Poll: What do you think of the WiiU now?

[loc978]

I do love their attitude with this thing. Nintendo's gaming philosophy is a wonderful thing.

That said, I still despise the hardware. Nothing will ever make me accept touchscreens for any reason outside of those awkward checkout kiosks... and the occasional modernized ATM.

At least it's still a game console, PowerPC architecture and all. This little white box can run things that my PC would require massive emulation backflips to match, so I guess it's fair to say that the WiiU can do things my recently-upgraded (for just under $400) PC can't... which is a lot more than the PS4 or Xbone can claim.

Might buy one for my nephews, but I can't see myself using it.

 

[xaszatm]

I know I am far from the first to write this but, with all of their IPs and the importance of the nostalgia factor in gaming these days, WiiU could have easily been the dominant console if they had done it right (i.e. get the same third-party games as the others).

Maybe I am naive, but I do not understand why this was so hard for them and/or why they are reluctant to commit to this strategy.

Why is it so hard for Nintendo to directly compete with Microsoft and Sony in terms of raw power and do what is necessary to attract third-party titles?

I know that they have an history of not playing nice with third-party developers and that their Internet services are lackluster, but I do not see why this can't be changed.

What would they lose by doing this?

And to answer the poll's question: I am mostly a PC gamer. I own a PS3 which serves mostly as my bluray player. I was not planning to buy a WiiU, but after E3 I could end up buying one in 2015. I will definitely look at how Zelda and Mario Maker are received.

Because it's repeatedly been shown that power is nowhere near as important as craftsmanship. 3rd parties refuse to work with Nintendo not because they're hard to work with (seriously, read about any outside dev team who's worked with Nintendo recently and they sing nothing but praises for the company), or because of technical limitations (most devs never tap a console's true power). No, the reason they get pissy with Nintendo is because Nintendo refuses to SPOIL them. They help and respect 3rd parties, but Nintendo is not their nanny; they are not going to coddle them and they certainly aren't going to moneyhat them. Nintendo hasn't really done much wrong themselves they just have the unfortunate luck of having to be in an era where a vast majority of important 3rd parties are a bunch of spoiled, undisciplined brats.

To be fair, Nintendo is still, whether wrongly or not, suffering from their horrible third party practices they held during the NES - SNES days. That reputation still leaves many developers with sour tastes in their mouths. Add to the fact that the other companies DO spoil those companies when it comes to policies and whatnot, and it is easy to see why getting big AAA third-party to play ball with Nintendo is so hard.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

In general?

The Wii U, for all the failures, tries to be a game console first and not a shoddy PC. This is also reflected in some games that, for me, bring a unique kind of joy.

Exactly this. I have a gaming PC so there's no reason for me to spend money on an xbox one or ps4 because I'd just be buying something that wants to be my pc. On the other hand, Nintendo is delivering fun, unique experiences through their first party franchises that I can't get on my PC. I got to play Mario Kart 8 at a buddy's place and it pretty much sold me on the idea of getting a Wii U. Now with Zelda and Starfox announced I'm even more into the idea. I'll probably trade in all my old 360 games and take the plunge fairly soon.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

To be fair, Nintendo is still, whether wrongly or not, suffering from their horrible third party practices they held during the NES - SNES days. That reputation still leaves many developers with sour tastes in their mouths. Add to the fact that the other companies DO spoil those companies when it comes to policies and whatnot, and it is easy to see why getting big AAA third-party to play ball with Nintendo is so hard.

Except I can't really count that that because that was twenty years ago at the most recent. And if companies or even individuals are STILL thinking that's relevant, that's not rational, in fact that's borderline sociopathic. That's a REALLY disturbing idea if you think about it; that would be like me getting flak for stuff my great, great grandfather did. I guess there IS a sort of logic with it, but it's completely STUPID and out of date.

Of course, even with their policies, they made complete SENSE. 3rd parties had proven that they couldn't be trusted. They crashed the gaming industry of the West so they relinquished any right to be treated as equals or even adults. Nintendo gave them the gaming equivalent of a government bailout, so of course they were going to be hardasses and make those idiots exhibit some discipline. That wasn't Nintendo oppressing minority, they were disciplining a bunch of spoiled brats who were allowed to run rampant for too long. And considering how 3rd parties have begun to display that very undisciplined, sloppy, entitled attitude again lately it looks like Nintendo and Yamauchi freaking called it all those years ago.

 

[VG_Addict]

Other than online, what are Nintendo behind on?

Even regarding online, they've at least taken steps in the right direction with voice chat and the ability to upload on YouTube on MK8.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Other than online, what are Nintendo behind on?

Even regarding online, they've at least taken steps in the right direction with voice chat and the ability to upload on YouTube on MK8.

Their digital prices are fairly absurd; but could you call that being behind, really?

 

[VG_Addict]

Other than online, what are Nintendo behind on?

Even regarding online, they've at least taken steps in the right direction with voice chat and the ability to upload on YouTube on MK8.

Their digital prices are fairly absurd; but could you call that being behind, really?

You know what's odd? Nintendo can be really forward thinking at times (Treehouse stream, Directs, and Miiverse), but still behind on online.

 

[COMaestro]

Still don't feel all that strongly one way or the other, though I will say it looks like Nintendo might be able to pull the WiiU up out of the slump it's in after all.

Some of the games look like fun. Heck, Splatoon even made me laugh a bit just looking at it. There are definitely some system sellers in the works, but not necessarily for me. Sure, I like Zelda and wouldn't mind playing that. However, I've played Mario Kart, Mario Party, SSB before and I just don't really care to upgrade to newer versions, especially as the old ones are just sitting around, unplayed, collecting dust. I tried out some of the newer Super Mario Bros games and just lost interest very quickly. I think platformers just don't do it for me anymore. New Starfox would be cool though.

If the WiiU is still kicking in a few more years, I may pick one up for my kids, as I MIGHT be able to trust them with a controller at that point But I don't think the system is really something I want.

 

[Josh123914]

Well looking at VGCharts the WiiU is actually outselling the Xbox by a couple thousand per month.
Anybody else weirded out by this?

This E3 seems to be won by Nintendo (even though many refuse to admit it) but I'm looking at the sales data and wondering if the WiiU could legitimately be in a solid 2nd place for this generation.

To the posters above talking about 3rd party incentives, I seem to recall E3 2012 Nintendo announcing 3rd party support from the likes of EA and Ubisoft, with talks of ports of some games and even exclusives, but those plans fell through, with the devs abandoning nintendo for the Xbox and PS4.
Hell, Ubisoft has even straight up said that they have had a WiiU game ready to ship for months, but are holding off release until hardware sales pick up.
Not to mention a rumour going round that EA apparently tried to pressure Nintendo to let them handle the WiiU online functions (Google it, it may not be real, but given EA's ambitions with Origin I wouldn't be surprised), that didn't happen, and EA's had this weird embargo go on ever since.


As for the poll, no I don't own a WiiU, but Smash bros and Hyrule warriors are certainly tempting, and if it weren't for the great lineup of 3DS games the WiiU would be top priority for me.

 

[Vault101]

a lot of those are a nope for me....Yoshi and starfox....maaaabye but honestly Nostalgia is NOT a good reason to get into a game as far as I'm concerned

 

[Sofus]

I still don't understand why anyone decides to buy a WiiU.. that thing doesn't even qualify as a console in my book.

If we imagine that the PS4 and Xbox One are cars.. then the WiiU is from my perspective a scooter.


The only "console" that interests me is the Steam Machine.

 

[Branindain]

I went C64-NES-SNES-PlayStation growing up. I had come to view Nintendo as the second system I would get at the end of the console cycle when it was cheap, and I felt like mixing it up. Until the Wii, which caused me to break up with them entirely. Only now am I starting to look at Nintendo as a realistic "sidekick" console again. I may get one in 2 or 3 years.

Still can't stand Smash Bros though, just can't figure out that game's appeal at all.

 

[SpAc3man]

I don't want one but I do think it is a very good console.

It serves it's purpose very well which is to provide Nintendo a platform to put their games on.
They design it for their games in the foreseeable future and don't really need to do much more than that.
If I was a fan of Nintendo games I would be buying one.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I still don't understand why anyone decides to buy a WiiU.. that thing doesn't even qualify as a console in my book.

If we imagine that the PS4 and Xbox One are cars.. then the WiiU is from my perspective a scooter.


The only "console" that interests me is the Steam Machine.

So basically you're mainly a PC guy and judges via specs only?, sounds about right.

Also why can't I buy or be interested in a Wii U, why do I have to be interested in what you think is interesting?, why do people always, always do this when they should know by now that everything is different, everyone thinks different.

 

[Doom972]

I don't understand it. A bunch of people on Twitter say that Nintendo should go software only, even though they revealed a TON of great games today.

Why should they do that when the Wii U is getting games?

On topic, yes. I am now interested in getting a Wii U. 2015 looks to be a great year not just for the Wii U, but for gamers in general.

You just answered your own question. Nintendo can make games - some of them are even great. Nintendo's main problem is that they make inferior consoles. That's why many people would prefer to be able to play Nintendo games on a better platform.

 

[VG_Addict]

I don't understand it. A bunch of people on Twitter say that Nintendo should go software only, even though they revealed a TON of great games today.

Why should they do that when the Wii U is getting games?

On topic, yes. I am now interested in getting a Wii U. 2015 looks to be a great year not just for the Wii U, but for gamers in general.

You just answered your own question. Nintendo can make games - some of them are even great. Nintendo's main problem is that they make inferior consoles. That's why many people would prefer to be able to play Nintendo games on a better platform.

But even without the limitations, Nintendo's consoles weren't bad.

Every console until the Wii was on par graphically with the competition.

Do you think they should go software only?

 

[Doom972]

I don't understand it. A bunch of people on Twitter say that Nintendo should go software only, even though they revealed a TON of great games today.

Why should they do that when the Wii U is getting games?

On topic, yes. I am now interested in getting a Wii U. 2015 looks to be a great year not just for the Wii U, but for gamers in general.

You just answered your own question. Nintendo can make games - some of them are even great. Nintendo's main problem is that they make inferior consoles. That's why many people would prefer to be able to play Nintendo games on a better platform.

But even without the limitations, Nintendo's consoles weren't bad.

Every console until the Wii was on par graphically with the competition.

Do you think they should go software only?

I'm not saying that all Nintendo consoles are bad, just inferior (The Wii was bad though). Also, Nintendo has the worst third-party support - they don't even get feedback from developers while developing a console like MS and Sony do.

A good console should be powerful and accessible enough for developers to use. Nintendo consoles (especially the recent ones) are neither.

 

[VG_Addict]

I don't understand it. A bunch of people on Twitter say that Nintendo should go software only, even though they revealed a TON of great games today.

Why should they do that when the Wii U is getting games?

On topic, yes. I am now interested in getting a Wii U. 2015 looks to be a great year not just for the Wii U, but for gamers in general.

You just answered your own question. Nintendo can make games - some of them are even great. Nintendo's main problem is that they make inferior consoles. That's why many people would prefer to be able to play Nintendo games on a better platform.

But even without the limitations, Nintendo's consoles weren't bad.

Every console until the Wii was on par graphically with the competition.

Do you think they should go software only?

I'm not saying that all Nintendo consoles are bad, just inferior (The Wii was bad though). Also, Nintendo has the worst third-party support - they don't even get feedback from developers while developing a console like MS and Sony do.

A good console should be powerful and accessible enough for developers to use. Nintendo consoles (especially the recent ones) are neither.

Do you think that all of Nintendo's consoles have been inferior?

The Gamecube may not have been accessible for developers, but it was still powerful, and got several of the same games the XBOX and PS2 got.

 

[Doom972]

I don't understand it. A bunch of people on Twitter say that Nintendo should go software only, even though they revealed a TON of great games today.

Why should they do that when the Wii U is getting games?

On topic, yes. I am now interested in getting a Wii U. 2015 looks to be a great year not just for the Wii U, but for gamers in general.

You just answered your own question. Nintendo can make games - some of them are even great. Nintendo's main problem is that they make inferior consoles. That's why many people would prefer to be able to play Nintendo games on a better platform.

But even without the limitations, Nintendo's consoles weren't bad.

Every console until the Wii was on par graphically with the competition.

Do you think they should go software only?

I'm not saying that all Nintendo consoles are bad, just inferior (The Wii was bad though). Also, Nintendo has the worst third-party support - they don't even get feedback from developers while developing a console like MS and Sony do.

A good console should be powerful and accessible enough for developers to use. Nintendo consoles (especially the recent ones) are neither.

Do you think that all of Nintendo's consoles have been inferior?

The Gamecube may not have been accessible for developers, but it was still powerful, and got several of the same games the XBOX and PS2 got.

You know well enough to which consoles I'm referring to. No point in discussing the Gamecube.

 

[Scars Unseen]

That said, I still despise the hardware. Nothing will ever make me accept touchscreens for any reason outside of those awkward checkout kiosks... and the occasional modernized ATM.

I never really liked touchscreens for gaming either until I bought Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition for Android. If that version had full mod support, I'd never touch my PC version again. It's just so natural to play by touch.