Topic: My hands on with the Wii U experience

Well I can't disagree with that, that's pretty much my opinion on it.

but, and you might agree, I'd argue that adding a touch screen is worth more than just giving it a huge boost in power over the HD consoles. I can already get that magical technology..... it's called a PC. So that's why I'd argue the Wii U is a more interesting idea than the PS4/720

It really depends what Nintendo does with the tech. The launch? No, not really. We don't know much about the PS4/ 720 but I would bet both have some really interesting uses of Cloud and such to offset the lack of power compared to a PC.

But the PS3 at launch had about a tenth of the functionality it has now, and now I think it is awesome, whereas then it didn't do anything for me. So I'm cautiously optimistic that Nintendo will find nice applications for the tablet in the years ahead.

Thanks for your review, it was well written. I do agree with it being difficult to switch between the two screens - it's not as simple as the DS, with it right on top of one another. One could even call the Gamepad a poor mashup between the DS and Wii.
But developers will find innovative ways to use the Gamepad's other technology - or just little extra features.
Along using the Sensor Bar, it could imitate a pair of binoculars. And so on.

Thanks for the info @WhiteKnight.

I figured that fast paced games wouldn't really benefit from the second screen at all. Like you said, it is near impossible to focus on two things at once, or even switch your attention back and forth fast enough. For games that are a bit more methodical I can see the gamepad being useful though. I'm thinking along the lines of Pikmin, strategy/simulation games, and others where you can plan and observe things while the game still progresses on its own to some degree.

Wowiee @Waltz, that post took up 5 screens on my 3DS.
Wii U didn't really strike me as innovative, but it certainly will make games smoother, and make it more fun to invite people over to play shooters since you won't have to worry about screen watching.

The person with the gamepad can still screen peak..

How hard would it be to force someone to face the opposite direction of the TV?

Not sure where you're going with the cloud comments there and I don't think the appeal of consoles over PCs will be in software. It has always been in the controller, the lower entry price and the exclusives. The PS4 could do some interesting things with "Transfarring" type features but.... this isn't anything that hasn't been done on Steam already. Ignoring the fact that Sony has a porbable console and Steam doesn't run on ultra-portable hardware (yet?).

Unless you're talking about something closer to OnLive which would have its own set of problems....

edit: Basically what I'm saying is that if the PS4/720 are simply the same things but with more power I don't think that'll be very interesting. It'll probably sell well but it won't be interesting. The Wii U isn't a powerhouse by any means but it's at least somewhat interesting. There will be Wii U games that couldn't have existed in that way on any other platform before the Wii U existed. Now the PS4/720 could be awesome.... but if they are just the same thing but with more power I can do that already.

lol, you're doing it wrong. People actually use the 3DS browser?

Wait, @Waltz is @WhiteKnight now, geez it's hard to keep up with you!

I had a bit of trouble playing ZombiU to begin with, the guy was really helpful showing me how to play it though, and I got the hang of it eventually.

I don't think standing up playing the game was much of an indicator on how it'll play for me in the lounge room, as I often surf the web or chat in Nintendo Life's chat room while playing a game with no problems sitting back, yet using the Wii Pad just seemed weird in the position I was....

I don't know, I'm on the fence with the Wii Pad, it was incredibly comfortable though, and I had absolutely no problem playing Darksiders II with it, even looking at the screen for inventory swaps.

I think I like it more than you did, but I really want people to take proper advantage of it. It was really good putting extra platforms in NSMBU for my 6 y.o. daughter today, a lot of fun!

PS4/720 are not only going to have a boost of power, MS has the Kinect 2.0 and Sony has another motion capture device for the PS4 (Studio Liverpool was working on a game based on it). MS Kinect vs Sony Kinect vs Nintendo tablet. Now the question is, is the lack of innovation of the tablet worth the extra cost? Because in Japan a second controller will cost around 100€.

@Mandoble
Ignoring obviously that Kinect already exists and hasn't done much at all for games in traditional genres. If this is the innovation that these consoles are going to bring then I'd still rather just plug a wireless controller into a fairly mid range $700AU mITX PC now and sit it next to my TV. Get myself a "PS4" experience ~18months early because I doubt I'd really want to use mo-cap for the next Bioshock or GTA.

What Nintendo's doing might be less cool than what Sony or MS could do given the infinite wisdom of the rumour mill but at least it's concrete. If Sony and MS do what they've always done there's nothing that interesting about it in itself. At least what Nintendo's doing I can see how I'd use it and it's something I can't build myself.

These are not rumours, It is already known that MS was working on kinect 2.0 to increase the accuracy and response time of the device, as well as Sony:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCE_Studio_Liverpool
"Studio Liverpool was working on two PlayStation 4 launch titles. One was a Wipeout title described as "dramatically different", the other was a motion capture based game along the lines of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell."

I dont care about the term innovation, but this small detail (motion capture) puts PS4/720 in a different team than WiiU with its tablet. Following your logic, pick up a PC, install Windows8 and a card with two video connectors, plug one to the TV and another to a touch screen, and enjoy your "WiiU" experience.

So it doesn't have NSMBU? Bayonetta 2, Pikmin 3, SSBU?

Well, I tried out the Wii U earlier so here's my 2 cents. Like what Waltz said, the controller was really comfortable and the buttons were soft. I loved the analog sticks. They were so smooth compared to the classic controller and nunchuck. The resistive touch screen was really responsive. Much better than the DS's.
I feel like the best thing about it will be streaming to the pad. Having the tv screen and the pad showing two different things is really annoying so I hope developers don't do that often. So yea. It's ok. Not something I'll go and buy day 1 though.

Oh and the stylus is the same as the DSi stylus which is good in my book.

Ugggh the same as the DSi's stylis? I hated those since they kept breaking...

Having the tv screen and the pad showing two different things is really annoying so I hope developers don't do that often.

Except for local multiplayer. That's the best use of that capability.

Personally I want to see NFC applications. That's the main technology that actually excites me about the Wii U, but it's used in nothing so far.

I dunno, I think that using the Gamepad would give an unfair advantage to the player who uses it, as they and they alone will have the ability to 'screenwatch'.

Meh, send them to a different room

I wasn't even aware of the technology until I heard about the Wii U, so I'm glad its getting some exposure.
Something cooler than Skylanders, please. :>

I wish I lived in Sydney...

If anyone here has heard of an Australian city called Adelaide, please say!

Oh, and that was a great, descriptive review of the Wii U! Makes me even more hyped! I'd preorder it if I had any money!