E3: Nintendo's New Console Is: The Wii U
- Thread starter John Funk
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Because they've just used the technology to remake WiiSports and another Zelda game?mikozero said:
That trailer really blew me away with the graphics for Othello.
My 'discerning' gamer was tricked once with the Wii which is working as an excellent dust collector at the moment. I don't want to play hilarious mini games with badly rendered caricatures of people. Show me something like Skyrim with innovative uses of the controls and I might be a little interested.
You're defying an entire industry. Do a little research. They all say it's comfortable.MirrorForTheSun said:
I love how you determine ergonomics by a photo.
Funny, that's what they said about the 360 and it's now the most consistently performing system on the market (when it doesn't brick).Wakikifudge said:
A controller than also functions as a console. With motion controls.mad825 said:
Dude, that IS original. How can a design be pretentious?
I honestly can't wait until this comes out, I'm getting one if I can afford it. BTW, to those who have been wondering, there IS a new console coming for it, it's not just another peripheral for the Wii, and the controller is not a stand-alone item. You can guarantee that if Nintendo had built the graphical capability to compete with the PS3 and 360 into the Wii they would have used it, and they likely would have gotten a considerable amount of third-party support for more AAA titles.
On that note, I want to comment on one thing I really respect Nintendo for, and something that was greatly evident at this year's E3: Of the three major console-producing companies, Nintendo is the only one that has actually bothered to successfully innovate gameplay since the previous console generation. In the previous generation, Microsoft was the one pulling innovation forward with Xbox LIVE making online multiplayer and digital distribution available to the console-playing masses. This generation, it's been all Nintendo, and it looks like they're making a big push to hold on to that innovation crown. They've been the only ones this generation to change the way we play games. The WiiMote is the first capably functional motion controller that actually functions like it's supposed to (most of the time), and just look at what the DS has done: portable touch screen gaming AND the ability to display information on two screens and make them interact in a game. Further, call 3-D a "gimmick" if you want, but Nintendo is the first to pull off that technical feat without glasses, and on a portable device. While Kinect is a moderately-successful attempt to catch up to Nintendo, and Move is the blatant WiiMote copy it looks like. If you look at the "upgrades" Sony and Microsoft made to the PS3 and 360 from their predecessors, exactly what do you get for GAMING? A graphical upgrade, maybe a more easily accessible online store, and in Sony's case, a more limited motion-control than Nintendo that many games (maybe even the majority) don't even use. But the biggest thing to note is the graphical upgrade, which honestly frustrates me the most as well. "Hardcore" gamers got all wow-ed by the spiffy HD graphics, and Microsoft and Sony could easily peddle higher resolutions and better shaders as "innovation". Making things prettier without changing the way I interact with the medium is not my idea of innovation. I can make a baseball bat all sorts of cool colors and shades, but if it doesn't change the way I swing the bat or the distance the ball moves, is it really innovating the design? No way, I say.
Since launch, too, look at what Microsoft and Sony have offered us. I would say the one actual gameplay innovation since then has been the added-on ability to install games from the game disk onto the hard drive of the 360, cutting heat and load times. After that, it's been Microsoft and Sony acting like the electronics giants they are, trying to pass their consoles off as entertainment centers instead of gaming consoles, with their DVD/Bluray players, Facebook/Last.fm connectivity, Netflix, ESPN, Hulu, and so on. Nintendo is not totally innocent of that either: they've added a bunch of non-gaming crud to the Wii and DS as well. But at least they still seem to be trying to push the limits with games and change the way we look at and think about gaming past graphical power that mostly goes into adding more wood grain to crates and making gun barrels and sword blades more shiny. And in the end, Nintendo came away the victor in the larger public eye, yet punished in the ever-insular "hardcore" community for their innovation with terrible third-party support and abandonment. I don't know about you, but I think there is a place for real innovation in gaming yet, as well as the traditional way we play. So I can understand how some may not want to play in the new ways offered, but we should at least have respect for what Nintendo is trying to do, because if they weren't around doing what they do, gaming would eventually hit a big wall that Master Chief, Markus Fenix and Kratos just wouldn't be able to break through.
On that note, I want to comment on one thing I really respect Nintendo for, and something that was greatly evident at this year's E3: Of the three major console-producing companies, Nintendo is the only one that has actually bothered to successfully innovate gameplay since the previous console generation. In the previous generation, Microsoft was the one pulling innovation forward with Xbox LIVE making online multiplayer and digital distribution available to the console-playing masses. This generation, it's been all Nintendo, and it looks like they're making a big push to hold on to that innovation crown. They've been the only ones this generation to change the way we play games. The WiiMote is the first capably functional motion controller that actually functions like it's supposed to (most of the time), and just look at what the DS has done: portable touch screen gaming AND the ability to display information on two screens and make them interact in a game. Further, call 3-D a "gimmick" if you want, but Nintendo is the first to pull off that technical feat without glasses, and on a portable device. While Kinect is a moderately-successful attempt to catch up to Nintendo, and Move is the blatant WiiMote copy it looks like. If you look at the "upgrades" Sony and Microsoft made to the PS3 and 360 from their predecessors, exactly what do you get for GAMING? A graphical upgrade, maybe a more easily accessible online store, and in Sony's case, a more limited motion-control than Nintendo that many games (maybe even the majority) don't even use. But the biggest thing to note is the graphical upgrade, which honestly frustrates me the most as well. "Hardcore" gamers got all wow-ed by the spiffy HD graphics, and Microsoft and Sony could easily peddle higher resolutions and better shaders as "innovation". Making things prettier without changing the way I interact with the medium is not my idea of innovation. I can make a baseball bat all sorts of cool colors and shades, but if it doesn't change the way I swing the bat or the distance the ball moves, is it really innovating the design? No way, I say.
Since launch, too, look at what Microsoft and Sony have offered us. I would say the one actual gameplay innovation since then has been the added-on ability to install games from the game disk onto the hard drive of the 360, cutting heat and load times. After that, it's been Microsoft and Sony acting like the electronics giants they are, trying to pass their consoles off as entertainment centers instead of gaming consoles, with their DVD/Bluray players, Facebook/Last.fm connectivity, Netflix, ESPN, Hulu, and so on. Nintendo is not totally innocent of that either: they've added a bunch of non-gaming crud to the Wii and DS as well. But at least they still seem to be trying to push the limits with games and change the way we look at and think about gaming past graphical power that mostly goes into adding more wood grain to crates and making gun barrels and sword blades more shiny. And in the end, Nintendo came away the victor in the larger public eye, yet punished in the ever-insular "hardcore" community for their innovation with terrible third-party support and abandonment. I don't know about you, but I think there is a place for real innovation in gaming yet, as well as the traditional way we play. So I can understand how some may not want to play in the new ways offered, but we should at least have respect for what Nintendo is trying to do, because if they weren't around doing what they do, gaming would eventually hit a big wall that Master Chief, Markus Fenix and Kratos just wouldn't be able to break through.
Why won't any of the complainers on this thread spend 120 seconds to look things up before they start bitching?Eternal_Lament said:
Gaming journos have tested and reviewed the controller. They've interacted with the console and spoken to the developers. The system will support up to 4 wii remotes in addition to the tablet and most of the multiplayer games shouldn't require more than 1 tablet. The system will cost about as much as the PS3 and 360 cost now.
All of these longwinded statements are of no value if you don't understand what you're talking about. You took the time to compose a large paragraph; why not take a few more seconds to look into what you're discussing?
Update on the CPU+GPU front.mikozero said:
IBM have released a press statement and told engadget thats the CPU is POWER7 based.
AMD's recent press release makes it seem that the GPU is a custom 5xxx series card due to the mentions of eyefinity etc
Silly fanboy, this is a gyroscope.Zombie Izzard said:
And yes, I liked them more when they were punker.
Yep. And Iwata has recently stated in Nikkei that the price will likely be just above 20,000Y ($250). Nintendo seem to be going balls to the wall on this console.mikozero said:
Other than Smash Brothers I'm not seeing anything I either recognise or isn't coming out on 360/PS3.mikozero said:
But no, you're right, I'm sure Assassins Creed's gameplay will be significantly improved by a giant rectangular controller with a mini-map on it. And I could see the advantage of including it in Mass Effect 3 so instead of pausing the action to use the power wheel you can pause the action to use the power wheel displayed on the touch screen.
The one thing I could see it being quite good for is closing the usability gap for RTSs on consoles.