So, being an up-to-the-minute new games journalist (who uh, just had a birthday) I of course recently got a Wii U. Yesterday I ran down what I liked about the machine, but it’s not all roses in Nintendo’s new garden.
Hit the jump for some of my issues with the Wii U, as well as my final verdict on the new system…
Note – Again, this is just a general review of the hardware. I won’t be delving into specific games to any great degree.
Stuff I Don’t like
The “U” in Wii U Stands For Updates, Updates, Updates
We’ve all heard tell about the big, required operating system update new Wii U owners are hit with right off the bat, and it is big — over an hour to download, then another 20-minutes or more to install — but that’s not the half of it. Every new game you pop in, as well as pre-installed stuff like the YouTube and Netflix channels also require lengthy downloads and installations. Then there’s all the other set-up — you have to make a Mii, set up your Nintendo Network ID and on and on.
Basically, you need to set aside a solid six-hour block to set up your Wii U before you can actually start delving in. I can just imagine eight-year-olds across the world crying bitter tears on Christmas day as clueless parents fumble through dozens of menus and loading bars.
I…I’m sorry I bothered you ma’am.
The GamePad Is Too Beautiful
Yesterday I waxed poetic about the beauty of the Wii U GamePad, but honestly it may be a little too pretty. I’m not used to actually giving a crap about a video game controller — this is not a controller you can hold in one hand as you eat fried chicken in the other then shove under the couch cushions. Every mote of dust that touches the GamePad pains me deeply. Basically if you’ve got a touch of th’ ol’ OCD like me, it might a good idea to invest in a nice electronics polishing cloth before you get a Wii U.
The GamePad Can Complicate Things
I like to think I’m a fairly tech literate guy and yet despite owning this system for four or five days now, I’m still not entirely comfortable with the Wii U’s menus. I don’t really know how to use the Wara Wara Plaza, aspects of Miiverse still confuse me and I don’t exactly know how to save or check high scores in Nintendo Land. The extreme simplicity and usability of the Wii’s “channel” layout is long gone.
A lot of the confusion arises from the fact there doesn’t yet seem to be standardized guidelines for what kind of stuff gets displayed on the GamePad and what kind of stuff gets displayed on the TV. Frequently you’ll be searching around for a menu option only to find it’s hidden away in a small button on the GamePad, or you’ll be using the GamePad only to discover one random, important scrap of info is only displayed on the TV. I’m sure this will all be sorted out eventually, but for now the Wii U has a knack for making me feel pretty tech dumb sometimes.
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Just read last that last week that while the Wii sold 400,000 units, Microsoft sold 750,000 XBoxes.
That doesn’t seem to really bold well for the system if you ask me. I just haven’t heard anyone really buzzing about it.
Yeah, but there were only around 400 – 500 thousand Wii Us out there. They couldn’t have sold 750k if they wanted to. Also, Black Friday shoppers just buy whatever s–t is cheap. One of the best selling video game things of the weekend was the DSi because everywhere was selling it for 100 bucks.
So yeah, doesn’t mean much.
Yeah, I was going to say, old and busted outsold new and shiny Black Friday because old and busted was cheap.
Call me kooky, I just don’t see the allure of investing in this console especially when they can’t get a strong support of games for launch.
Oh, come on, dude, it’s launching with over twenty games! I have my problems with the Wii U but game choice is not one of them.
Well, game choice is ok if you don’t have other consoles I guess (about half the games are already available on other consoles) and you want to own multiple dancing games. The point is the games that are designed for the Wii U are minimal and will likely stay that way.
Nice write-up, Nate. I came to mostly the same conclusions as you. I think this is a solid, fun system that fixes a lot of my qualms with the original Wii (mostly the 480p ceiling and outdated hardware), and has just the right balance of expected Nintendo HID quirkiness and innovation. The pad does a lot more good than bad, even if it does intimidate more casual users.
What gets me is all the tools bitching about Nintendo resorting to gimmicks to sell the WiiU through weird controllers and things… the NES shipped with a ROBOT THAT SPUN DISCS TO PRESS CONTROLLER BUTTONS with you. Whatever.
Yeah, the “gimmicks” are pretty much the name of the game for Nintendo. The ones that really take off (analog sticks, polygonal graphics, rumble, motion controls) just eventually cease to be thought of as gimmicks.
read my lips; no mario karty, no likey.
oh, and i’m assuming you can play wii games on this? cos fuck them if not.
Yup. They’re even upscaled and look a little better.
I think C&C sums up my feelings about the Wii U so far.
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Its interesting, the game pad is the selling point, but just like the Wii I want to see developers make it a “must have,” instead another thing for my to waggle. Are all games able to be played on the pad exclusively? Also 32 GB’s is way too low. I’ll wait for Sony and Microsoft to show me what they got….and Ouya
The difference between the GamePad and motion control is that the pad *works*. It does what it’s supposed to.
The Wiimote didn’t. It wasn’t accurate enough to deliver what Nintendo had promised, hence the lame “waggle” games, and the Wii Motion+ fix they released several years later.
32 GB is pretty paltry though.
You can expand the memory with SD cards. Which of course costs money and a little inconvenience, but it’s an option
You can also plug full-on hard drives into this one.
Call me ignorant cause I barely play video games anymore (I buy maybe 3 games a years, won’t be buying WiiU till I gets me some Zelda action), but what’s the problem with storage space? I mean 32 Gigs sounds like a fuck-ton of space for a guy who has a couple of save files and maybe one or two downloadable game on his Wii and 360.
What in the world do you people need with all that space. This is an honest question, no sarcasm whatsoever.
I have an elite 360 which came with 120 GB. As of right now I have 57.7 GB free. Modern gaming includes DLC, apps, patches, firmware updates, and downloadable titles. On my console right now 45.1 GB is being used for games and apps. I don’t want to buy a SD card to store dowloaded games, another one to store DLC and another one for apps. Or drop $50 for a hard drive to sit on my shelf. It should all be able to fit in one box.
As far as the pad, I’m sure it works. I just don’t know how it will make my gaming better. I’m looking at reviews for games like Batman and a majority of them are saying that the added layer of touch and “interactivity” needlessly complicates something that wasn’t broken. The touch should make things easier not harder. IMO the biggest selling point for the Wii U Gamepad is being able to play games on a HD screen without needing the tv to be on. I know my girlfriend would love it if she could watch TV while I played Skyrim on the pad. I just don’t know if every game is going to have that option. (Or if Bethesda would port that or any other games) So I will wait and see…for a price drop….and more space.
I’ve looked at it since it was announced, and haven’t really seen a reason to buy one, as a hardcore Nintendo fan (I own every major iteration of the Gameboy/Ds line except the 3DS, which I’m getting for Christmas, and own most of the home consoles) I was sorta shot down by the overly casual Wii, then I see this, and it just looks like they went way overboard in trying to peddle it to core gamers in all the wrong ways. The effort is noted, but the launch titles are ‘meh’ (like the 3DS), the gamepad is uncomfortably large, and the schizophrenic use of it across different games makes it too unwieldy. The whole system just seems like a fight to get it going and the stay is not really worth it.
ZombiU would’ve been my go-to game, but I saw how extremely tedious it turned out to be, and then looked at the rest of the launch titles – It is grim. Maybe a Star Fox game or a Smash Bros. might pop up that could make it decent, but that’s a little doubtful.
FYI, for those of you looking to pick one up in time for Christmas … don’t bother with Game Stop — they will tell you if you didn’t pre-order you can’t get one (which you can’t … at Game Stop). Best Buy makes you keep coming back to see “if any arrived on today’s truck”. However, if you go to the Walmart website, the Wii U is not available online, but you can click on a “find it in store” button, enter in your zip code and usually you can find a store that has them in stock. I picked one up and only had to drive about 15 minutes out of my way to get it.
Mine was apparently bought at Staples. Think a little outside of the Gamestop box and you should be able to find one.
I walked into a GameStop yesterday looking for a DS game on my son’s list, not really looking for a Wii U at all (I had manged to get a basic Monday after launch, although I really wanted the deluxe). They had 3 basic systems and 1 deluxe in stock, so I picked up the deluxe. It may all depend on your local GameStop. The staff at that store indicted that they have them trickle in in their regular deliveries and then sell right back out. Of course, there are 6 GameStop stores within 2 miles of my house (really), so my GameStop chances may have been better.