General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[Sean]

That looks uncomfortable, but what do I know.

Name's stupid too. Are we ever going to get over this fad of representing "individualism" or "connectivity" by the letters I and U, or other stupidly blatant references? I mean, the "Wii" alone already did that.

[Yong]

A potential problem I just realized for the third party HD game rennisance while watching Kotaku's look at the controller is that both the Wii U tablet controller and the classic controller pro don't have L3 and R3 click buttons in the sticks. It's great that the Wii U is going to get all these third party games, but don't a great deal of them use R3 and L3? Will we see a new a new classic controller pro pro/super pro/elite/etc. before/at/after the launch of Wii U that has click sticks?

[Diogenes]

Dumb name, awkward looking controller, and almost nothing about the actual games to chew on.

But.

If it all comes together right, it could be pretty damn brilliant.

[Mollfie]

It makes sense for them not to talk too much about games for it etc considered it's Zelda anniversaty year, all the other games coming out etc. They want you to still buy Wii games and be excited over those. This was to hype people up, and it's also divided fans which is good in some respects as it means lots of free feedback for Nintendo and it means people are interested one way or the other. They'll tell us and show us more later on and next year.

[Patticus]

Dumb name, awkward looking controller, and almost nothing about the actual games to chew on.

No idea when next year it releases though, it'll probably be later and there's at least a couple of games conventions (E3 included) between now and whenever it'll be out.

Basically, the games just aren't ready yet.

[Sion-Ta]

While I'm still skeptical, and fairly unimpressed by the Wii U... I do like that the line between handhelds and consoles is being blurred out. Soon handhelds will be an extention of home consoles, meaning I won't have to buy as much. : D

[Patticus]

I'd love to see what Mass Effect could be like on this platform; hell I'd like them to release the first two installments on it just so we can do the whole menu/lore/upgrade/hacking etc things on there without having to pause and stuff all the time to do it on the main screen.

Oh oh and they should do a new Metroid Primey game too; hold up the screen to scan stuff, use new visor modes, view lore etc. That'd work well in Arkham City too.

I'm so excited.

[Patticus]

This pic gives you a good idea of the console's size:

Disk size is 25GB http://kotaku.com/5809701/wii-u-discs-will-be-25gb-in-size

[novelty]

This pic gives you a good idea of the console's size:

Disk size is 25GB http://kotaku.com/5809701/wii-u-discs-will-be-25gb-in-size

So its an ACTUAL Console...that rocks.

[Phos]

How much are these controllers going to cost? So many gizmos in them...

[Candescence]

Apparently this runs on a scaled-down version of the POWER7 chip used in IBM's Power 750 server line.

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/750/specs.html

For reference, POWER7 is an insanely powerful microarchitecture; if the heat is gotten under control for the WiiU, it'll have HUGE amounts of CPU power at its disposal.

So, really, the WiiU may be more powerful than Nintendo are letting on.

[Tornado]

A thought occurs after reading the newest Madmax comic: You know what would be the most awesome thing ever for this system? Pokemon Snap sequel. Use the controller screen like it is a camera viewfinder. I'd buy that shit so fast.

[azoo]

I don't know what to say, other than the fact that it looks incredibly flipping awesome and I'm probably gonna pre-order it for a wonderful day one purchase.

Nintendo's back in the saddle again, and they're doing it with style.

[Chooch]

The Nintendo Wii U tablet-style controller will not be sold separately from it new HD console, Nintendo has told CVG.

We asked a company spokesperson at the firm's VIP stand at E3 2011 in Los Angeles today about the price of each item. He told us that there would only be one bundled RRP, adding: "Both the controller and the console will be sold as one unit. You won't be able to buy the controller alone."

The rep also told us that multiplayer games being created for the system are only being designed to accomodate one tablet-style controller, whilst other players will need to use a Wiimote. It is currently unknown whether it is possible to sync more than one of the new controllers to a single Wii U.

What??

[Nepenthe]

So if my dog suddenly decides one day that my controller is edible.... what, I'm out of luck? That's... stupid.

[Ferno]

So if my dog suddenly decides one day that my controller is edible.... what, I'm out of luck? That's... stupid.

No- this is Nintendo we're talking about- I'm sure they have an epic reason behind this! :U

*In an alternate universe*

Sony: "Only one Vita can connect to the PS3 and they're bound forever once connected."

*Angry mob*

Edited June 8, 2011 by Inferno

[Sega DogTagz]

Uh, that's a bit of a bummer, if only due to the loss of the multiplayer feasibility of having more than one tablet. Screen-watching would have been a thing of the past.

[Yong]

So if my dog suddenly decides one day that my controller is edible.... what, I'm out of luck? That's... stupid.

I know Nintendo of America has an online parts replacement store for getting odds and ends you need replaced, like battery covers and such. You can get replacement Pokewalkers from said site. Perhaps Nintendo will do something there about replacing a misplaced tablet.

[Nepenthe]

Good to know there's that avenue, but really, I would much prefer knowing I can just walk into a store and buy another one. One tablet per console is just.... argh.

[SuperStingray]

I just finished watching the press conference and here's how I feel.

If nothing else, Nintendo holds my prize for most respectable first-party game company over Microsoft and Sony, at least for the past generation. Microsoft's just been a slave to the market, trying to hammer niche-appeal games and safe franchises down everyone's throats, and while Sony's been solid, PSN hax aside, they haven't brought much to the table other than annexing existing technologies to their own. But Nintendo seems to have an internal need to innovate for better or worse; they're as avant-garde as a technology company gets. Even flops like Virtual Boy I have to appreciate for the risks taken in their development. But while the Wii brought new life to motion controls in gaming, its biggest downfall, needless to say, is that motion controls are pretty much all it had to stand on. There WERE many hardcore games for it, but they mostly fell on deaf ears because the big boy consoles had more contemporary controls and overall better technical capabilities. And with the Kinect and Move, Microsoft and Sony pretty much caved in on Nintendo's last market stronghold.

So here's the Wii U with it's fancy new interface. Strictly from its presentation, it looks damn impressive, but my one question is how can we trust they've patched that hole?

Well for starters, the Wii U is at least on par with its competition in terms of processing power and the third party REALLY looks way more invested in it. I think it says something that EA made a guest appearance at Nintendo's press conference for the first time ever. It also looks to have ports of current gen games that aren't cheaper half-assed versions of the hi-def ones. I think its safe to say that despite whatever gimmick it may have, it's library is going to be MUCH stronger in the eyes of the hardcore market than the Wii's.

As for the new controller, they've already proven its versatility, and I doubt its any less awkward than an iPad but I'll have to hold it myself to say for sure. Still, I'm sure Ninty has a good ergonomics team on board so I doubt it'll give me a cramp. My only concern is that switching your focus between the game screen and controller screen will be Waggle 2.0. Game companies love exploiting the new capabilities it has to offer, sometimes at the expense of the game itself. The Wii had this issue a lot, but some pointless waggle I blame on a very limited controller set up with only up to six buttons and a single analog pad. Wii U seems to at least have a good and well-ranged distribution and setup of traditional input devices, so there's that.

Then there's the big question: online. If Xbox Live and PSN are well-built and energetic baseball players, Nintendo Wi-Fi is the fat kid who sits in the outfield picking grass until someone hits it long. It's there, but it doesn't understand the potential of creating an online community. That neat little camera avatar in the Starfox 3DS game shows they might be paying attention to developing their online service, but if Friend Codes return, I will break something.

tl;dr, massive potential and promise, don't let me down Ninty.

A thought occurs after reading the newest Madmax comic: You know what would be the most awesome thing ever for this system? Pokemon Snap sequel. Use the controller screen like it is a camera viewfinder. I'd buy that shit so fast.

Ditto. But above all else I'm waiting for the obligatory WarioWare release. I can't imagine the microgame potential with a controller like that.

[Conando]

Well that's rather odd, but Nintendo does have good replacement plans. You would think they'd sell the controllers separately, but maybe they don't think they'd be able to sell it at a good price.

[Jetronic]

Oh balls, people will not be pleased about this.

I'm sad, and will be sadder if someone else posted this.

(In a nutshell, WiiU will not upscale Wii games.....)

Edited June 8, 2011 by Jetronic

[Conando]

I actually already heard about this, Reggie said it not long after the conference. I myself don't really care, because it's not like upscaled previous generation games actually looked good, unless they were cel-shaded.

[Candescence]

... People were actually expecting it to upscale Wii games?

Not to mention I really fail to see the point. Wii games as they are look perfectly fine on my HD TV with component cables. The difference in visual quality from upscaling would be basically marginal.

Edit: Also, I just realised... The WiiU controller could work quite well for shooters, just by having the screen used as a 'pointer', and the right control stick for 'quick turning'. Sure, not quite mouse levels of accuracy and responsiveness, but a huge step up from dual stick like the Wii remote was.

Or DS-style with the touch screen would work well, too, as there's two sticks, making it better for lefties, and there's also another set of shoulder buttons.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Masaru Daimon

[Detective Shadzter]

This should make some people happy.

Pikmin 3 confirmed for Wii U

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306121/news/pikmin-3-confirmed-for-wii-u/

What??