Just In Time for the Holidays, Nintendo Wii U Gets Its US Release

YokimaSun writes "Nintendo has today fired the first salvo in the next-gen console wars with the U.S. release of their Wii U console, which is massively more powerful than the Nintendo Wii and also the PS3/Xbox 360 (so they claim). Yet again Nintendo has done a world first and released a gamepad which is also a tablet and should provide us with games that stretch the boundaries even more. Wii games are compatible with the console, as is the Wii remote. The Wii U comes in 2 SKUs: a 32GB Deluxe package, and an 8GB Basics pack. The games lineup is a strong one, with games such as New Super Mario Bros U, Arkham City Armoured Edition, Assassins Creed 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Sonic AllStars Racing, Nintendo Land, Tank Tank Tank, ScribbleNauts Unlimited, Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two, ESPN Sports Connection, DarkSiders 2, Rabbids Land, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden 3 Razors Edge, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Wipeout 3 and Just Dance 4 all available on launch day."

Comments

Just in time for the holidays.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you implying it a coincidence? It was certainly targeted at the holidays.

Re:Just in time for the holidays.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm trying to determine how anyone could read that as implying coincidence.

I hope it does well

[damn_registrars]

Some people have been suggesting that Nintendo might pull out of the hardware (at least non-portable console) market entirely if the Wii U doesn't go over well. I am one who would very much not want to see that. Hopefully this console goes over well, even if it doesn't make the grand entrance that we saw with the original Wii.

And yes, I do still play my original Wii. I even bought a new game for it this week.

Re:I hope it does well

[Dripdry]

I talked with an investment firm holding a large chunk of Nintendo stock. It was pointed out to me that Nintendo is holding a HUGE amount of cash right now, similar to Apple's strategy. Basically, Nintendo isn't going anywhere, most likely, as they have the resources to weather just about any storm from the looks of it. Doesn't mean they wouldn't make the move out of hardware, but rest assured Nintendo isn't going anywhere, at least for a while.

Re:I hope it does well

[Darkness404]

I don't see why Nintendo would move out of hardware considering it tends to revolutionize the gaming world with its hardware. From the D-Pad on the NES to motion control on the Wii, touchscreens on the DS, etc.

Re:I hope it does well

[future assassin]

And yes, I do still play my original Wii. I even bought a new game for it this week.

Yes I still play my old Turbo Grafx 16, SNES, Saturn, 3DO, Jaguar and Dreamcast.

Re:I hope it does well

[tlhIngan]

My first thought looking at that thing is the controllers look too big (heavy) and expensive, that it was another Game Boy VR.

The tablet controller is expensive, apparently (but every Wii U comes with one, and most games seem to have adopted a tablet controller for player 1, wii+nunchuk for player 2 with player 2 getting the vast majority of the TV (a tiny corner is for player one, who can use the tablet's screen).

The biggest thing though - is the lack of latency on the tablet screen. You'd think there would be some latency, but there isn't. Just fast and snappy.

It's also very light - it's not a huge heavy thing (I think the batteries would be the heaviest part) but it otherwise feels very usable. Nicely balanced and well-designed to feel good. If your arms get tired holding it while playing, I think it's time to step away from the screen and get some exercise.

Re:I hope it does well

[aNonnyMouseCowered]

I suspect that even rivals like Sony and Microsoft are hoping that the WiiNew does well, otherwise they'd need to rethink their whole console strategy. If Nintendo fails, then it might mean that dedicated consoles are giving way to tablets and enhanced TVs coupled with an online gaming service.

Have they announced the Three Stooges game package

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be called "WhyU"?

Last hurrah

[GeneralTurgidson]

Nintendo, you would make money hand over fist if you became multiplatform and did HD remakes for everything. Seriously, swimming in a lake of green.

Re:Last hurrah

[Darkness404]

...Except for the fact that Nintendo routinely revolutionizes the hardware of gaming, not just the software. The NES brought the D-Pad, the GameBoy basically created decent portable gaming, the Wii was imitated by the 2 other consoles.

Nintendo's success is not just because of software, but hardware has a lot to do with it.

Re:Last hurrah

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think people understand how Nintendo makes their money. There is a reason you can't get Mario for the PS3 and it's not so Nintendo can sell you hardware with no margins. It's because, if you can only get Mario on Nintendo hardware, you might just buy other games for Nintendo hardware. Nintendo gets a cut of those sales through licensing.

I'd love for Nintendo to get out of the console business. I can't believe they are still doing this stupid "SD card expansion" BS with the Wii-U. I'd love to see "PlayStation Move by Nintendo" or rock an HD remake of the classic Zelda on PS3.

But that's a pipe dream, because Nintendo isn't in any danger of collapse unless the Wii-U literally does as bad as the Dreamcast (it can't possibly!) and Nintendo can't fix it before they run out of money. I just don't see that happening.

Re:Last hurrah

[LocalH]

Nintendo's the only company from the old school that's still around making hardware. I'd say they're doing something right. Not everything, but enough to succeed.

Also, I agree about the exclusive franchises. Back in the early days of Nintendo video games, this was not the case - all of the most popular early Nintendo arcade games got ported to numerous systems. Donkey Kong, DK Jr, Mario Bros, even Popeye. Once Nintendo found true success in the home market with Super Mario Bros, they abandoned that strategy (for the most part, although they did release an SMB game for a couple of obscure-in-the-West Japanese home computers).

Link goes to a blog, possible ad traffic tactic?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is the link pointing to a blog and not the nintendo site?

Please correct it.

Universal Remote

[ZombieBraintrust]

I am considering buying it just to use the tablet thing as my universal remote. I was looking at the Logitech Harmony ILink as to turn my Android phone into a remote but the reviews are not very good. Will wait for reviews on the Wii U. I want to see some Youtube vids of the remote functionality before I buy. Not impressed with the launch games.

Re:Universal Remote

[ZombieBraintrust]

Just bite the bullet and get a Harmony One or (if you need to control devices outside line-of-site) the Harmony 900.

I have two (for different media centers) and bought my dad one as well. Haven't had to reprogram any of them since the initial installation more than a year ago.

You don't appreciate physical buttons on your remote until you lose them all.

Wow look at the prices on those things. $199 for the Harmony One, and $349 for the Harmony 900. Those are new console prices for controllers with less features than new console controllers. I wonder if Logitech is hobbling its IPad and Android apps on purpose. So it can keep selling these overpriced pieces of plastic.

Re:Universal Remote

[OverZealous.com]

Wow look at the prices on those things. $199 for the Harmony One, and $349 for the Harmony 900. [...] overpriced pieces of plastic.

I have (and really like) a Harmony One. About 5 years ago, I still worked in the Custom A/V business, building and selling expensive systems for home theaters.

Even then we had the choice between physical button devices and touch-screen devices. Given how much better physical devices were, we'd only sell a touch-screen device if the owner was more concerned about showing off rather than actually using the system.

Devices like the Harmony One have dozens of buttons, and a minimal touch screen. You only need to use the touch screen for major system functions (e.g., activity switching) or for odd buttons (like Aspect Ratio). Otherwise, you can easily control everything without looking down at the remote, or blinding yourself when the screen flips on.

Dedicated control devices (instead of mobile phone applications) have the benefit of always being available — no need to screw around with your phone to mute or pause the TV when your phone rings. And, if you have more than one person in the house, you don't have to give up your phone to control the entertainment.

As for the price, these are specialty items, with a limited market. They are often built with longer life in mind than most smartphones, and with lots and lots of individual buttons. And they aren't subsidized by a wireless provider.

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but that equated to going from stunning graphics on the tv to the equivalent of a Tiger LCD handheld. Not exactly an apples to apples comparison.

Re:Have they announced the Three Stooges game pack

[JustOK]

3 Stooges: Ninja. I like the nyuk chucks.

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[Darkness404]

I'd hardly put the VMU (essentially a memory card with a screen) in the same class as the WiiU controller. Also, the Dreamcast failed because of a lack of really good games, especially exclusive games. Other than Shenmue, Sonic Adventure 1/2 (the only good 3-D sonic games), Code Veronica, Crazy Taxi and a couple of quirky games (I think one was called Seaman?) there wasn't much going for the Dreamcast.

The Saturn failed for much the same reasons, there weren't any good games for it, Sonic which had sold like hotcakes on the Genesis/Mega Drive had no real game on the Saturn aside from various spin-offs and remakes. It would be like Nintendo releasing a console without Mario or Zelda, or the Xbox without Halo.

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[__aaqvdr516]

The Dreamcast didn't fail because of the controller. It failed after Sega rapidly put out Sega CD, the 32X followed quickly by the Saturn. They did all this despite some fierce competition with Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.

Nintendo has had some bad design choices in the past. I don't think this controller is one of those bad design choices. Time will tell.

Re:Still!? Really!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wii is barely a current gen console. It's a gamecube with a motion controller and white case.

Re:Still!? Really!?

[Man On Pink Corner]

I thought it was two GameCubes, duct-taped together? Now I'm confused.

Don't forget the eShop launch titles!

[Anonymous Coward]

There's 5 additional titles available via download from the Wii U eShop at launch: Little Inferno, Trine 2: Director's Cut, Chasing Aurora, Mighty Switch Force: Hyper Drive Edition, and Nano Assault NEO.

Re:Don't forget the eShop launch titles!

[BeansBaxter]

Little Inferno is a fantastic time waster. Recommend.

Missing Games?

[storkus]

The games lineup is a strong one, with games such as New Super Mario Bros U, Arkham City Armoured Edition, Assassins Creed 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Sonic AllStars Racing, Nintendo Land, Tank Tank Tank, ScribbleNauts Unlimited, Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two, ESPN Sports Connection, DarkSiders 2, Rabbids Land, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden 3 Razors Edge, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Wipeout 3 and Just Dance 4 all available on launch day.

What, no Hero's Duty, Sugar Rush Speedway, or Fix-It Felix, Jr?

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[LoverOfJoy]

I owned the Dreamcast and actually loved it. Quite a few really fun games for it. That said, their VMUs were tremendously underutilized. Granted, they were nothing like a tablet but they could have been much more. It wasn't never going to be the VMU that would make or break the Dreamcast, though. It's a much different situation compared to the Wii U

Um.......

[Hsien-Ko]

Isn't there a better source for this news than some third-party Dreamcast enthusiast site? I swear this is submitted to drive that site's attention.

32 gb deluxe?

[JimboFBX]

With flash memory dirt cheap and hdd even cheaper I'd say I'm surprised they went skimpy on the storage except it's nintendo so I'm not surprised at all. With consoles as old as they are is it really that hard to imagine not having one concession?

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[vlueboy]

The Dreamcast didn't fail because of the controller. It failed after Sega rapidly put out Sega CD, the 32X followed quickly by the Saturn. ...Time will tell.

I find an eerie parallel with Memory Alpha's content I read just about an hour ago tonight. It's about the fall of Star Trek from Rick Berman:

I again asked them for a little breathing room, that maybe it wasn't a good idea to slap a new show on the air in what was going to be the third season of Deep Space Nine

...

With the end of Voyager's seventh season, Berman was once again approached to create a new series - one to air in the fall of 2001, mere months after the final broadcast of Voyager.

Re:I'm still not coinvinced...

[Kenoli]

After all, it's Nintendo--a company that simply refuses to let go of its, "Super Mario plus other cartoony games," forumula. Why would any other software shop take their platform seriously when Nintendo itself does not.

They're not going to just let go of Mario. That's the best selling video game franchise in the world.

Hundreds of millions of sales sounds pretty serious to me.

Re:Bye bye Nintendo

[O('_')O_Bush]

Yea, which is why it never outsold the other consoles, or remains the most popular of the three.

Reality is, there are many great titles for the Wii, just none worth mentioning for COD fans.

Re:SEGA: Been There, Done That

[captjc]

There was also the fact that Sega screwed over some major toy store chains, and pissed off quite a few high-profile game developers. Add to that the fact that the games could be pirated almost trivially and the Playstation 2 had the killer app of a DVD player.

Basically the Dreamcast was the perfect shit-storm.

Re:Still!? Really!?

[Toonol]

My Wii is hooked up to the TV, right next to the PS2.

Consoles don't get worse over time. There are games for the PS2 that you haven't yet played that are better than most anything on the 360.

Re:Just in time?

[BitZtream]

Every year the stores start this crap earlier and earlier.

What you don't realize is they are referring to the 2014 holiday season, not the 2012!

Mario - not that great

[clickclickdrone]

I suspect all the Mario love is a generational thing. For me, he peaked at Donkey Kong. I grew up with the Apple II/Atari 800/TRS 80/Pet etc so really didn't get that interested in Nintendo at all, that entire NES period passed me by. I did have a Dreamcast, which was me getting back into games then jumped to the 360.
My son had a Wii so I downloaded Mario 64 to see what all the fuss was about as I remembered that being a landmark game and frankly, really couldn't see why people thought it was so great. Maybe you just had to be there at the time.

Re:Still!? Really!?

[thetoadwarrior]

And yet it won the console race.

Ummm...

[Sycraft-fu]

Of your examples, only one has stuck around for any length of time and that is d-pad. The motion control has remained firmly a niche thing. While other companies have played with it, by and large it is something that is used only as a gimmick, and in very few titles (outside of the Wii where it is mandatory more or less). Revolutionary it is not.

As for touch screens, you seriously think the DS has driven that? Not even. That would be smartphones all the way. For the most part the touch screen stuff on the DS is again gimmicky, with primary game control being done with the controllers. The heavy touchscreen platform is smartphones.

This also seems to conveniently forget the N64, which was a rather poor showing next to the Playstation. Sony, a brand new company to the console market, managed to rocket to the #1 spot largely because the Saturn was expensive and problematic and the N64 couldn't produce the same visuals and used expensive carts.

Nintendo has not continued to "revolutionize the gaming world" they have just made games and gaming systems, some which have done better than others. Nothing wrong with that but stop trying to pretend like they are some amazing force of nature that drives things forward. No, not really.

The motion control thing is the best example. It fascinated many people, sold a lot of Wiis, encouraged copying, and ultimately changed nothing. A success commercially, not revolutionary.

Clocked only 50% higher

[tepples]

In the i486 era, most PCs were clocked no higher than about 75 MHz. Clock rates are about 40 times faster than that by now (with no compensating horrid loss in IPC). Wii, on the other hand, is clocked only 50% faster than a GameCube, and it has just over twice the RAM. So when people say a Wii is an overclocked GameCube with a Bluetooth motion controller, that's what they mean.

Consoles get worse over time

[tepples]

Consoles don't get worse over time.

Any user of Other OS Installer for PlayStation 3 would like a word with you. So would anyone who can't play online with strangers due to DNAS -103 errors or the termination of Xbox Live service for original Xbox games.

Startup cost

[tepples]

The WiiU will be able to play ports of iDevice games

It takes $1250 (including the cost of replacing a PC with a Mac) to get started developing an iDevice game. It takes $200 plus an existing PC to get started developing an Android game. How much does it cost to start porting that game to the Wii U, including meeting Nintendo's requirements to obtain a devkit?

Gadidae

[tepples]

Reality is, there are many great titles for the Wii, just none worth mentioning for COD fans.

But for fans of all the other kinds of fish, there is Animal Crossing: City Folk.

Re:Have they announced the Three Stooges game pack

[gmhowell]

Oh, a wise guy...