Nintendo Wii U

[GluedOnBeard]

Indeed nintendo didnt when designing the wii control scheme....hence the controller redesign.

It's not a redeisgn, they still have the originals for the Wii U? The new controller is to make the Wii U seem more than just a speed bump.

I think a lot of games on the Wii did not implement the controls correctly. Not many developers seemed to know how to handle it. For me using the Wii controller (party games etc aside) Skyward Sword was the only game I enjoyed using them on.

[Neon Ignition]

Unless they've already said how and I've missed it (probably), I'm hoping the WiiU controller is powered by a proper chargable lithium battery this time too, I don't want tons of AA's hanging around again. Overall the controller is what I'm least worried about, I'm sure it will depend on different peoples hand sizes as to how comfortable they find it but for me the dimensions given and the design of it look to be very comfortable.

[PaTaito]

It's not a redeisgn, they still have the originals for the Wii U? The new controller is to make the Wii U seem more than just a speed bump.

I think a lot of games on the Wii did not implement the controls correctly. Not many developers seemed to know how to handle it. For me using the Wii controller (party games etc aside) Skyward Sword was the only game I enjoyed using them on.

I agree about skyward sword being the only enjoyable game regarding the wii controls. And regarding the controller redisign, they may be keeping the wiimote for backward compatibilty, but watch how many proper WiiU games use it.

I'll bet 0%.

And if even if they do there will likely be options for either control method...that will suit me fine, and nintendo will have done what they should have done from day one with the wii.

[originalbadboy]

I'm hoping the WiiU controller is powered by a proper chargable lithium battery this time too, I don't want tons of AA's hanging around again.

You would have thought so, not counting on it though. The only real reason why it should be is that the screen is going to require a fair amount of power ... However with the power of some Sanyo Eneloop's I doubt it will be too much of an issue if you did have to go down the route of getting your own. Since the invention of the Eneloop batteries for controllers really haven't been an issue for me.

Saying that on the prototype pictures that we have had so far there doesn't sem to be any signs of a battery compartment ...

[nakamura]

Actually can't wait for E3 to see this. Really thinking of saving for one. The only thing I have any interest in on the other machines is team play Fifa.

[Family Fry]

Will be all over it this year, could be doing with a new console and the prospect of Aliens Colonial Marines, controller with an lcd screen on it and a speaker.
GO ON you know you want to.

Game would play so damn good in the dark.

EDIT
I just googled it and found that Aliens Colonial Marines had been delayed til 2013 will still grab Wii U if it hits this year.

[originalbadboy]

Looks like the WiiU won't be supporting UE4:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/349522/unreal-engine-4-will-not-support-wii-u/

Not that surprised really, but if true then it looks like the WiiU is going to be a stopgap machine rather than a fully fledged next gen console. It's going to miss out on some of the bigger games in the next generation. I suppose its possible they could retro fit a UE4 game into UE3 somehow but I doubt it.

Here is hoping that Ninty have a lot of first party titles up their sleeves, otherwise I think this will be the end of them, and its making me doubt whether I want one in all honesty.

[nakamura]

Given the way studios close nowadays I would say the Wii U may be a more appealing platform to develop for. If they can get it into homes and make it a success before the next Sony and MS machines launch they could clean up.

With raw power comes immense costs and risk.

[originalbadboy]

On the other hand middleware such as the UE engine allows developers to create games a lot quicker without having to develop an engine. Also if we are talking multi platform then I very much doubt the majority of games post PS4 and 720 launch will come to the WiiU as well if the the devs have to make signifcant changes.

More than likely that will happen is within 18 months of the WiiU launch it will be dead in the water, bar the odd first party title. It's a shame really, but Ninty just don't seem to make good 'technical' decisions these days, they always seem to be one step behind.

I will of course still be picking one up, but I really don't see it having much legs.

[nakamura]

Perhaps. But everyone said that about the Wii and the DS. Let's wait and see shall we. Sales of recent Nintendo franchises have been huge and even then they have all been SD. In proper HD it could be a big draw even if the machine isn't a powerhouse. Yes it will lose out in terms of games like Fifa, Battlefield and CoD and the like. This time though, the ports of those games will look far better than before so it may not be as much of a problem.

Microsoft have launched two consoles so far, both veritable powerhouse machines and both together haven't reached sales of the Wii or PS1/PS2. One thing I have learnt is that anything can happen!

[Brad]

There's a PC revival going on at the moment. Costs of deving AAA titles has become so ridiculous. If I was a console maker then my number one focus for my next console would be to make it as simple as possible for PC games to be ported to my new hardware.

[originalbadboy]

Perhaps. But everyone said that about the Wii and the DS. Let's wait and see shall we. Sales of recent Nintendo franchises have been huge and even then they have all been SD. In proper HD it could be a big draw even if the machine isn't a powerhouse. Yes it will lose out in terms of games like Fifa, Battlefield and CoD and the like. This time though, the ports of those games will look far better than before so it may not be as much of a problem.

Microsoft have launched two consoles so far, both veritable powerhouse machines and both together haven't reached sales of the Wii or PS1/PS2. One thing I have learnt is that anything can happen!

True the Wii was a great seller for Ninty , but for the hardcore (such as us here) it wasn't great really. Mine has been barely used in the last couple of years, to the point where it is no longer 'under the tv' and is now in storage waiting to be sold to fund the WiiU.

Fair play there were some decent exclusive games for it, no doubt there, but they were few and fair between, too few thats the problem. In the end the Wii was a financial success but in the eyes of the 'non casual' gamers it wasn't anywhere near as good as the sales might have suggested.

[nakamura]

A vaild point, there are a lot more top quality games on the Wii than most people realise though.

For me personally I struggled to enjoy the Wii on an LCD. No matter how good the upscaling, it looks blurry and rough compared to a lovely RGB CRT. Yes the gaming quality is there but the visual quality suffers. I can't help but feel if the Wii was simply powerful enough to run the same games at 720p it would still be under peoples tvs. The visuals of games like Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Mario Galaxy are stunning in SD and via Dolphin.
With the Wii U it may not have the power to run the latest whatever but games like Rage look stunning now at 60fps and would look great alongside the best that the first party have to offer.

[originalbadboy]

A vaild point, there are a lot more top quality games on the Wii than most people realise though.

For me personally I struggled to enjoy the Wii on an LCD. No matter how good the upscaling, it looks blurry and rough compared to a lovely RGB CRT. Yes the gaming quality is there but the visual quality suffers. I can't help but feel if the Wii was simply powerful enough to run the same games at 720p it would still be under peoples tvs. The visuals of games like Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Mario Galaxy are stunning in SD and via Dolphin.
With the Wii U it may not have the power to run the latest whatever but games like Rage look stunning now at 60fps and would look great alongside the best that the first party have to offer.

This.

Trouble is it's almost heresy to say that the enjoyment of the Wii is tempered by the fact that it can only do 480p. I game on a 100 inch projector screen, and to say the Wii looks bad on that is an understatement. And thats with an amp upscaling as well, it does make a difference regardless of whether you are a graphics whore or not (which im not).

I completely and utterly agree with your statement, the whole Wii expereince (for me) was ruined simply by the fact that its not HD. You only have to look at how beautiful SMG looks in Dolphin on the PC to see what you are missing, its shocking really. And as you say my Wii wuold probably still be sitting under the tv if it wasn;t for that fact.

Its also sad to see that the WiiU won't enhance Wii games graphically either, that's something Ninty could have implemented easily enough. I suspect they are not doing it so they can release 'HD' versions of SMG etc. And in honesty if they are priced right I would probably take them up on that offer.

[Neon Ignition]

The WiiU should also benefit from the current direction studios are going in in terms of engines as the ones used for 360 and PS3 should easily translate and will look good for several years yet (especially if the tech vids out so far are accurate and the next gen machines aren't a quantum leap in fidelity). In the end the power really doesn't matter one bit, the big 3 don't care about pleasing core gamers and would happily take a dump on them to get the sales the Wii achieved. The same goes for third parties, if Nintendo had made it easier for third parties to profit early on with better support etc things would have worked out quite different. If the money is with the WiiU, it doesn't matter if the next PS or XB are more powerful. Whilst the Wii ended up very casual games focused its success in the market showed that the WiiU is now arguable biggest of the three launches coming which is both a good and a bad place for Nintendo to be in, either way, it'll be around for many years. The worst thing anyone can do is write Nintendo out of the race.