Nintendo Shoots Itself In the Right Foot To Save The Left Foot

[Guest]

Let me know how your vitriol holds up the first time you go to select weapons or items in any rpg or even fps after you've accumulated quite a full selection. I also see some handwritting recognition on the horizon as well.

 

[RipperjackAU]

What? You need two hands? How am I going to play Tomb Raider and other fem-fatal games now when I have to use BOTH hands for the controller.

 

[gm0n3y]

That editorial was pretty spot on. The current Wii controller, while innovative and somewhat intuitive, is already underdeveloped. They really should be refining the current controller instead of introducing another. I'm still not sold on anything Nintendo has done since SNES other than the odd game (Mario Party, Mario Kart, etc). I understand that they needed to improve drastically from the Wii which, device sales numbers aside, is the worst console of the group by far. Unless Nintendo has some compelling gaming ideas up their sleeves, this is going to bomb. Sure, they might sell a ton of consoles again, but if they aren't making much (if any) profit on them and nobody buys games (like the current Wii) then it will be another flop.

 

[Gazornenplat]

Thanks for the disclaimer, but this kind of post really belongs more on a personal blog than as an "article." My first thought was, "oh, another Tom's anti-Nintendo article." That's what's great about Nintendo, they don't just lather, rinse, repeat. They're willing to take huge risks. MS and Sony innovation is "doing the same thing with more pixels" and then let's do the same thing with more pixels online! Oooh! MS & Sony have great products, for sure. And there's a lot to be said for sticking to the basics and building a mammoth developer base. They've done it really well. But what are they doing to step out there and be different? Copying the Wii with Kinect and Move? Hey, Sony copying the N64 with dual shock controllers, even (granted, a much better implementation than the N64 stick of death)? Somebody's got to stick their neck out there to get things interesting (GameCube excluded *cough*). Way to go, Nintendo. Let's just simmer down and see where this ends up. Don't get all huffy about somebody doing something you don't understand!

 

[old_newbie]

I was going to write a lengthy retort, but everyone's comments so far are spot on about the horrid misinterpretations in article.

Somehow though, it seems am I the only one who gets the point of this screen contoller. You actually have to think larger than just menu selections and playing mario on your lap (although those are cool uses).

From what I saw from the E3 video, that screen in the controller acts like a window to the virtual game world surrounding you. It shows you things in a game that occur OUTSIDE of your TV's bezel (eg. point controller to the floor and see a golf ball on the ground or point it at the ceiling and see a pop fly ball in the air, etc.). Kinect and Move cannot do not do that.

This is actually a good step toward complete immersion in a game world (IE virtual reality).

Right now, developers need to improve on the 'game experience' to get this stagnant industry moving again, and Nintendo realizes that. Bravo!

 

[abowlofsoda]

Sounds good to me. I'm a gamer.. not a console kiddie. I'll buy one and it can sit next to my other consoles.

Then when I'm done I can get back on my iPad or play some PC gaming.

Coke/Pepsi, Blue/Red, Republican/Domocrat, AMD/Intel, etc.. why is it always one or the other?

 

[Guest]

You missed one the biggest reasons they shot themselves in this article.

NO BluRay or DVD playback capability.

Nintendo President was quoted as saying the reason why was because Nintendo felt there were enough devices out there that had this capability, so there was no need to get theirs setup to do so. Um...not the point Nintendo. You just lost out on a whole new marketing angle. The few holdouts there were who have not gone bluray or didnt want to justify $200 for one, may justify $400 for a a Wii U that both HD Game and play movies. I mean...at least DVD playback..come on.

 

[dark_lord69]

To be honest...
Even though I've been playing Nintendo games since shortly after the release of the first Nintendo..
Part of me wants them to give up on making consoles and just make games. I think Sony and Microsoft have a better idea of what people want from a console. The only reason I even bought a wii was for games like Zelda, Mario and Metroid. It certainly wasn't so I could play gimmick games like wii sports. Games like those are for people that ARE NOT real gamers. Nintendo is always getting it wrong. I don't know who is incharge of console creation but they don't know what people really want, they may have vision in some aspects but they are missing the bigger picture.
I would be very happy if I could see Mario, Link and the rest of the Nintendo gang appear on the PS3 or XBOX360 and never have to buy a Nintendo again.

ON THE OTHER HAND...
I DO like the screen on the controller.
Why? Because just like they showed, my wife always demands we watch her crappy shows like dancing with the stars and being able to switch to a portable controller and play HD games on a high power game system would be pretty cool. I could play games while she's watching her dumb shows.
Other good uses for it:
For scrolling though menu's and items like an inventory screen...
and...
.... ummmm... uuuh...
I can't really think of any... In the video they showed a few ways it could be used like...
Lay it on the ground to see the golf ball when you hit it.... stupid: Who's gonna bend over and put a controller on the ground just so they can see the ball?
Hold it up to the screen to catch a fly ball... stupid: Although I think it might be neat to use to find hidden passages in zelda.
sliding ninja stars out toward the screen... stupid: you could have just done the same thing with the wiimote...

 

[unclealek2659]

there just dishing out crap to try and come back, just like sega did 15 years ago. this new gimmicky console is the equivalent to the sega saturn or maybe the atari jaguar, no one gives a damn. which is unfortunate, cuz gamecube and the n64 kicked ass

 

[upgrade_1977]

Hopefully someone will hack the controller and get it to work on the pc. Love to use it to play some STO or Upcoming starwars. That would be cool. Or use it with remote desktop.

 

[bin1127]

analyst are beating down the stock. which basically just a setup for hedge funds to load up. SOB POS WII-U PWNS!

 

[HappyBB]

I hope you are right, Mr. Gruener. However, it's too early to make a definitive judgement about Wii U at this moment. People had doubts about Wii, but it turned out to be such a success in sales. I do agree with you on that Nintendo seems crazy about tablets now, and I am sure additional tablet controllers will be expensive to own or fix.

Even though those demos of Wii U looked very amazing in Nintendo's presentation, I still cannot get rid of the kiddie image that Nintendo has built up since GameCube era. Such image has kept me from believing Nintendo's commitment in gamers like those on 360 and PS3. When Wii rolled out, several high profile developers promised to develop games for it. However, sales were not good and fewer and fewer high profile games came out for Wii. History can repeat itself again for the Wii U. Let's just wait and see.

Personally, I don't like to see Nintendo to succeed again. However, I have learned to accept it now.

 

[roa33]

I would highly suggest disregarding this news article as the author didn't even get the facts straight. The Wii U doesn't require you to use the tablet, so your senior citizens and "non-hardcore" gamers are still just as good off as they were before with a standard Wii remote. Currently only "ONE" tablet is being supported not two. The console does not get rid of existing Wii controllers and games. For as far as anyone is concerned the old style games probably won't go away for the casual gamer or senior citizen. As far as graphics go the system is better than the current Xbox 360 and PS3 which Nintendo mentioned would support 1080p (on the the main tv screen) indefinitely at their press conference. All in all it's really to early to judge the system and what its capable of doing. I do agree however that Nintendo could have done a better job initially presenting what it is and what it can do.

 

[hixbot]

If you have a nice big HDTV in your living room, why would you want to stare at a tablet controller?

Nintendo should have kept and improved their motion control scheme added a decent analog controllers for FPS and improved the hardware to catch up or surpass the graphics of 360/PS3. Some of the Wii games are still amazing. The hardcore gamers appreciate FUN, not gimmicks. No waggle crap, give us REAL motion. There are a few Wii games that do this, but not enough. most are waggle fests. why would i want to shake the remote instead of pressing a button? This is why most Wii games suck. Not because they are "casual", but because they plain suck. The division between hardcore and casual isn't as clear as people make it. The real division is between fun and crap.

but this Wii U...
Nothing could be a bigger failure than giving us another screen to look at. we spent good money on our HDTVs, don't distract us from them. They tried to make the GBA connect to the Gamecube and nobody was interested, especially developers.

 

[allomancer]

If the Wii and the DS taught us anything, it's not to listen to gamers' and game industry pundits' opinions on how their systems are going to do before launch. The fact is, Nintendo does stuff that is so out there that nobody knows how the public is going to react to it, especially before there's actually any real software for it. So, bravo for expressing your opinion, but, you know, opinions and assholes, everybody's got one, etc.

 

[dalauder]

I still don't get why they're using 4000 series Radeons over 5000 series if they're dead set on old hardware.

 

[dalauder]

[citation][nom]abowlofsoda[/nom]Coke/Pepsi, Blue/Red, Republican/Domocrat, AMD/Intel, etc.. why is it always one or the other?[/citation]Because if one is always busy screwing up so it's tough to back them.

 

[Guest]

From a non gamer view I like idea of Wii U.
I will have instant internet access from the tablet.
When I get in from work, my son can switch his game from the TV to the tablet so I can watch the news.
The tablet is designed to sit on a table, which will allow use by the little ones such as with the hide and seek game. That said in all probability the mums and dads will use the tablet.
Regarding care homes, the tablet will allow internet access without the need to buy ipads etc.
In short the tablet wii does not replace the remotes but will add to what the wii offers.