Wii U release: November 18, 2012

[muscleyarms83]

OK first off, is this seriously the first time anyone's seriously tried to discuss Nintendo on here in over 2 years? ;p

But anyway, to the point:

Who's getting the new Nintendo console? You know, the one with the tablet for a controller?

I can't say I'll be lining up for it. I came very close to getting a Wii at launch all those years ago, but decided against it at the last minute. Glad I did. That system provided a handful of wonderful experiences that were enjoyed thoroughly by tens of millions for upwards of a whole hour before the system and it's peripherals became expensive paperweights. I did miss out on the opportunity to play a couple of great games in the Zelda and Metroid series, but beyond that I didn't see the point. I had a GameCube, but at least that generally carried the same 3rd party games as Xbox and PS2.

But this time it's a little different... the hardware this time around is built to at least compete if not be stronger than the Xbox 360 or PS3 in some areas. Of course the new Microsoft and Sony consoles will blow it out of the water in terms of graphics capability and processing power, and we aren't too far away from those. But this is Nintendo, so we know it isn't about the system capability, it's about the experience they want to offer. And as much fun as many would make of the original Wii, it outsold the other options by as much as 30 million units worldwide. And despite the slow start to the career of the 3DS, do remember that the DS is currently in 160 million sets of hands, making it by a huge margin the largest selling gaming platform of all time.

So there's no question the novelty factor is going to be in Nintendo's court again. But this time around, they seem far more interested in courting us hardcores; they plan to finally ditch those God-awful friend codes in favour of the Nintendo Network. The journalists seem to hold some concerns about it, but it's hard to deny that the friend code system of the limited number of online Wii games was a serious limiter to Nintendo's hardcore fanbase. The Nintendo Network seems to be taking a lot of cues from Xbox Live, but I guess we'll have to see if it's more like XBL or the disappointing PSN... or if it can be something greater.

I'm very curious about it. I can't say I'll be getting one right up front. But I'm not ruling it out. The #1 most intriguing prospect for me with this thing is the idea of asymmetrical gaming experiences - the idea that one gamer will use the GamePad to play a game in one way while others use a controller or Wii remote to play in another way. An idea that had been suggested that might be cool with this is a Dungeons and Dragons template, where the dungeon master controls the GamePad and the others play with the other toys. There isn't anything official out there that has caught my eye yet. I'm sure at the very least the next Mario Party will have that, and those are always good for some laughs.

What do you say?

[Phoenix 2.0]

I've cast Nintendo into the irrelevant pile, unless this thing can pick winning lottery numbers I'm out.

The kids just "had to have a wii" it was the most awesome thing ever, thankfully they were cheap so I grabbed one for them for Christmas one year. The novelty had worn off by Boxing Day.

My wife is a hardcore Zelda fan, I thought off sure if we grabbed the Zelda games and started playing perhaps it may spark interest... Not at all.

I would be lying if I said I was not interested in this new offering from Nintendo but I won't rush to get one ever...

Eb games is putting a hard push for the units right now but I just can't be bothered to dedicate anytime reading/researching the damn thing.


I was looking at the new Sony ps3 slim and thought that's kind of cool but why didn't they release that on day one?

[muscleyarms83]

I certainly would like to give it a test drive as soon as possible, but I'm not shelling out $350. At least, not immediately.

[Phoenix 2.0]

$350!!!!!!!!

Geez, I guess Nintendo didn't get the memo. It's not 1983....

[Nexus510]

Originally Posted by Phoenix 2.0

$350!!!!!!!!

Geez, I guess Nintendo didn't get the memo. It's not 1983....

$350 isnt bad considering what the first generation xbox 360 and PS3's were going for. Nintendo has always been on the cheaper side of the market. I don't expect it to be much different with the next wave either.

[muscleyarms83]

Wii launch was $249 US, if I'm not mistaken. Its really a great strategy, it made sure it got a huge jump on the PS3. It also got a boost from Microsoft's comments (Peter Moore?) That for the price of a PS3 at launch, customers could have BOTH the 360 and the Wii.