I got one of these for Christmas:
It’s the new Nintendo console hardware, and that giant tablet thing is the controller. I set it up last weekend, have played it for a while, and here are my thoughts.
Firstly, the tablet controller (the ‘gamepad’) is amazing. I was absolutely not expecting the screen to be as responsive or as high resolution as it is, and although massive the controller feels very comfortable in your hands. There is no discernible lag between what happens on the screen and the controller, which is important since you can essentially remove the TV from the equation and play (some) games simply using the controller screen. The Wii U also supports other controllers, including the old Wii motes and assorted other devices for the Wii (such as the classic controller).
The hardware itself seems fine. Graphics are of course much better than the Wii, and it’s nice and small like the way, almost hidden away next to our TV since I sat it vertically. I very much liked that it uses the same cables as the Wii, so installation was simply unplugging the Wii and putting the Wii U in its place! Tragically, our non 1080p TV only has a single HDMI port so I had to connect this guy using the old Wii cables, however I was very surprised by the quality of the picture. Yet another reason to delay buying a new TV…
So the hardware and controllers are good, but what about the software? What about the Wii U experience?
Well if you’ve read anything about it you would have read about the excessive load times! They are terrible. Starting an ‘app’ or even switching menus can sometimes result in 20-30 second (no, I am not exaggerating) load times. This is obviously completely unacceptable and Nintendo knows this and is constantly saying new updates will fix it. Those fixes can’t come soon enough.
The system also seems sparse on included software. Only some of the ‘channels’ from the Wii are present (no news, weather, Nintendo channel, Mii contest channel, quiz channel etc) and some of those on the front page I will never use (such as Hulu or Amazon instant video, for which we use the PS3). There is a new message board called Miiverse though, which has forums dedicated to every game on the system and lets you hand write posts. In practice this turns into people drawing unbelievably good sketches on their gamepads and showing them off to the world. Impressive stuff!
As usual Nintendo has also flubbed the online component. There are user accounts, but it’s unclear as to whether they are system specific. There is certainly no online requirement, so I assume they are. This means nothing is ‘saved’ to be accessed from other Nintendo systems or even Wii U consoles (if yours breaks). Furthermore, there is no messaging or achievement system, and the silly friend list requirements of previous Nintendo systems seems to have returned. Nintendo is still at least five years behind when it comes to the social aspects of consoles.
I have precisely one game for the system, called Nintendoland. This is a collection of minigames designed to show off the features of the controller mostly. Although it’s fun enough, it’s not at all worth full price and should be a pack in for all versions of the system, not just the ‘deluxe package’ (which I have). There is only one other game out right now I am interested in (Super Mario Brothers) and this reveals the critical problem with the Wii U right now – a shocking lack of games.
In fact, looking ahead to games that have release dates within 6 months from now, only two pique my interest. That would be Pikmin 3:
And the god of games, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (which can be played online from the Wii U):
That last game alone makes the system worth owning for those under its spell, but for the rest of the world… who can say?
Later this year the next XBox and Playstations will be unveiled. Nintendo has at least a year-long head start. Will they use it to their advantage? The hardware seems solid, but they really need to bring the games.
