Nintendo President Apologizes for Wii U Launch Issues

[Timothy Chang]

Nintendo President Apologizes for Wii U Launch Issues

Satoru Iwata says that users should be able to access all of a console's functions out of the box.

The excitement of bringing home a brand new Wii U would certainly be dampened when you come to downloading a sizeable day-one patch. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is aware situations like these would be upsetting for any new console owner, and he expresses his own disappointment in a recent interview.

"Personally I think that users should be able to use all the functions of a console video game machine as soon as they open the box," Iwata stated. "So I feel very sorry for the fact that purchasers of Wii U have to experience a network update which takes such a long time, and that there are the services which were not available at the hardware's launch."

The services bundled in the patch included Miiverse connectivity, the eShop and Wii backwards compatibility. Other apps, such as Hulu and YouTube, arrived several days later. Social TV service Nintendo TVii is set to launch in December [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120675-Nintendo-TVii-Coming-in-December] for Japan and the US.

Iwata added that releasing pre-launch patches for system functionality was a common theme in the industry, but he regretted seeing the Wii U go through the same motions for basic functionality.

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].



Source: IGN [http://au.ign.com/articles/2012/11/28/nintendos-relentless-quest-for-success]

Permalink

 

[Shoggoth2588]

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].

Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Does he also shake his 360 when a game is taking too long to load?

---

My biggest issue with the U at the moment is that there don't seem to be any demos available on the eShop yet. I didn't know what Blue Flash of Death was before watching Bob's latest...show...thing either. It's a bit of a bummer to have to download a patch to play the console but it took far less time for me to set up my Wii U than it did to set up my PS3 [sub][sub]It still takes an absurd amount of time with the PS3's requirement of installing games...raddah raddah[/sub][/sub]

 

[Arcadian Legend]

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].

Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Does he also shake his 360 when a game is taking too long to load?

I believe this was actually a hardware fault where the Wii U has an auto-turn off after a long period of being idle. Unfortunately, this also happens during updates apparently.

 

[D Moness]

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].

Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Does he also shake his 360 when a game is taking too long to load?

I believe this was actually a hardware fault where the Wii U has an auto-turn off after a long period of being idle.

That auto-turn off is turned off during that update/patch (this has been proven in the topic about that guy as well by many many people). The WiiU doesn't auto-turn off while updating/patching.

The guy himself was an idiot and reset his system because it was taking to long for his taste.

 

[Arcadian Legend]

That auto-turn off is turned off during that update/patch (this has been proven in the topic about that guy as well by many many people). The WiiU doesn't auto-turn off while updating/patching.

The guy himself was an idiot and reset his system because it was taking to long for his taste.

No, there was no hardware fault. There is no evidence to be found that supports that claim besides some forum posts that state that they heard that from somewhere. But on the other hand there is clear evidence that the console states that this feature is deactivated during formware updates.

So no, this whole thing was stupidity from the side of the journalist.

Oh. Wow, then he really is stupid.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].

Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Does he also shake his 360 when a game is taking too long to load?

I believe this was actually a hardware fault where the Wii U has an auto-turn off after a long period of being idle. Unfortunately, this also happens during updates apparently.

The auto-off thing is a potential problem but you do have the option to turn that off during or, after initial set-up. Even if you don't turn it off, all you have to do is remember to nudge a joystick once every few minutes to re-set the 60 minute countdown. The way Tim presented it up there suggested that LA Times editor just up and unplugged his console while impatiently awaiting the update to complete.

 

[Fasckira]

Before the Nintendo america head honcho said that the others have to react to the Nintendo?

They could start off by making he machines work out of the box.

That was my first thought too. Not exactly setting the bar high here.

 

[mew4ever23]

Well, let's see..
Massive Day 1 patch for MiiVerse
No Youtube
No Hulu Plus
No Amazon Video
No TVii

At least we got Netflix and playing games, right? I actually wish those clients had been downloadable through the shop instead of being preloaded - Hulu and Amazon video aren't available outside America.

LA Times journalist Ben Fritz fell victim to the day-one patch when he decided to unplug the device after 15 minutes of slow progress, only to find that he had inadvertently bricked his console [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120697-Wii-U-Update-Eats-Most-of-Basics-8GB].

Why would you do such a stupid thing?! Does he also shake his 360 when a game is taking too long to load?

I believe this was actually a hardware fault where the Wii U has an auto-turn off after a long period of being idle. Unfortunately, this also happens during updates apparently.

Actually, the system disables auto power-down during all updates.

 

[Eternal_Lament]

It is important to note that, while the WiiU bricking has nothing to do with the auto-turn off, this is a weird case of a console installing an update AS it's downloading. With things such as the PS3 or 360, I can download the update and decide to either A) cancel the download, in which case nothing bad happens, or B) turn off the console, in which nothing bad happens. I wouldn't turn it off during the install period obviously, but with the WiiU it seems to be this weird amalgamation of the two, which frankly doesn't make sense.

Regardless, I would imagine the more angry consumer isn't the one who downloads the patch, but rather the one who downloads the patch with the 8GB version and then releases they have almost no room left to play or download much.

 

[Frezzato]

It is important to note that, while the WiiU bricking has nothing to do with the auto-turn off, this is a weird case of a console installing an update AS it's downloading. With things such as the PS3 or 360, I can download the update and decide to either A) cancel the download, in which case nothing bad happens, or B) turn off the console, in which nothing bad happens. I wouldn't turn it off during the install period obviously, but with the WiiU it seems to be this weird amalgamation of the two, which frankly doesn't make sense.

Regardless, I would imagine the more angry consumer isn't the one who downloads the patch, but rather the one who downloads the patch with the 8GB version and then releases they have almost no room left to play or download much.

Apparently you can opt-out of the update and then the WiiU will download in the background as a regular file, a much smarter, safer way to do it. Problem is, Nintendo didn't tell anyone about it:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/wii_u_system_update_can_be_downloaded_in_the_background

 

[Eternal_Lament]

It is important to note that, while the WiiU bricking has nothing to do with the auto-turn off, this is a weird case of a console installing an update AS it's downloading. With things such as the PS3 or 360, I can download the update and decide to either A) cancel the download, in which case nothing bad happens, or B) turn off the console, in which nothing bad happens. I wouldn't turn it off during the install period obviously, but with the WiiU it seems to be this weird amalgamation of the two, which frankly doesn't make sense.

Regardless, I would imagine the more angry consumer isn't the one who downloads the patch, but rather the one who downloads the patch with the 8GB version and then releases they have almost no room left to play or download much.

Apparently you can opt-out of the update and then the WiiU will download in the background as a regular file, a much smarter, safer way to do it. Problem is, Nintendo didn't tell anyone about it:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2012/11/wii_u_system_update_can_be_downloaded_in_the_background

That seems to be the root of many issues with the console so far. Nintendo isn't necessarily alone in this, but yeah, strange that for a company that seemed to provide pointless cut-outs of how to insert a disc and of DVD's about how to use the Wii also managed to drop the ball and not tell a lot of people about what the console can do.

 

[Scow2]

It is important to note that, while the WiiU bricking has nothing to do with the auto-turn off, this is a weird case of a console installing an update AS it's downloading. With things such as the PS3 or 360, I can download the update and decide to either A) cancel the download, in which case nothing bad happens, or B) turn off the console, in which nothing bad happens. I wouldn't turn it off during the install period obviously, but with the WiiU it seems to be this weird amalgamation of the two, which frankly doesn't make sense.

Regardless, I would imagine the more angry consumer isn't the one who downloads the patch, but rather the one who downloads the patch with the 8GB version and then releases they have almost no room left to play or download much.

I heard the problem wasn't that it was installing while downloading, but that the patch was too big for its own hard-drive, and it didn't purge or resume the old download, thus not having enough space to re-download the patch.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Perhaps this wouldn't happen if companies weren't so eager to rush their consoles and games out the door instead of making sure they're actually ready. I find it disturbing that this has become such a common trend.

 

[Buizel91]

At least he is apologising, sure its a bit late but most other companies wouldn't even acknowledge it.

Lets hope that for future models, this update is already in the system.