Wii U / Nintendo general news and discussion

macker33

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

A game that's getting mediocre reviews ain't going to shift WiiUs.

you mean the gamespot review? everybody else seems to like it.

Allyall

Pac1Man wrote: »

I wouldn't get too caught up in the reviews. A tip I use for buying any product and not just games, is to analyse the negative points given and decide I these points matter to you. They may or may not be a deal-breaker and if not, buy and enjoy.

A much better tip, imho, is to download the demo (If it's a game), listen to the album (If it's music), watch the movie (If it's a movie), Try the can-opener (If it's a can-opener).. etc..

I F**king hate critics. Such bullsh*t. :mad:
Some a$$h0le I may not like, or agree with on anything, rating stuff..

To me, that is much much worse than any Astrology section, in terms of pure bullsh*t.

I deleted loads of rant here.

Pushtrak

Allyall wrote: »

To me, that is much much worse than any Astrology section, in terms of pure bullsh*t.

Ah, now, the review works as the opinion of the reviewer. Astrology works at... not working.

Corholio

A constructive review can be interesting and effective. To dismiss all reviews is ridiculous. It's just people offering their opinion, everyone does it every day about something whether you realise it or not.

Allyall

Pushtrak wrote: »

Ah, now, the review works as the opinion of the reviewer. Astrology works at... not working.

The opinion of the astrologer.

Corholio wrote: »

A constructive review can be interesting and effective. To dismiss all reviews is ridiculous. It's just people offering their opinion, everyone does it every day about something whether you realise it or not.

Unfortunately, I can't dismiss all reviews. Sometimes I hear one (I never read them), and it may have an effect on my decision. That's not a good thing. It's people offering their opinion, I didn't ask for, nor do I want.
Unfortunately it comes bundled with most publications now, to bulk them up.

When friends give their opinion, I know them, their train of thought, and most importantly, I may have asked them, for it.

When reviewers do, none of the above applies.

It's a nonsense job, I'd be embarrassed to be offered, and I definitely wouldn't accept it. (Unless I was on the breadline, and my Family were starving, and my Career in Journalism wasn't going as I had planned. Then, and maybe then, would I accept it. Otherwise I'd probably try and prove I have some skills, and can use them, and write something interesting.)

Corholio

Allyall wrote: »

The opinion of the astrologer.



Unfortunately, I can't dismiss all reviews. Sometimes I hear one (I never read them), and it may have an effect on my decision. That's not a good thing. It's people offering their opinion, I didn't ask for, nor do I want.
Unfortunately it comes bundled with most publications now, to bulk them up.

When friends give their opinion, I know them, their train of thought, and most importantly, I may have asked them, for it.

When reviewers do, none of the above applies.

It's a nonsense job, I'd be embarrassed to be offered, and I definitely wouldn't accept it. (Unless I was on the breadline, and my Family were starving, and my Career in Journalism wasn't going as I had planned. Then, and maybe then, would I accept it. Otherwise I'd probably try and prove I have some skills, and can use them, and write something interesting.)

You don't ask reviewers for their own opinion yet you'd seek out to read them? Because that's the only way you'd see reviews, I don't complain about a film exists when I've gone to watch it. You just read zero papers, online websites because they all contain someone's opinion, while not always in review form, they all still contain them.

CiDeRmAn

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Yup,
That's me.
One if the cool kids.
And the great thing is we have no sense of irony whatsoever!
So, thanks for the compliment!

But, it is a nice game, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Different strokes and all that.

It probably doesn't quite innovate over the previous game on the Wii and the 3DS, but it was good to begin with.
I have the Wii title as well as all the previous games in the series since the Snes and find it fun, the worst one was the pitifully awful DK64, which I have since I bought it but it was pants to start with.

Retr0gamer

Apparently DK bombing in Japan is more down to how awful the weather over there is at the moment than anything else.

super_furry

No-one is going to buy a console to play Tropical Freeze. It might be a great game, it might look great and it might redefine 2D platform mechanics but it's not going to shift a single console.

richymcdermott

seen this awhile back





Some crazy people out there with the fire iwata option

Allyall

Corholio wrote: »

You don't ask reviewers for their own opinion yet you'd seek out to read them? Because that's the only way you'd see reviews.

I never read them, sometimes hear them on radio/TV or overhear someone.
Bit too much whiskey last night .


I was at a friends house last night, a few people were there, for a few celebratory drinks, I started talking about the Wii U. Not ONE single person there knew what it was.
Some of them understood that it was the next generation nintendo after the wii, but wanted to know the difference between it and the Wii. I tried to explain, I also said that I think it has been on sale for roughly a year and a half -> 2 years, but I wasn't sure. I wasn't raving about it or anything, but was a bit shocked that nobody had heard of it.
The marketing was/is very poor for it, has to be the main contributor to poor sales imo.

cloud493

Smash bros could be a system seller. Was Melee not a big gamecube shifter?

CiDeRmAn

Plenty of great games on the WiiU now, so that isn't the reason it's tanking.
It's either wholly unknown as a console option or its bring dismissed by prospective buyers as not for them.
And I've no idea how they are going to address that.

It's the kind of console that, as an owner, you think that if only people tried it out for a while, then they'd get it, understand it.

Otherwise it will be a long three years before its replacement.

It sadly reminds me of the Dreamcast, a good console with a good software library done in by the twin maladies of great marketing by Sony and awful marketing by Sega.

cloud493

I think its just unknown. Their marketing really is appalling, which is strange cos the 3DS marketing is pretty good.

tok9

We've already gone over the games that are on Wii U so I'm not going to go there.

But the biggest concern without a doubt is if you look at that release calender.

At the moment there is a serious lack of games I'd personally be interested in which is why I can't understand why they didn't announce just 1 new game in that last direct. Even if it was only something similar to the Uncharted 4 trailer just to show there is something coming.

macker33

photofinish wrote: »

I like Nintendo consoles and I have owned them all apart from the Wii U.

Come on Nintendo put the console out of it's misery and bring your games to the gamers on PlayStation and Xbox.

pachter mk 2. mini pachter. idiot post

super_furry

The Wii U is dead. There's no third part support, the sales continue to drop from what was a very modest starting point and people still don't know just what the console is. It's lost so much traction and ground to the PS4 and Xbox One that there's not going to be any saving it. It's looking increasingly unlikely that it will even make it to Gamecube levels of sales and at this stage Nintendo are better off just pulling the plug on it and putting everything into their handheld division or having one last gamble with a new console.

Even the core audience, who Nintendo could always count on, seem to abandoned them and it really does seem to be down to a lack of new ideas. All of Nintendo's releases for the console, while of a high standard, are retreads of games we've seen before and remakes of games we've played before. There's nothing on the Wii U to get excited about and Nintendo's software policy has to be called into question. Wind Waker's a great game but I've played it before. Same with Pikmin, Mario Brothers U, Mario 3D and even Mario Kart - all great games but all games that I've played in various iterations before. There's nothing fresh, nothing to get excited about and worst of all, nothing to look forward to.

Corholio

super_furry wrote: »

The Wii U is dead. There's no third part support, the sales continue to drop from what was a very modest starting point and people still don't know just what the console is. It's lost so much traction and ground to the PS4 and Xbox One that there's not going to be any saving it. It's looking increasingly unlikely that it will even make it to Gamecube levels of sales and at this stage Nintendo are better off just pulling the plug on it and putting everything into their handheld division or having one last gamble with a new console.

Struggling yes, dead no.

Retr0gamer

The very worst thing Nintendo can do right now is pull the plug on the console. It would be a complete disaster for them.

Remember how well plugging the plug on the 32X and Saturn helped Sega?

CiDeRmAn

There's no EA support to be exact.
There's ample Activision and Ubisoft support for example.

super_furry

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The very worst thing Nintendo can do right now is pull the plug on the console. It would be a complete disaster for them.

Remember how well plugging the plug on the 32X and Saturn helped Sega?

But how long do they keep shoving money into a pit hoping things will recover when there's nothing on the horizon to help them turn things around? The most worrying thing really is that Nintendo don't seem to know just why it's a flop, so they're not going to know how to fix it.

I don't think Sega's Megadrive messing is comparable either. They over iterated on the Megadrive, tried to artificially extend it's lifetime and in the end left customers confused with products like the 32X, Mega CD and even the mooted Neptune. By the time the Saturn came out, it wasn't only competing with the more powerful and better supported Playstation, it was also competing with Sega created confusion as to just what it was.

Actually that last part is pretty applicable to the Wii U.

Allyall

super_furry wrote: »

it really does seem to be down to a lack of new ideas. All of Nintendo's releases for the console, while of a high standard, are retreads of games we've seen before and remakes of games we've played before. There's nothing on the Wii U to get excited about and Nintendo's software policy has to be called into question. Wind Waker's a great game but I've played it before. Same with Pikmin, Mario Brothers U, Mario 3D and even Mario Kart - all great games but all games that I've played in various iterations before. There's nothing fresh, nothing to get excited about and worst of all, nothing to look forward to.

That could be said for nearly every game on the Xbox and PS. They are all just slightly different variations of the same or similar games. The odd one or two maybe unique, but fairly rare and not exclusive. Nintendo seem to have way more ideas, I honestly think that this one is just down to very poor marketing.
All the xbox/PS games could be available on it, and then you have all the extra games that could only be played on the Wii U because of the controls.

I don't think it's down to lack of ideas, although admittedly there aren't as many as they have had on previous devices.

They may also have a small heap of hardware/addons in the pipeline (I'm hoping) to change the game again.

Someone mentioned earlier on in this thread, that nintendo really are the ones that come up with the ideas. They take the risks. Sony and Microsoft play it pretty safe, and upgrade the graphics. For some that's not enough, maybe even for most. It's just really unfortunate the marketing was so bad on this. (I'm stuck in a loop..)

super_furry

But the Xbox One and PS4 are both selling at the moment, on the basis of their power and the promise of true next gen games to come. There hasn't been a great game on either of those consoles yet, but people are snapping them up because they believe that those games will arrive and that the will be good investments that continue to play host to new and exciting games for years to come.

You just can't say that about the Wii U. It's an underpowered system that looks decidedly last-gen when it comes to the average gamer making a decision as to what to buy. The one thing that it does have going for it, and the one thing that it has over the PS4 and Xbox One is the fact that it has Nintendo games. However, Nintendo haven't done nearly enough to differentiate those games from games they've released before so again, the average gamers sees not only outdated hardware when compared to the other two new consoles, but they also see outdated games. They see a Zelda game from two generations ago, a Mario game that looks like the same game Nintendo put out on the DS and a Mario game that looks the same as a game they put out on the 3DS.

I'm not saying I agree with them, by virtue of even posting here, I think most people are in the core gamer category and have a deeper appreciation for all things Nintendo but we're in the minority and even among the core gamer audience, Nintendo haven't been able to convince them that the Wii U has games worth buying a console for now, or indeed ever will.

Mario is the perfect example for me come to think of it. Think of the great Mario games and there's a clear, visual and gameplay leap through the generations. Super Mario World redefined the 2D platformer, Mario 64 invented the 3D platformer while the two Mario Galaxy games perfected them. While good games, you can't say that with New Super Mario Bros Wii U (which incidentally is such a mess of a name that it sums up Nintendo's marketing to a tee) and Mario World 3D are anything other than nice reworks of games we've played before. There's nothing new, no sense of wonder that Mario games have brought in the past and they're too easy to just ignore.

Retr0gamer

super_furry wrote: »

But how long do they keep shoving money into a pit hoping things will recover when there's nothing on the horizon to help them turn things around? The most worrying thing really is that Nintendo don't seem to know just why it's a flop, so they're not going to know how to fix it.

They aren't really shoving money into a pit though. The WiiU at worst will potter on and reach gamecube numbers and Nintendo will definitely make money on the games they publish to the platform. They can ride that out until the next console and in the mean time they might be able to turn things around to do better than Gamecube numbers with the right games.

If they just cut their loses they annoy their publishing partners, leave moral in Nintendo low (one of the big advantages Nintendo has is that most game devs work there for life meaning they don't have a constant talent turn over and hang on to their best), have their customers lose faith in them as a company and give themselves a tonne of negative press. The WiiU still needs to make back the money nintendo invested in it and dropping the WiiU is ridiculous since they are just closing off a revenue stream.

If you want to see an example of where this was a disaster for a company look at Sega dropping all publishing on the Saturn in 1998 leaving their customers to jump ship since the Dreamcast as 18 months away.

Allyall

super_furry wrote: »

But the Xbox One and PS4 are both selling at the moment, on the basis of their power and the promise of true next gen games to come. There hasn't been a great game on either of those consoles yet, but people are snapping them up because they believe that there will be and that the will be good investments that continue to play host to new and exciting games for years to come.

You just can't say that about the Wii U. It's an underpowered system that looks decidedly last-gen when it comes to the average gamer making a decision as to what to buy.

Yes, but i think that says a lot about the consumer today (Dr. Dre Beats ).
iOS vs Android, Apple vs Windows, Xbox vs PS.
People want to have what they perceive to be the best, but don't really take a step back and take the time to look at the other options, which are often excellent.

The lower price on the Wii, may boost it's sales quite a bit. I think it is now just over €200 in many places.

I do agree it has last gen hardware, but it has some games that are just addictive/playable. It could also be used as a Giant DS to an extent. The bottom touch screen being the gamepad.
Which could open it up to another ton of games with better hardware.

I realise the PS and Xbox are selling in droves, they do get massive media attention, and have the top hardware, but that doesn't/shouldn't take from the Wii U. It's a different type of console. Nintendo CHOSE not to stay in the ring with them after the Gamecube. They took a different path.
I read somewhere that they are sitting on $10 US Billion reserves to pump into whatever they want. So they aren't down and out. They are maybe just trying to figure this one out.
It is very hard to convince people why they should buy a Wii U, without the other two creeping into the conversation somewhere.
But it really is a different console.
It must be frustrating for them.

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

They aren't really shoving money into a pit though. The WiiU at worst will potter on and reach gamecube numbers and Nintendo will definitely make money on the games they publish to the platform. They can ride that out until the next console and in the mean time they might be able to turn things around to do better than Gamecube numbers with the right games.

And do what for the next generation?

Retr0gamer

Deleted User wrote: »

And do what for the next generation?

Get their act together. They've about 7 years to do that. I think now they hopefully realise that the casual market is a fad and they lost them to the Tablet/phoen market. They can use the WiiU to build up to that.

Don't rule them out, Nintendo have managed to come back from much worse positions multiple times.

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Get their act together. They've about 7 years to do that. I think now they hopefully realise that the casual market is a fad and they lost them to the Tablet/phoen market. They can use the WiiU to build up to that.

Don't rule them out, Nintendo have managed to come back from much worse positions multiple times.

I'm not saying they're screwed, but what is "getting their act together"? Supposedly they're doing the right thing by differentiating from Sony/MS, so should they just do more of the same that isn't working very well now?

COYVB

Deleted User wrote: »

And do what for the next generation?

Hybrid system

super_furry

I don't doubt that they can come back, they just have to pick their battles a bit better. Fair enough they're not going to compete head on with Sony or Microsoft, they don't need, but like you say they're not going to recapture the casual market they had during the Wii's heyday.

If I were in charge at Nintendo, I'd put everything into the next handheld - make it as powerful as possible and then ensure it comes with a home base station. When out and about you can play on the handheld, when at home, you plug it into a base station that's hooked up to your television and continue to play the same game, via the same hardware, on your big screen. Like the Neo Geo X but not terrible, if you will.

It's the natural progression of the path they're going down with the Wii U but given their success and experience with handhelds, they can continue to dominate that market space and grow upon it at home.