I’m definitely interested. This seems far more up my street than the Wii. If they get a good launch line-up and there’s no major detractions in the big picture between now and launch, I’m sold.
I’m betting on a name change before it launches. What the he’ll does the U mean anyway?
According to the press conference it’s a combination of Wii (we) referring to the multiplayer experience, and U (you) referring to its heavier focus on single player games as well.
How so? We don’t have any information about the CPU or GPU and the rest of the details are pretty much the bare minimum of what I’d expect to a decent console to have.
Well first of all, hard drive suppport is huge. That was never part of the original rumors and there it is in black and white.
Also, the 6.2 inch touch screen on the controller is rule. Do you realize how massive that is? That alone is impressive.
Basically, the specs outline is impressive for Nintendo and seeing them release a machine that is quite clearly more powerful than the 360 and PS3 is awesome. They didn’t realease final specs yet because they probably don’t know them yet. The Wii U is at least a year, probably 18 months, away.
I have my doubts about the new controller, I think the mass penetration of Ipads and android/ Windowsmobile Tablets (or even the small Iphones/androids etc) could make this controller obsolete even before summer 2012……that is if MS and sony are smart enough to tap that potential
Any other parents see this and immediately think, “if any kid under 12 gets within a quarter mile of that thing it’s toast”? And with a Wiimote + nunchuk being something like 60 bucks, I cannot even fathom what this touchscreen controller is going to cost to replace.
Do you feel that way about handhelds too?
Of course.
Why the hell does a controller need a camera? Also the shape is dumb. It needs to at least try to contour to my hands not just be a rectangle. With that said I’m still going to buy it.
Fair enough.
I’ve heard a few people say that the device is comfortable to hold. Or are you just saying it’s ugly?
I don’t know what the use of this thing is… I saw the demos on how it could be used, I just don’t think it’s going to improve or change the way I play. Nintendo’s stock went down after they showed Wii U was shown, and I can see why. I only own a Wii, (no 360 or PS3), and have only owned Nintendo systems my whole life. I don’t know why I would buy this, when I could get a 360 or PS3 for less, and have a library full of great games.
I waited to see Nintendo’s next move to determine if I wanted to stick with them or not. From what I’ve seen, I don’t think I will. I might get a 3DS, but the new Sony portable has me scratching my head. I’m not buying any handheld until I see a 3DS revision.
It’s sad I’m stuck with just a Wii for the time being.
My son tells me he read that the controller with screen won’t be sold separately, and only one will come with the system. Can anyone confirm or deny? (That seems like a bad choice at first thought, but I guess if it were pretty expensive, they might not want people mentally saying “$150 per controller, and I need three more of them?!”)
No mention in Justin_Bailey’s link about Gamecube compatibility.
Shiguru Miyamoto confirmed here that only one controller can be used with the console. Considering the family appeal the Wii has, that seems to be a short drop and a sudden stop into the Abyss of Pure Idiocy. Though he also says they are researching if the console can support more than one controller and if it can’t, if something like DSes can be used for the remaining players.
GameCube compatibility is dead. The Wii U drops the GameCube ports, so unless they’ve managed to get GC games working with the Wii Remote, it’s gone for good.
One tablet controller per system is ridiculous. Absolute suicide. I know they’re thinking that the Wii Fit board was “1 per system” and THAT sold like hotcakes without people howling at the moon wanting to play local multiplayer, but this is truly a bad idea.
Frankly, there are a lot of Wii games that would have been much more fun if they hadn’t been capped at 4 players, (MarioKart, hello?) because they stupidly made the Wii only able to support 4 Wiimotes at a time, and I was hoping to see them fix that mistake this go-round. Looks like they’re going the other way, instead. Up to four players, but only ONE of them gets to play with the REAL controller? Yea, that’s not going to cause any sibling fights…
I’m not certain if I’ll buy one.
How could you possibly do Mario Kart with more than four players on a single console? Unless you’ve got a sixty each TV, splitting the screen into six or eight pieces would be a disaster.
For one, at 100-150 bucks a pop, having local multiplayer games all require 4 tablets would be market suicide much more than relegating the other players to Wii Remotes would be. “I can’t play with 3 friends unless I spend $450? Screw it!” I think it’s a smart move to at least start off with a one-cap to prevent developers from requiring 2-4 tablets just as a matter of practicality, to not scare people from the system. I can also see potential technical issues of pushing that much data wirelessly to 4 controllers, especially if it also handles their rendering.
Secondly, I think most multiplayer games with the tablet will tend to follow a sort of “1 vs n” structure, where you have one person setting up the field of DMing or what have you while the rest respond to it, or it would be communal with the four people playing on the Wii Remote and using the tablet as a sort of communal board (like when they showed golf, all four players have their remotes, and the tablet shows the golf ball of whoever’s turn it is). I don’t think the applications of all 4 players having their own hidden information is that important, most hidden info applications I can think of involve turn based games or Four Sword’s Adventure type shenanigans, I suppose with 4 you could get a local RTS going with the overhead view showing a type of “highlights cam” that activated when both players are fighting, but the number of applications are few enough that I don’t see it being a big deal.