English is not the best, I know that, lots of work to be done on that front. But, at least I know the meaning of words or look it up.

Yea, you have many Mario games. It is also, much older franchise. And the games are more further apart than Uncharted or most, if not all third party games (excluding franchise resurrections)

 

If they released a 3d version of Pokemon they would sell millions of consoles. 3ds figures jumped nearly 100% in week for week when the last game launched.

Final fantasy versus looks insane on the e3 fotage I saw as an example of next gen.

Nintendo has the best first person titles of any company in truth. Sony may run them a trailing second. Nintendo does not need other devs to make a successful console.

They just need to make one first then they could just sell there own stuff it would sell fast enough still.

 

Just how high up in the business analysis world are you? Who do you think they were targeting with the Wii when they developed it and Wii Sports?

I wanted a cheaper option. I had four wiimotes from my original Wii, saving me £100 just in not having to buy controllers for local multiplayer. I've got some Wii games, and have recently bought a shed load of the best used Wii games for next-to-nothing - these will all work straight out of the box on the Wii U.

I agree with you: on paper the PC is smiling right now. But for some reason I've not bought a PC game and barely touched my existing PC games since I got my Wii U.

So why didn't you buy the hardware of the other consoles then - Nintendo haven't tricked you, the mistake is yours buying something you didn't want. If it's so obviously a Nintendo fail, why did you buy it and why haven't you sold it asap to minimise your losses? You've basically bought yourself a family saloon and then started complaining that it's not a sports car.

And you might not have liked Skyward Sword, but plenty do.

While we're counting Mario games, shall we count how many of them are in the top 25 highest selling games ever? According to Wikipedia it's 6 (and another 9 are also Nintendo based IPs. If selling games is Nintendo's business then they'd be pretty daft to ditch Mario.

And what Nintendo have shown, with Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, is that they are capable of raising the bar with their IP. Forget the previous iterations and just take the individual games and judge them on their own merits. There's a reason they're well regarded.

 

That's exactly it. Nintendo were aiming to go for the super-casual market with the Wii (families! kids! anybody!), but the runaway success was beyond what was expected. Repeating that with the WiiU was no doubt the intention (who wouldn't?), but they released a console that has resulted in confusion and a muddled focus. To go from the best selling console (101m sold to date) to the worse clearly shows something has gone wrong. Hell, the Wii sold 9m units in its first six months, whereas the Wii U in that time frame managed a mere 3.6m.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_sales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U#Sales

That isn't my point. Nintendo know how to craft a high quality title, regardless of the face on the cover. They have some stumbles (eg: Skyward Sword, in my opinion), but generally they know how to produce specific genres very well (platform, racing, RPG).

My point is that despite being well made games, their over use of IP is harming them. I'm not the only person who is fed up of hearing IT'SA ME, MARIO! all the time, nor the endless fetching of the princess from her latest kidnapping. The gaming media seems to have this bizarre fetish for Nintendo, and continues to give them a free pass with anything, because, well, it's Nintendo. Sorry, I think all game makers should be held to the same standards and not be allowed to push out what are essentially the same games year after year with only a few changes.

The only way Nintendo will change their attitude is when people stop buying their stuff. The sales of the WiiU being as they are may provide a massive kick up the rear in that sense, but I'm massively disappointed their 'rescue package' is to throw Mario and Zelda games at it...and ones coming in 2015 at that.

I'd be definitely up for a new Nintendo RPG that doesn't involve Link, Zelda or Hyrule. Do a sci-fi setting, anything! Don't also include the same tropes of dungeons that you have to navigate through to get a key to unlock some central gate/whatever that has also been part of the series since it began.

EDIT:
The last new Nintendo property I was excited about was Pikmin. It showed Nintendo could come up with something totally new and fresh, and deliver a quality title. Of course, we've had little new stuff since, beyond casual titles such as Wii Sports.

 

The Wii U is very much an extension of the Wii, it's like it's younger brother: full backwards compatibility with software and hardware. I doubt very much Nintendo ever expected to repeat the Wii's success - I don't think anyone would seriously expect all those never-before-gamers who went for Wii Sports were going to be hooked into the upgrade cycle, but it's very much a natural upgrade for those who owned a Wii and are still into the family gaming scene. I think the reason it's struggled is because it hasn't made a compelling case to those who don't already have a bunch of Wiimotes etc. and those 5-12 year olds from the Wii generation are now sucked into the 'glamour' of the PS4/XB1.

But if you're like me, with a young family of my own, I think it's definitely the best choice of the current generation. Plenty for me to get into when I can find the time and a great catalogue of existing titles that are ideal for families.

If the Wii U doesn't appeal to Darkwisdom then it is very much he who has made the mistake, as I don't think Nintendo ever gave the impression the Wii U was anything other than what it is. It's a great console, but not for him by the sounds of it, so why did he buy it?