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Nintendo Reveals Wii U's Miiverse Social Network
chrb writes "Nintendo has announced that its new Wii U console will feature a social network called the Miiverse in which users can video chat, see what others are playing, share game content and swap tips." And with a nod to Zawinski's Law, "The redesigned Wii U GamePad features dual sticks, a touch screen that supports finger and stylus interaction, motion and gyroscope sensors, and the ability to act as a TV remote. The Wii U GamePad has its own dedicated Web browser and can share images and video to a TV so that everyone can enjoy the shared content."
As long as you're invoking Zawinski's Law, where's the email client?
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Er, the machine isn't even out yet. And it probably won't come with a bowling game.
Did you, perhaps, mean the Wii? If so, you're sadly mistaken. There aren't _as many_ Wii titles I consider Fantastic Games as some other platforms, but there are still quite a few really damned good games.
Some people apparently only want a system if it has HD graphics. Because, you know, all that crapware and those old-school emulated games look so much better in HD. And BRB, no-scoping some noobs that said they slept with my mother.
Please. I want fun games. How about these:
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was amazing. The sound of arrows going from your controller to the screen... genius.
Warioware was great for springing on your unsuspecting friends.
Mario Galaxy was a head trip every time gravity wasn't straight down.
Geometry Wars with point-at-the-screen action... zen.
Super Smash Brothers Brawl: Best in series IMO.
Emulating a zillion classic console games flawlessly? Check. That classic controller.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the friendship killer. Good times. For me.
Let's just conveniently forget about Wii Music, the Kirby yarn game, Chocobo Dungeon, and the horribly botched Monkey Ball game... yikes, that game played like it had absolutely no QA.
The Wii was all family friendly and then late horrific rated M games like House of the Head Overkill where every third word was a swear word. That shocked everyone but it was to attract hardcore gamers. Who are they trying to attract with video chat? People banned from chat roulette? I'm sure the creators of that were thinking "oh boy, people will connect and learn about other cultures and there might be a weirdo or two but otherwise it'll basically be 99% Starbucks customers. WRONG! Freaks and pervs aren't outside in public being social, they're inside on their PC and Wii so I'm sure the video chat will be shut down. The only question is, before or after the class action law suit by parents?
So which incumbent social media giant will drag Nintendo into litigation over patent infringement first?
But in the next mario, he has a puppy! you're not a brainwashed throwback-pretentious hipster if that gimmick isn't enough to make you beg to hear ole Mario say "lets-a-go" one more time!!!
Let me go grab my oversized glasses (so the SD looks its best), my PBR so I can call it a party, and my trst fund so I have plenty of time to spend reminiscing, contemplating, and focusing on masquerading as a mature productive adult.
I moved on from Nintendo after I played Mario Kart 96 and Zelda 47.
Went back to Halo 67, Rock Guitar Band Hero 82, and Call of Duty 391, eh?
Oh, and Final Fantasy MCMX-37 part 24 disc 13.
How about Resident Evil 113?
Street Fighter 602 Gamma EX Super Turbo Edition perhaps?
Crash Bandicoot Bros. Racer part 88? Ok, that's really stretching.
I never understood people's incessant bitching about Nintendo milking their best franchises. Please name the companies that don't. Wouldn't be much of a company if they didn't.
Looking at the article the Wii U controller is supposed to be a revamped version of the old NES game-pad which IMHO was a great way of crippling your hands and that controller does not look all that comfortable to hold even for adult hands. The Wii U will support all the other Wii peripherals though and this in itself is good since I don't think many adults would be happy with their kid handling a controller that won't be cheap (not confirmed) or even robust (not confirmed).
I think one of the most important attributes of any game controller is can it survive the drop test and looking at that controller I don't think it could survive repeated drops.
There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
Watching the Wii on a HDTV now is *just painful.*
Just plugging it into a modern TV can be difficult. The stock composite cables produce a pathetic image with distortion all over the place. You need component to even do 480p. Not having a HDMI port is terrible, I bought a more expensive AV receiver with component inputs specifically to accommodate my Wii.
Low resolution in a cartoon-y Mario game is fine. Lack of connectivity isn't.
You know what is scary? I think competition for that 6 year old is the iPad. You're right, you'd think a family wouldn't want social for their kids. But I can't tell you how many little kids have their parents buy them iPads. It's scary. And not even the cheapest one. We're talking they have to have the 64 GB 3G one that's like what, $1000?
Now, I think it's more being a bad parent or a case of being lazy and just caving to a whiny kid, but that's another story.
It's questionable if MS and Sony have really come out ahead of this or not given the systems cost. The only real reason why MS and Sony aren't releasing a new system this year is that they still haven't made up for all the losses they incurred from the last round.
If Nintendo ever fixes its issue with 3rd party developers then Sony and MS will have to worry since that is the only thing making their system relevant enough to stay in the market. Their 1st party development is lack luster and Nintendo can practically print money without the aid of 3rd parties.
They have only had ONE year with an operational loss. Look at what's happened in Japan in the last year tsunami/nuclear disaster, Every major industry in Japan has been in the red.
To add to your flaimbait. You have to be retarded and ignorant of the history to make the claim that Nintendo will be irrelevant. They've ether been irrelevant for the last 20 year or they haven't been and probably won't be.
And it doesn't run Linux.
Mario was in 12 games starring him in 21 years. Final fantasy did 14 over 23 years. Without getting into the days difference final fantasy is releasing more often than Mario has. Zelda and metroid are far slower. Other have released in the single digits over the same time period. Admittingly Halo is behind the cure averaging only 8-9 in that same period at the current pace. The only issue for Nintendo has been third party support and always has been because they take their image and quality fairly serious.
The wiiU rectified the lack of power issue and will ironically hobble the PS4/720 as developers will simply port the basest version to the others. So third party support will flood the system, we'll probably see a more "traditional" controller show up as well for the fps games. It's shaping up t be interesting for Nintendo.
One of the reasons the Wii sold was a gimmick. People were interested in the "wave the stick" around method of control. They bought it because it seemed cool, and wasn't too expensive. However that was a gimmick over all. Notice there's been no massive rush to a similar system the world over. That is because it really isn't that great. For a few games you find it is a superior method for control, but for the more part it is just different. Instead of pressing a button to do X, you make a certain motion. Ok, fine, whatever. Nothing revolutionary though.
Also like most gimmicks, it fades with time. The novelty wears off and it actually can become rather annoying. Like in Zelda it was a real pain to have to keep doing that sweep motion to do a spin attack rather than just press a "spin attack" button. That aside once the novelty wears off you are left with a below average console. It doesn't support HDTVs, it doesn't have full surround support (just Pro Logic), the graphics are pretty low level.
As such in the long run it has been sputtering out a bit. Ok fine again no big deal. Nintendo made a lot of money on it and that's really all they need to do. It was a success... However it really isn't a success to try and emulate.
Well that's what they are trying to do. Rather than make a solid console and market that, they are again going for a gimmick, this time with the whole silly "tablets as controllers" thing. I just don't see it working. For one, it is rare for the love of a gimmick to strike a second time around since it is as much luck with what consumers happen to be interested in as anything. Then there's the fact that tablets aren't novel to consumers. They are all over the damn place.
Motion control was novel. Most people had never seen anything like the Wiimote. It wasn't new actually, Gyration made mice that were motion control mice for a long time (no need for an optical sensor either). However it was new to the public. So that made the gimmick more interesting. They'd never seen it and wanted to play with it.
Tablets though, well just look at Apple's balance sheet, that'll tell you all you need to know about how many consumers have encountered tablets. It isn't something that'll make them say "Oh I need to try that!" since most of them have already tried it (and may indeed own a tablet).
I think the Wii U is going to flop on account of that. It's hoping for success on a gimmick, like the Wii had, and I don't think that'll work twice around.
No, it is just people getting old. When I got Nexus one, I handed my MyTouch down to my 6 year. The sales people at T-Mobile were a bit shocked that a 6 year old had a smartphone. The HTC rep was in the store, and was fascinated at our existence. It was a completely new concept to him that a 6 year old would have one of their phones.
The think was, the phone, even if purchased that day brand new, had a lower dollar value than a Nintendo DS with a dozen games. Yet no one would bat an eye over a 6 year old having that. $1000 is an expensive gift for a 6 year old, but for families that can afford it, it isn't out of line for what would be spent if there was no iPad.
I haven't run into an HDTV that doesn't have component yet, but I can see that not having the same connector as everything else makes using a switchbox or receiver a pain.
These guys http://www.neoya.com/shop/wii2hdmi sell a Wii to HDMI adapter gizmo for thirty bucks. Might be worth it just to simplify cabling.
sure, just email your friend your 15 digit friend code and then if you want to play a game together simply email your 15 digit game code! you can even share a picture or a comment by exchanging a simple 15 digit post code! the future is now!
This is a joke. I am joking. Joke joke joke.
Mario was in 12 games starring him in 21 years. Final fantasy did 14 over 23 years.
It's even murkier than that. Look at Super Mario Brothers, then 2, then 3, then Super Mario World, then Super Mario 64, then Super Mario Sunshine, then Super Mario Galaxy. You don't play *any* of those games the same way. I don't mean that they have expanded levels or extra features, I mean the skills you learn from 2 don't directly apply to 3. Compare this to Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. Sure, there are additions and improvements along the way, but you could be driving around Liberty City then suddenly materialize in Vice City and there wouldn't even be a hiccup in the gameplay.
I realize some of you are tired of hearing the name "Mario". I get it, no prob. But if you're going to rake anybody over the coals over video game sequelitis, is it really going to be Nintendo? There's a difference between having a game that has "Mario" in the title and creating a sequel. Super Mario Galaxy II is a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Galaxy is in the same franchise as Super Mario Sunshine. See how Galaxy isn't called Super Mario Bros. 7?
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Old school games do look much better in high resolution graphics with proper post processing. I recently played Persona 4 on a PS2 and PCSX2 emulator side by side when demonstrating this to a friend who was of the same opinion as you. The difference was astounding even though the original material is exactly the same and just rendered in (much) higher resolution with a couple of post-filters applied to it on the emulator. The game simply looked much prettier, which did wonders to enjoyment of the title where artistic approach to many things counts for a lot of presentation like it does in Persona games.
Great game play is good to have, but it can only carry you so far. Presentation is equally if not more important in many cases.
"real men play single player."
This is Slashdot, where all the men play "single player".
All of the Nintendo haters need to calm down. I started playing Nintendo at the age of 6 or 7. When I was that age we WERE Nintendos customers. Most importantly we could actually play the games Nintendo was putting out. Now that I'm a father, and stick my son in front of any console on the market that's not a Nintendo and expect them to play a game? It's impossible. In fact, anyone that isn't a 16-35yr old male that's played video games for most of their life is going to have trouble grasping most games these days. Nintendo realized that and hence the WII. My kids can play it. My mom can play it. There's nothing wrong with that. This is what Nintendo always was. They realized that if they kept chasing the other console companies the industry would eventually paint itself into a corner. Is it for the hardcore gamer that plays nothing but FPS all day? No... but that's ok. There's room for what they've done... a lot of room.
Monoprice has a component cable for the Wii for less than $3. It works fine, I have one.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10830&cs_id=1083007&p_id=5689&seq=1&format=2
Let's see if i've got this all figured out.
Nintendo: Kiddie games, outdated tech, milk their franchises to death (unlike the franchises of all the other companies which are handled _totally_ responsibly.)
Sony: Overpriced, installs rootkits and disables components of their systems after you've already bought them, gives your credit card number away to hackers.
Microsoft: The original borg, convicted monopolist and patent troll, Windows sucks and the XBox keeps suffering hardware failures.
Apple: The new borg, walled garden and patent troll, designed for hipsters.
Linux: The one true system, but ported games are frequently buggy and often just don't work at all. (This is of course all the fault of the people who made the games.)
I guess as a responsible geek i'm not supposed to be playing any games at all?
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