Nintendo Wii U - review

[J0e Musashi]

It's not likely to be a big issue really though is it. I've got two GamePad's anyway. CEX sell them for ?60.

Mass Effect 3 is easily the best game on the system currently. I've had about 50 hours out of it so far.

[Decider-VT]

I'd say that it is, though. I deal with a lot of tourists shopping on holiday and this is just another thing to add to the "unsellable" list as far as they're concerned. It's an issue of Nintendo exerting control over what their customers buy and where, with no apparent justification for doing so other than nakedly preserving their profits.

[J0e Musashi]

Buying a Wii U GamePad would likely not feature on my list of things to buy whilst on holiday personally.

[originalbadboy]

Christ, Nintendo have even region-locked the controller. I'm so sick of this anti-consumer nonsense. Usually they dress this sort of thing up in some sort of overbearing, nannying twaddle but this seems so obviously designed to stop their domestic market from cheaply importing them from overseas when they become available.

Considering the Gamepad works on Wifi its not actually that surprising, different countries have different frequency regulations so they would have to abide by that.

[Decider-VT]

That's because they're easily available here. There are plenty of people who buy this sort of thing on holiday because it's too expensive in their home country or simply not available where they're from. For example, I talk to a lot of Brazilian people who buy games and accessories to bring home because the cost of buying them in Brazil is prohibitively expensive. Usually it's a minefield when they're buying games as there seems to be a mix of PAL and NTSC consoles in use over there but now I'll have to advise them on whether or not they'll be able to use our controllers with their hardware too.

Considering the Gamepad works on Wifi its not actually that surprising, different countries have different frequency regulations so they would have to abide by that.

Is it possible to manually change the Gamepad's frequency? And doesn't it have a really limited range?

[J0e Musashi]

Considering the Gamepad works on Wifi its not actually that surprising, different countries have different frequency regulations so they would have to abide by that.

The GamePad doesn't work on Wi-Fi.

[originalbadboy]

The GamePad doesn't work on Wi-Fi.

Er .. Yes it does!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U_GamePad

[originalbadboy]

Is it possible to manually change the Gamepad's frequency? And doesn't it have a really limited range?

There isn't any options to do that as far as I know .. Its going to be hardcoded to the country or Wifi region in question I would have thought. The Wifi frequency range of the different terrotories does overlap somewhat, but from a manufacturing point of view you have to comply with regulations for that particular Wifi territory.

The limited range is probably down to having a low powered Wifi unit .. You can still get around 30ft out of it, which isn't any worse than most pieces of equipment with Wifi in them.

[J0e Musashi]

Er .. Yes it does!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U_GamePad

Yes, but it cannot function independently of the Wii U itself. You can't take it to work and watch YouTube for example.

[originalbadboy]

Yes, but it cannot function independently of the Wii U itself. You can't take it to work and watch YouTube for example.

No but it connects to the WiiU via WiFi that was the point, its using the Wifi standards (802.11n in this case), so therefore needs to be compliant with the Wifi standards where it is being sold.

[Brad]

Sony managed to get Vitas to talk to PS3s across regions using WiFi. Nintendo couldn't explain to you why they have this limitation if you asked them. They don't even know themselves.

[jim g]

Isn't the Wii U supposed to be a home console in front of the telly and Vita a true handheld...?

[originalbadboy]

Sony managed to get Vitas to talk to PS3s across regions using WiFi. Nintendo couldn't explain to you why they have this limitation if you asked them. They don't even know themselves.

Don't get me wrong FSW, I am not trying to justify a stupid decision by Nintendo, rather just giving a technical reason why it might be the case.

In all fairness though, people importing second Gamepads (which you cant get yet anyway) are going to be a pretty small percentage.

[MartyG]

No but it connects to the WiiU via WiFi that was the point, its using the Wifi standards (802.11n in this case), so therefore needs to be compliant with the Wifi standards where it is being sold.

It's an IEEE global standard.

[originalbadboy]

It's an IEEE global standard.

Yes thats right, but wifi frequencies are different for each terrority, regardless.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

Looking at the Wiki its not as bad as it used to be, but the point being that there are differences and hence the need for regulation.