Jimquisition: Why the Wii U May Have Already "Won" Next-gen

[Tumedus]

Ya, I just don't see it. Sure integrated TV functionality may muscle in on some of the stuff that Xbox and PS want to offer you, but the reality is that people buy consoles for the games and I think the Wii U is cornering themsleves out of the games by doing this.

Once the next gen systems come out, the Wii U will simply be less powerful than the other 3 platforms (xbox, PS and PC) making it inferior to develop the more complex games on.

Plus if pad integrated gaming were to actually become more desirable than a gimmick, people are going to want to use their much more capable and non proprietary pad. Their pad which will have much more functionality and connectivity, thus making Wii U's a poor choice for expanding and/or monetizing the two gaming worlds.

And, personally, I think its stupid to force me to divide my attention between my TV and your pad. I love my TV. Lots of people love their TV. I get that a lot of people, especially younger generations, are more willing to watch their stuff on smaller screens, but come on. I don't want to watch the pad when my TV is right fucking there.


Edit: Worth noting that I thought, from the get go, that motion control was dogshit and that the Wii wouldn't be worth it. While it certainly dropped off in later years, no one can argue that it was very successful.

 

[Sande45]

I think the Wii U is the console actually putting in effort to be different than the one before it. With the stats we know of the PS4 and the nextbox, we can pretty much agree that those are just the PS2.75 and the Xbawcks1.3

You have a weird sense of what counts as the next generation or a true follower to a console. 10+ times as much power? Nope, it's just 1.5. Drastically improved online features, controller, ~5 times the resolution etc etc... Pfft, that's nothing. Gimmicky controller? F*** Yeah!

Seriously, the only way Wii U is doing anything significant is if you compare it to Wii, which is like comparing Nextbox to Xbox (not 360).

My money's on Sony. I'm almost certain MS is going to do precisely like Jim said and I loathe Wii U's direction almost as much as I hated the Wii's. Sony has kept it reasonably focused on the core gaming experience and I hope they keep it that way next gen as well.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

Aw. Poor Jim. You suffer so much for our entertainment. Thank God for you.

As for the topic, I'll just wait and see how all this plays out. You may be right, Jim.

Also, I hope you'll be at the next Expo. Hopefully I can go next time too.

 

[Darmani]

I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

 

[k-ossuburb]

I want to see "behind the scenes" footage of Jim showing this video to his dry cleaner without them automatically thinking the obvious reason why he would have ketchup on his suit.

On topic: I'm still lukewarm about the whole Wii U thing. I haven't been massively interested enough to keep an eye on the release titles and I don't know if:

a) it'll be anything that appeals to my specific tastes in aesthetics, storyline and gameplay style.

and b) That it won't be anything I don't already own on either my Wii or my 360.

I'm still pretty much just waiting it out, it'll probably be some time after release before I can afford to fork out for one anyway and I want to make sure that I'm getting my money's worth for it. I'm going to wait until there are enough reviews and "buzz" about the system before I make any concrete decision.

That being said; I'm optimistic, despite being cautious. I see the potential, but I'm also cynical that the potential might be squandered or misused in the early years and development won't focus very much on that second screen, which opens up an whole world of possibilities if companies are willing to take some risks. Something that I'm pretty sure we're all aware just does not happen any more unless you're an indie developer.

If it turns out to not be my kind of thing then I'm holding no grudge against it, nor will I have anything against anyone who decides that is their kind of thing. That's just how things go, I'm going to wait until I see enough games for it to appeal to my personal tastes before I'm fully committed, because what's a gaming system without games?

 

[ex275w]

I think the Wii U will be very successful with the "casual" market, since tablets are all the rage right now.
The "hardcore" market will be much better than with the Wii, since Nintendo is stealing plenty of Hardcore IPs from Sony.
The third party developers also seem to like the console a lot more than they liked the Wii, and Nintendo seems to be more willing to help 3rd parties and getting engines like Unity and Umbra.
Even /v/ videogames hive of scum and villany is pretty pumped for the Wii U.
The only ones who don't like it are the PC Master Race, Nintendo "haters" on the escapist, and people who hate any controller not resembling a Dualshock or XBox 360 controller.
Sony is in big trouble since Nintendo trounced them twice in the hand-held market and are courting hurt developers and Microsoft's Media hub experiment could prove to cripple their new console.

 

[ex275w]

I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.
The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I imagine WiiU's biggest competitor is not going to be Sony or MS, but rather, the Ouya. It has similar hardware... and it's less than half the price.

A system with a decently clocked 128bit wide GDDR3 backing its SM4.0+ gpu will easiy outclass any system with a 64bit wide low voltage mDDR2, and the WiiU could be sporting a GDDR5 bus, or even an XDR2 bus.

Somewhere out there there is a robot with an erection. I will safely assume it is the captcha.

 

[GAunderrated]

I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.
The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

Do you have a link to said article? I'd really like to give it a good read. Honestly I would hate for sony to drop out of the race for the sheer fact that I think they are the only ones holding back MS from going full crazy with their bloatware on the xbox.

 

[Darmani]

MS isn't going anywhere. If Nintendo won the overall with a big start. MS won the Western market and is finally at looooooooong last improving in asian/japanese markets later. They have less hate though plenty of apprehension attached to them.

Sony, the company who are overall suffering, and keep banking on premium core early adopters in a recession is getting thrashed by...Samsung and Apple (nintendo is a minor front) in their overall operations. So they'll either hold fast and maybe pull a win (Wonderbook, the smash ripoff, and the other late gen goodies they can roll out ya never know who was banking on the extremeeee success of God of War?) But right now its Nintendo for the young MS for the core market Sony likely pulling back.

 

[ex275w]

I am more ready to see MS sweep Nintendo than Sony stay in the console market, to be honest. I mean that MS Glass idea was inspired, I know, I proposed it for new years as a way to deal with selling the iffy tech of tablet gaming.

Thing is that MS and Nintendo have already proven to be able to co-exist. One more fps and western in focus on adult hardcore gamers and PC gaming inspirations. The other more.. well okay casual and local multiplayer focused with Japanese independent cast a wide net stuff (adventure games, fighting games, etc) while being more family or kid directed with a strong console or toy gaming focus with the occasional Japan pc crossover if we're lucky.

In short the Pepsi and Coke of their markets if they were to be left standing. Distinct and similar but competitive and satisfactory without having to eliminate the other.

Moviebob said something similar in an old episode of the Game Overthinker. Since Sony bombed in Japan with the Vita, Nintendo stole most of the momentum in the hand-held market with games like Monster Hunter, and frankly Mario is more of a system seller than Nathan Drake. Sony could possibly fall out of the video game business.
The XBox 360 has strong multiplayer "hardcore" games but stepped on Nintendo toes with the Kinect. If Sony falls due to the Vita and PS4 failing and Nintendo monopolizes the Japanese market, then those will be interesting times. I think Microsoft and Nintendo will try to monopolize the industry, which would be pretty bad.

Do you have a link to said article? I'd really like to give it a good read. Honestly I would hate for sony to drop out of the race for the sheer fact that I think they are the only ones holding back MS from going full crazy with their bloatware on the xbox.

Sure here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bDbj4j1ylE it's kind of old, since it only mentions the PSP, but it has a theory thatt might shed some new light into why Sony fucks up their business osmetimes.

 

[TK421]

as for the WiiU it self? its already the most interesting system of the three. why? at bare minimum i expect the PS4 to be a hardware upgrade, and the 720, meh, might as well not exist for all I'll care

I'm going to have to agree. When I first heard about the WiiU, the only thing in my brain was "gimmick." But the more I hear about the WiiU, the more awesome it sounds. I'm actually seriously considering buying one. Maybe not at launch, but probably in the reasonably near future. Also, the more I hear about the 720, if that's what they really want to call it, the more I'm pushed away from it.

TLDR: Excited about the WiiU. I want PS4 as well, as long as they don't screw it up. 720 is already complete crap.

 

[xPixelatedx]

A videogame console focusing on VIDEOGAMES!? What kind of pants-on-head-retarded shit is this!? Nobody cares about videogames anymore.

Nintendo is going to bomb because their tech will be obsolete in a few years. Just look at how bad the wii did against the 360 and... oh, wait...

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Dammit, stupid living in Europe, do an expo over here dammit.

Anyway, yeah I think the WiiU is probably realistically the best console. I'm a console gamer, I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii, and a pc that has a shit graphics card so I need to get on that. But Consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque with each generation. Only no0t able to do as much. They need to cut the crap and just make consoles straight up gaming machines and then charge less for it. I don't want to pay like 500 quid for a machine that plays blu ray, has a browser or whatever else. My PC and my tablet do all of that better. Hell next gen I'll probably just upgrade my PC and buy a WiiU. Maybe wait a few years and buy a console for any exclusives I missed.

The Wii U does have a browser, and I'm not sure if it will but it may be able to play blu-rays. But still, none of that is seeming to distract from the game part of the system. Just look at E3, if Sony or Microsoft announced they were getting Netflix or something on their consoles they would spend 5 minutes talking about it, and show a two minute trailer on it. In Nintendo's E3 conference this year talking about the Wii U they spend about two minutes announcing pretty much all their video services, and they were pretty much saying "We know you won't be surprised or amazed at these announcements, so we'll spend as little time as possible announcing them so we can get to the games!"

 

[ex275w]

Dammit, stupid living in Europe, do an expo over here dammit.

Anyway, yeah I think the WiiU is probably realistically the best console. I'm a console gamer, I have a PS3, a 360 and a Wii, and a pc that has a shit graphics card so I need to get on that. But Consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque with each generation. Only no0t able to do as much. They need to cut the crap and just make consoles straight up gaming machines and then charge less for it. I don't want to pay like 500 quid for a machine that plays blu ray, has a browser or whatever else. My PC and my tablet do all of that better. Hell next gen I'll probably just upgrade my PC and buy a WiiU. Maybe wait a few years and buy a console for any exclusives I missed.

The Wii U does have a browser, and I'm not sure if it will but it may be able to play blu-rays. But still, none of that is seeming to distract from the game part of the system. Just look at E3, if Sony or Microsoft announced they were getting Netflix or something on their consoles they would spend 5 minutes talking about it, and show a two minute trailer on it. In Nintendo's E3 conference this year talking about the Wii U they spend about two minutes announcing pretty much all their video services, and they were pretty much saying "We know you won't be surprised or amazed at these announcements, so we'll spend as little time as possible announcing them so we can get to the games!"

A little bit wrong, since Microsoft spends 20 minutes talking about ESPN and Adidas, while Sony spends 15 minutes on the surely killer-app that the Wonderbook will be. Then they show the 2 minute trailers.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

A little bit wrong, since Microsoft spends 20 minutes talking about ESPN and Adidas, while Sony spends 15 minutes on the surely killer-app that the Wonderbook will be. Then they show the 2 minute trailers.

Oh god don't remind me about the wonderbook, watching that in the sony conference this year made me wonder how easy suicide would be with the various things I had in the room with me.

That is the good thing about Nintendo's conferences, there's rarely any bullshit. They tell you the details and give you the trailers instead of getting out people to demo EVERY single damn game they have to announce, or talk about it.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

*Incomprehensible noises by Jim*

I'm assuming the best way to interpret that moment in the video is that what console a game is on is not an issue, especially when most gamers are probably going to buy all the consoles anyways.

Furthermore, all the hate for the Wii U having Bayonetta 2 is unfounded; as what the action shows is that Nintendo is Genuinely wanting to have people take the console seriously as opposed to the last one.

The Exclusivity part only becomes as argument against exclusivity in general, and that is a problem nobody cared about before. And unless you want to start arguing that Microsoft should port Fable to PS3 as well, you have no ground.

Console companies are going to have exclusivity for some time, and we're not in a position to change that, yet... So it's all a moot issue.

Essentially, all the hate against the move is pointless noise-making, and that unless you're literally too poor to buy Nintendo's cheap ass Console; you're making much ado about nothing...

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm merely translating from "chimp impersonation". Also, some of the subtleties may be lost.

 

[daibakuha]

Who cares about all this superfluous bullshit? Consoles live and die by software, not by what other services they provide. Nintendo can't provide the experience I want out of a console, and I won't be buying from them.

What is the 360 or PS3 providing that the Wii U isn't?

Non gimicky controllers. 3rd party support.