Wii U

[Samprimary]

wii-u wii-u wii-u

choooooosen one

[Ingmar]

If the Kart game is good, has a substantial number of tracks, etc., there's a chance I'll get it. Otherwise meh.

[Cyrrex]

Our Wii sits and collects dust, despite having both an 8 and 10 year-old in the house and a number of what would be considered "good" games for the Wii.  Only, they really aren't that good.  That's the problem.  Sure, Gamespot will give the new Mario game an 8.5, but that is a game we all played 15 fucking years ago or something.  Who is supposedly going to buy this stuff?  The adults have all played it, and the kids couldn't care less.

In any other era in my life, I would have been certain that I would eventually get this console, if for no other reason than Zelda.  Even that doesn't work any more...Zelda games seem to get slightly worse with each iteration, and I still haven't gotten much into Skyward Sword.  Because it isn't fun.

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Bought my Wii U from Gamestop last week. It won't be opened until Christmas. I may get NBA 2K13 for it. Not sure yet what my kids want on it, but they had fun playing Rabbids Land in the store. I know they want Warriors Orochi 3, as well. I may end up getting some games off of the Wii Store as well. I hope they have Gamecube titles on there. The kids love their Gamecube games.

[Rendakor]

Open it up on Christmas Eve or thereabouts to download the patch; it's a several hour ordeal, and this should save you some wailing and gnashing of teeth from your kids on Christmas morning.

[Yegolev]

I'll wait until 2013 or later, that should fix things.

[KallDrexx]

I ended up buying one.  My wife was pretty dismayed that the new Mario (pretty much the only game she plays) is only out on the new Wii.  Also, our Wii (aka netflix box) is acting funky lately, so this lets us replace the Wii with our Roku box and use the Wii U as a bedroom gaming system.

Though it's currently wrapped for xmas

[Margalis]

If you connect through HDMI make sure to adjust your TV to accept limited-range HDMI signal. ("Low range" on some TVs) Otherwise your blacks will look grey.

I use my Wii U in my bedroom even though the system is in my living room.

It's kind of weird, before the system came out a lot of people would have said that being able to play with just the pad is a cool but minor feature. After playing it a lot of people feel the way I do - it's easily the best feature. When I am sitting at my computer I can just pick up the pad, turn on the system, see who is on, play a quick round of Nano Assault or whatever, without being anywhere near the TV or the system. Even when I am sitting in front of the TV I often prefer just playing on the pad, it feels more immediate. (Though the be fair when I first plugged it in I was using a new port and accidentally had auto-motion smoothing set on my TV and other crap like that that I find terrible)

[Rendakor]

Are all games playable on just the gamepad? I was under the impression that some games required the TV if the tablet was heavily used for interface things.

[KallDrexx]

I thought that too.

Also what kind of range are you seeing with the gamepad?

[Margalis]

Are all games playable on just the gamepad? I was under the impression that some games required the TV if the tablet was heavily used for interface things.

Depends on the game. Zombi U requires the TV for example. Not sure what else does. In a way it is a little awkward that a game that uses the dual-screen nature the best has the disadvantage of being hard to make work on just the pad.But on the plus side games that don't "take advantage" of the pad take advantage of it just by virtue of being playable on it.

Also what kind of range are you seeing with the gamepad?

My bed is about 15+ feet from where my WiiU is and through a wall and a closet filled with junk and it works fine there. From what I understand it depends a lot on what is in between. For example my bathroom is a little closer but is a bit finicky, probably because between the bathroom and the WiiU is a closet that has about 2+ feet in thickness of books in it.

[MisterNoisy]

A buddy of mine just bought one (the console is surprisingly easy to get for something that just launched), and picked up NSMB.  I picked up the Sonic All-Stars kart racer for him for Xmas (since there isn't yet a proper MK release on it yet), which is surprisingly fun.  Having the player with the pad just use it as their display instead of putting them on the TV is pretty cool.

The titanic update required right after bootup was a bit of a downer, but the MiiVerse stuff is very cool - tons of people communicating via images/handwritten notes instead of text is super charming.

[Hawkbit]

http://www.slashgear.com/how-popular-is-the-wii-u-really-22262054/

I decided to conduct an informal poll with other people I know who also own a Wii U. I asked them if they’ve been playing with the console much since its launch. Nearly every person said that they played it somewhat heavily in the first week after launch, but little after that.

It's only an opinion piece, but ouch. 

[Fabricated]

So it's basically like the original Wii where it was cool for like a week then it just sat there between first party releases.

[Rendakor]

Well it doesn't help that it came out at a bad time for 3rd party titles; by the time it had launched nearly every major game had already released for the year (across all consoles). What's actually going to hurt them is that they've failed to secure any of the big multiplatform titles coming in early '13: Tomb Raider, Devil May Cry, GTA V, Metal Gear Rising, Dead Space 3, Bioshock Infinite, Crysis 3, etc. are all coming out on PS3/360 but none on the Wii U. The only two I could find that are confirmed for the Wii U are Aliens Colonial Marines and Injustice: Gods Among Us. I realize most of those titles have been in development for a while, but if the Wii U is going to actually succeed it's going to need to get titles like these released on day 1.

[Margalis]

Why do people care about multiplatform titles any more? They are basically commodity products at this point. Not only are they available for and roughly equivalent on PS3 and 360 but many of them are superior on PC as well. Who needs 4 systems that play the same games?

It's like having Netflix on a device. If nobody has Netflix and you do that's a pretty nice advantage, but if every other device has Netflix and yours doesn't it doesn't really matter any more given that most households already have a billion ways to watch it and don't need another. (See also: DVD playback)

I assume most people who care about multiplats already own a 360 or PS3. If I own one of those and can get Tomb Raider on it (because I like terrible games apparently) I don't see how being able to also get it for another system I own is something I should care about.

It seems to only matter if you don't own a PS3 or 360 or were looking to sell/trade them away once you got a WiiU.

This is also why I probably won't get an MS system next gen. Beyond a new Forza and Halo every year (two games I don't care about) there's not much reason to own a 360 over a PS3 at this point. I do, but in retrospect that was a mistake. XBLA is slowly withering away in terms of meaningful exclusives and the gap between the quality of PS3 and 360 versions of games has closed considerably. There is really nothing my 360 does that a PS3 couldn't do, and while I'm not a huge fan of Sony's first and second party output it's definitely better than Microsofts.

[KallDrexx]

The good:
* Holy crap Margalis wasn't kidding about the range.  As long as you aren't moving I can use the new Gamepad and play Mario pretty much anywhere in the house.  Moving the gamepad a lot makes it lag pretty bad the farther you are.
* Mario is really really fun, though that's to be expected
* Being able to play games or watch Netflix without using the TV is fantastic, it really is.  This has serious potential that Nintendo needs to capitalize on (but probably won't for reasons I'll mention below)
* The gamepad, while bigger than I expected is extremely comfortable actually.  I'm really surprised how light it feels, as it looks like it should be bulkier.  
* Using the gamepad as a TV remote is pretty nice, especially when you need to quickly increase/lower the volume in a game without suddenly hunting for the other remote.  yes it's the little things in life.

The Bad:
* Nintendo is retarded.  Miis are now your profiles (like windows logins it seems).  You then tie your Nintendo ID to your Mii.  The problem is it expressly forbids you from associating 2 mii's *on the same system* to the same nintendo Id.  Sooo it seems that I will lose functionality and not be able to play online if I'm not playing as my wife's Mii......   For a console that is heavily advertised to families, this has to be the most retarded thing I have ever, ever heard.  In fact, the wording of the error clearly states "on the same console" which means you can probably associate a mii on another system to that Nintendo Id.

* In Mario, you must have 2 wii-motes to play multiplayer.  If you are playing single player the first player has the choice of using the gamepad or the wiimote.  Once you add a 2nd player in, both players MUST use a wiimote.  You do not have the option for one player to use the gamepad and the other to use a wiimote.  In multiplayer, the only purpose of the gamepad is for someone to occasionally tap the screen and create temporary blocks to help give a boost to high areas.

* The wii menu is extreamly clunky, which I think is due to the touch screen.  While the touch screen works fine in games, it seems very hard to consistently tap compared to my cell phone.  It feels like a resistive (or whatever the older touch screen technology is) touch screen where you have to press hard for it to register taps.  That causes drags to not work all the time and taps to sometimes miss.  I don't feel like this while playing games though because the touch screen hasn't been a focus while gaming so far.

* Not all apps take advantage of the gamepad well.  While Mario and Netflix allow you to swap between the gamepad and the tv, Hulu and other apps don't.  This worries me that most games are going to not allow this and if so I'll be extremely disappointed.  I would love to be able to play a lot of games on the couch while my wife watches TV, and switch back to the TV when she leaves.  It would also be nice to play on my tv and then pause to go play in the bed for a bit.  

* The wii is heavily getting into social networking, and it makes me rage.  Every time I beat a level in mario it pops up "Do you want to write about this level to the wii verse?".  After the 5th time you beat a level and select "another time" it starts to get annoying.  

Those are my comments after one day.  

[Lakov_Sanite]

 Every time I beat a level in mario it pops up "Do you want to write about this level to the wii verse?".  After the 5th time you beat a level and select "another time" it starts to get annoying.  

Fuck.
That.

[KallDrexx]

I'll also mention though that my friend says he's never seen that, so apparently there is a way to disable it, or I (or my wife) accidentally enabled it and I need to figure out where.

[Yegolev]

The Wii has shit the bed so I guess I'll be getting a WeeOoo.  Also one of those trigram screwdrivers so I can get the game disc out of the Wii.

[Margalis]

The two Wiimotes thing for Mario really is super dumb, doesn't make any sense at all. Maybe they wanted to save a screen where you have to designate which controller is used for what but it's very strange and awkward.

Playing only on the pad seems to be a big hit, basically everyone thinks it is one of the best features, so I suspect moving forward most games will support it.

On a note somewhat similar to watching Netflix on the pad in the house, on like the second day I had the WiiU I wrote a Python server I can run on a computer in my house that serves movies to the WiiU. It's a little web-app that let's you browse directories and displays movies the WiiU browser can render. (Mp4 and mov) It's not really specific to the WiiU other than that the interface fits nicely on the pad, it only lists stuff the WiiU can play, and I made sure it worked properly with the quirks on the WiiU browser. It's pretty handy.

It's just one file, if anyone cares I could share it.

[Merusk]

The Wii has shit the bed so I guess I'll be getting a WeeOoo.  Also one of those trigram screwdrivers so I can get the game disc out of the Wii.

When I had to do a similar repair on a Gameboy (kids are talented destroyers...) I found out Harbor freight has a whole "security screwhead" set which includes this for about $9. Best of luck!

http://www.harborfreight.com/100-piece-security-bit-set-68457.html

[Yegolev]

I love Harbor Freight and the Chinese children they employ.

I was looking at the Wiuu specs and it doesn't seem to have a SD card slot.  Savegames from the Wii gone forever?

[Margalis]

It has an SD card slot and you can transfer all save data, virtual console/WiiWare games and Miis from Wii to WiiU via an app that uses the SD card. If you have VC games saved to an SD card on the Wii you may have to re-download them (for free) after the transfer.

You cannot store data on an SD card for the WiiU, but you can hook up a USB external HD.

I haven't actually used the xfer app myself, keeping my Wii hooked up for now until I finish some old GC games...

[KallDrexx]

Do VC games play on the gamepad?  It would be bad ass to have the old mario games playable on the gamepad while in the other room.

[Margalis]

Do VC games play on the gamepad?  It would be bad ass to have the old mario games playable on the gamepad while in the other room.

Sadly no. Supposedly coming in an update at some point.

[Yegolev]

You cannot store data on an SD card for the WiiU, but you can hook up a USB external HD.

Well, oddly enough I already have an old external hard disk with a USB connection sitting on my shelf from when my PS3s kept shuffling off their mortal coils.  Currently I just have a USB stick in the PS3 as a backup to the backup.

Reminds me I need to see if I can plug that thing into the 360 and backup my saves there as well.

[Yegolev]

http://www.harborfreight.com/100-piece-security-bit-set-68457.html

I'm glad there was a picture on the site.  I already have that exact box.

[schild]

Just graduate your kids off the brand. There's no reason to keep supporting this shit.

[Yegolev]

I hear what you are saying.  Contrarily, the 3DS XL is great.

[DevilsAdvocate25]

Bought my Wii U from Gamestop last week. It won't be opened until Christmas. I may get NBA 2K13 for it. Not sure yet what my kids want on it, but they had fun playing Rabbids Land in the store. I know they want Warriors Orochi 3, as well. I may end up getting some games off of the Wii Store as well. I hope they have Gamecube titles on there. The kids love their Gamecube games.

First off, I was wrong about the game they played. It was Rayman Legends. Which wasn't out before Christmas.

Well, we unboxed it and the kids were excited. (Boy, 14, Girl, 12)

Nintendo Land.

It has a bunch of fun mini games. The pad is really cool to use in the games where you have to come find people. I think it would be good for two player shooters where one watches the pad, the other watches the tv.

Pros:
Fun minigames for kids. Mario Chase, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing and Pikmin Adventure get a lot of play
The Ninja game with the throwing stars was fun to watch my kids try out. But it's not multiplayer, so they went back to the multiplayer games.

Cons:
Some games require the Wii Motion plus sensors. We still have original Wii controllers and only had one sensor, so the Zelda game and I think it was the Metroid game are unplayable.

Scribblenauts Unlimited

I bought this for my daughter. She loves it. She played it for a few hours last night. I watched her play and she was having fun creating items. She hasn't figured out all the intricacies yet, but she has fun with the puzzles and with the words. It's played with the pad and was very intuitive to play but seemed to have more depth that she hadn't even gotten to yet.

007 Legends

James Bond with missions from 5 of his older movies but Daniel Craig as Bond in all of the missions.

This game was unplayable for multiplayer. It requires the Wii U wireless Pro Controller. We have the old Wii Pro Controllers that hook to the Wiimote (even have a gold one from Goldeneye), but they don't work with the game and neither do standard wiimotes.

My son played with the pad in single player and quit after one mission. He didn't like where the triggers and the movement/camera controls were.

Super Mario Brothers Wii U

I watched the kids play this one. It seemed like the pad just made it easier for the person using the wiimote which took the challenge out of the game for them and they got bored after about 2 levels and went back to Nintendo Land.

Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper

My son said he tried it out but I haven't seen either of them play it yet. Once we play it, I'll report back my impressions of it.


So, overall, the kids liked the game it came with and everyone loves the pad. We strongly dislike the requirement to have Wii Motion Plus or Wii U Pro Controllers since it seems like a money grab. Once I buy a bunch of these new controllers, we'll try some of the other games on it.

What's actually going to hurt them is that they've failed to secure any of the big multiplatform titles coming in early '13: Tomb Raider, Devil May Cry, GTA V, Metal Gear Rising, Dead Space 3, Bioshock Infinite, Crysis 3, etc. are all coming out on PS3/360 but none on the Wii U.

Dead Space 3 = M rated
Devil May Cry = M rated
Metal Gear Rising = M rated
Tomb Raider (2013) = Rating Pending (attempted rape will probably make this M Rated)
Grand Theft Auto V = M rated (All games in the series so far have been M rated)
Bioshock Infinite = M rated (All games in the series so far have been M rated)
Crysis 3 = M rated (All games in the series so far have been M rated)

All ratings taken from ESRB.org

I detect a trend. All the games you listed are not for children. The Wii U is for children and family play. Anyone interested in playing the games you've listed more than likely already own an X-Box or PS3. Or play those games on the PC. You do make a good point that Wii is missing out on multiplatform games, but it is possible that it's on purpose.

The biggest thing we are looking forward to at this point is Nintendo putting a lot of the Gamecube games in their e-store. And whenever the new Smash Brothers game comes out. They love Smash Brothers.

Edit: Fixed attribution on quote

[Rendakor]

That was me you quoted, not Margalis. And if they are avoiding Mature games why did they get Blops2, AC3 and ME3 released?

[Margalis]

That was me you quoted, not Margalis. And if they are avoiding Mature games why did they get Blops2, AC3 and ME3 released?

A lot of publishers do believe that 3rd party games don't sell on Nintendo systems, especially M-rated games, so I'm sure for many publishers it isn't worth the effort (in their minds) to try to port an M-rated game over to WiiU.

Nintendo hasn't actively avoided mature content since the SNES days, but it's quite possible mature-content makers will continue to ignore Nintendo systems.

Ubisoft is basically the only major 3rd party publisher with a coherent Nintendo strategy. Everyone else is derping around making games like Dead Space Extraction.

[Rendakor]

It's something Nintendo should be actively trying to fix imo; third party support is a big deal for me because I'd like to be able to play those games I listed on the cool tablet controller while laying in bed.

[Cyrrex]

It's something Nintendo should be actively trying to fix imo; third party support is a big deal for me because I'd like to be able to play those games I listed on the cool tablet controller while laying in bed.

Yeah, this.  I am going to miss like hell some of the brilliant Nintendo exclusives, but I'm not sure I can ever bring myself to plunk down money on a Nintendo system anymore, unless it plays all the big titles as well.  There are just too many entertainment avenues out there for me to fret overly much about not playing the next Zelda title or whatever.