Nintendo drops Wii U $50 due to poor sales (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

Those Zelda pics are actually gameplay. The shot was static for a minute but then the game started to play. They said it was a camera angle that the player would never experience but it was the game running on a Wii U for sure.

The chase sequence, while I'm sure it was rendered in the game engine, definitely looked like a cutscene to me.

 

[mattCR]

SSB comes out this fall. It is over the top and ridiculous but it is wildly fun. One thing Nintendo really has nailed is the local multiplayer. And as a local multiplayer, Nintendo makes more great 'party' games for kids and parents then anyone. Mario Kart 8 is probably the best party game I've ever played. My kids had my sides hurting we were laughing so hard playing against each other.

SSB is like that.
I love so many games on PS4 and PS3, but when I want to sit down with a game for the kids, WiiU pretty much owns that category. No one does those kind of games like Nintendo.

 

[laser]

Just to clarify, the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. comes out in October, and the Wii U version is scheduled for "this holiday season".

Very hyped for the Wii U version. Great visuals, tons of content, great variety of fighters, gameplay looks improved from the lackluster Brawl...yum yum!

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The Zelda video was definitely a cutscene but it was still in-engine graphics running in real-time. They said you can expect the game to actually look like that. I don't know why people are really questioning it.

Speaking of the social media stuff on PS4/XBO, Nintendo flat out said they don't have Twitch/Ustream integration because there's nothing inherently fun about it. I agree with them.

 

[DaveF]

Nintendo flat out said they don't have Twitch/Ustream integration because there's nothing inherently fun about it. I agree with them.

They might be missing out on how video games are enjoyed by the new generation of gamers.

I was talking to a friend and mentioned Twitch, having just learned of it recently. I assumed he'd never have heard of it, since he's not a gamer. He said, oh yeah, my son watches that while playing Minecraft.

 

[Edwin-S]

Well, I cracked like a fresh egg and bought one of these systems. I have to admit that Mario Kart 8 is better than I thought it would be. It's a hoot as a single player game, but I bet it would be a blast as a multi-player: especially, with a family. I'll try the online multi-player at some point, but I'm not sure I'll enjoy the experience. Playing online always feels unenjoyable because people take things too damn seriously. These things are supposed to be fun, not make me feel like I'm back in elementary school playing team sports.

A few observations:

1) I thought the WiiU game pad would be an uncomfortable piece of hardware due to its size. Surprisingly, ergonomically, it is fairly comfortable. The size is a bit off-putting and it should be lightened up a bit, but it rests in the hands quite well. The contoured back helps a person keep a good grip on it.

2) The motion control (at least for MK8) is pretty responsive. Lag feels minimal. The pad is okay but the Mario wheel in combination with the Wiimote works best for the game, at least for me.

3) The graphics, as expected, are nowhere near the PS4 but they are still pretty good for the type of game that will make up the bulk of releases on this system which I figure will be family friendly games. A game like GTA V would probably look barely passable on this system, but cartoon style games such as MK8 look pretty good.

All-in-all, it is a better system than I was giving credit for. I have to admit that playing MK8, with its colourful palette and arcade soundtrack and effects kind of brings back memories of when video games were just upbeat and fun, not uptight and serious. This system will be a good counterpoint to my PS4 system until Insomniac gets around to putting out a new installment of "Ratchet and Clank".

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I picked up a Wii U on CL a few months back. I just picked up Mario Kart 8 so looking forward to giving it a spin. Now I need to dig up more info about Mario Maker, my 8yo son is always drawing Mario levels on paper, he would love that!

 

[laser]

I'll try the online multi-player at some point, but I'm not sure I'll enjoy the experience. Playing online always feels unenjoyable because people take things too damn seriously. These things are supposed to be fun, not make me feel like I'm back in elementary school playing team sports.

Mario Kart 8 has no voice chat aside from in lobbies with friends, and no global leaderboard outside of time trials (only a points tally online), so that should help your experience.

 

[Edwin-S]

Mario Kart 8 has no voice chat aside from in lobbies with friends, and no global leaderboard outside of time trials (only a points tally online), so that should help your experience.

That should help. At least, I won't have to listen to people cursing as I'm weaving all over the track.

What other games would you guys recommend for this system?

 

[LeoA]

Also screen shots from game play or just cut scenes?

The field shot was portrayed as gameplay although the camera never moved. The chase sequence that the 1st and 3rd shot came from was a cutscene.

Those Zelda pics are actually gameplay.

The chase sequence, while I'm sure it was rendered in the game engine, definitely looked like a cutscene to me.

The Zelda video was definitely a cutscene but it was still in-engine graphics running in real-time. They said you can expect the game to actually look like that. I don't know why people are really questioning it.


All I ever said was that it was a cutscene.

lol

 

[laser]

What other games would you guys recommend for this system?

Only others I've played are Pikmin 3 and Wind Waker HD - both are must-haves.

Great things have been said about Zombi U and The Wonderful 101, although these games are more hardcore than your typical Nintendo offerings.

On the more casual side, more good things have been said about Super Mario 3D World (which is in the same vein as the 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land) & Rayman Legends.

Lego City Undercover and Need For Speed: Most Wanted also have had good buzz.

There's always Wii Fit U (now with a fancy pedometer) and Wii Sports Club (now with GamePad functionality) for the super-casual side, and Nintendo Land for just charming minigame fun.

Looking ahead, there's Bayonetta 2 (comes with Bayonetta 1), Watch Dogs (existing editions have mixed reviews, but Wii U version may improve on them), Super Smash Bros., Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (a spin-off of Super Mario 3D World), and Project CARS this year, then Yoshi's Woolly World, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chornicles X, Zelda (check out the reveal), and Star Fox (no video yet...) next year.

PLUS the Virtual Console, indie games, and a whole buncha other stuff.

If you haven't gotten your Wii fix, there's always backwards compatibility - Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Okami, Xenoblade Chronicles (the first one), and Madworld (artful violence!) among others.

Uh...so there!

(TBH, I'm more hyped up for Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One than any of the above...don't hurt me!)

 

[mattCR]

Super Mario 3D World is a must.. great fun. Super Mario Builder stands out (it's a future game) as something that could be a real blast. They just did a big update to Pikmin 3, and it plays entirely differently from the way it did when it shipped.. it makes it a new (and I think better) experience.

The upcoming game I'm really excited for is Splatoon. Think of it as a FPS.. except paintball oriented (no killing). I love this for my kids, but I also think the mechanics of it work differently from most other FPS that it presents a really different way to think about the genre.

This article sums it up:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanshapiro/2014/06/14/nintendo-and-the-future-of-kids-games-e3-from-a-fathers-perspective/

 

[LeoA]

Where my taste are concerned and just looking at exclusives (Wii U has fine versions of a decent number of multiplatform releases), these would be my top suggestions.

-Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze-Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD-LEGO City Undercover
-Mario Kart 8
-New Super Luigi U-New Super Mario Bros. U-Pikmin 3-Super Mario 3D World

And I'll give a nod to DuckTales Remastered since Nintendo's d-pads are always superior to that on the competition and Criterion's excellent Need for Speed: Most Wanted port on the Wii U that surpasses the PS3/360 versions (minus a bit of unimportant DLC).

Going forward, my interest at this time rests on Mario Maker, Yoshi's Woolly World, Zelda U, the retail release of Wii Sports Club, hopefully a retail release for NES Remix 1 & 2 like Japan is getting, Gunlord and 90's Arcade Racer on the eShop, Fatal Frame V, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

 

[DaveF]

How does Splatoon do multi-player? Online or split screen or some combo?I want to play this:

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Splatoon is an online FPS game. Think Call of Duty or Halo, but if Nintendo made it and removed 99% of the killing. I don't believe there is local split-screen though I could be wrong.

 

[Todd H]

We have a Wii U (bought it day one) and my son and I love it. Super Mario 3D World is a favorite. Plus we've been catching up on Wii games we missed. It's an awesome little system.

 

[Edwin-S]

Tried out the free 24 hour demo of WiiSports Club. It's confirmed. I suck at video game sports just as much as at the real thing. Still it does get a person off the couch for a while.

Also, just want to thank you guys for the suggestions. I'll look into some of those.

That SPLATOON game looks like it would be a load of laughs if it was played with family members or friends. Unfortunately, I only have one friend that is into video games and he certainly wouldn't be one to own this system. Most of the people I know would probably think I was into my second childhood or never left my first if they knew I had bought one of these. My sister gave me a bit of a ribbing when I told her I had bought one of these but I have to admit that i'm getting a kick out of it. Makes a nice change from some of the dour games on my other consoles.

Edit: Oh yeah. I forgot to ask. I noticed in the manual that this system can play Wii discs. Does that mean it is backward compatible with Wii games? What's the skinny there?

Edit Edit: Whoops, looks like laser (Matty) answered that question already. It looks like is is backward compatible to some extent.

 

[LeoA]

Wii U is essentially 100% compatible with Wii games and accessories.

It even will upscale (And deinterlace when necessary) your Wii games to whatever HD resolution you've set your Wii U to output at. No official GameCube controller support though which some of the Wii library had which is what most miss when playing their Wii games on their Wii U.

And for the better part of the past year, it will even automatically pillarbox 4:3 Wii games while still stretching anamorphic widescreen games to 16:9. During the Wii U's opening months, the system indiscriminately stretched everything to 16:9 during the scaling process irregardless if it was correct or not with no way (Short of reverting to 480p) to get the right aspect ratio out of 4:3 games.

So no more hitting a button on your remote control to enable and disable stretch mode like you had to on the original Wii as you went between something like a Wii Virtual Console download and a 16:9 release like Super Mario Galaxy just to have the correct AR.

Splatoon is an online FPS game. Think Call of Duty or Halo, but if Nintendo made it and removed 99% of the killing. I don't believe there is local split-screen though I could be wrong.

They didn't say one way or another about a local multiplayer mode, but Nintendo's history should inspire confidence that it will have one.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I don't remember seeing any pictures of people playing local multi matches of Splatoon and I imagine Nintendo would want to show that off.

I don't think the Wii U upscales original Wii games. In fact, that's a huge point of contention with their fans. It just outputs 480p over the HDMI. Maybe the menus look better and using HDMI instead of component looks better but the resolution is not higher.

 

[LeoA]

It's also not due until next year, so what they showed off doesn't really mean much.

Wii U definitely upscales Wii mode as seen by many articles like this one from launch.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/379590/wii-u-upscales-original-wii-games-to-hd/

There was confusion before launch when Nintendo said that it wouldn't enhance Wii games and would act just like an original Wii when in Wii mode. But rather than mean that it wouldn't upscale the output to HD like so many of us took that statement to mean, what they apparently meant was that it wouldn't render games directly in HD (Like the Dolphin emulator can do to great effect as seen by the shot I'm posting below of GCN Wind Waker running via the 16:9 hack).

Shots like this were why I was so pleased to see Wind Waker HD announced (And taken a step even further with the enhanced lighting, reworked textures, and so on that Nintendo introduced that took it well beyond this). Had been crossing my fingers several years before the Wii U was announced that they'd consider such a project, and sure enough, they did.

I just hope this generation or the next, they give similar treatment to a few other GCN/Wii classics and unlock their full visual potential.