Nintendo's Wii U: E3 2011 Reveal Thread

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg</a>

So, there it is. Nintendo's next innovation in the home console market. Not quite Wii 2, but Wii U. Where do you begin? Certainly not with the name. Get over it already, internet.

The system

Boasting high-definition visuals (up to 1080p), a super-sized, gyroscope-enabled, accelerometer-toting, camera-flashing, microphone-bearing controller with a 6.2 inch touchscreen, this is surely Nintendo's most feature-packed platform to date.

Confusion initially hit during the conference as the social networks started to wonder if the Wii U was just another controller for the existing platform. That, it certainly is not.

Price? Launch date? Complete guesswork for the time being. In his post-conference interview with GameTrailers, Reggie said that such a conversation would take place at another time. This week is all about introducing the Wii U experience to the masses.

The controller

It's a beast. There's no other word I can think of to describe it. It looks big and it looks complicated. Everything the original Wii sought to avoid so hard. There are buttons everywhere and it's got more ways to play than the average Scott Shelby.

But at the same time, I'm strangely drawn to it. Nintendo says that the on-controller screen will add a multitude of new gaming experiences to the living room that the whole family can join in with. And, certainly, you can see where they're coming from with it.

It's absolutely something I want to get my hands on at the first opportunity. How heavy is it? Is it as awkward as it looks or have Nintendo managed the impossible and made such an awkward looking thing actually surprisingly ergonomic?

And all current-generation Wii control methods are supported. Good news for grumpy old sods like me.

The graphics

Well, colour me impressed. That teasing clip of a high-definition Zelda had my eyes positively bulging from their sockets. Everything else was a bit too bloody and shouty shooty shouty for my likings.

PS3/360 owners: How does it compare to existing HD platforms?

The games

Okay, this is where things get a bit hazy. Nintendo weren't all that forthcoming with games. As with the sensitive issues of price and release, this one's being held over for another time and place. However, third parties are lining up with a handful of big names and though I've never played Arkham Asylum, I can recognise that its sequel coming to the new Nintendo system is a Big Deal. Albeit a slightly late one as the game is down for an Autumn 2011 release on the other formats...

Oh, but we do know that a fourth installment in the hugely popular Smash Bros franchise (with a 3DS title believed to incorporate some form of connectivity) is in development for the platform. Or almost. Iwata sort of dropped that one not entirely convinced from what I could make out...

EDIT: Iwata definitely shouldn't have mentioned that one according to Sakurai.

We really shouldn't have announced it for the general public at this timing, but since we have to assemble staff, we made the notice. The future will change depending on the strength of the gathered developers.

EDIT 2: Pikmin 3 is Wii U bound! Although it was happily on its way to being a Wii release, Miyamoto being the bright young thing he is saw the potential those graphics could have on the pinky-sized plants and their mahoosive world.

[Rew]

I just want to know if I can port my Virtual Console (and WiiWare) library over to the Wii U.

[hisak]

Not Nintendo Wii U. Just Wii U.

I still need to see games that I want for this before getting hyped. It's great to know that they're developing Smash Bros. and Pikmin for this system, but I need more to go on than that.

That said, the idea has really grown on me. There's lots of cool applications for it, but there also won't be quite as much temptation for developers to shoehorn in gimmicky applications like there is with the Wii (and now Kinect).

Do we know yet if there's a headphone jack on the controller? That would be really useful. I also want to know battery life.

[Be_yourself]

Do we know yet if there's a headphone jack on the controller? That would be really useful. I also want to know battery life.

there is a headphone jack.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Not Nintendo Wii U. Just Wii U.

I'm sure this whole board was called "Nintendo Wii" not so long ago... Just "Wii U" made for much too short a thread title. Sue me.

I still need to see games that I want for this before getting hyped. It's great to know that they're developing Smash Bros. and Pikmin...

Wait? What? *checks*

Awesome! That has the potential to be all sorts of beautiful. Absolutely has to make an appearance next year, then?

That said, the idea has really grown on me. There's lots of cool applications for it, but there also won't be quite as much temptation for developers to shoehorn in gimmicky applications like there is with the Wii (and now Kinect).

It's grown a little on me, though I am still plenty skeptical. The controller remains a cumbersome looking bit of kit, and the issue of price remains a concern.

[Be_yourself]

Its growing on me too, i'll need to see how it is used in games that i actually want though.  I liked with the pirate demo thing how you could see ships off to the left and right of you by pointing the controller in that direction.  I thought the Zelda demo was good with the map on your controller.  But i don't really think that they are enough to justify having the screen there...

[hisak]

It's grown a little on me, though I am still plenty skeptical. The controller remains a cumbersome looking bit of kit, and the issue of price remains a concern.

All impressions I've read seem to indicate that the controller is really comfortable to use. It is a bit big, but you'll only need one per console (which is something of a disappointment but I won't get into that now) so it shouldn't take up too much space.

[hisak]

Thought this deserved its own thread.

http://www.destructoid.com/e3-wii-u-scraps-friend-codes-for-username-friends-list-203359.phtml

As far as many folks are concerned, online multiplayer gaming might as well not exist on the Wii, since its needlessly convoluted Friend Code system -- designed with the intent to keep kids safe from the perils of Internet denizens -- makes life so much more difficult than the username-based setup on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Apparently, Nintendo has heard the hardcore's cries, and for the Wii U, is replacing Friend Codes with system that supports one specific username for each person, instead of a sixteen-digit numeric sequence for each console and a separate twelve-digit number for each game.

I'm thinking this should make some people here very happy. And yeah, about time, etc.

[Rew]

This is pretty much awesome:
http://h7.abload.de/img/wiiudissapointmeanbr.gif


That aside, as long as the Wii U has high quality games, that's all I care about. Already we have Super Smash Bros. confirmed, and Zelda all but confirmed (since it was basically demo'd), so yeah, I'm pretty stoked. Hopefully the new controller won't be clunky or hard to use.

[Be_yourself]

I wouldn't say we have anything on Zelda, this is just a Spaceworld type thing...
http://www.zeldainformer.com/2011/06/eiji-aonuma-talks-about-the-hd-zelda-e3-demo-and-its-future-implications.html

Anyhow, i'd like the graphical style to be a bit more interesting for a new Zelda.  I;ve got the SS bug.

also, SSB 4 has not even begun development yet.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

It's grown a little on me, though I am still plenty skeptical. The controller remains a cumbersome looking bit of kit, and the issue of price remains a concern.

All impressions I've read seem to indicate that the controller is really comfortable to use. It is a bit big, but you'll only need one per console (which is something of a disappointment but I won't get into that now) so it shouldn't take up too much space.

A couple of days impressions are helpful. As are pictures of real people hands rather than model hands.

Those are the digits of ONM editor Neil Long, and the system doesn't look half as chunky as I imagined, or it seemed to be in the official press release pics. Most current controllers tend to be a little small for my Western fingers, so maybe just this once there will be a controller that works perfectly with my massive mitts. Or maybe Mr Long's hands actually just part-giant.

Also, carrying this across from the Zelda Wii U thread, because I think the issue of price is going to be on a lot of minds, even at this early stage and no matter what Reggie says about having that conversation elsewhere and elsewhen.

ahahahaha you think this system will be in your price range, literally no one will be able to afford this, unless nintendo sells at a massive loss.

Nintendo has made a considerable profit on the Wii hardware since launch, unlike their competitors, and their first party software shifts shedloads of copies. With that in mind, maybe they believe the time is right to take a bit of a hit on the hardware production side of things. Or, having had the extra six years for Microsoft and Sony to make HD so standard and with Apple making tablet touchscreens such a big deal, the actual costs of such components are cheaper now than in 2005 and it won't be such a painful kick to the consumer's wallet.

Can't be anything as terrifying as the PS3 launch price ($399/$499 or £425), surely?

[hisak]

The specs haven't been released yet, so no one (literally no one!) can make an accurate judgment of how much it costs to make, but I'm guessing it'll be $300-350. Better start saving now.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

The specs haven't been released yet, so no one (literally no one!) can make an accurate judgment of how much it costs to make, but I'm guessing it'll be $300-350. Better start saving now.

I know one man who knows...

This is not going to be cheap.

Source: CVG

Naturally people are saying it could be a poor translation or a misquotation. One can only hope (and I'm hoping it's missing the words "compared to the Wii" at the end of the quote. The 3DS tested my launch day purchaser urges and was lucky to have such a competitive pre-launch price war.

[Bidet to you sir]

Each controller has an HD touch screen in it for fucks sake, a wiimote still sets you back £15, even if the system and 1 controller is in the 3-350 range, you're not gonna be playing mario party for a while, unless (and I've yet to ever have this situation with a nintendo system) you have 3 friends who own one.

[hisak]

Each controller has an HD touch screen in it for fucks sake, a wiimote still sets you back £15, even if the system and 1 controller is in the 3-350 range, you're not gonna be playing mario party for a while, unless (and I've yet to ever have this situation with a nintendo system) you have 3 friends who own one.

It sounds like the system will only support one or two New Controllers. Which might also be a problem, but multiplayer games like Smash Bros. and Mario Kart should support the Wiimote and Classic Controller.

[Bidet to you sir]

haha in response to that hisak, at the moment theres a good idea, the "only supporting one controller" has nothing to do with hardware limitations.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/117/1177013p1.html

[JordAnime]

Well, I missed personally witnessing E3 this year in real time.  My inforomation about it came much the same way it may have if I were back in 1998, with a limited Internet connection and limited time to use it.  I got a really weird picture of the console, not seeing the press conference, just scant details from blogs and IGn.  So now that all the dust has cleared and I've had time to review E3 in fullness I'll throw in my two cents:

I feel Nintendo took the roast out of the oven a bit early with this one.  The allure of the Wii was that it was a secret for so long, people speculated for ages what the controller might be.  This time it was leaked like a Micorosoft system, mostly due to them sharing details with third party developers. 

I guess playing the same trick twice is a bad idea.  Especially since the Wii has failed to make the core gamer say "wow".  It was actually kind of refreshing to see Nintendo just go out and show technical demonstrations of the systems, but that said, I'm underwhelmed so far with it.

So far, all we've really heard about are ports of last-gen games.  There's been a big back and forth on the systems technical abilities, and I'm concerned that we're about to suffer another bout of "lateral thinking of withered technology".  So much for "playing with power". 

It's funny to me that their goal is to have a system that is always on, and yet they do not wish to include DVD or BluRay playback.  Maybe you should give us a reason to always have this thing running...

Also, no analog triggers and circle pads?  Really?  Circle pads?  It's nice on the 3DS but this a real console with plenty of room for traditional analog pads.  And the touch screen is still resistive?  I mean come-the-fuck-on. 

That said, the idea of having HD Nintendo first party franchises is exciting, the tech demo for Zelda got me excited, and I like the idea of having a personal screen on the controller, but with that said, I'm skeptical and I feel that Nintendo's in a pretty big position to get outshined by both Sony and Microsoft on a technical level once again.

There's time, but I dunno, I feel Nintendo might have their first flop on their hands since the Gamecube.

[GamePunk429]

As much as I love Nintendo and Zelda, Metroid, and Mario... I think this is where I part ways with them. For one I am not much of a gamer anymore, barely play a couple hours a week. And I am so disappointed with them not releasing Xenoblade or the Last Story that this just looks kind of pointless.

In fact I may not even get another next generation system, unless Chrono Brake is confirmed for one of them. But I've grown up and I know that that's not going to happen haha