There is no reason to believe at the moment that the WiiU will be a runaway success like the Wii. There is also no reason to believe that it needs to be that successful to guarantee the future success, let alone existence, of Nintendo.
That's what people need to keep in mind, really -- with Nintendo making their consoles substantially different from the last, it's next to impossible to claim that the results will be the same for a new system. I mean, the Wii sold like crazy and the GameCube didn't.
New research suggests development budgets are soaring dangerously fast
The average development budget for a multiplatform next-gen game is $18-$28 million, according to new data.
A study by entertainment analyst group M2 Research also puts development costs for single-platform projects at an averge of $10 million.
The figures themselves may not be too surprising, with high-profile games often breaking the $40 million barrier.
Polyphony’s Gran Turismo 5 budget is said to be hovering around the $60 million mark, while Modern Warfare 2's budget was said to be as high as $50 million.
The new figures put into focus concerns often fired out by the development community.
Robert Walsh, the CEO of Australian outfit Krome, recently told Develop that game budgets are rising at a frightening pace.
“I think that’s one thing that the press, to a certain extent, is forgetting,” said Walsh in an interview.
“They’re saying sales have increased over ten percent since last year or whatever; I mean, dev costs have probably doubled or tripled in the console transition.”
Walsh’s Krome studio has recently announced layoffs across all three of its studios, citing poor sales that – presumably – failed to satisfy investments.
AbsalonLands of Always WinterRegistered Userregular
I wonder how the heck he got any data on budget tallies from the 80s or earlier.
But yeah, they aren't developers enough to grow the base and they keep on feeding said base more and more production qualities and marketing campaigns, so they have to hit the loyals for everything they have, essentially accepting their roles as harvesters rather than cultivators.
I am not to keen on consoles right now - I plan to get a solid desktop computer this autumn, and get a cheap-ass laptop to bring to school.
0
Options
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
Well, it could be an optional thing like the Classic Controller, but given how up to half the problems with getting third parties to develop games for the thing could be blamed on the lack of buttons on the Wiimote, they'd be better served making that the standard sub controller.
Though the Wiimotes will probably still work with the Wii U in some capacity -- they'd have to, assuming Wii BC hasn't been cutout.
Also, there's this:
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced new Wii U details today during the company's pre-E3 2012 Nintendo Direct briefing. When the system is first powered on, players will see a home screen full of all their friends' Mii characters - a "Mii Universe," as Iwata described it. It will act as a communication hub of sorts, where players can see their friends' Miis gathered around whatever game they're playing.
The Miiverse will also allow players to share in game assets, like screenshots, with each other, and to send each other messages during a game. Players can also send each other hand-written notes, much like in the 3DS's Swapnote application. Your Miiverse will be accessible from Wii U, 3DS, mobile devices and online, and you'll be able to suspend play of any Wii U games to check on your Miiverse whenever you want.
Is the video itself. May as well watch that. It explains things better than any article really has. The controller you saw before is more a replacement for the CCPro (which I imagine will still work). The Wii U Gamepad should work perfectly fine in most cases however, and the Wii Remotes are still supported and probably even desired for many game types (I know I generally enjoy using them).
Is the video itself. May as well watch that. It explains things better than any article really has. The controller you saw before is more a replacement for the CCPro (which I imagine will still work). The Wii U Gamepad should work perfectly fine in most cases however, and the Wii Remotes are still supported and probably even desired for many game types (I know I generally enjoy using them).
They have openly said that Assassins Creed 3 and other multiplatform games are going to be built with the Pro controller as the assumed input device.
As opposed to the Classic Controller, which saw most of its use on the emulators.
That said, the CC will probably mostly work as a replacement for this... are the shoulder buttons analog on it?
syndalis on
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Come to think of it, a lot of the Wii's problems in attracting decent third party games could have been solved by throwing in a classic controller standard.
There actually were a handful of third party titles (at least I have a handful of third party titles) that allowed you to use the CC or a gamecube controller in place of the remote, and may have even been designed with it in mind. The shoulder buttons on the CC are digital (meaning they don't have the little pressure springs in them), but I dont think it would have been too much of an issue for third parties to use it as their default save for your Gears of Duty shooter games; maybe.
Hardware/graphics limitations were a legitimate gripe if third parties were just looking to make a wii equivalent port and call it a day, but I feel like most third parties' criticisms of having to develop with the wii remote just came off as lazy whining. Granted nintendo themselves were emphasizing the remote and only made token references to the CC and GCN backwards compatibility.
There actually were a handful of third party titles (at least I have a handful of third party titles) that allowed you to use the CC or a gamecube controller in place of the remote, and may have even been designed with it in mind. The shoulder buttons on the CC are digital (meaning they don't have the little pressure springs in them), but I dont think it would have been too much of an issue for third parties to use it as their default save for your Gears of Duty shooter games; maybe.
Hardware/graphics limitations were a legitimate gripe if third parties were just looking to make a wii equivalent port and call it a day, but I feel like most third parties' criticisms of having to develop with the wii remote just came off as lazy whining. Granted nintendo themselves were emphasizing the remote and only made token references to the CC and GCN backwards compatibility.
That lazy whining is a real complaint that it costs more money to not only develop a game for a wholly different controller but also multiple controllers once most people realize it's not fun to play most games with the Wii remote.
I think it's some of column A (laziness, unwillingness to do something different) and some of column B (unwillingness to spend the money to research something different). But we've had that argument.
At any rate, there's some rumors going around that the tablet will have ebook and car navigation capabilities... maybe it will be able to be used outside the core console?
The Wii's third party problems were pretty simple to diagnose: it couldn't use the standard control scheme and it couldn't use the standard third party middleware game engines.
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
JihadJesus on
0
Options
syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
The Wii's third party problems were pretty simple to diagnose: it couldn't use the standard control scheme and it couldn't use the standard third party middleware game engines.
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
Are we sure that Microsoft and Sony will be trotting out their next next gen system in 2013? They really seem to be happy with where things are right now (maybe not Sony, but it would be suicide to get out there before Microsoft)
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I meant announced, not out. The issue to me is, let's say From Software decides to make Even Darker Souls in 2014, cross platform for PS4/720. Can they add WiiU to that list for a low enough cost that it makes sense to do so?
I'll be honest, just about the only first part titles I give half a shit about are Ueda's, so if WiiU can't be a primary console that gets the lion's share of the AAA third party titles in the next console generation, I'm not terribly interested. Which is a little frustrating since I like the hardware and overall philosophy Nintendo has going, but man...I need acces to the third party games and I'm not keen on buying two consoles.
Is the video itself. May as well watch that. It explains things better than any article really has. The controller you saw before is more a replacement for the CCPro (which I imagine will still work). The Wii U Gamepad should work perfectly fine in most cases however, and the Wii Remotes are still supported and probably even desired for many game types (I know I generally enjoy using them).
They have openly said that Assassins Creed 3 and other multiplatform games are going to be built with the Pro controller as the assumed input device.
As opposed to the Classic Controller, which saw most of its use on the emulators.
That said, the CC will probably mostly work as a replacement for this... are the shoulder buttons analog on it?
CCPro isn't the same as the CC, mind you. It was released alongside Monster Hunter Tri:
The Wii U is significantly more powerful than the 360 or PS3. Whether that means it will be as powerful as the next consoles from MS and Sony remains to be seen, but it's definitely got enough processing power that no one should be particularly worried about it for at least a few years.
The Wii's third party problems were pretty simple to diagnose: it couldn't use the standard control scheme and it couldn't use the standard third party middleware game engines.
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
Are we sure that Microsoft and Sony will be trotting out their next next gen system in 2013? They really seem to be happy with where things are right now (maybe not Sony, but it would be suicide to get out there before Microsoft)
That's not the point. The point is that people who want to play PS3 and Xbox games are already playing them on their existing PS3 or Xbox 360. If Nintendo's purpose for the Wii-U is that people can play games that are currently available, but with a new system that costs the same/more than the PS3/360 without the same infrastructure, I imagine they're in for a rude awakening.
So, the Wii-U is designed to play games that are at the same technological level as the Assassin's Creed games. Will Ubisoft be releasing the AC games on the upcoming Wii-U, paying the re-development costs on the assumption that there is a latent audience for the titles that for some reason haven't simply bought them for the PS3/360? Personally, I don't think many 3rd party developers are going to be excited about paying to re-code their old work onto the new Wii.
It's similar to many other industries, really. If a competitor falls behind, it's not enough to simply replicate what the other guy is doing (just 4 years shifted).
The Wii's third party problems were pretty simple to diagnose: it couldn't use the standard control scheme and it couldn't use the standard third party middleware game engines.
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
Are we sure that Microsoft and Sony will be trotting out their next next gen system in 2013? They really seem to be happy with where things are right now (maybe not Sony, but it would be suicide to get out there before Microsoft)
That's not the point. The point is that people who want to play PS3 and Xbox games are already playing them on their existing PS3 or Xbox 360. If Nintendo's purpose for the Wii-U is that people can play games that are currently available, but with a new system that costs the same/more than the PS3/360 without the same infrastructure, I imagine they're in for a rude awakening.
So, the Wii-U is designed to play games that are at the same technological level as the Assassin's Creed games. Will Ubisoft be releasing the AC games on the upcoming Wii-U, paying the re-development costs on the assumption that there is a latent audience for the titles that for some reason haven't simply bought them for the PS3/360? Personally, I don't think many 3rd party developers are going to be excited about paying to re-code their old work onto the new Wii.
It's similar to many other industries, really. If a competitor falls behind, it's not enough to simply replicate what the other guy is doing (just 4 years shifted).
This is essentially what I was trying to say. I don't care if it cn play Ass3 - my 360 can do that already. Can it play whatever UE4 successor Ubi makes 3 years down the line? It doesn't have to be more powerful, but it needs to hit PS2 vs Xbox levels instead of Wii vs 360, ie it needs to be able to play the shared third party games that make up 90% of the big releases instead of being a weird half-gen iterative step that creates its own fractured market.
Because one of those consoles I'll happily pay for, and the other is just a Mario and Zelda box. Again.
The Wii's third party problems were pretty simple to diagnose: it couldn't use the standard control scheme and it couldn't use the standard third party middleware game engines.
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
Are we sure that Microsoft and Sony will be trotting out their next next gen system in 2013? They really seem to be happy with where things are right now (maybe not Sony, but it would be suicide to get out there before Microsoft)
That's not the point. The point is that people who want to play PS3 and Xbox games are already playing them on their existing PS3 or Xbox 360. If Nintendo's purpose for the Wii-U is that people can play games that are currently available, but with a new system that costs the same/more than the PS3/360 without the same infrastructure, I imagine they're in for a rude awakening.
So, the Wii-U is designed to play games that are at the same technological level as the Assassin's Creed games. Will Ubisoft be releasing the AC games on the upcoming Wii-U, paying the re-development costs on the assumption that there is a latent audience for the titles that for some reason haven't simply bought them for the PS3/360? Personally, I don't think many 3rd party developers are going to be excited about paying to re-code their old work onto the new Wii.
It's similar to many other industries, really. If a competitor falls behind, it's not enough to simply replicate what the other guy is doing (just 4 years shifted).
This is essentially what I was trying to say. I don't care if it cn play Ass3 - my 360 can do that already. Can it play whatever UE4 successor Ubi makes 3 years down the line? It doesn't have to be more powerful, but it needs to hit PS2 vs Xbox levels instead of Wii vs 360, ie it needs to be able to play the shared third party games that make up 90% of the big releases instead of being a weird half-gen iterative step that creates its own fractured market.
Because one of those consoles I'll happily pay for, and the other is just a Mario and Zelda box. Again.
This is basically my opinion as well. The next Nintendo console I buy will be well after launch, and then only if I see lots of third party development.
There's no plan, there's no race to be run
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
All the more reason for them to not get my money for a while.
Exactly. Considering they are courting 3rd party devs to release the same games as the PS3/360 for this thing at launch, if you own one or the other, the ONLY thing you will be missing out on are Nintendo exclusives, of which you will probably only have 1-2 worth caring about at launch.
I got a Wii at launch. I will not make the same mistake with the Wii U.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
0
Options
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
edited June 2012
Wii-U stuff coming in from E3 by way of Kotaku, NY Times, and Time Magazine:
- Mass Effect 3 will be a launch title. Awesome news for the 0% percent of people out there that will be waiting to play this game a year out from its initial launch. No details on control scheme yet.
- Smartphone user interface is something Nintendo wants for profile management, but such features won't be ready at launch, if at all.
- The tablet's interface is confirmed as single-input only, so no multi-finger gestures here, friends. Also, press members who took it for a spin found the resistive screen interface "frequently unresponsive."
- Much, if not most, of the E3 conference was spent touting Nintendo's emphasis on the new Mii environment called, "NintendoLand," and other aspects of social gaming aspects that appear, at least for now, to be no great change from what was already available with the Wii.
No details yet on lots of things, like hardware specs, or launch date, or launch price, or a list of confirmed launch titles. A lot of questions remain pertaining to how the tablet works and how two tablets will work in conjunction, and if tablets will be necessary for "traditional" titles or if just the new Pro controller will be good enough.
Also, here's a trailer for some of Nintendo's upcoming Wii-U lineup. With all honesty, most of these games look terrible, with graphical upgrades that look no better than what's already available with the competition, and in some cases it looks worse. Notable exceptions are Scribblenauts Unlimited, Rayman, and Super Mario Bros. U, but the word from E3 from members of the audience is that SMBU is just an HD rehash of SMBWii and not all that great.
You can all probably guess my opinion on the matter already, but it seems as if this was a bust for Nintendo. They really needed to blow people away at E3, and they possibly showed less than they showed last year. They have one more conference tomorrow, but it's purported to largely be software related.
Not that it needs to be said, but the blood is in the water.
But remember when Nintendo had that E3 conference that was 100% Wii Fit that put us all to sleep, and then the game went on to sell bajillions? I wouldn't count the Wii U out just yet, especially when the previous versions of Wii Fit, NSMB Wii, Just Dance and Nintendo Land (if you count Wii Play and Wii Sports as its ancestors) sold like crazy, and their successors are all hitting for launch/holiday.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
0
Options
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
I could have guessed your opinion on the matter last week
it's all good to criticize them for being behind on things like netflix etc. but at least it's there.
and the social stuff is far from what they had on the wii, considering that had virtually nothing. not sure if you saw the video from sunday night but none of that is remotely possible on the wii.
I haven't played ME 3 but obviously your 0% was hyperbolic anyway. It's still an enormous title and exactly the type of title that never appears on nintendo's systems. same with the batman game. if you wanted to play it already you probably did but it's still nice to actually see it on a nintendo console.
This was not a good show. I really wanted to come out of the day excited and instead I find myself wishing for a LOT more. more games that surprised me or got me excited, even if it was the same old IPs, would have been nice. but I don't know about blood in the water. I guess we'll see.
But remember when Nintendo had that E3 conference that was 100% Wii Fit that put us all to sleep, and then the game went on to sell bajillions? I wouldn't count the Wii U out just yet, especially when the previous versions of Wii Fit, NSMB Wii, Just Dance and Nintendo Land (if you count Wii Play and Wii Sports as its ancestors) sold like crazy, and their successors are all hitting for launch/holiday.
I think, oddly, this time around it's going to depend on the hardcore market. At launch, are those people going to be lining up to buy ports of games that will have been out for over a year, possibly with little measurable benefit? Because Nintendo is definitely catering to them much harder this generation, but only in the way your grandmother caters to your hunger by offering stale thrift-shop bread.
My prediction for the soft gaming market (kids, the Wii Sports crowd) is that without an outstanding price point (sub $300), they're not going to be super-interested in new versions of Mario Party and Pikmin. If Nintendo can bring all of it in for $300 or under, they're gold, regardless of quality. It'll be a repeat of the Wii, but whatever. They'll turn a profit.
But remember when Nintendo had that E3 conference that was 100% Wii Fit that put us all to sleep, and then the game went on to sell bajillions? I wouldn't count the Wii U out just yet, especially when the previous versions of Wii Fit, NSMB Wii, Just Dance and Nintendo Land (if you count Wii Play and Wii Sports as its ancestors) sold like crazy, and their successors are all hitting for launch/holiday.
I think, oddly, this time around it's going to depend on the hardcore market. At launch, are those people going to be lining up to buy ports of games that will have been out for over a year, possibly with little measurable benefit? Because Nintendo is definitely catering to them much harder this generation, but only in the way your grandmother caters to your hunger by offering stale thrift-shop bread.
My prediction for the soft gaming market (kids, the Wii Sports crowd) is that without an outstanding price point (sub $300), they're not going to be super-interested in new versions of Mario Party and Pikmin. If Nintendo can bring all of it in for $300 or under, they're gold, regardless of quality. It'll be a repeat of the Wii, but whatever. They'll turn a profit.
Personally I find it hard to get excited for year-old ports, but at the very least it'll surround the Wii U with hardcore games and give it a launch that feels a lot less casual than what the Wii had. Then again most of the heavy hitters are casual stuff (there's also Assassin's Creed 3, but that'll be a heavy hitter on the other platforms as well). So we'll see how things go.
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
0
Options
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
But remember when Nintendo had that E3 conference that was 100% Wii Fit that put us all to sleep, and then the game went on to sell bajillions? I wouldn't count the Wii U out just yet, especially when the previous versions of Wii Fit, NSMB Wii, Just Dance and Nintendo Land (if you count Wii Play and Wii Sports as its ancestors) sold like crazy, and their successors are all hitting for launch/holiday.
I think, oddly, this time around it's going to depend on the hardcore market. At launch, are those people going to be lining up to buy ports of games that will have been out for over a year, possibly with little measurable benefit? Because Nintendo is definitely catering to them much harder this generation, but only in the way your grandmother caters to your hunger by offering stale thrift-shop bread.
My prediction for the soft gaming market (kids, the Wii Sports crowd) is that without an outstanding price point (sub $300), they're not going to be super-interested in new versions of Mario Party and Pikmin. If Nintendo can bring all of it in for $300 or under, they're gold, regardless of quality. It'll be a repeat of the Wii, but whatever. They'll turn a profit.
Personally I find it hard to get excited for year-old ports, but at the very least it'll surround the Wii U with hardcore games and give it a launch that feels a lot less casual than what the Wii had. Then again most of the heavy hitters are casual stuff (there's also Assassin's Creed 3, but that'll be a heavy hitter on the other platforms as well). So we'll see how things go.
Right.
AC3 is part of known value, and probably 95% of its market already owns a PS3/360. It's not going to get them to buy a whole new console. And ME3 and Arkham City certainly aren't going to get that done.
The Nintendo E3 site linked above has some demo trailers for their new Wii-U games, but I find them mostly damning. Rehashes and old hat, the lot of them.
Well, I like Nintendo as much as anybody and I'm not excited. I mean, it's clear they're working on stuff that would excite me, but they're not showing it. The difference is that I'm hopeful they're still holding out on some info deliberately.
The tentative list of launch titles is weak to me. I really don't need a new console to play AC3 or Batman. Is Nintendo trying to play the 3DS launch again by not releasing much of any major first party stuff?
That said, with the money they're sitting on top of they could just have a massive marketing campaign - bigger than the Wii even - and try to drum up excitement and sales that way.
SteamID : same as my PA forum name
0
Options
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
that zombiU game is getting some good reactions and wired did a write up on nintendoland.
That said, with the money they're sitting on top of they could just have a massive marketing campaign - bigger than the Wii even - and try to drum up excitement and sales that way.
There's also the argument that, given their massive war chest, they could just bite the bullet and try to make a console that's truly amazing.
Believe it or not, I want to like Nintendo. I've liked them for years. But this nickle-and-dime shit is aggravating.
Video games (and their consoles) are a lot like drugs. You don't sell drugs. Drugs sell themselves. They're a product that's already in demand. All you have to do as seller is maintain a product of consistent quality. If I see a game with mind-blowing graphics and a radical-yet-intuitive gameplay dynamic, I'm going to find a way to shut up and have them take my money. Nintendo just isn't doing that, and now they can't even hide behind their caveat of "we're not making those kinds of games."
0
Options
VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
unfortunately there are 3 drug dealers on the block
Which looks surprisingly good. And what looks to be a WarioWare game. I'm a sucker for WarioWare, but then again I'm a weirdo.
Actually the whole theme for E3, at least for the conferences, seems to be "everything new is old again." Lots of brown shooters, lots of games that resembled Uncharted, and sequels sequels sequels. At this point the thing I'm genuinely most excited about is the South Park RPG, followed by Pikmin 3. Oh, and Watch Dogs, though that could be described as "GTA with hacking in it."
Oh, and judging on the TINY amount of time they focused on it, Sony's giving up the Vita for dead.
cloudeagle on
Switch: 3947-4890-9293
0
Options
AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
unfortunately there are 3 drug dealers on the block
And I've already got one who I have no beef with.
Nintendo is trying to start a turf war, bringing a Swiss Army Knife to a machete fight.
I feel like they're damned if they do, damned if they don't you know? I 100% agree that what they are doing is not really going to satisfy anybody. But the Wii couldn't handle these ports and people hated that. now they can but not well enough or something so we hate it again. a couple of generations ago they weren't the weakest system and they still didn't get all the 3rd party games/sell them as well as the other consoles.
Posts
I doubt it's the bottom of the red lines.
"If these trends continue . . . "
That's what people need to keep in mind, really -- with Nintendo making their consoles substantially different from the last, it's next to impossible to claim that the results will be the same for a new system. I mean, the Wii sold like crazy and the GameCube didn't.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/33625/Study-Average-dev-cost-as-high-as-28m
Keep in mind this is from 2010.
But yeah, they aren't developers enough to grow the base and they keep on feeding said base more and more production qualities and marketing campaigns, so they have to hit the loyals for everything they have, essentially accepting their roles as harvesters rather than cultivators.
I am not to keen on consoles right now - I plan to get a solid desktop computer this autumn, and get a cheap-ass laptop to bring to school.
Is Nintendo dropping the Wu-Mote?
I can't wait to play Mario Party 10 on that thing. With two analog sticks, think of all the fun new minigames now possible!
Well, it could be an optional thing like the Classic Controller, but given how up to half the problems with getting third parties to develop games for the thing could be blamed on the lack of buttons on the Wiimote, they'd be better served making that the standard sub controller.
Though the Wiimotes will probably still work with the Wii U in some capacity -- they'd have to, assuming Wii BC hasn't been cutout.
Also, there's this:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/03/e3-2012-nintendo-introduces-the-miiverse
Looks like there's finally a useful friend list.
Is the video itself. May as well watch that. It explains things better than any article really has. The controller you saw before is more a replacement for the CCPro (which I imagine will still work). The Wii U Gamepad should work perfectly fine in most cases however, and the Wii Remotes are still supported and probably even desired for many game types (I know I generally enjoy using them).
They have openly said that Assassins Creed 3 and other multiplatform games are going to be built with the Pro controller as the assumed input device.
As opposed to the Classic Controller, which saw most of its use on the emulators.
That said, the CC will probably mostly work as a replacement for this... are the shoulder buttons analog on it?
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Hardware/graphics limitations were a legitimate gripe if third parties were just looking to make a wii equivalent port and call it a day, but I feel like most third parties' criticisms of having to develop with the wii remote just came off as lazy whining. Granted nintendo themselves were emphasizing the remote and only made token references to the CC and GCN backwards compatibility.
That lazy whining is a real complaint that it costs more money to not only develop a game for a wholly different controller but also multiple controllers once most people realize it's not fun to play most games with the Wii remote.
At any rate, there's some rumors going around that the tablet will have ebook and car navigation capabilities... maybe it will be able to be used outside the core console?
They look to have solved half of that problem - the uMote can play games like a normal controller. However, I've been concerned from the beginning that they seem to be focusing on PS360 tech levels. I have a console that can play those games, and replacements will be announced for both within a year. Show me the WiiU can play with the NEXT big middleware engine (UE4) and I'll think about hopping on board.
Are we sure that Microsoft and Sony will be trotting out their next next gen system in 2013? They really seem to be happy with where things are right now (maybe not Sony, but it would be suicide to get out there before Microsoft)
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
I'll be honest, just about the only first part titles I give half a shit about are Ueda's, so if WiiU can't be a primary console that gets the lion's share of the AAA third party titles in the next console generation, I'm not terribly interested. Which is a little frustrating since I like the hardware and overall philosophy Nintendo has going, but man...I need acces to the third party games and I'm not keen on buying two consoles.
CCPro isn't the same as the CC, mind you. It was released alongside Monster Hunter Tri:
@JihadJesus:
The Wii U is significantly more powerful than the 360 or PS3. Whether that means it will be as powerful as the next consoles from MS and Sony remains to be seen, but it's definitely got enough processing power that no one should be particularly worried about it for at least a few years.
That's not the point. The point is that people who want to play PS3 and Xbox games are already playing them on their existing PS3 or Xbox 360. If Nintendo's purpose for the Wii-U is that people can play games that are currently available, but with a new system that costs the same/more than the PS3/360 without the same infrastructure, I imagine they're in for a rude awakening.
So, the Wii-U is designed to play games that are at the same technological level as the Assassin's Creed games. Will Ubisoft be releasing the AC games on the upcoming Wii-U, paying the re-development costs on the assumption that there is a latent audience for the titles that for some reason haven't simply bought them for the PS3/360? Personally, I don't think many 3rd party developers are going to be excited about paying to re-code their old work onto the new Wii.
It's similar to many other industries, really. If a competitor falls behind, it's not enough to simply replicate what the other guy is doing (just 4 years shifted).
Because one of those consoles I'll happily pay for, and the other is just a Mario and Zelda box. Again.
This is basically my opinion as well. The next Nintendo console I buy will be well after launch, and then only if I see lots of third party development.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
Exactly. Considering they are courting 3rd party devs to release the same games as the PS3/360 for this thing at launch, if you own one or the other, the ONLY thing you will be missing out on are Nintendo exclusives, of which you will probably only have 1-2 worth caring about at launch.
I got a Wii at launch. I will not make the same mistake with the Wii U.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
- Hands on with Zelda, Mario, and Arkham City launch titles: Buggy, unwieldy, underwhelming, . . . . but decent graphics.
- Wii-U to have Hulu, Netflix, Amazon capability. Welcome to 2009.
- Maybe only having one tablet controller per console IS a pretty stupid idea, after all. But more than TWO tablets? That's crazy talk.
- Mass Effect 3 will be a launch title. Awesome news for the 0% percent of people out there that will be waiting to play this game a year out from its initial launch. No details on control scheme yet.
- Smartphone user interface is something Nintendo wants for profile management, but such features won't be ready at launch, if at all.
- The tablet's interface is confirmed as single-input only, so no multi-finger gestures here, friends. Also, press members who took it for a spin found the resistive screen interface "frequently unresponsive."
- Much, if not most, of the E3 conference was spent touting Nintendo's emphasis on the new Mii environment called, "NintendoLand," and other aspects of social gaming aspects that appear, at least for now, to be no great change from what was already available with the Wii.
No details yet on lots of things, like hardware specs, or launch date, or launch price, or a list of confirmed launch titles. A lot of questions remain pertaining to how the tablet works and how two tablets will work in conjunction, and if tablets will be necessary for "traditional" titles or if just the new Pro controller will be good enough.
Also, here's a trailer for some of Nintendo's upcoming Wii-U lineup. With all honesty, most of these games look terrible, with graphical upgrades that look no better than what's already available with the competition, and in some cases it looks worse. Notable exceptions are Scribblenauts Unlimited, Rayman, and Super Mario Bros. U, but the word from E3 from members of the audience is that SMBU is just an HD rehash of SMBWii and not all that great.
You can all probably guess my opinion on the matter already, but it seems as if this was a bust for Nintendo. They really needed to blow people away at E3, and they possibly showed less than they showed last year. They have one more conference tomorrow, but it's purported to largely be software related.
Not that it needs to be said, but the blood is in the water.
But remember when Nintendo had that E3 conference that was 100% Wii Fit that put us all to sleep, and then the game went on to sell bajillions? I wouldn't count the Wii U out just yet, especially when the previous versions of Wii Fit, NSMB Wii, Just Dance and Nintendo Land (if you count Wii Play and Wii Sports as its ancestors) sold like crazy, and their successors are all hitting for launch/holiday.
it's all good to criticize them for being behind on things like netflix etc. but at least it's there.
and the social stuff is far from what they had on the wii, considering that had virtually nothing. not sure if you saw the video from sunday night but none of that is remotely possible on the wii.
I haven't played ME 3 but obviously your 0% was hyperbolic anyway. It's still an enormous title and exactly the type of title that never appears on nintendo's systems. same with the batman game. if you wanted to play it already you probably did but it's still nice to actually see it on a nintendo console.
This was not a good show. I really wanted to come out of the day excited and instead I find myself wishing for a LOT more. more games that surprised me or got me excited, even if it was the same old IPs, would have been nice. but I don't know about blood in the water. I guess we'll see.
I think, oddly, this time around it's going to depend on the hardcore market. At launch, are those people going to be lining up to buy ports of games that will have been out for over a year, possibly with little measurable benefit? Because Nintendo is definitely catering to them much harder this generation, but only in the way your grandmother caters to your hunger by offering stale thrift-shop bread.
My prediction for the soft gaming market (kids, the Wii Sports crowd) is that without an outstanding price point (sub $300), they're not going to be super-interested in new versions of Mario Party and Pikmin. If Nintendo can bring all of it in for $300 or under, they're gold, regardless of quality. It'll be a repeat of the Wii, but whatever. They'll turn a profit.
Personally I find it hard to get excited for year-old ports, but at the very least it'll surround the Wii U with hardcore games and give it a launch that feels a lot less casual than what the Wii had. Then again most of the heavy hitters are casual stuff (there's also Assassin's Creed 3, but that'll be a heavy hitter on the other platforms as well). So we'll see how things go.
Right.
AC3 is part of known value, and probably 95% of its market already owns a PS3/360. It's not going to get them to buy a whole new console. And ME3 and Arkham City certainly aren't going to get that done.
The Nintendo E3 site linked above has some demo trailers for their new Wii-U games, but I find them mostly damning. Rehashes and old hat, the lot of them.
The tentative list of launch titles is weak to me. I really don't need a new console to play AC3 or Batman. Is Nintendo trying to play the 3DS launch again by not releasing much of any major first party stuff?
That said, with the money they're sitting on top of they could just have a massive marketing campaign - bigger than the Wii even - and try to drum up excitement and sales that way.
There's also the argument that, given their massive war chest, they could just bite the bullet and try to make a console that's truly amazing.
Believe it or not, I want to like Nintendo. I've liked them for years. But this nickle-and-dime shit is aggravating.
Video games (and their consoles) are a lot like drugs. You don't sell drugs. Drugs sell themselves. They're a product that's already in demand. All you have to do as seller is maintain a product of consistent quality. If I see a game with mind-blowing graphics and a radical-yet-intuitive gameplay dynamic, I'm going to find a way to shut up and have them take my money. Nintendo just isn't doing that, and now they can't even hide behind their caveat of "we're not making those kinds of games."
Yeah, Wired liked NintendoLand.
Also, there's this:
http://e3.nintendo.com/games/#/wiiu/projectp-100
Which looks surprisingly good. And what looks to be a WarioWare game. I'm a sucker for WarioWare, but then again I'm a weirdo.
Actually the whole theme for E3, at least for the conferences, seems to be "everything new is old again." Lots of brown shooters, lots of games that resembled Uncharted, and sequels sequels sequels. At this point the thing I'm genuinely most excited about is the South Park RPG, followed by Pikmin 3. Oh, and Watch Dogs, though that could be described as "GTA with hacking in it."
Oh, and judging on the TINY amount of time they focused on it, Sony's giving up the Vita for dead.
And I've already got one who I have no beef with.
Nintendo is trying to start a turf war, bringing a Swiss Army Knife to a machete fight.
NintendoLand: Because No, We Can't Learn From Other People's Mistakes Either.
And they still haven't addressed the main issue everyone has with their online strategy - platform agnosticism.
I feel like they're damned if they do, damned if they don't you know? I 100% agree that what they are doing is not really going to satisfy anybody. But the Wii couldn't handle these ports and people hated that. now they can but not well enough or something so we hate it again. a couple of generations ago they weren't the weakest system and they still didn't get all the 3rd party games/sell them as well as the other consoles.