Wii U: Considering buying it but so many questions!

[FoxNtd]

Note: I'm mainly a retro fan with my library vastly dominated by NTSC-J formats and I thought I wouldn't go beyond the Dreamcast or DS regarding newer consoles. Generally speaking I greatly prefer the design and styles of the classics and it's also the era before DRM and dependencies on online services. I've been entagled with Japanese language for a few years now; I chat with natives in their tongue and am so accustomed to RPGs being in original Japanese format that I feel mentally confused or misguided when things appear in English (like a live stream or Youtube video etc.) Renaming of things due to localisation drives me up the fucking wall - long story short I'd rather stick to JP formats even for the modern stuff. I even run my PCs and phone in Japanese. >_>

That having been said I'm surprised that I'm considering getting a Wii U. I've been seeing a handful of players showing Mario Maker online and it's absolutely brilliant. Classic 2D Mario is great and having those elements come back with an infinite supply of challenges made by level creators worldwide is simply awesome. Despite how much fun this game looks I will never buy a console for one game. Especially a current gen console that has a big price tag still hanging from it. I've been reading wiki to get an idea about the Wii U hardware, particularly the game pad, and the list of games from Wii and Wii U. Shockingly I jotted down about 40 Wii game titles and 20 Wii U titles that looked interesting to me or will probably be things my girlfriend would also enjoy. I doubt I would ever own that many games for PC Engine yet I do have the Duo-R. I'd have trouble naming even 10 Wii games I would have wanted to play until today when I took a good look at what it had to offer. I never got the Wii because of input lag, not because it lacked fun games to buy for it; more comments on that below.

Major demotivating aspects: Nintendo is still region locking their stuff - even the 3DS which was a heartbreaker considering I bought a DS domestically knowing it runs JP games without modification... To my knowledge the Wii U hasn't been "jailbroken" yet but that's my first question. Can the Wii U be region unlocked at this time or am I stuck importing the console to get NTSC-J? I also hear that the language of the system interface is based on the region i.e. a US console does not offer Japanese mode. (This is lame, even Xbox 360 offers all languages, c'mon!) Other demotivator - Nintendo's bad rep with digital downloads and purchases. I don't trust them and I hate DRM with a passion (I will never use Steam for better or for worse) so I will probably refrain from WiiWare and VC completely. Only games printed on physical discs would be considered. That way in 20+ years I just need my discs kept safely and a properly working console to play what I bought. I play games over *30* years old so yes it's not so unreasonable that I might still want to enjoy a Wii U in 20 years' time. (Wasn't there a rumour that NoJ wanted to patch the Wii U firmware to lift the region locks in effort to improve business i.e. try to drive game sales up? Why has this not happened yet for fuck's sake!)

I don't know what to expect with a Japanese Wii U in America. How does it behave online? Does it connect to NoJ's servers or does it detect where on Earth I am and connect to NoA? What about service support such as Netflix? Basically what surprises are in store and what drawbacks are in store with this console? I don't mind how it connects one way or another as long as I can interact with the rest of the world as though I was using the domestically regioned console. Oh, how about this: will NoA honour warranty on an NTSC-J system or am I shit out of luck there? They have like a 20-year plan for service on their hardware but I've never considered making use of their services with any consoles since my stuff is not North American... Plus the classic consoles generally don't fail since their machinery is much simpler with few moving parts. Ah, I remember the infamous EULA update that Nintendo issues to all Wiis that you MUST accept or you cannot use your console anymore, period. And within that EULA was a disclaimer that Nintendo reserves the right to access and modify your console's memory and contents at will, without notice or consent, at any time at their sole discretion. This, DRM, and region locking piss me off to no end and will have to be acceptable "losses" if I choose to get a console. It's creepy that they COULD send remote commands via the Internet and brick my console if they felt like it. Another reason why I like to cozy up next to a SFC that evil NoA can never pry from my fingers. Now I'm just being silly.

Next question goes for Wii support. Allegedly Wii software is not 100% supported... but according to a random thread on GameFAQs (not so credible right lol) everything works aside from 1 random WiiWare game and DDR due to lack of controller inputs. Don't care about those exclusions, but I do care about INPUT LAG. It's what drove me insane trying to play the original Wii. I think before Wii U launched Iwata announced the input lag problem would be solved for Wii U. What can I expect with a Wiimote and the sensor bar via the Wii U? I tried Wii U for about 5 minutes for the very first time at a demo station at the store in town, and I used the gamepad with Mario Maker. I didn't perceive input lag but it's not a motion sensitive controller so that is expected.

Speaking of compatibility I assume all hardware that connects to the system such as ALL controllers (U pad, classic controller, wiimotes) and basics like the video output (I'd need s-video, or I could try HDMI with my new trinitron WEGA.... but I'd want s-video to keep this thing with the rest of my collection!) If all hardware is compatible, I could try to import the console by itself to reduce shipping costs and just buy the rest of the pieces domestically. Fucking region locking.

Models: U has 8GB and 32GB. Wiki says in June 2015 the 8GB basic console was discontinued in Japan. Granted I don't want to mess with WiiWare and such, do I care about internal flash memory? I'm sure I will fill it with Mario Maker downloads eventually lol. Wiki also states SD cards are supported and external HDDs are supported. If these external media are supported equally as internal flash, I couldn't care less about going with 32GB, and save a few bucks snagging the 8GB version.

Any surprises or recalls on hardware craftsmanship? The original Famicom with square buttons comes to mind. Software firmware issues perhaps? I saw a used Wii U on a japanese auction where the seller states the fan is making strange noises. Xbox RRoD and PS3 yellow light issues come to mind as well. Seems like modern consoles tend to have catastrophic failures early in their lifespans. If Wii U failure rate is very low then I can feel better importing it should I decide to buy it.

Speculative questions: how long can we expect online support to be provided? What is the state of Wii's online support, as a frame of reference? Most titles I would buy should not rely on the Internet much, but most enjoyment from Mario Maker is based on going online to get maps and such, so I have to think about this aspect too. Any speculation on price drops? Rumours about the NX are rampant and I wonder if we can expect Wii U to shave off another $50 or so from the retail price sometime soon, who knows? Reference point: I saw a bundle for retail at $300 last night at the demo station that includes a black 32GB console with Mario Kart included. Japanese Amazon sells the Mario Maker bundle for about $370 after currency conversion but I'm pretty sure prices are more balanced elsewhere.

Playing together with my girlfriend happens to be an important part of considering buying this console so that means understanding multiplayer support. Is it necessary to buy a 2nd game pad or is the classic controller and/or wiimote sufficient? I'm confused about input devices outright with this damn thing. Wii was almost exclusively about motion support via the wiimote -- now it seems they backpeddled a bit with Wii U, focusing on the classic style of control, correct? Hopefully the gamepad is not mandatory beyond the first player; not just because a "regular" controller should be cheaper, but because my girlfriend says the gamepad feels a little too big for the size of her hands. LMAO

I also don't understand the compatibility with the gamepad's display serving as the TV. Can this be done with any game that does not use the gamepad like the Dreamcast uses the VMU? What is the range on the gamepad e.g. can I go into another room and continue playing a game on the gamepad as if I'm holding a 2DS or something? How about the battery? They say the launch model dies in about 3 hours of play, but they added another 1000mAh or so in a revision to extend that to 5-8 hrs. (Thanks Wiki.) Is the battery swappable; how do I identify which model game pad is included if the retail box is purchased bundled with the console?

My apologies if I appear to have crawled out from a rock but I basically did. I've been hiding in 8/16-bit land for a long time and the era since Xbox 360/PS3 really put me off from modern gaming that I have basically ignored it outright, thanks for the hardware failures, DRM headaches, and large libraries of modern crap.

I'm still stunned that the original Wii has so many appealing titles. Much better than the jeux du jour from the 360/One/PS3/4 offerings I guess. Phew that is a lot to say but this is the best place to ask these difficult questions especially the cross-region worries. I'm hoping there are NTSC-J Wii U owners here too to provide the greatest insight.

[FoxNtd]

Shocked and surprised, I must say, it's fucking disappointing to get not even a shred of assistance knowing all the knowledge floating around this board could have trivially aided us.

Anyway, because of the wide assortment of appealing titles we did decide to make a purchase. We stumbled upon an American selling a Japanese 8GB Wii U and we settled on a good fair deal. Here's what I've learned so far:

The console assumes you are in Japan. Nintendo is clearly not doing geolocating. It would be painfully obvious my IP is in the States, I'm not performing any networking gymnastics to even attempt to conceal it. My Mii profile even suggests my country is Japan. There are no language options of any kind. The input methods are like what you'd expect on a computer or phone. You can even select phone-style input if you like it but the default is PC style keyboard. You can always type in pure Roman letters if you want. All networking goes through NoJ. All the online content is fed straight from them and even using Youtube treats you as the JP region by default, preferring Japanese videos first in channel/video listings. There was a minor revision update to the Wii U firmware and it did indeed download the "J" version (not like I had an option to choose anyway.)

The Wii U game pad appears to have a battery compartment panel suggesting the battery itself can be replaced. The pad comes with an AC adapter for charging. I purchased a Wii U Pro Controller (as you'd expect a US market controller works fine) which can connect to the console via USB for charging when needed, but works wirelessly. To be clear, the Wii U Pro doesn't work as a Wii Classic Pro as stated by Nintendo's user manual online, and it's purely wireless communication like the game pad, so no sensor bar. Sensor bar is only for Wii and its controllers. The game pad display can be shut off if you're focusing on the Pro controller, which is nice to save power on that thing.

Games have a chart on the back of the box identifying which modes of input are compatible. This chart covers the game pad, pro controller, wiimote, classic wii controller and even nunchaku. There is no question what you can use thanks to this chart. Well done on Nintendo's part to impose this on publishers.

We don't have any Wii hardware or software yet so I will have to return here later to comment on how they work. It's been a long time since I played the original Wii so hopefully I can remember that experience when I evaluate the input lag concerns...

[celerystalker]

Sorry you didn't get any help. I've not owned a Wii U myself as of yet. Probably will eventually, but I tend to gravitate toward arcade boards and cabinets when I have a large amount of money available for games, as the only thing really tugging at me on Wii U so far is Mario Maker, and I'm not convinced I want to tinker with that right now, as it seems that I'd have to commit more time than I want to right now... maybe when my kid is a little older, but servers will probably be dead by then.

[bb_hood]

Its worth owning just for Mario Maker. Its the only WiiU game I own.

[Tanooki]

I think your post slipped by on accident. I don't remember ever seeing it.

I guess I'll play the bad cop here to the posts before me. I would have said not to get it but you already did.

My problem is when I get a system I'd like it to have a consistent (albeit slower) run of games for me to enjoy and WiiU lacked that due to them pissing off third parties and them taking a walk. The Nintendo franchises are worth it alone if that's all you care about and see no issue with anything and everything they release as it could be enough if you supplement it with their downloads if you are into that. For me both were NO answers. I had one since it came out, dumped it about two years into it because everyone but Nintendo bailed on it and all I saw coming I'd care for months later was Xenoblade and then later Starfox which got delayed into this year.


The system itself I felt deserved a lot better shake. The tablet is cool, I have a little kid, so I could use my game and she got the TV still, but at the same time I think they should have ponied up more into the box and charged another $100 for it and brought it more up to spec with the others along with a better coding language so it wasn't a nightmare to port games to. They sadly gimped it to be barely better if coding rightly for it, than the PS3 which still is no slouch. I blindly/stupidly went into this gen hoping just to own the WiiU most the time, then get a cheap PS4 later for the exclusives, and now the PS4 (and 3DS/PC) is what I have for modern stuff which is a shame.

I'd address your other points but as you have it, kind of too late.

[FoxNtd]

Celery/bb, ironically, in case my OP did not mention it, Mario Maker is what spurred the interest. My girlfriend simply said why not just get a Wii U if you like that game so much, but one game is not a reason to get a console in my opinion. When I'm at my PC I should share what titles we selected for the console, to help find insight to those thinking I'd there is anything worthwhile to justify getting the system.

The word is the system is a failure, 3rd party support is terrible, etc. Listen even the FDS was a short lived system/expansion yet I have one, happily, with a great selection of games for it.

I just ordered Mario Maker, should be shipping out of Japan very soon. I'm curious to see how many items on our shopping list are first party....

Edit: totally agree on the game pad serving as a tablet. It's like the Dreamcast VMU but at maximum potential. It's really a shame developers neglected the console.

[kupomogli]

I didn't remember seeing your post either. I can't answer much because I haven't tried a few things but I can answer some.

Like Nintendo DS, Wii online is dead. There's no telling how long Nintendo will keep the Wii U online up, but the system has sold far worse than the Wii, so they may or may not similarly keep the online up two additional years after the launch of the NX after pulling it down.

You mentioned getting Wii U to play with your wife but also online. If it's to play locally then that's fine, but if you're getting a Wii U for online play then forget about it. I haven't played Mario Maker so I don't know how good the online is there, but the online on major titles like Super Smash Bros and Splatoon is as basic as they come. Do you want to play online with people on your friend list, you can with no problem. How about randoms? Sure. But if you want to play with both a friend and have randoms fill the other slots like you could even on the PS2, then gtfo because it's not possible(except for one specific mode on Splatoon.)

Using an additional controller for additional players is as simple as it is on any other console. Using an additional controller for player one is a major hassle, and depending on the game even more so. With Splatoon it's only possible to play using the Wii U pad because the pad acts as the map while in battle, another controller won't work at all. Monster Hunter Ultimate 3 allows you to use another controller, but in order to do so you need to start it up with the Wii U pad, go to options, and then change to controller support, which at that time the Wii U pad will no longer be active. When you start a new game and you have to enter text, you're required to pick the Wii U pad back up and use that in order to input text. Whenever you want to play online and you're searching for a room or creating a room and inputting a password, again, you're required to switch back over to the Wii U pad, but nope, can't use the pad any other time unless the option is changed. Whenever you turn on the Wii U, your Wii U pad is linked to the console and will turn on and stay on with the console, there's no way of turning it off, and it will be a second screen of certain games without any input and continously play volume unless you open Wii U menu while in game, you go to the options and then press the option to turn the Wii U screen off. Every. Damn. Time.

The Wii U can do off screen play with games, but not all games. Splatoon can't do off screen play as requires the Wii U pad as a map. Monster Hunter Ultimate 3 can do off screen play, but identifiers on the map and the item list are almost unreadable so it's a pain. You'd have no issue playing off screen with Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario 3D World, etc of games along those lines though.

I haven't attempted to use off screen tv play very far from the system itself but the idea of it is great. What I can tell you is that you don't even need the console plugged into a tv after the initial set up. Whenever turning the Wii U on, the main OS is displayed on the Wii U pad and so long as the game is playable off screen, you really have no need for the a TV so long as you have a power outlet. It's basically the only portable home console(without extras like the attachable screens etc on the PSX and PS2.)

The above is really all the information I can really give. I purchased the console as a sort of grass is greener on the other side with my disappointment of the PS4 software when I purchased it, but as disappointed as I was, I was more so disappointed with my Wii U purchase. The grass wasn't greener. It was a mirage and with the Wii U I'm wandering in a desert. Yes there are some good games, but not enough at the high quality Nintendo fans make it out to be to feel like I didn't throw money away.

What you could do is atleast wait for the release of the NX and see if it happens to use the same concept as the Wii U, offering Wii U backwards compatibility. I kind of doubt it, but there's always the chance. We don't know what it's going to be, whether it'll be a hybrid console or what, just rumors and speculation.

[otaku]

i am a fan of nintendo and its franchises and see this as yet another affordable and unique system from nintendo i look forward to getting it for mario kart smash bros and mario maker especially to play with the wife and maybe someday kids

[FoxNtd]

Thanks for your post, kupo.

I didn't remember seeing your post either. I can't answer much because I haven't tried a few things but I can answer some.

Like Nintendo DS, Wii online is dead. There's no telling how long Nintendo will keep the Wii U online up, but the system has sold far worse than the Wii, so they may or may not similarly keep the online up two additional years after the launch of the NX after pulling it down.

You mentioned getting Wii U to play with your wife but also online. If it's to play locally then that's fine, but if you're getting a Wii U for online play then forget about it. I haven't played Mario Maker so I don't know how good the online is there, but the online on major titles like Super Smash Bros and Splatoon is as basic as they come. Do you want to play online with people on your friend list, you can with no problem. How about randoms? Sure. But if you want to play with both a friend and have randoms fill the other slots like you could even on the PS2, then gtfo because it's not possible(except for one specific mode on Splatoon.)

Local multiplayer is the primary focus. I wouldn't be disappointed in the slightest if I never have the opportunity to play any form of online multiplayer whatsoever. In fact the inevitable termination of online support is the reason I am very shy about Splatoon. Looks like a great game, but I have seen *only* multiplayer, so unless there is a satisfying singleplayer mode...

To be more specific I want to have more cooperative, simultaneous multiplayer games, and a handful of Nintendo's titles offer exactly that. I think even Yoshi's Wooly World offers it? I saw one of the mario titles, maybe Luigi U, but one of them offers an invincible character for new/young/inexperienced players which would be helpful for my girlfriend to develop some basic Mario skills. (lol)

Using an additional controller for additional players is as simple as it is on any other console. Using an additional controller for player one is a major hassle, and depending on the game even more so. With Splatoon it's only possible to play using the Wii U pad because the pad acts as the map while in battle, another controller won't work at all. Monster Hunter Ultimate 3 allows you to use another controller, but in order to do so you need to start it up with the Wii U pad, go to options, and then change to controller support, which at that time the Wii U pad will no longer be active. When you start a new game and you have to enter text, you're required to pick the Wii U pad back up and use that in order to input text. Whenever you want to play online and you're searching for a room or creating a room and inputting a password, again, you're required to switch back over to the Wii U pad, but nope, can't use the pad any other time unless the option is changed. Whenever you turn on the Wii U, your Wii U pad is linked to the console and will turn on and stay on with the console, there's no way of turning it off, and it will be a second screen of certain games without any input and continously play volume unless you open Wii U menu while in game, you go to the options and then press the option to turn the Wii U screen off. Every. Damn. Time.

The Wii U can do off screen play with games, but not all games. Splatoon can't do off screen play as requires the Wii U pad as a map. Monster Hunter Ultimate 3 can do off screen play, but identifiers on the map and the item list are almost unreadable so it's a pain. You'd have no issue playing off screen with Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario 3D World, etc of games along those lines though.

I figured it was intuitive that games that rely on utilising the Wii U display with secondary output means the game will not support TV-less play. That's ok. I also suspect core operations of the console tie into a primary game pad which is why you cannot truly shut it off or unpair it with the system on (the console would probably interrupt the action and insist on controller reconnection). But for games that do not impose the game pad display as an output requirement, you basically have the freedom to set it down and play with a pro controller. Picking it back up for typing input makes sense. I fully understand how it might feel awkward from the usability standpoint, but I am sympathising with the design requirements of the hardware so it feels like the natural solution to the problem.

I haven't attempted to use off screen tv play very far from the system itself but the idea of it is great. What I can tell you is that you don't even need the console plugged into a tv after the initial set up. Whenever turning the Wii U on, the main OS is displayed on the Wii U pad and so long as the game is playable off screen, you really have no need for the a TV so long as you have a power outlet. It's basically the only portable home console(without extras like the attachable screens etc on the PSX and PS2.)

The above is really all the information I can really give. I purchased the console as a sort of grass is greener on the other side with my disappointment of the PS4 software when I purchased it, but as disappointed as I was, I was more so disappointed with my Wii U purchase. The grass wasn't greener. It was a mirage and with the Wii U I'm wandering in a desert. Yes there are some good games, but not enough at the high quality Nintendo fans make it out to be to feel like I didn't throw money away.

What you could do is atleast wait for the release of the NX and see if it happens to use the same concept as the Wii U, offering Wii U backwards compatibility. I kind of doubt it, but there's always the chance. We don't know what it's going to be, whether it'll be a hybrid console or what, just rumors and speculation.

The game pad can go at least a good 10 metres from the console. I started going halfway up the second flight of stairs in my house until finally the console complained the home system was out of range (the console was on 1F). You can be so far away from the console and TV that you couldn't possibly see very well what's going on and still have control of the game. The range is clearly fantastic. Depending on the location of the system and the floorplan of your home you very well can go to a nearby room to play a game on the game pad display!

I think what's helping boost our interest in Wii U so much is that we now have the chance to catch up on those Wii games we never played because we never wanted a Wii. There are more titles on Wii that are on our list than Wii U. For this reason I felt comfortable going with the Wii U, rather than wait for NX. It's a fair bet that NX will not support Wii titles. Nobody has ever provided backward compatibility beyond the previous generation, which is probably for the better for the sake of the hardware and architectural designs of the console, to keep it from being suppressed by the burden of supporting very old firmware and such. It wouldn't surprise me if Wii U backward compatibility will not be present on NX to keep costs down as Nintendo is probably slowly entering desperation to recover a position of formidability in the market once again. Eh that is not the focus of this thread's discussion so I'll stop my digression there.

Here's most of our shopping list...

WII

arc rise fantasia
DK returns
earth seeker (NTSC-J exclusive)
kirby return to dreamland
klonoa
last story
skyward sword
lost in shadow
mario & sonic winter olympics
metroid prime 3
milestone shooting collection 2
necronesia (NTSC-J exclusive)
ookami
tower of pandora
silent hill shattered memories (might not get this one lol)
sin & punishment 2
sonic & sega all-stars racing
sonic colours
spectrobes (reminds me of kingdom hearts which I never played, but this and KH seem appealing to my girlfriend so if it makes her happy, hooray)
super mario galaxy
super mario galaxy 2
tales of graces (NTSC-J exclusive; I know there's an updated port for PS3? shush)
tales of symphonia 2
xenoblade
zero (fatal frame "4") (NTSC-J exclusive)

WII U

(still contemplating the first 4 on this list especially bayonetta as I still don't understand wtf is going on in that game lol)
batman arkham city armoured edition
batman arkham origins
bayonetta
bayonetta 2
DK tropical freeze
fatal frame
zelda musou (ahem this is hyrule warriors outside japan)
famicom remixes (still not sure if these are compelling enough vs just playing my famicom)
kinopio treasure hunter (cute 3D puzzle title, even I thought it was an interesting game ha)
mario kart 8
mario & sonic 2014 sochi
new super luigi u
new smb u
rayman legend (sucks that rayman origins for wii is not available in japan, oh well)
sonic & all-stars racing transformed
star fox 0 (not released at the time of writing but I know I will love this game)
super mario 3d world
super mario maker
yoshi's wooly world
zombiu

Interesting how the Wii U list is more dominated by first party. I literally combed the entire list of software on both platforms via wiki trusting its completion and documentation on what has releases in japan and what does not.

Random comments about mario kart 8 on that list... I haven't really been interested in the series after the first two games. I loyally own the original on SFC and the N64 sequel, but after trying the GC edition and seeing the Wii one... Don't know, just feels like it's the same shit over and over (same reason why I wasn't interested in super smash bros after gamecube) but 8 seems to have a lot of new ideas and variety, and a lot of tracks. Plus it's freakin' gorgeous. Oh, and it doesn't look dead simple to win against the AI but I have to play for myself to really know. I got exposed to kart 8 via live stream, and the broadcaster kindly explained what DLC actually gives you. That big pack of new courses might be the one thing I would ever be willing to buy regarding digital downloads.

We don't know just how long Wii U online will be up and running so hopefully I can enjoy mario maker as much as possible, and download every map to my console that I want to replay like a glutton. XD

I hope Wii U gets as much for it as possible before being phased out. I like the move back to normal control styles, ditching the abundance of the motion sensing gimmicks from Wii, and the spirit of the VMU in the game pad is like a home console version of a DS in some ways.

[Leo_A]

I figured it was intuitive that games that rely on utilising the Wii U display with secondary output means the game will not support TV-less play.

It all depends.

For instance, Wind Waker HD and surely Twilight Princess HD support off-screen play, but instead operate like they did in their original GameCube iterations where you have to press start to bring up your inventory and so on.

It's a fair bet that NX will not support Wii titles. Nobody has ever provided backward compatibility beyond the previous generation, which is probably for the better for the sake of the hardware and architectural designs of the console, to keep it from being suppressed by the burden of supporting very old firmware and such.

Not true, I can immediately think of two excellent examples that went back a full two generations previous.

The Wii U only lacked GameCube compatibility since Nintendo didn't want to include physical items associated with it like controller and memory card ports, because the consumer demand for it was minimal due to the GCN's low popularity. There's no reason not to support Wii titles if the NX by chance happens to be backwards compatible with the Wii U, since there's essentially no production savings there. And the Wii managed 100 million units sold and popular titles continue to be reprinted for it to this day, so the demand is certainly greater this time around.

If it can play Wii U code, it by default can play Wii code. And it still has to support Wiimotes since they're an important component of the Wii U experience, so it's not like they can skip out on including the components necessary there for wireless Wiimote communication. And they'd likely just up their production cost if they were to eliminate support for the Wii's DVD derived disc medium from their current optical drive that likely would be carried over intact from the Wii U, since DVD support is not an extra cost feature for optical drives and essentially is something supported by default.

And as the Wii Mini shows, the inclusion of the Wii's SD card slot is far from a mandatory requirement in the eyes of Nintendo. If Nintendo willingly released a Wii revision without it, they'd surely just eliminate it from the NX rather than base its elimination entirely on that optional added cost. Could even conveniently shutter the Wii Shop just before launch, basically eliminating the sole reason why anyone needs an SD card anyways...

All the NX needs in this scenario is for 512 MB's of flash memory to be integrated onto its chipset. And perhaps even that could be eliminated with a partition on the system's regular internal memory doubling for it.

[davidbrit2]

Wii games work great on the U, especially if you've got an HDTV, because the signal is just so much cleaner over HDMI. The games still only run at 480p, but the picture looks a lot nicer than even component to an HDTV. Grab Sengoku Basara 3 if you want a good co-op action game that's similar to Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors, but a bit less punishing (you don't immediately lose if one player is KOed; they will recover after a brief delay, or you can assist and res them faster if you're nearby).

[Sailorneorune]

Also, take advantage of the Japanese eShop and Virtual Console... get Japanese eShop card codes and pick up some old games to play.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._U_%28Japan%29


The Ganbare Goemon! (Mystical Ninja) games are a fun co-op experience, even with the language barrier.

[kupomogli]

famicom remixes (still not sure if these are compelling enough vs just playing my famicom)

Say away from NES Remix 1 and 2(or both if they're separate in Japan.) Now I've played through all the Super Mario Bros stages and all of the Zelda stages, and imo, they should rename the game, "How To Play Nintendo Games." Either that or "Waste of Money."

Here's an example of a "challenge" in these games. Zelda. Challenge 1. Acquire the wooden sword. You'll start at the beginning of the game, you go into the cave and grab the sword. Challenge 2. Kill three enemies. Challenge 3. Collect five rupees. Challenge 4. Collect the boomerang(starts you where the boomerang is at you kill the neemies and grab the boomerang.) Challenge 5. Defeat the first boss. Now I don't exactly know if these are the challenge numbers or if anything was between them, but they are the challenges. There's even a challenge that says get the Master Sword, you start at the graveyard and all you have to do is push the grave stone and grab the sword. It was cool at first because it was like a cliff notes version of Zelda, but it was really nothing more than making me want to play Zelda. It wasn't enjoyable on its own merits.

The Super Mario Bros challenges were simlar. The first challenge was something like, get the mushroom. You hit the mushroom and acquired it, challenge done. Find the entranct down the pipe. Find the hidden one up. Get 5000 points from jumping on the tip of the flag pole. Warp to World 4-1. In all instances the game has you visually starting on the same screen of where you'd go. Atleast I did learn something else, is that using the vine to go up top isn't the only way to warp from 4-2 to 8-1. If you go down a pipe a little to the right, that will also allow you to warp to 8-1 as well.

But honestly, the game was really little else than how to play Nintendo games. Made me feel like I wasted my monday and that I'd rather play the regular versions instead of this pos game.

[Leo_A]

Don't forget that Wii received a nice remake of Fatal Frame 2, the title that most fans consider as the pinnacle of this franchise. You have the two original entries that the Wii and Wii U received listed, but I didn't see this remake on your list.

Wii games work great on the U, especially if you've got an HDTV, because the signal is just so much cleaner over HDMI. The games still only run at 480p, but the picture looks a lot nicer than even component to an HDTV.

Most of what you're seeing is just the decent job that the Wii U does at upscaling Wii content compared to the lackluster job that your HDTV apparently does at it. It provides a big boost for me as well on my LCD, but for those with HDTV's with higher quality internal scaling chips than we have, the results could be significantly different.

Another benefit for the HDTV owner interested in Wii U's backwards compatibility is the automatic aspect ratio adjustment that it does as it upscales. A game like Super Mario Galaxy will be automatically stretched to 16:9 proportions during the upscaling process just as it should be for an anamorphic widescreen release. But shift over to a 4:3 game like Data East Arcade Classics and it will automatically be correctly pillarboxed just as it should be.

For a Wii owner, you had to manually enable and disable stretching on your HDTV as appropriate, with your remote control. Not a big deal of course, but it's still nice and provides a more seamless experience than playing on the original console did.

Also, take advantage of the Japanese eShop and Virtual Console... get Japanese eShop card codes and pick up some old games to play.

He's already expressed a strong dislike for digital distribution, but I agree that he might want to reconsider this route.

And check out the old Wii Shop as well. There's a lot of nice stuff there that isn't available on the Wii U's own Virtual Console, including a lot of NeoGeo and arcade content in particular that we sadly missed out on here in North America (Including scores of Namco arcade classics that never saw inclusion in any Namco Museum release).

[FieryReign]

The Wii is probably one of those consoles I never cared for or never had the slightest interest in, but might come across one for dirt cheap and buy a few obscure games for, MUCH MUCH later in my life(if I live that long). Girl I've been seeing has a Wii up for sale and think she's getting top dollar for it. Tried to put it gently; those shits ain't worth 40 bucks right now, I didn't even want it as a present. Must tell you something when a person who plays videogames as a hobby says they don't want a free console. Zero interest. A shame Nintendo dug themselves in that stupid casual hole.

WiiU looks to be more continued nonsense. I have a tablet already. They really should have thought of that. Implementing their new hardware/software and integrate it for existing users of tablets, io/droid etc. Maybe that's their new strategy. Implementing their games, characters, gameplay ideas on existing media?

[FoxNtd]

Grab Sengoku Basara 3 if you want a good co-op action game that's similar to Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors, but a bit less punishing (you don't immediately lose if one player is KOed; they will recover after a brief delay, or you can assist and res them faster if you're nearby).

I have heard the name Sengoku Basara but never really looked into what that series is about. I'll have to check it out later on.

Also, take advantage of the Japanese eShop and Virtual Console... get Japanese eShop card codes and pick up some old games to play.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._U_%28Japan%29


The Ganbare Goemon! (Mystical Ninja) games are a fun co-op experience, even with the language barrier.

I have Goemon for SFC and N64. Sadly the N64 game was only one player but overall it was fun too, and being in 3D really lowered the difficulty, aside from jumping/aiming... (you get used to it.) SFC Goemon was seriously awesome. The few times we would encounter a character talking to us I'd just translate for my girlfriend but she had a great time with me despite how hard it was to finish that game. I think that game made her a fan of the series lol.

I'm primarily a retro gamer without a doubt. For the older stuff we like we get the actual carts/discs.

Say away from NES Remix 1 and 2(or both if they're separate in Japan.) Now I've played through all the Super Mario Bros stages and all of the Zelda stages, and imo, they should rename the game, "How To Play Nintendo Games." Either that or "Waste of Money."

Here's an example of a "challenge" in these games. Zelda. Challenge 1. Acquire the wooden sword. You'll start at the beginning of the game, you go into the cave and grab the sword. Challenge 2. Kill three enemies. Challenge 3. Collect five rupees. Challenge 4. Collect the boomerang(starts you where the boomerang is at you kill the neemies and grab the boomerang.) Challenge 5. Defeat the first boss. Now I don't exactly know if these are the challenge numbers or if anything was between them, but they are the challenges. There's even a challenge that says get the Master Sword, you start at the graveyard and all you have to do is push the grave stone and grab the sword. It was cool at first because it was like a cliff notes version of Zelda, but it was really nothing more than making me want to play Zelda. It wasn't enjoyable on its own merits.

The Super Mario Bros challenges were simlar. The first challenge was something like, get the mushroom. You hit the mushroom and acquired it, challenge done. Find the entranct down the pipe. Find the hidden one up. Get 5000 points from jumping on the tip of the flag pole. Warp to World 4-1. In all instances the game has you visually starting on the same screen of where you'd go. Atleast I did learn something else, is that using the vine to go up top isn't the only way to warp from 4-2 to 8-1. If you go down a pipe a little to the right, that will also allow you to warp to 8-1 as well.

But honestly, the game was really little else than how to play Nintendo games. Made me feel like I wasted my monday and that I'd rather play the regular versions instead of this pos game.

that sums up how I felt watching footage of the game. The only positive remark I walked away with was the twists like introducing darkness to DK or messing with the visuals/environment in SMB to make it a little harder. But really like you say, it feels like a child's intro to famicom rather than real challenges. Mario Maker, now that's a challenge.

Don't forget that Wii received a nice remake of Fatal Frame 2, the title that most fans consider as the pinnacle of this franchise. You have the two original entries that the Wii and Wii U received listed, but I didn't see this remake on your list.

He's already expressed a strong dislike for digital distribution, but I agree that he might want to reconsider this route.

And check out the old Wii Shop as well. There's a lot of nice stuff there that isn't available on the Wii U's own Virtual Console, including a lot of NeoGeo and arcade content in particular that we sadly missed out on here in North America (Including scores of Namco arcade classics that never saw inclusion in any Namco Museum release).

I'm totally foreign to the fatal frame series. My girlfriend is a horror fanatic so all the scary games, she likes more or less. She just ordered a well-priced copy of a horror Japanese Wii exclusive, Necronesia. We watched footage and we both felt like it's kind of like Silent Hill but big bugs are coming after you rather than nurses and dogs.

NeoGeo is a system I never liked. Good for my wallet not to like it! Haha. SNK is great but most of those arcade games just aren't my thing. I'm sure I could find STG games on Neo I'd like but I'll never jump for the console and the prices of things. If I wanted to play something badly enough I'd rather just emulate with MAME which I never really do; I have plenty of stuff to play as it is.

The Wii is probably one of those consoles I never cared for or never had the slightest interest in, but might come across one for dirt cheap and buy a few obscure games for, MUCH MUCH later in my life(if I live that long). Girl I've been seeing has a Wii up for sale and think she's getting top dollar for it. Tried to put it gently; those shits ain't worth 40 bucks right now, I didn't even want it as a present. Must tell you something when a person who plays videogames as a hobby says they don't want a free console. Zero interest. A shame Nintendo dug themselves in that stupid casual hole.

WiiU looks to be more continued nonsense. I have a tablet already. They really should have thought of that. Implementing their new hardware/software and integrate it for existing users of tablets, io/droid etc. Maybe that's their new strategy. Implementing their games, characters, gameplay ideas on existing media?

Yeah which is why my Nintendo loyalty came to a screeching halt after Gamecube. I thought the Wii was a betrayal to their own history. Now that the Wii library is complete, I dug up all the genuinely enjoyable interesting games, and there are plenty to justify having the system for sure. I wish Sin & Punishment 2 made more of a statement; there should have been more games focused on the classic controller rather than the obsession with Wiimote motions. Reminds me of the Mega CD obsession with FMV rather than just making new Mega Drive titles with better colours and CD quality music...

[Leo_A]

Must tell you something when a person who plays videogames as a hobby says they don't want a free console. Zero interest. A shame Nintendo dug themselves in that stupid casual hole.

WiiU looks to be more continued nonsense. I have a tablet already. They really should have thought of that. Implementing their new hardware/software and integrate it for existing users of tablets, io/droid etc. Maybe that's their new strategy. Implementing their games, characters, gameplay ideas on existing media?

Wii was a lot more than just waggle.

There's a lot of excellent traditional experiences with traditional control on the system. And thanks to the Wiimote, it also led to a minor rebirth to the lightgun style arcade genre for five years with several good releases that aren't tv dependent in the slightest. And while Nintendo's controller "innovations" were often detrimental and shoehorned into places they didn't need to be, it still benefited several other titles like the Metroid Prime franchise that were anything but casual shovelware.

And if you think Wii U is that way, you really haven't looked at it. Try actually looking past the touch screen that more often than not isn't doing anything, and you'll find a pretty normal modern gamepad controller there. The only thing out of the ordinary here is the lack of analog for the triggers. And with the absence of simcade racers here like Project Cars, that doesn't even matter.

The touch screen largely enables off-screen play or serves to declutter the main display by taking secondary information away from it and displaying it there. In the Zelda games for instance, it provides instant access to your inventory and a full-screen map rather than overlaying it on the main display and forcing you to go into a sub-menu to select items.



It is not a tablet for the console and when it's utilized, it's almost always beneficial even if it's not the big deal that Nintendo was banking on it being. Heck, an easy 80% of the significant retail releases for it can be fully enjoyed with the Wii U Pro Controller, which should tell you something...



I'll give you your Wii complaints even if I think that they're only applicable as a broad generalization with numerous fine exceptions providing ample reasons to still take the plunge. But while you can of course continue to ignore it if you want, it's still quite clear that you know next to nothing about the Wii U. It does not suffer from the motion woes that plagued the Wii or the shoehorned in touch screen controls that many a DS title had just in order to be able to say that it supported it, regardless if it actually benefited the experience.

It just might be a situation worth rectifying...

[Tanooki]

He's right, the WiiU isn't meant as U are still waggling. Very few games bother with it a all, it and when it does it's an option. The one game I can think of that was badly designed enough to force really using it was Pikmin 3 as a command or two you really need (but not 100% required) is excluded using a gamepad which was just stupid.

Most games used it as a second screen to save pausing or to display maps, but some used it pretty wisely with the context of the game. The WiiU's problem is that Nintendo basically pissed off the third parties who tried to give them a chance for games and stuck their guns on an overpriced tablet which caused the system hardware to be less beefy to keep it under a specific budget they had in mind. It made the system also gimped with a tricky coding language developers aren't a fan of, even more tricky with LOTS of rework needed to do ports which is why so few PS3/360 games came over. Nintendo basically shot itself in the foot and third parties were there to point, laugh, and mock them then ignore Nintendo. Had the system been not even on par, but just in general closer to par/specs with specifically an easier to code for system language they'd be in a better place right now. Leader, no, it's no Wii in how that sucked in all ages, but they'd not be suffering so horrifically either. Don't get me wrong I really like WiiU, I just don't like the situation Nintendo caused with WiiU which ultimately had me sell the thing with a general lack of things for me to do for far too long. I saw no point in keeping a system where I'd buy like 2 games a year for when someone else would use it far more second hand.

[FieryReign]

Wii was a lot more than just waggle.

There's a lot of excellent traditional experiences with traditional control on the system. And thanks to the Wiimote, it also led to a minor rebirth to the lightgun style arcade genre for five years with several good releases that aren't tv dependent in the slightest. And while Nintendo's controller "innovations" were often detrimental and shoehorned into places they didn't need to be, it still benefited several other titles like the Metroid Prime franchise that were anything but casual shovelware.

And if you think Wii U is that way, you really haven't looked at it. Try actually looking past the touch screen that more often than not isn't doing anything, and you'll find a pretty normal modern gamepad controller there. The only thing out of the ordinary here is the lack of analog for the triggers. And with the absence of simcade racers here like Project Cars, that doesn't even matter.

The touch screen largely enables off-screen play or serves to declutter the main display by taking secondary information away from it and displaying it there. In the Zelda games for instance, it provides instant access to your inventory and a full-screen map rather than overlaying it on the main display and forcing you to go into a sub-menu to select items.



It is not a tablet for the console and when it's utilized, it's almost always beneficial even if it's not the big deal that Nintendo was banking on it being. Heck, an easy 80% of the significant retail releases for it can be fully enjoyed with the Wii U Pro Controller, which should tell you something...



I'll give you your Wii complaints even if I think that they're only applicable as a broad generalization with numerous fine exceptions providing ample reasons to still take the plunge. But while you can of course continue to ignore it if you want, it's still quite clear that you know next to nothing about the Wii U. It does not suffer from the motion woes that plagued the Wii or the shoehorned in touch screen controls that many a DS title had just in order to be able to say that it supported it, regardless if it actually benefited the experience.

It just might be a situation worth rectifying...

Cool, dude. You like it. I know what a WiiU is and how it functions.

It's glorified tablet with physical controls on it. Period. You're not fooling anyone with that fancy wordplay, though.

It's overpriced as fuck. Even at this stage, Nintendo wants to be stubborn and still sell underpowered shit for premium prices. Why? 720p is weak hd. Way behind the times, typical of them. If a fucking level designer is your "killer app", that must tell you something about your console.

It's called a WiiU. Why? The name "Wii" wasn't dumb as fuck enough? Go and keep on the legacy of asinineness and confuse more people? Almost as dumb as their 3ds naming strategy, little thought went into it. Makes you wonder if they even have english speaking people at NOA. What does the U stand for? Just plain silly and childish.

[Leo_A]

It's glorified tablet with physical controls on it. Period. You're not fooling anyone with that fancy wordplay, though.

Neither are you, my friend.