Topic: is the gamepad fun?

i dont own a wii u, never seen one except in boxes. im now interested in the wii u because of the mario kart and super smash bros.
how do games currently use the gamepad? do they use the gamepad well or for mundane things like menus and maps? im more a fan of that assymetric gaming i remember hearing about when it was new; maybe something like one player using the gamrpad to manipulate the stages in smash bros would be fun. or unique stuff like the wiimote in okami

Sometimes. Most of the time it's just handy.

Most games pretty much just use the Gamepad for pretty minor things and offfline play. Rayman has some features for it. W101, Zombie U and Pikmin are fairly innovative. But it's a cool controller. I love to play Mario offline while watching a sporting event.

The gamepad ranges from being fun to being a nice little tool. An example of a fun use of the gamepad is in Nintendo Land, where you interact frequently between the gamepad and the tv. In Pikmin 3, you use it as a map to multitask. Overall, it is pretty fun, and it depends on the game.

It is fun - It's not THAT big and heavy as some people like to complain, and other than maps, it is fun. Especially in SM3DW, although it is little underutilized. It is ingenious idea in Lego City Undercover, when you have to search for something

its super awesome fun.

but really it depends on the game.

nintendo land has some great stuff in it. like the yoshis cart game, where you see the obstacles and items on the tv only, but on the gamepad you dont see them and you have to draw the path for yoshi. in mario chase, the mario player has the gamepad and can see the map with everyone on it, and everyone else plays from the tv has to try and catch mario. in the ghost house game, the ghost player has the gamepad, and the other players can't see him on the tv unless light shines on him. zelda adventure lets you use the gamepad to aim your bow and arrow, and its really cool. other players use wii motes as swords.

How mankind ever enjoyed gaming without a gamepad is the horror of all time.

Nintendo did a great job considering, yeah, it’s a bit large, but it’s also lightweight and pretty comfortable (the shoulder buttons are a tad annoying but nothing major).

Off-screen TV play, it’s cool for sure, a selling point, especially if you don't have control of your TV at night ......I’ll admit, and at least for me, it kind of feels like a uber high-end mobile console. Battery life is a bit mediocre, but if your use to the 3DS, this again, won’t be a probem.

That being said, I still prefer the Dual Shock 4 or the Xbox 360 controller when I'm just focusing on playing the game, and ergonomics.

As a really out of dater, i still only have an SD tv, i often play on the gamepad regardless, especially the 2 batman games so i really like it. That said I haven't played The Wind Waker yet but own it, probably will be next but also might be Pandora's Tower, is that playable on just the gamepad? Windwaker that is.

I don't see how a controller can be fun. It's useful on occasion, but it doesn't have a button that shoots out a coocoo bird or anything. It's just a regular old controller with a screen in it.

I think he means the use they give to the controller, not the hardware itself.

Then again... If we added some lasers...

Pikmin 3 uses it the best for me, even if its just mainly for a map. Wind Waker HD being in 2nd place. I would say Nintendo land, but its mainly a tech demo and, yeah I dunno. Like everyone else has said, it varies.

I would say Lego City Undercover and the Wind Waker: HD, used the gamepad in the best ways………….

…….but yeah, it’s true that if your playing off-screen Pikmin 3, you really do miss just looking down and seeing that map, uber helpful.

Pikmin 3... where do i begin? i originally thought you would use the gamepad for controlling the pointer, but it doesn't do that, and i was disappointed. you can use the gamepad for a map, though. this is INCREDIBLY useful, so much so that playing without it feels like playing blind or stripped. you can use the map to multitask (incredibly useful for saving time) and plan out the day. ZombiU is also innovative.

It's a good idea, but it's not really used all that well yet. No racing games using it as a rearview mirror, no shooting games using the motion controls for aftertouch, and no RTS games using the touchscreen. As of now the current selection of game would have done better with just the pro controller. Outside Nintendoland of course. That game is made of awesome.

not particularly interested in the hardware, mainly how they use the controller. Sad to hear they don't have racing games yet, but maybe next year.
I'm only really interested in games that go multiplayer and are pretty fast, I've got a lil brother - nsmbwii was fun. Mario kart is always fun, this new one could sell the system on its own judging by the trailer... And total sales on the wii!
Thanks for the help, I'll wait and see how good mario kart 8 is before. Using, the money is needed nowadays

The gamepad is very cool with Nintendo Land...the game is basically a giant demo FOR the gamepad. That's very fun with the gamepad, especially with four other people.
Other games use it in useful ways, but not necessarily "fun". A lot of them were mentioned already so...

As far as racing games go, Mario Kart 8 with the gamepad is pretty fun comfortable and works well. You can either tilt or use the analog sticks to play. However a Wii remote + in a Wii wheel works pretty much just as well. Sonic Racing uses it in a similar way.

yes it has off tv play

Pikmin 3 and Game and Wario are great examples of the use of the gamepad not only just for its offscreen play. They seriously show of what the possibilities are and I loved them so much. Wind Waker HD and NintendoLand also do a great job, I feel as though this is one of the best things ever. I hope Nintendo keeps this controller for a long time to come...especially since I want to develop games in the future and I had a perfect idea for this controller ;P