Nintendo WiiU Price and Release Date Announced

It will certainly succeed by aglider · 2012-09-13 01:40 · Score: 2, Interesting

in being a big flop.
The controller (the distinctive part of this box) is too expensive. You can by a PS Vita or a 3DS for the same price. And play on the go.
All that CPU power is almost irrelevant. 2x would be enough. 10x is not different from a 2x from the user perspective.
1080p is the maximum? No dual screen? What's all that power for?
You can buy a PS3 for less and still have a very good gaming experience.
In one question: is the WiiU a better gaming console than a PS3?
I don't think so.

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Re:It will certainly succeed by Liam+Pomfret · 2012-09-13 01:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

I can't help be amused at this post. People have spent years attacking Nintendo for its console not being powerful enough. Now it builds the more powerful console people have demanded, one that should serve it well into this next console generation....and people attack it for being too powerful, and talk about how you can still have great game experiences with a less powerful console? Now where have I heard that argument before....oh yeah, that's exactly what Nintendo fans have been saying for years as people have continued to attack them. There's just no satisfying you guys, is there? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Re:It will certainly succeed by ledow · 2012-09-13 01:46 · Score: 3, Interesting

If it runs all Wii games and accepts all Wii peripherals, and puts out "HD" (even if that's just old Wii games and some scaling), it'll sell just so that people can replace their (now-aging) Wii's with it, use all their old stuff still and see a new game or two with even just one of the new controllers come Christmas.
Predicting a flop is a little harsh. It probably won't be as successful as the Wii but if Nintendo make a loss on it, I'll be extremely surprised.
Re:It will certainly succeed by JDG1980 · 2012-09-13 01:54 · Score: 5, Interesting

You can buy a PS3 for less and still have a very good gaming experience. In one question: is the WiiU a better gaming console than a PS3?
Nintendo hardware has seldom been leading-edge at any time, going back to the original NES. They succeed because of their software library. It's really that simple, and I see no reason it won't continue with the Wii U. As long as the rest of the industry continues to crank out cookie-cutter FPSes and MMORPGs, Nintendo will continue to have a profitable niche as the novice-friendly, family-friendly console maker.
Re:It will certainly succeed by JMJimmy · 2012-09-13 02:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

It may bring the "power" but 8gb and 32gb of memory!? My Xbox is filled with 240gb of mostly arcade games at the moment. Add on the cost of an external HDD + the performance slowdowns due to the USB interface - horrible. You're going to have to install/delete the games every time you want to switch games or wear out the optical drive in no time.
Re:It will certainly succeed by RogueyWon · 2012-09-13 02:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

It would have had a better chance if it was launching in late 2009 or early 2010. Back then, the Wii wasn't as completely moribund as it is now and successors to the PS3 and 360 were a lot further off. Plus Nintendo would have been able to throw more resource at the launch, before they'd suffered 2 years of poor results due to the Wii flatlining and the 3DS needing to be sold at a loss (a first for Nintendo) just to get it a half-way passable installed base.
But launching now? Yes, I think "flop" is probably the likely outcome. The Wii managed huge success in its early years. I think there were two big reasons for this. First, the concept of the Wii was clearly and easily communicated. "Jump around and wave the wand to play games". Everybody can understand that - and it looks fun. Lots of non-gamers bought them (and then, being non-gamers, bought no more games for it after launch). Ok, ok, the motion control was actually hideously inaccurate (only partially rectified by the Wiimote-Plus) and far from jumping around, the best way to play most games was to sit still and make small movements. But by the time people noticed that, they'd already bought.
The second advantage was a media zeitgeist working in Nintendo's favour. There was disillusionment with Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo were getting a lot of press goodwill and free publicity. They had lots of people happy to do their marketing for them.
This time around, the console has a concept which may or may not be good, but which is much harder to communicate in a 15-20 second TV advert. It's a tabletty... touchpaddy... thing. That does something. But then, you're also playing on the TV. I wouldn't be surprised, given the focus on the controller, if a lot of casuals and non-gamers thought that the Wii-U was actually just a new peripheral for the Wii, rather than a whole new console. Just as happened with the 3DS, which a lot of people thought was just a DS with a 3D screen.
And the media are also a bit bored of Nintendo now. They 3DS was a bit dull. The games haven't been that interesting for ages. And it's all so expensive. Meanwhile... ooooooooh.... SHINY NEW IPHONE! SHINY! ME WANT SHINY!
Plus we now have the 360 and PS3 successors likely to be less than 18 months away and certain to pack a lot more horsepower than the Wii-U.
It's the wrong console at the wrong time.
Re:It will certainly succeed by hattig · 2012-09-13 02:27 · Score: 2

2x the CPU is certainly not enough. The Wii is hamstrung by it's ~730MHz early 2000s era PowerPC CPU. The PS3 is probably 3x as fast, CPU wise (ignoring SPUs), the 360 even more so (maybe even 10x).
Having a controller make up half the cost of the device - that's a real problem. The consumer need for this controller has not been explained well IMO.
1080p is what modern TVs top out at. No need for more.
Dual-screen? Yes, it has it - the TV and the controller (two controllers even, apparently).
The WiiU is more powerful than the PS3 (3x more CPU, ?x more GPU, 4x memory), but will people buy it? People with dusty Wiis on their shelves? At least they can make use of their existing software and peripherals - maybe human psychology is such that people will think "I have the peripherals and games, so might as well get the improved device to use them with"!
Re:It will certainly succeed by VGPowerlord · 2012-09-13 02:33 · Score: 2

All that CPU power is almost irrelevant. 2x would be enough. 10x is not different from a 2x from the user perspective.
Considering that the Wii was a single-core 729MHz machine, 20x the power would still only be the equivalent of a 3.6GHz quad-core processor.
That's if 20x wasn't an exaggeration.
Also, consider that the Xbox 360 is a triple-core 3.2Ghz machine that was made 7 years ago and that 3.6GHz quad is only 1.5 times its power.
So, no, 20x faster than the Wii isn't exactly a stellar achievement. That and they've coupled it with 2GB of RAM.
Granted, the RAM is 4x the amount the PS3 and Xbox 360 have, and the PS3 is further crippled by splitting it exactly in half between video and CPU.

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Re:It will certainly succeed by joocemann · 2012-09-13 02:38 · Score: 4, Informative

Wtf are you babbling about? This new one from Nintendo, in 2012, is barely comparable to the last generation of power from 2006/2007.
Its almost laughable reading your post.
Re:It will certainly succeed by synapse7 · 2012-09-13 02:42 · Score: 4, Funny

Well if the Wii U gets Skyrim Dawnguard that would put it a notch over the PS3 for some people.
Re:It will certainly succeed by omnichad · 2012-09-13 02:46 · Score: 2

And if you bought that controller then you already have an extra controller for the Wii U.
Re:It will certainly succeed by AragornSonOfArathorn · 2012-09-13 02:52 · Score: 2

All Wii accessories will be compatible. http://reviews.cnet.com/nintendo-wii-u/
However, it will not upscale original Wii games. http://www.ign.com/wikis/wii-u/Frequently_Asked_Questions
This is unfortunate. The Dolphin emulator has been able to render GameCube and Wii games at 1080p for a couple of years now.

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sudo eat my shorts
Re:It will certainly succeed by Chris+Burke · 2012-09-13 06:10 · Score: 3, Informative

Metroid Prime: Corruption would have been awesome with the GC controls, but was simply amazing with the Wiimote. I loved it so much I got the Prime Trilogy collection just so I could replay the previous two with the Wiimote.
Unless you meant Other M. That was beyond dissappointing.

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The enemies of Democracy are
Re:It will certainly succeed by scot4875 · 2012-09-13 06:19 · Score: 2

That's if 20x wasn't an exaggeration.
Nintendo has always given very conservative estimates of its hardware's capabilities. Their honesty is a lot of the reason that there are many people who still think that the PS2 (70 million polygons per second (unlit, un-transformed, non-textured, single-pixel degenerate triangles)) was more powerful than the Gamecube (8-12 million (fully lit, multi-textured, typical-for-a-game-scene triangles)). People believe this despite the fact that Gamecube games looked way better, that ports from the Gamecube or XBox back to the PS2 had to be downgraded (RE4, for example), and that developers themselves said that the XBox and Gamecube were roughly on par hardware-wise, and both superior to the PS2.
--Jeremy

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Jesus was a liberal
Re:It will certainly succeed by captjc · 2012-09-13 08:20 · Score: 2

The way I see it is that the Wii had many problems converging to create a positive feedback loop of crap. There were very few hard-core games released around launch, and they were terrible and bombed. Meanwhile, people started buying it because of Wii Sports which got it into peoples homes who would never buy a game console. So party games and casual games start flying off the shelves. It becomes known as the console that only little kids and Grandma play. Now "Real gamers" don't want to touch it and between its reputation and technical limitations, developers won't touch it unless to make party games.
When a developer actually makes a hardcore game for the system, the little kids and grandma crowd aren't going to buy them. Hardcore gamers aren't looking through Wii games for anything but the occasional Mario and Zelda games, so they get buried in a sea of crap and shovelware. Even though the Wii had plenty of Hardcore gems (The Conduit, Mad World, GoldenEye 007, Red Steel 2, etc.) nobody buys them either for lack of mind share, or because the Wii just seems tainted as some "noob-toy" that just coming near will mar your "gamer-cred".
I can only hope that the Wii U will not end up as the dumping ground for the industries shovelware and will in fact receive the love it deserves. However, just from the comments I see from here and elsewhere, I don't see that happening. Unfortunately gaming isn't about the games, it is about how much fun you can theoretically have because your console has "Blast Processing" and that other console doesn't.

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Re:It will certainly succeed by QuantumLeaper · 2012-09-13 15:00 · Score: 3, Insightful

Who ever leads in the console market gets all the shovelware, it been the same since the Atari 2600.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by ledow · 2012-09-13 01:40 · Score: 4, Interesting

Erm, I did a quick Google as the nearest thing I can find with any reliability is 2008 figures but:

"Nielsen research reveals US ranks third behind Asia and EU in consumer spending on software; 31 percent of Europeans 16-49 in primary regions actively game."

So that's probably why they have the order that they do.

That said, simultaneous release should be a given nowadays. You honestly make no more money from doing it but are likely to increase piracy.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by N1AK · 2012-09-13 01:41 · Score: 5, Interesting

That's not fanboyism, but it is a pretty damning case of immature thinking. Who really cares if Nintendo releases it a week earlier in Japan. If they won't have the stock, and support to do a global release on that date, then your point only stacks up if you're basically saying they should screw their own strong market to prioritise the US which makes very little sense. The Asian, and global non-American game markets are huge. The Asian gaming market has revenues equivalent to that of North America so acting like they are cutting their nose off by not prioritising Americans over-inflated sense of self-importance is pretty naive.

Prices will not be the same in US/EU by goruka · 2012-09-13 01:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

The Yen is strong and it depends on the region, so it will likely be 250/299usd and 250/299eur. It's the same with the 3DS.

Re:Prices will not be the same in US/EU by baka_toroi · 2012-09-13 03:09 · Score: 4, Informative

Actually it turned out to be 300 and 350 USD.

Re:Much more expensive than I was expecting by stillnotelf · 2012-09-13 01:45 · Score: 2

I should have looked for this article first...Michael Pachter at Wedbush Securities quoted a price of 300$ at most at launch, and ideally 250$. Maybe 400$ is including one of the new tablet things...in which case they're only way overpriced, not ridiculously overpriced.

Re:New controllers expensive by stillnotelf · 2012-09-13 01:50 · Score: 5, Informative

The new controller has a big touch/video screen in it...it's half a tablet. Of course it costs more than a stack of buttons.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by donaldm · 2012-09-13 01:53 · Score: 4, Funny

Can me an Xbox fanboy if you like

Ok show me an Xbox fanboy and I think with allot of pressure we can squeeze him into a can, however it may be a bit painful :)

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There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 01:55 · Score: 2, Interesting

Because it's harder logistically?

Dude, Give It Up by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 01:56 · Score: 4, Informative

I didn't say they should PRIORITIZE the U.S. How about we just get beyond the bullshit regionalism altogether and have *simultaneous* release dates worldwide, so no one is left slighted?

Here, I'll explain this to you so your feeble mind can understand. If they were to do that, they'd have to have their factories working for a month to make a certain number. Then they'd have to wait for those to ship to all corners of the world. Then they'd have to put them on sale on the exact same day. And then and only then on that day will you make money. And then what? Either they're gonna sell out or it's going to be a dud. If you want to survive a dud, the best way to do is to mitigate the cost. This makes phased roll-outs a better business idea. You can plan out how much to ship based on how well it's selling/being received.

You think that Nintendo should cater to Americans when the devices are being made in Asia by an Asian company? 'Me me me, I'm American, I deserve everything WHAAAAAAAAA!'

There's a thing called patience. The rest of the world has it. You do not.

Oh and to circumvent your further idiotic replies, some cursory research reveals:

Original Xbox 360 NA November 16, 2005 EU December 2, 2005 JP December 10, 2005 CO|MX February 2, 2006 KR February 24, 2006 HK|SG|TW March 16, 2006 AUS March 23, 2006 CL July 7, 2006 IN September 25, 2006 ZA September 29, 2006 CZ|PL November 3, 2006 BR December 1, 2006 RU February 11, 2007 PE February 25, 2008 UAE October 28, 2008 NG|TR 2009 SC Spring 2010 Xbox 360 S NA June 18, 2010 AU July 1, 2010 NZ July 8, 2010 EU July 16, 2010

The XBox could be equally criticized. Wait, let me translate it so an XBox user can understand: OMG, XBOX IS TEH SUXXORS!!! GO HOME GAY FAG!

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by nedlohs · 2012-09-13 02:04 · Score: 4, Informative

I don't think that piracy of console hardware is that big a problem. And simultaneous release isn't going to change it much anyway. Simultaneous release would however significantly increase initial production costs and inventory requirements.

Re:New controllers expensive by gman003 · 2012-09-13 02:12 · Score: 3, Informative

Not only is it expensive, but you're unlikely to buy one.

One is included with the console. The system supports a max of two, and no launch games support that. So even if you want a maxed-out system, you're not looking at $600 in controllers alone, you're looking at $150.

I will admit that if you break one of them, you're in trouble, but Nintendo does a good job of making "unbreakable" hardware - all of my Gamecube controllers still work, after all these years.

What the Fuck are You Smoking? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-13 02:12 · Score: 5, Informative

Here, I'll explain this to you so your feeble mind can understand. If they were to do that, they'd have to have their factories working for a month to make a certain number. Then they'd have to wait for those to ship to all corners of the world. Then they'd have to put them on sale on the exact same day. And then and only then on that day will you make money. And then what? Either they're gonna sell out or it's going to be a dud. If you want to survive a dud, the best way to do is to mitigate the cost. This makes phased roll-outs a better business idea. You can plan out how much to ship based on how well it's selling/being received.

Funny that Sony managed to do it.

With what? The PS3? Nope. The Vita? Nope.

What kind of fucking troll are you?!

Re:What the Fuck are You Smoking? by TheCRAIGGERS · 2012-09-13 03:23 · Score: 5, Informative

What kind of fucking troll are you?!
A successful one, from the looks of it.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by bjackson1 · 2012-09-13 02:13 · Score: 4, Informative

It's coming to the US first.... Nov 18: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/wii-u-coming-to-america-sunday-november-18/

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by WilyCoder · 2012-09-13 02:27 · Score: 2

Don't you feel like a jerk right now, the US launch is confirmed to be BEFORE the Japanese launch:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/wii-u-price-date-us/

Re:New controllers expensive by stillnotelf · 2012-09-13 02:29 · Score: 2

The system supports a max of two, and no launch games support that.

This is sounds like a reasonable proxy for "one Mario game, one Zelda game, and one minigame collection is all that will support two of the tablet controllers over the lifetime of the system".

None of my Nintendo hardware has ever broken, except a few of my NES cartridges (I overheated SMB3). Of course, none of my other hardware either, except one RROD, so maybe I'm not representative.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by crazyjj · 2012-09-13 02:30 · Score: 2, Funny

Well, it appears they listened to me. Good for them, for realizing I was right.

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Re:Heere we go... by StoneyMahoney · 2012-09-13 02:33 · Score: 2

Guess it's better than $500 to play the 22nd [insert long running franchise name here] game on the [insert name of other console here]. Franchises exist and you don't like them all. Get over it.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by gman003 · 2012-09-13 02:35 · Score: 4, Informative

Guess what? You're wrong!

Release date in Japan: December 8
Release date in US: November 18

See, timothy? This is why you wait until *after* the press conference to post the article.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by Guru80 · 2012-09-13 02:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

How the hell are you, or any other nation that doesn't get it on day 0, slighted in the least? It's a simple matter of logistics and supply. They are in it for the money in the long run after all. If they could hand deliver one to every household in the world the minute of release and make money doing so you can be pretty damn sure they would. There are always shortages in supply on release of the consoles, and it isn't done purposely as it only decreases potential sales. It is directly related to how many the can produce by a given time. Don't say they should wait a week then to deliver all of them..again, it's logistics. What you are proposing simply isn't sound business sense...which is what it is all about after all.

Re:buyer beware... by Liam+Pomfret · 2012-09-13 03:12 · Score: 3, Informative

Nintendo has said no such thing. Care to provide a citation for this load of bull?

Another console? Why bother? by RanceJustice · 2012-09-13 03:34 · Score: 2

To be completely honest, I oppose proprietary game consoles in this day and age. We no longer need a proprietary purpose built console to make gaming affordable. Modern consoles, especially those of the current generation seem to be nothing but moderate-spec'ed PCs that are locked down through various software (and hardware at times - see, X360 Hard Drives. No reason you couldn't use a "regular" SATA HDD, but you need to buy the overpriced proprietary crap). So you spend a few hundred dollars on a box that is essentially a small form factor PC that you don't really own, can't mess with or modify without being banned and everything you ever purchased deactivated (or, forced to buy another box) and that only links up to a proprietary network - you don't have the choice of saying "Sorry, XboxLive, I don't want to abide by your rules. I know, I'll connect to Bob's Xbox360 Matchmaking Extreme Network instead and play there - and paying constantly for the privilege to be locked in at every turn. The only reason to buy consoles (as opposed to other solutions) these days in my opinion, is the fact that so many titles are still "console exclusives" - basically, your games are being held hostage. If you want to play Final Fantasy, Lost Odyssey, Valkyria Chronicles etc.. you have to capitulate to the consoles. Its time for this to end.

Wouldn't it be nice if you weren't choosing which consoles you were going to buy based on which games they were expected to hold exclusive dominion over? What if every type of game was available for the PC instead, giving you the freedom to decide what hardware you wished. It would simply be a matter of recommended specs and peripherals, something that hasn't been any trouble for PC gamers for years. Those with existing computers that had the specs (CPU, GPU etc...) necessary could play the games on there, and should such a revolution occur it would revitalize the gaming PC industry with a huge infusion of cash. All those players that want "the console/TV/couch experience" would be able to build or buy a multitude of small form factor and home theater gaming PC. Peripherals would become a nice secondary market. Look at how the Xbox 360 controllers and headsets (or compatible XInput style controller) has become the "de facto" gaming controller on PC. Players just bought these controllers to play PC titles; because Microsoft was smart enough to make a USB dongle for the wireless versions and provide drivers at least on Windows (and really, make them pretty easy to implement even on Linux!) plenty of people without an X360 system buy the controllers if they want to play certain types of titles on their PC. Likewise, there are relatively simple 3rd party hacks (because the first parties lacked foresight, which is why these don't have quite the amount of presence compared to X360 pads) to use Dual Shock 3 and WiiMote+accessories on PC. In a console-less world, what if Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and others simply became peripheral manufacturers? I'm guessing there would be a lot more unified and open technologies used - it would be simple for some developer to say "Requires a Nintendo WiiUToo Tablet or compatible multitouch tablet device" for their gametype, the way that "X360 Controller for PC or compatible supported/suggested" is prevalent in PC gaming today. We just saw the launch of Steam's "Big Picture", a "console style" UI meant to be navigated with a gamepad or remote control, which despite its beta status seems to be greatly superior to Xbox Live's UI, which has tons of ads and "value added services" squirted all over its dashboard to the point that actual tasks on the unit are typically small windows that are given inferior focus! If Steam can integrate their Big Picture with XBMC and/or MythTV for instance, that pretty much makes for a better complete "console" experience than X360/PS3 offer today! You could take it one step further with a bootable Linux distribution that incorporated Steam, Desura, XBMC and other entertainment platforms, all wrapped in a "Big Pictur

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world by littlebigbot · 2012-09-13 04:52 · Score: 3, Funny

Shh...just let him have his moment.

Re:I hope the WiiU is Nintendo's Dreamcast... by autojive · 2012-09-13 05:19 · Score: 2

The 3DS hasn't been a success? You do realize that it's out-paced the original DS as far as sales figures when you compare their first years after release date and has already sold 19 million units worldwide as of July?

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=169581

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/359705/3ds-sales-hit-19-million-ahead-of-3ds-xl-launch/

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I wish my lawn was emo, so it would cut itself.

Re:Monster cable by omnichad · 2012-09-13 06:52 · Score: 2

Now that's just crazy talk. A 50ft HDMI cable presents no loss in the digital signal. It matters not that the signal is degraded, because the 1's and 0's are perfectly preserved. Component always loses quality over distance. Higher quality cable less so, but it's inherent in the system.

What are you saying about balanced cables? Balanced cables are designed specifically for long distance. The two opposite ground wires cancel out the induced noise. Balanced vs. unbalanced is hardly important for short runs, but for long runs you need a balanced connection to eliminate interference. This is why Cat5 uses twisted pairs.

Component video and HDMI may not make a big difference in picture quality for SD content, but it's enough for me to see and care about. Especially color gamut and contrast. With component, you're stuck with the NTSC gamut, and you can't get true blacks. The TV's signal processor can make up for this, but this varies widely from TV to TV.

Re:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Hack by LateArthurDent · 2012-09-13 07:44 · Score: 2

"Real gamers need zelda or mario. Everything else is trash."

How many people bought The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just for Twilight Hack?

None. Because if that's the only thing you want the game for, you'd have rented it. It's not like you need to softmod it more than once.

Re:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Hack by LateArthurDent · 2012-09-13 08:18 · Score: 2

It's not like you need to softmod it more than once.

Unless you have a bunch of real life friends who also own Wii consoles. Or unless you happen not to subscribe to a video game rental service. (Redbox had only movies at first.)

I had 2 friends with Wii consoles, and I didn't subscribe to a video game rental service, and I had no interest in Zelda. This wasn't a problem, as I just walked inside a blockbuster store, got the game, then went home and softmodded 3 consoles in one day.

Back in the days when the Twilight Hack still worked they still had a blockbuster every 2 blocks. Did Redbox for movies even exist back then?

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Nintendo WiiU Price and Release Date Announced

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