With the Wii U on the horizon, it’s obvious that Nintendo is ready for a change of pace. While the console may not offer the highest specs available, they definitely are on track to change the way we think about games. We can already see that this is true with Microsoft and their Smart Glass initiative. Perhaps this has been in development for awhile, but from the outside looking in it looks like a quick answer to what Nintendo is doing with Wii U. Will Sony soon follow suit and establish a new standard in console gaming? Only time will tell, but rest assured that it is Nintendo that is leading the way.
The real question of them moment is whether or not developers will take advantage of the new technology made available by having a touch screen at their disposal. The obvious usages that come to mind are using the second screen for a map or an inventory management system, but what else will be implemented in the future? Judging by Nintendo’s E3 showing, they would like gamers to really take in the joys of asynchronous gaming with the new Wii U GamePad, and this is where I think the real potential lies.
Nintendo has put their foot in the pool when it comes to asynchronous gaming once before with GBA to GameCube connectivity, but nothing to the extent of what they are planning with Wii U. Nintendo and their third party partners are only limited by their imaginations as to how they plan to best implement the technology afforded by the Wii U’s GamePad, and this is exactly why the concept of the console is so exciting. Nintendo has caught onto the fact that pushing the technical specifications of a console can only take the company so far, you only have to look the PS3 to see that this is true, and are looking so change the industry’s perception of what playing a game is all about.
Whether Microsoft and Sony follow suit with their own second screen gaming implementations only time will tell. Judging by recent events however, what with the development of Playstation Move and the Xbox Kinect, Nintendo will be leading the way once again with their Wii U initiative. Whether developers find value in developing for the console is another story, and one that should be interesting to see unfold.
wakko1337
Correct me if I’m wrong. Please. But when they announced the Wii U, the video they had showed a guy playing NSMB on it, when someone wanted to watch something. He started playing on the GamePad instead.
Reggie told Kotaku that you can’t play Wii Games or virtual console games only on the GamePad.
What the hell made them turn on the very point that sold me on the system?
Eugene Allen
@Wakko1337
I can’t imagine that this will last for the entire console generation, but I agree that it is very stupid of Nintendo to not include this feature at launch. There can’t be any technical limitations for running virtual console games on the GamePad, so why would Nintendo not foresee users wanting to do this?
I see this happening with a console update in the future, much like adding online connectivity to the 3DS was added after launch. Hopefully I am correct in my assumption, because this would be a major blow to what Nintendo is trying to accomplish with Wii U.
batmyke
I could be wrong, but I believe that the guy in the video was playing New Super Mario Bros. U, not the Wii title. Not that it changes anything – I agree that Nintendo ought to be offering this feature right out of the gate, not delaying it for later.
I do believe that the Wii U, by its very nature, will change the gaming landscape, although the change may be subtle. No doubt, many third party games will fail to truly leverage what the Gamepad and asymmetric gameplay can do for their titles, but Nintendo will frequently show everyone some groundbreaking new possibilities (beginning with Nintendoland, of course).
Smart Glass is a great concept, as is the integration of the Vita into the Playstation 3 ecosystem. The reality is, however, that neither of these offer the persistent presence and connection, nor the affordability that the Wii U does. I won’t be at all surprised if the next XBOX and Playstation systems roll out with some mimicry of the Gamepad, just as Kinect and Move came to the table (too late).
Never underestimate Nintendo…
The Adza
Super Mario Bros Mii was the game demo
Jared
Perhaps it has something to do with lag? I remember that being a big issue during development..?
Mustache Killer
you would have to be dumb to think that the Wiiu would not change anything. Nintendo has always changed the gaming world, with the exception of the Gamecube. The social network on the Wiiu will already change the way other companies think about online interactions.
Josh
Unfortunately Nintendo’s mindshare has seriously eroded in recent years. They will have a difficult time marketing the Wii U I think.
wakko1337
How did the Gamecube not change anything?
Mustache Killer
Don’t get me wrong. I love the gamecube and I loved that it had 4 controller ports but aside from that it didn’t really do anything special compared to its peer consoles at the time (ps2 xbox). You couldn’t even fit dvds into it let alone play them on it. The controller was kind of cool and different from it’s counterparts. It had great color spectrum and pretty great polygon counts but it didn’t push that. The only game to really show off the systems power was RE4 and LoZTP.