Gut reaction: What do you think of Wii U?

Infendo 32 Comments 5299 views Infendo

The console’s graphics look no better than PS3. It features a primary controller that streams video from the console. It’s backwards compatible with Wii games, Wiimotes, and other Wii peripherals. It supports interoperable mutliplayer with 3DS. It appears to have an abnormally high interest from HD developers. Your thoughts? 

Nintendo’s Upcoming Wii U Console Features Controller with 6.2-inch Screen

Nintendo 3DS Continues its Evolution with Mario Kart, Super Mario and the Nintendo eShop as Nintendo Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– At the E3 Expo, Nintendo introduced a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment: Wii Uâ„¢, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen. Adding a second screen to the living room creates a multitude of new video game experiences while offering families a variety of options to customize their entertainment.

Previously, video games played on a home console have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. Furthermore, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Visitors to the E3 Expo will see firsthand the type of gaming experiences made possible by Wii U and the new controller such as:

  • In single-player games:
    • The new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV.
    • The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.
  • In multiplayer games:
    • The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV. This will offer a wide variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

In addition to the 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller™ button scheme – two analog Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons – will enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players.

Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remoteâ„¢ or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further. Developers worldwide are already working on new games and experiences for the console.

“Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. “The experience enabled by Wii U and the new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers.”

Nintendo 3DSâ„¢, which lets users see 3D images without the need for special glasses, launched in the United States on March 27 and continues to evolve. Owners will find that their Nintendo 3DS experience is different every time they pick up the system, thanks to new content and updates delivered by Nintendo, by third parties and exchanged between users.

A new system update is now available for the Nintendo 3DS system. Users who connect to a wireless broadband Internet connection and install the system update will instantly gain access to the Nintendo eShop, which contains a variety of games and applications for download using a cash-based system.

Users can browse original 3D software, 3D Classics (select classic video games re-mastered in 3D), classic Game Boyâ„¢ and Game Boy Color games, and more than 350 games and applications currently offered for the Nintendo DSiWareâ„¢ service. Visitors can also see videos and screen shots for games, plus see how other players rank games.

The system update also provides Nintendo 3DS owners access to free items, including an Internet browser that can show 3D images on sites specifically designed to show 3D images, a download of a re-mastered 3D version of the NES™ classic Excitebike™ game (free until July 7) and Pokédex™ 3D, which lets users discover and view more than 150 Pokémon™ from the Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games in visually engaging 3D.

Nintendo also announced a huge lineup of upcoming new and fan-favorite franchise games, many of which are playable on the E3 Expo show floor in booth 4922.

  • Nintendo 3DS: Super Marioâ„¢, Luigi’s Mansionâ„¢ 2, Mario Kartâ„¢, Kid Icarusâ„¢: Uprising, The Legend of Zeldaâ„¢: Ocarina of Timeâ„¢ 3D, Star Fox 64â„¢ 3D, Animal Crossingâ„¢, Paper Marioâ„¢, Picture Lives!, The Rolling Westernâ„¢.
  • Wii: The Legend of Zeldaâ„¢: Skyward Sword, Kirbyâ„¢ Wii, Wii Playâ„¢: Motion, Mystery Case Filesâ„¢: The Malgrave Incidentâ„¢, Mario Partyâ„¢ 9, Rhythm Heavenâ„¢ and Fortune Streetâ„¢.
  • Nintendo DSâ„¢: Kirbyâ„¢ Mass Attack, Professor Layton and the Last Specterâ„¢, Dragon Quest Monsters: Jokerâ„¢ 2 and Super Fossil Fightersâ„¢.

Nintendo kicked off its E3 Expo Presentation by announcing a number of initiatives to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. A re-mastered 3D version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches for Nintendo 3DS on June 19, while Wii owners will see the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in the 2011 holiday season. Additionally, Nintendo announced a tour of orchestral concerts featuring music from the beloved franchise. Additional commemorative activities will be announced at a later date.

For the duration of the E3 Expo, Nintendo will provide fans with exclusive videos and Nintendo content on the Nintendo Network. People can visit http://e3.nintendo.com to watch developer interviews, get all the information about new games and see coverage coming directly from the show floor. The same exclusive content also will be streamed through the Nintendo® Channel to Wii owners who have a broadband Internet connection.

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32 Comments

  1. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, WiiU looks promising to me!

  2. I’ll be honest – at first I was a little disappointed. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. Reggie didn’t pull it out of his dream coat, and there wasn’t any on stage usage happening. Save 8 seconds of a gorgeous Zelda, there weren’t any main franchise debuts. \

    Now I’m being shown a controller that’s doing a ton of weird casual stuff along side wii motes, zappers, and balance boards? I’m thinking, “Is this even a new console? Or just another Wii peripheral?”.

    Then I got mad and confused. Where were the details!? Where was the console itself? Only shown in passing and to most, resembling a Wii, the home console seemed to play no part.

    But now… as the thought of HD Nintendo franchises, and new ways to play games begins to creep into my mind, I feel ecstatic again. Problem is, I have to wait for more details. The whole show was shrouded in such mystery!

    I suppose its like I’m a falling young bird, waiting for the wind to catch my wings. Alright, I leapt, so where’s the wind Nintendo? (Sorry for the cheesy analogy).

  3. super pumped about the 3DS news & the WiiU announcement! i haven’t been the excited for something new in a long time.

  4. I was talking to the wife about it and my first reaction was doubt. Thankfully Nintendo has never let me down (I love the GameCube).

  5. I’m just seriously glad I get to keep all my peripherals.
    I thought I’d have to sell them for the new console. But from the looks of it: They can and will be used by the Wii U. So !PHEW!

    As for graphics. Dunno, we haven’t really been given anything specs on it.
    To say it runs no better than the PS3 may be a little premature to say… already people are saying that Battlefield 3 are looking like the PC specs on this thing, rather than just the 360/PS3 specs.

    Not only that, but… well… the PS3 isn’t even maxed out yet. So why would it be a bad thing if the graphics were no better than the PS3??? If the PS3 hasn’t found its full potential, why be so worried about it?

    Also: I love the idea of using this thing for the HUD. That’s fantasti-beautiful.

    ……… I’m actually more worried what Apple’s response to this will be rather than Microsoft or Sony. …Apple would probably want to compete in the home console battles if it could alter this design.

    🙂 I’m looking forward to it.
    I’m not blown-away. I’m not disappointed. I’m just honestly looking forward to it.
    Reggie constantly reminded the crowd that these were just the first steps, the first glimpses, the first passes — I really am curious what this console can REALLY do.

  6. Does anyone have a retail price yet? How about retail price for a second controller?

  7. Well done, Nintendo. Well done.

    *bows*

  8. Still in shock.

  9. Wii U?

    I dunno. I mean the controller is goofy, the console itself looks like a pastry or a pool toy, and that’s all we really know about it, other than the fact that it’s HD.

    I’m really excited about Smash Bros…but I mean…I have a 3DS for that, now. I’ll probably pick one up, depending on the launch titles….but if it’s another “Pilot Wings, Street Fighter, and nothing for half a year” scenario, then I can wait.

  10. Sorry it must be said Nintendo just took a **** on Sony and Microsoft. They literally rubbed it in by wiping the *** with them also.

  11. ^there

  12. This will be amazing, purely and simply amazing

  13. Just wow. It is beyond words, especially for Nintendo. It would seem that they’ve gotten Sony and Microsofts’ developers on their side. 🙂

  14. Im pumped the main reason is that there is so much to like about it and they haven’t even shown us any true first party games yet. the zelda tech-demo teaser was awesome and I really like the controller, the blend of that with he wii controller was sick and The idea of bein able to play when someone else is using the tv is simple but genius. People can say what they want about graphics being only as good as 360 or ps3 but that’s fine with me, to me it looks great the ps3 and 360 are terrific looking systems and if the wii U is gonna have similar possibly slightly better capabilities ill be happy with that. the 3rd party support from the get go is nice to see and just leaves me to imagine how much more is in store for us, as of now it’s mostly stuff being developed for the other two consoles but once developers start making exclusively for wii u now that’s gonna be something to look out for. Wii U is gonna be big and with smash bros already announced I can’t freakin wait! All in all I think nintendo is serious about the gaming for everyone, from what i saw there were things for hardcore and casual and both all on display +1up nintendo =)

  15. Cost? That’s the biggest thing. I guess N feels that consumers are comfortable with touchscreens, but how much is this monstrosity going to cost?

    My wife will certainly lke the idea of streaming the game to the controller while she watches TV. And I like the idea of no HUD; all info on the sub-screen. N just turned your TV into a big DS. I doubt many 3rd pary games are going to utilize this sub-screen, but even just menu/map/inventory in your hands is a cool step.

    Nintendo sure is crazy, though.

  16. I’m literally speechless… I just don’t know what to think!

    Since now we have three consoles with comparable graphic and processing power, I guess it all comes down to the price and what exclusives each has. And by exclusives I mean, of course, what can we do in each game version that we can’t on the other two!

  17. It looks good I’d love to be able to play games when the TV is in use. That’s always been why I’ve been a handheld nut. I do have worries though.

    1) While it will be easy to port current gen games to the WiiU I’m afraid that the WiiU will get leap-frogged in a couple years and put us in the same boat with current gen units. I.E. The other consoles get the lions share of the “hardcore” games.

    2) I’m afraid of the cost. At what point does it make more sense to buy a cheap gaming PC and upgrade the video card every 3-4 years and buy all the PC ports cheap on Steam. This isn’t really a dig an Nintendo but at all console makers.

    3) I’m still worried about Nintendo’s online system. Microsoft has a huge advantage with their experience. Nothing on the 3DS or Wii or DS leads me to believe they’ve closed the gap yet but I’m hoping they hit the ball out of the park here.

    4) I’m worried that the $50-70 cart/dvd model is dying. I see a more episodic model coming really soon. I’m not sure this hurts Nintendo at all rather I’m worried they won’t adapt to it quickly enough. Super Mario Galaxy 2 should have been downloadable content for the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy.

  18. Another gimmic, unfortunatley. Disapointing for us old school gamers who just want to play games and not fiddle with motion controls, clumsy peripherals and stylus’. I have no interest in placing my system on the floor and pretending to golf…

    For those of you that are fond of the new generation of gameplay; feel free to rejoice. Us old schoolers will proudly embrace our dying culture.

  19. I’m excited. Can’t wait to find out more. I’m very glad they’re not abandoning the huge Wii audience, but instead opening the door for even better experiences for everyone.

  20. @baelnic in regards to your 3rd concern, It’ seems like they are trying to push online connectivity and play with the 3ds already, did you see starfox and the mulitiplayer and kid icarus not to mention the e shop seems pretty sweet. also with more “hardcore” third party stuff on the way that relay heavily on online play I think it’s safe to say that nintendo is trying to step up their game when it comes to online play( I think a few developers even mentioned that they’re excited about the online capibilities) and it seems to me like they are taking the problem to heart.

  21. @baelnic
    For your first concern: Yes it’ll be leapfrogged, but here’s the biggest breaker for that problem: Nintendo consoles ALWAYS release within the 5-6 year timespan.

    Realize that the PS3 and 360 were boasting how they had 10 years of life in each. That their capabilities could take a decade to fully push. Even the PS3 was boasting 15-20 years.

    However, Sony is extremely competitive and always tries to release whenever a Nintendo console releases. Microsoft, on the other hand, releases whenever they feel like they’re ready to release a new one (which they technically could each and every time if they keep treating this like an un-upgradeable PC)… their console releases never fell in line with Nintendo or Sony, interestingly enough.

    So… think of it this way: Sony’s spending their money on the Vita, and they’re going to be losing a lot of money because of it (the $250 price is far below the actual cost of its production, manufacturing, marketing, and etc)… they announced it in order to compete with the 3DS. ……..what would happen if they tried to release another console so soon? They’d have to compete with the Wii U. And they’ll be losing money on that as well if they try to go beyond its capabilities while still competing in price.

    Sony will eventually lose altogether if it keeps that attitude up of competition, so Sony leapfrogging Nintendo will only help Nintendo in the long-run.
    Microsoft? It’ll keep doing what it’s doing. It seems like a decent competition for Nintendo, so anything they improve in themselves will only push Nintendo to improve in as well (as long as Sony’s out of the picture, that is).

  22. Mind blown.

    That said I truly hope the tagline for the Wii U is not “Wii. Deeper. Wider.” :p

  23. People still think the name Wii is a bit ridiculous. So let’s name our next one Wee-you! It makes me think of the movie Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (which is good I guess). This is why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JElywbkSbY

  24. Is the controller a touch pad? Looks very interesting, but I don’t know if I’ll like looking from controller to tv and back again.

  25. meh. uninterested. at least zelda looked hot.

  26. to be honest (even though the Wii U blew me away) I must say I was expecting more than PS3 level graphics.

  27. Call I can say is this : WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go NINTENDO. YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  28. SWiiT! That’s what this things is to me. I was confused at first, by thinking it was a controller in a console. Then I found out that they were only focusing on the controller for now. This is going to be an awesome system. I can’t wait to hear the launch price and see some more game footage.

    Imagine using this controller to look around and scan items in a Metroid game, without having that happen on your TV screen, or holding it up to deflect attacks from an enemy.

    SWiiT!!!

  29. At first I was like what the hell, then after it sunk in and marinated in my brain…I can’t wait to own one!

  30. My opinion on these matters is always swayed to the positive when I see one thing ZELDA. Nintendo knows Zelda is its most popular franchise among the hardcore, with one of the most rabid and large fanboy bases. So it’s hard for me to objectively judge the WiiU when one of the first images and videos I saw of it was an HD ZELDA video. I mean holy fucking shit HD ZELDA. An E3 with not one but TWO ZELDA GAMES and a remake of the one that solidified the franchise as the greatest has put me in one of my many “Nintendo can do no wrong” sorts of moods.

    Add to that the anouncement of TWO SUPER SMASH BROS. and Nintendo, all I can say do you guys have direct deposit, so my pay checks go straight to you bank account, eliminating that annoying amount of time where I have to take out my debit card so I can be that much closer to your new hotness?

    That being said, I do think Nintendo has something cool here!

  31. Scenario 1:

    Wii U is the Godtier of all consoles and entertainment devices ever — everyone in the world owns a tablet controller and carries it at all times in their Nintendo attache and uses it instead of their iPads. They make videochat calls on it to their professional friends and all the happy people get together online and in person to play the best hardcore games, Ninty franchises, funtimes casual party shlock.

    They will be able to download movies off the internet onto their TV or controller, turn their lights on and off from the controller using a 3rdparty app, join online Smash tournaments, have 30 person online F-Zero races, go to cafes and order their food using their controller, download Nintendo classic games off the Wii U and play them on the go wherever they like, and Retro will make a brilliant sequel to everyone’s favorite Nintendo franchise.

    Every Sony and Microsoft exclusive title will not only be present on the Wii U but will be enhanced by the unique controller. Nintendo will make a hardcore FPS starring Tingle and it will be the most popular game of all time.

    The Queen of England will personally go to Gamestop, buy the Wii U, use it every day and carry the controller religiously.

    Scenario 2:

    Wii U tries to beat Apple, Sony, & Microsoft all at the same time, on turf they dominate, while abandoning their core audience and their own philosophy. The Wii U tries to do everything and instead does nothing well. A godawful system, controller, and wifi setup destroys the self-esteem of even the most devoted Nintendo fans. Every title is a pun ending in “-Wii U” and there are Zs at the end of most words. There are no games and popular Nintendo franchises get turned into mini-game collections. A few buy the system, find it to be confusing, convoluted and ugly and never turn it on again.

    Cat Daddy Games buys Nintendo.

  32. The graphics looks much better than the PS3. The reason the third-party games didn’t is because they were showing PS3/Xbox 360 versions. Third-parties won’t be making cross-platform games separate for the Wii U, they’ll just port it over or vice versa. I feel like that’s obvious, and not an indication of the system’s graphical capabilities. The Zelda HD demo looked amazing and showed off how amazing the games can look. The exclusives and first-party games will be beautiful. The cross-platform games will look similar to the other systems. Nothing wrong there, just obvious.

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