I don't care how psycotic Phil Fish is, he made a killer game and I'll buy it the instant it lands on a service that I own - I gave up after my last 360 failure.
While the DS did have a boatload of shovelware on it, blaming shovelware as the reason for the low sales of games is asinine. The DS was loaded with hardcore titles: Contra 4, Contact, Etrian Odyssey, Bangai-O, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Puzzle Quest, Retro Game Challenge, Rhythmn Heaven, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga, etc, etc, etc.
Hardcore gamers pay attention and we spend money on the games we desire to play - regardless of advertisement. I'm sorry, but that's a weak argument.
FPS games are painful to play on the DS/3DS. They absolutely kill my wrist, so that's why I have no desire to play Moon, Dementium, Kid Icarus: Uprising, etc.
@ToxorAxiom Not so long ago I wouldn't have agreed with you, but the harder these companies push DRM, the more of a challenge it is for the pirates to try and break them open. Honestly, I get it. For them, it's a big game. But, the implications that come afterward punish so many people for their little 'game'. Obviously, I'm not speaking just to the DRM, as that's a simple bypass.
DRM free bundles are raking in money, so I'm starting to think that the DRM itself is actually hampering sales in today's market.
The 3DS being hacked was inevitable, just as it is with every gaming console, but I'm sure this happening was accelerated due to Nintendo's very own decision to region lock the console.
Very sad news and I wish the affected employees the best going forward.
I do have one gripe with Frontier though and that's that they left their games on iOS Free for far too long in my opinion. Going free for a day or two is a great way to boost interest in your titles, but weeks is an entirely different story.
How about focusing on bringing out a game that takes full advantage of everything Wii U has to offer first. It's just this kind of thing that's keeping me away from a Wii U purchase!
@Fafulec You're absolutely right that Wii U is the perfect console for family gaming and that same statement goes for all of Nintendo's home consoles too.
I've actually put over ten hours this week into a online FPS title on the iPad for a review and it works beautifully with touch controls, and has all of the gameplay features found in Black Ops II. It takes a developer implementing touch controls in certain ways (high sensitivity, floating control stick, allowing full user customization for button size/placement, etc.), but it can indeed be done. That's not saying that it's a natural thing to pick up and play though, but it is something that you get very comfortable with after you put some time in with it.
For me, I like to play games, I don't care what system they are on, I just like to play games.
@Fafulec No need to be sorry for your language, you write very well in English.
I've stated many times here, both in my comments and some of the Roundtables that I took part in here at NL that Nintendo has their own "magic" - I agree with you 100% on this. I'm don't do the "doom and gloom" nonsense at all, I'm just stating that there is indeed a lack interest in Wii U here in the US and it can be seen by the fact that consoles are sitting on shelves a mere month after its release. I'm in no way saying that it's a bad console at all, because I very well know that it's a fantastic console that's well worth its asking price - I just tell things just as I see them, seeing how I don't play the bias game. I have my preferences, but I don't have a bias.
The one thing that I would like you to take a look at is this comment: "Unless "one finger" 0.99$ toilet app tablet users would ruin everything."
A few months ago, I would pretty much have agreed with you, but that was before iOS 6 and I invested in the new 4th Generation iPad. Mate, tablet games are getting up to console quality very quickly. Yes, there are a ton of trash titles for a mere dollar, but there are games that cost in the $5-10 USD range that are absolutely fantastic titles that offer up a full immersion gaming experience, but on a device that isn't a dedicated gaming console. But, while your (currently) paying less for your games on iOS, the cost for these tablets is very expensive - I paid $699 for mine, so for many people that's an big issue.
Just don't keep a blind eye on the tablet market. I show people games on my iPad and every time they're like, "What?! I didn't know that those things could do that?!"
Keep on having fun with your family on Wii U - that's what it's all about!
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy on iOS is not F2P. It's simply allowing you to demo a few songs and then build the library to your own desires. It's a free download, but it isn't F2P!
@ThomasBW84 Yes, you do indeed have to qualify to be on Metacritic. There are several parameters that have to met for them to even consider your site to be listed on their site and they do not allow any random Joe with a blog to be part of their aggregate scores.
@SanderEvers I do agree with you that Nintendo is doing a good job of restocking shelves with Wii U units, but they're are in no way in the demand that the Wii and PS3 were at their respective releases - I sold my first Wii the following holiday season at Christmas when they were completely wiped out once again (A YEAR LATER!) for $500 USD. Wii U is sadly in no way in this same type of demand and it's barely been a months since it released.
I saw about 40 Wii U units sitting on the shelf at Best Buy tonight. It doesn't matter how you swing it, analyse numbers or pull facts/opinions - it's been a long time since a home console has released and you could easily find one within the first month of its release.
Maybe it's a lack of interest in Wii U? Maybe it's that dedicated gaming consoles are losing interest as a whole? We'll know more over the next year, but I'm personally just not seeing much hype over the Wii U.
Wii and PS3 both had lines to play demo units for months after release at my local Best Buy (not to mention Guitar Hero/Rock Band demo units), but tonight there was only one kid toying around with the Wii U demo unit and not one other person even stood by watching. Again, I'm shocked and confused by the lack of interest.
Personally, I think it is a bit of both. Wii U has caused confusion since it's initial unveiling - people still think it's an add-on for the Wii! Also, it was first a core gaming console to "bring back the hardcore," yet now it's a "family gaming console" that err... one person can use the tablet with at a time. I doubt that people that don't follow gaming news on a daily basis even understand what Wii U is. My friends (mostly guys over the age of 25) that play games, but don't keep up with the news have no interest in Wii U, because of the "Wii" in its name alone. They bought Wiis for their children and they automatically think that "Wii" U is for kids too. Even more confusion is created when commercials portray people playing Wii U with Wiimotes.
Wii U has a broken identity and one that Nintendo themselves have created.
I've read his entire commentary and he had some good point in several different aspects - especially his prospects on the future of digital gaming. I think he's dead-on that the next consoles from Microsoft and Sony will ship with 1-2 Terabyte Hard Drives. As always though, it's the few statements he makes that gets all the talk.
@SpaceKappa Haha... I kinda of figured. Dragon Sword is an awesome game and I wish that Team Ninja would have spent their time better and brought a sequel to it to Wii U instead of a port of the worst game into their entire history (which is telling to how fantastic the developer is!).
@Joe The last time Ryu Hayabusa graced a Nintendo console was actually in 2008, with the release of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on the Nintendo DS. If you haven't played it - you should, because it's a great game.
As a hardcore Ninja Gaiden fan, Ninja Gaiden III was a disgrace unto the franchise and as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't even deserve to have "Ninja Gaiden" stamped on the box.
I don't get this, because they are sitting on store shelves here. If I wanted to buy a Wii U today, I can all but guarantee you that I'd have one in a few hours time tops - it's a half-hour drive into the city.
I do think there's some truth in his words - dedicated gaming consoles are (sadly) indeed losing mass- market interest - but I do think Wii U will be a success. I think it will be more of a success than the upcoming consoles from Sony/Microsoft, but I don't think we'll see anything like we've seen over the past two decades - times are indeed changing.
I absolutely love Nano Assault on 3DS and I've no doubt that it's absolutely gorgeous on Wii U. Looks like its another great Wii U launch title.
@Tsuchiya If you're looking for a Trine 2 review before the Wii U review goes up here, I wrote the PS3 review at NL's sister site, Push Square awhile back: http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psn/trine_2
It's an incredible game and Frozenbyte is brining even more content to the Wii U version - you should probably have already bought it! Haha
@Discostew The PlayStation brand is now the most profitable thing that Sony has. Yes, they did lose money from the beginning, which is something that they knew was going to happen, but they've already reclaimed all of their loses and are now making profit on the PlayStation brand. Sony's major loses have been primarily in the television sector and other high-end products, not their PlayStation brand.
How many times did I say this in our Round Tables here? Nintendo doesn't need the hardcore gamers and Wii U doesn't need a high-end processor for it to be successful.
Nintendo's first party titles and the killer indie/third party titles that make creative use of its unique control interfaces alone make Wii U worth owning - not the fact that it can play Black Ops 2!
@triforcepower73 Really?! First of all - can you prove what you're claiming? Also, do you realize that if Sony and Microsoft both leave the gaming market that Nintendo would very likely be right behind them?
I'm sorry, but I can't stand to hear these type of ridiculous claims against any company. It's sad to see that your loyalty to a particular company blinds you so much that you would be glad to see thousands of people lose their jobs.
@vio Wii U was once thought to be running on IBM's POWER7 Architecture, but it's looking like it's running on a new POWER-based version of the Broadway chip (triple core), which is the same chip that's found in the Wii, only with a faster clocking speed.
This is why there's been an uproar over the past few days about the Wii U lacking power.
And it could indeed be true, because these processors are outdated and overload easily if too many things happen at once on-screen. Even back months ago Omega Studio announced that the Wii U has a slower processor than the PS3 and 360, during their development of Warriors Orochi 3 for Wii U. If you've never played one of their titles (you should if you haven't) they render thousands of enemies on-screen at once, with detailed moving scenery in the background at the same time, which is hell on any processor when it has to render it all in HD. Sadly, even in the final release for Wii U it's marred by slowdown because of its processor. It looks like there's truth to this one mate.
The 360's are indeed old, but developers know how to squeeze every ounce of power out of them and the PS3's cell processor is beyond powerful, but it's a complete nightmare to develop for. Wii U is clearly a powerful machine, but it appears it's not what it was hyped up too by so many, which again, stems from the fact that all of those "the Wii U is five times more powerful than the PS3 articles" we saw months ago. Yes, it would have been had it actually used the POWER7 processors, but it ins't.
@mumof2kids82 The iPad Mini - smaller version of the iPad 2, in the sense that it runs on the A5 processor and has the same liquid crystal display, instead of the Retina display on the 3-4th Gen iPads - cost less than a Wii U and you can slam the thing full of games cheaper than the price of a single retail title for Wii U. That's the reason many kids will get them this Xmas.
I'd never buy my children a Wii U or iPad if they were under 13 either though!
I've got the New iPad (4th Generation) and I LOVE it!
Wii U will be successful in the same ways that Wii was - creative and inventive titles that make intuitive use of Wii U's numerous features.
But Nintendo has dug this ditch that they're currently in with Wii U for themselves. They've given the idea that Wii U is this ultra powerful system and it isn't what many people were expecting it to be (sound familiar 3DS?).
Nintendo will bounce straight through all of this unscathed for the most part, but I hope they learn their lesson from this and just keep doing what they've been doing so well for so long now - being Nintendo! Not trying to be another powerhouse "next generation" company.
@TrueWiiMaster The thing about Metro is that not only does it feature high-end visuals and fast gameplay, but it has a relatively deep physics engine running on top of all of that. The PS3 can handle most anything that they can throw at it, but learning to develop on its architecture is absolutely insane for any developer's first time, as it's completely different from the norm. From what I've been able to find out, the Wii U just doesn't have the capacity to compute HD graphics, strenuous gameplay and a deep physics engine on top of it.
Could it be done? I have no doubts that it most likely can, but squeezing every inch out of a system takes a lot of time and money, and if all is indeed true and they'd have to squeeze power to put Metro on Wii U - what does that mean will happen to the next generation of multiplatform games?
@Malic I've been carefully watching the system specifications carefully and in simple terms - if things turn out to be true - it looks like the system can indeed produce incredible graphics and seamless gameplay (which we already know, of course), but the hardware (possibly) has a major flaw in the sense that it runs out of memory when it tries to equate a serious physics engine into the mix. It can easily do two of the three, but not all.
This is the issue with current generation consoles (PS3/Xbox 360) and it's something that you can guarantee won't be an issue come the next generation of those consoles. If true, it means that Wii U could miss out on a lot of multiplatform titles in the future.
@StarDust I'm the same way. I prefer home consoles and portables over PCs as well.
@rjejr I tell them I have "the 4th Generation iPad." But, yeah, I totally face-palmed when Apple announced it as "The New iPad!"
@pntjr Ha! Awesome rebuttal mate! Well done!
@hamispink I wouldn't be worried. Sony's PS4 development kits mostly have a big RAM boost to produce seamless 1080p output in full 3D and Microsoft's next console can't go beyond 1080p either (television limitations). The only thing going past the 1080p benchmark is the mobile and PC gaming markets, where The New iPad can produce 2048 X 1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) and the Nexus 7 produces 1280 X 800 resolution at 216 pixels per inch (ppi), where PC's can go beyond this at a much higher cost to the user.
Wii U should do just fine hanging with the next PlayStation and Xbox. The only thing that is upsetting people right now is that Nintendo is outright claiming it's "the start of the next generation of gaming" (which it is on one hand and not on the other), yet it seems that it's (possibly) underpowered from a technical standpoint in some aspects, especially when you detract the amount of power that's being used for streaming.
The 4th Generation iPad is a brand new model, that doubles the 3rd Generation iPad's graphical capabilities, as well as its processing speed (thanks to the new A6X chip). In short, it's the most powerful tablet on the market and I'm posting this from one right now.
You forgot to add the specifications for the 360 and PS3!
360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM Wii U: 17GB/s of DDR3 memory (eDRAM isn't yet know, which could possibly increase its speed somewhat)
Wii U, the "next generation" of consoles looks to run at a lower peak performance speed than the last generation of consoles, and that's before you detract what it takes to stream it too. Oops!
Glad to see that Nintendo is finally getting up to speed, but there's nothing new here, seeing how all of this is available on other platforms and has been for years now.
While Wii U might not have file size restrictions, the lack of a significant HDD is a restriction and Wii U owners will see that they'll have to shell out the cash to upgrade it because of it. HD downloads are big!
The update issue is an error in the code, and these type of things happen sometimes. The system should create a cache backup, so if anything was to happen during the update, it can restart the system in Safe Mode to alleviate this type of thing from happening. But obviously, that's not happening for some people.
I do find it unacceptable that one of the system models has an 8GB HDD and there's an 5GB mandatory update to use the system - you can't even install Nintendo Land afterwards! This is the reason that so many people were complaining about the limited storage space for the systems - you'll have to upgrade your memory, which inflates the system cost even higher - a major complaint with Sony's PS Vita.
Comments 1,712
Re: Project X Zone Suffers Massive Price Drop In Japan
Wow!
Re: Indie Hit FEZ Is Finally Shaking Off XBLA Exclusivity In 2013
I don't care how psycotic Phil Fish is, he made a killer game and I'll buy it the instant it lands on a service that I own - I gave up after my last 360 failure.
Re: Goodbye Galaxy Games Responds To Renegade Kid's Piracy Claims
@Waann I was speaking strictly for myself on that matter.
The reason Dementium II didn't sell well was because of the lack of availability, poor marketing and low interest.
Re: Goodbye Galaxy Games Responds To Renegade Kid's Piracy Claims
While the DS did have a boatload of shovelware on it, blaming shovelware as the reason for the low sales of games is asinine. The DS was loaded with hardcore titles: Contra 4, Contact, Etrian Odyssey, Bangai-O, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Puzzle Quest, Retro Game Challenge, Rhythmn Heaven, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga, etc, etc, etc.
Hardcore gamers pay attention and we spend money on the games we desire to play - regardless of advertisement. I'm sorry, but that's a weak argument.
FPS games are painful to play on the DS/3DS. They absolutely kill my wrist, so that's why I have no desire to play Moon, Dementium, Kid Icarus: Uprising, etc.
@ToxorAxiom Not so long ago I wouldn't have agreed with you, but the harder these companies push DRM, the more of a challenge it is for the pirates to try and break them open. Honestly, I get it. For them, it's a big game. But, the implications that come afterward punish so many people for their little 'game'. Obviously, I'm not speaking just to the DRM, as that's a simple bypass.
DRM free bundles are raking in money, so I'm starting to think that the DRM itself is actually hampering sales in today's market.
Re: Mutant Mudds Deluxe Content Will Be Exclusive To Wii U
The DLC is so good!
Re: Renegade Kid Worried About 3DS Piracy
The 3DS being hacked was inevitable, just as it is with every gaming console, but I'm sure this happening was accelerated due to Nintendo's very own decision to region lock the console.
Re: Round Table: Let's Talk About The Wii U eShop
Great Round Table guys! Y'all cracked me up on that the back side with "f*** it" bits. Haha
Re: Review: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Wii)
So, so sad.
Re: Nintendo Is Not Working On Fix For Wii U's Slow OS
@WhiteKnight Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking!
Re: Mega Man 1 to 6 Blasting Onto 3DS Virtual Console
2-6 will be mine!
Re: Job Losses Rock LostWinds Developer Frontier
Very sad news and I wish the affected employees the best going forward.
I do have one gripe with Frontier though and that's that they left their games on iOS Free for far too long in my opinion. Going free for a day or two is a great way to boost interest in your titles, but weeks is an entirely different story.
Re: Miyamoto Wants To Return To Unrealised GameCube-GBA Link Ideas With Wii U
How about focusing on bringing out a game that takes full advantage of everything Wii U has to offer first. It's just this kind of thing that's keeping me away from a Wii U purchase!
Re: Wii U Review Score Average Is Modest, At Best
@Fafulec You're absolutely right that Wii U is the perfect console for family gaming and that same statement goes for all of Nintendo's home consoles too.
I've actually put over ten hours this week into a online FPS title on the iPad for a review and it works beautifully with touch controls, and has all of the gameplay features found in Black Ops II. It takes a developer implementing touch controls in certain ways (high sensitivity, floating control stick, allowing full user customization for button size/placement, etc.), but it can indeed be done. That's not saying that it's a natural thing to pick up and play though, but it is something that you get very comfortable with after you put some time in with it.
For me, I like to play games, I don't care what system they are on, I just like to play games.
Re: Wii U Review Score Average Is Modest, At Best
@Fafulec No need to be sorry for your language, you write very well in English.
I've stated many times here, both in my comments and some of the Roundtables that I took part in here at NL that Nintendo has their own "magic" - I agree with you 100% on this. I'm don't do the "doom and gloom" nonsense at all, I'm just stating that there is indeed a lack interest in Wii U here in the US and it can be seen by the fact that consoles are sitting on shelves a mere month after its release. I'm in no way saying that it's a bad console at all, because I very well know that it's a fantastic console that's well worth its asking price - I just tell things just as I see them, seeing how I don't play the bias game. I have my preferences, but I don't have a bias.
The one thing that I would like you to take a look at is this comment: "Unless "one finger" 0.99$ toilet app tablet users would ruin everything."
A few months ago, I would pretty much have agreed with you, but that was before iOS 6 and I invested in the new 4th Generation iPad. Mate, tablet games are getting up to console quality very quickly. Yes, there are a ton of trash titles for a mere dollar, but there are games that cost in the $5-10 USD range that are absolutely fantastic titles that offer up a full immersion gaming experience, but on a device that isn't a dedicated gaming console. But, while your (currently) paying less for your games on iOS, the cost for these tablets is very expensive - I paid $699 for mine, so for many people that's an big issue.
Just don't keep a blind eye on the tablet market. I show people games on my iPad and every time they're like, "What?! I didn't know that those things could do that?!"
Keep on having fun with your family on Wii U - that's what it's all about!
Re: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Now Available For Free On iOS
So, a demo is now Free-to-Play?! Really.
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy on iOS is not F2P. It's simply allowing you to demo a few songs and then build the library to your own desires. It's a free download, but it isn't F2P!
Re: Wii U Review Score Average Is Modest, At Best
@ThomasBW84 Yes, you do indeed have to qualify to be on Metacritic. There are several parameters that have to met for them to even consider your site to be listed on their site and they do not allow any random Joe with a blog to be part of their aggregate scores.
@SanderEvers I do agree with you that Nintendo is doing a good job of restocking shelves with Wii U units, but they're are in no way in the demand that the Wii and PS3 were at their respective releases - I sold my first Wii the following holiday season at Christmas when they were completely wiped out once again (A YEAR LATER!) for $500 USD. Wii U is sadly in no way in this same type of demand and it's barely been a months since it released.
Re: Wii U Review Score Average Is Modest, At Best
I saw about 40 Wii U units sitting on the shelf at Best Buy tonight. It doesn't matter how you swing it, analyse numbers or pull facts/opinions - it's been a long time since a home console has released and you could easily find one within the first month of its release.
Maybe it's a lack of interest in Wii U? Maybe it's that dedicated gaming consoles are losing interest as a whole? We'll know more over the next year, but I'm personally just not seeing much hype over the Wii U.
Wii and PS3 both had lines to play demo units for months after release at my local Best Buy (not to mention Guitar Hero/Rock Band demo units), but tonight there was only one kid toying around with the Wii U demo unit and not one other person even stood by watching. Again, I'm shocked and confused by the lack of interest.
Personally, I think it is a bit of both. Wii U has caused confusion since it's initial unveiling - people still think it's an add-on for the Wii! Also, it was first a core gaming console to "bring back the hardcore," yet now it's a "family gaming console" that err... one person can use the tablet with at a time. I doubt that people that don't follow gaming news on a daily basis even understand what Wii U is. My friends (mostly guys over the age of 25) that play games, but don't keep up with the news have no interest in Wii U, because of the "Wii" in its name alone. They bought Wiis for their children and they automatically think that "Wii" U is for kids too. Even more confusion is created when commercials portray people playing Wii U with Wiimotes.
Wii U has a broken identity and one that Nintendo themselves have created.
Re: ZombiU Producer "Disappointed" By Early Reviews
Zombi U needs to go multiplatform.
Re: Nintendo Says The Play Limit On Demos Is Set By The Publishers
You mean - a demo actually has an end? How about that - guess I've never played that far before.
Re: Nintendo Explains Why Nintendo Land Doesn't Include Online Multiplayer
And it's things just like this that have me holding off from a Wii U purchase.
Re: 18-Rated Content on Wii U eShop Only Accessible for Four Hours a Day
Do I have to say "Yes, Daddy" at checkout too?!
Re: Pachter: "I think Nintendo becomes completely irrelevant"
I've read his entire commentary and he had some good point in several different aspects - especially his prospects on the future of digital gaming. I think he's dead-on that the next consoles from Microsoft and Sony will ship with 1-2 Terabyte Hard Drives. As always though, it's the few statements he makes that gets all the talk.
Re: Review: Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (Wii U)
@SpaceKappa Haha... I kinda of figured. Dragon Sword is an awesome game and I wish that Team Ninja would have spent their time better and brought a sequel to it to Wii U instead of a port of the worst game into their entire history (which is telling to how fantastic the developer is!).
Re: Review: Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (Wii U)
@Joe The last time Ryu Hayabusa graced a Nintendo console was actually in 2008, with the release of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword on the Nintendo DS. If you haven't played it - you should, because it's a great game.
As a hardcore Ninja Gaiden fan, Ninja Gaiden III was a disgrace unto the franchise and as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't even deserve to have "Ninja Gaiden" stamped on the box.
Re: Wii Mini Is Official And Has No Online Connectivity
Hmm... maybe it's just me, but I think it's pretty obvious why this exist.
Re: Wii U Shifts 400K Units in Début Week
@Urbanhispanic I'm actually seeing more Deluxe versions than Basic versions.
Re: Wii U Shifts 400K Units in Début Week
I don't get this, because they are sitting on store shelves here. If I wanted to buy a Wii U today, I can all but guarantee you that I'd have one in a few hours time tops - it's a half-hour drive into the city.
Re: The Godfather of Video Games Is Baffled By The Wii U
I do think there's some truth in his words - dedicated gaming consoles are (sadly) indeed losing mass- market interest - but I do think Wii U will be a success. I think it will be more of a success than the upcoming consoles from Sony/Microsoft, but I don't think we'll see anything like we've seen over the past two decades - times are indeed changing.
Re: Review: Nano Assault Neo (Wii U eShop)
Great review Ron!
I absolutely love Nano Assault on 3DS and I've no doubt that it's absolutely gorgeous on Wii U. Looks like its another great Wii U launch title.
@Tsuchiya If you're looking for a Trine 2 review before the Wii U review goes up here, I wrote the PS3 review at NL's sister site, Push Square awhile back:
http://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/psn/trine_2
It's an incredible game and Frozenbyte is brining even more content to the Wii U version - you should probably have already bought it! Haha
Re: Review: ZombiU (Wii U)
Awesome review Joe!
As a fan of Day Z, this looks like a whole lot of fun.
Re: GoldenEye 007 Wii Dev Suffers Major Job Losses
Sad to see them leave the world of consoles, but they will be great in the mobile market! Wish them all the best of luck!
Re: Talking Point: What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Eight
Just grabbed PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale to hold me over until the next Smash Bros. rolls around.
Re: THQ Adds Clarity To The Wii U "Horrible, Slow CPU" Comments
@Discostew The PlayStation brand is now the most profitable thing that Sony has. Yes, they did lose money from the beginning, which is something that they knew was going to happen, but they've already reclaimed all of their loses and are now making profit on the PlayStation brand. Sony's major loses have been primarily in the television sector and other high-end products, not their PlayStation brand.
Re: Analyst Believes Nintendo Shouldn't Compete With Sony And Microsoft
How many times did I say this in our Round Tables here? Nintendo doesn't need the hardcore gamers and Wii U doesn't need a high-end processor for it to be successful.
Nintendo's first party titles and the killer indie/third party titles that make creative use of its unique control interfaces alone make Wii U worth owning - not the fact that it can play Black Ops 2!
Re: THQ Adds Clarity To The Wii U "Horrible, Slow CPU" Comments
@triforcepower73 Really?! First of all - can you prove what you're claiming? Also, do you realize that if Sony and Microsoft both leave the gaming market that Nintendo would very likely be right behind them?
I'm sorry, but I can't stand to hear these type of ridiculous claims against any company. It's sad to see that your loyalty to a particular company blinds you so much that you would be glad to see thousands of people lose their jobs.
Re: The Wii U CPU Is "Horrible" According To Metro: Last Light Developer
@vio Wii U was once thought to be running on IBM's POWER7 Architecture, but it's looking like it's running on a new POWER-based version of the Broadway chip (triple core), which is the same chip that's found in the Wii, only with a faster clocking speed.
This is why there's been an uproar over the past few days about the Wii U lacking power.
And it could indeed be true, because these processors are outdated and overload easily if too many things happen at once on-screen. Even back months ago Omega Studio announced that the Wii U has a slower processor than the PS3 and 360, during their development of Warriors Orochi 3 for Wii U. If you've never played one of their titles (you should if you haven't) they render thousands of enemies on-screen at once, with detailed moving scenery in the background at the same time, which is hell on any processor when it has to render it all in HD. Sadly, even in the final release for Wii U it's marred by slowdown because of its processor. It looks like there's truth to this one mate.
The 360's are indeed old, but developers know how to squeeze every ounce of power out of them and the PS3's cell processor is beyond powerful, but it's a complete nightmare to develop for. Wii U is clearly a powerful machine, but it appears it's not what it was hyped up too by so many, which again, stems from the fact that all of those "the Wii U is five times more powerful than the PS3 articles" we saw months ago. Yes, it would have been had it actually used the POWER7 processors, but it ins't.
Re: Wii U on Plenty of U.S. Christmas Lists
@mumof2kids82 The iPad Mini - smaller version of the iPad 2, in the sense that it runs on the A5 processor and has the same liquid crystal display, instead of the Retina display on the 3-4th Gen iPads - cost less than a Wii U and you can slam the thing full of games cheaper than the price of a single retail title for Wii U. That's the reason many kids will get them this Xmas.
I'd never buy my children a Wii U or iPad if they were under 13 either though!
I've got the New iPad (4th Generation) and I LOVE it!
Re: 2K Boss Has No Doubts That Wii U Will Be Successful
Definitely!
Wii U will be successful in the same ways that Wii was - creative and inventive titles that make intuitive use of Wii U's numerous features.
But Nintendo has dug this ditch that they're currently in with Wii U for themselves. They've given the idea that Wii U is this ultra powerful system and it isn't what many people were expecting it to be (sound familiar 3DS?).
Nintendo will bounce straight through all of this unscathed for the most part, but I hope they learn their lesson from this and just keep doing what they've been doing so well for so long now - being Nintendo! Not trying to be another powerhouse "next generation" company.
Re: The Wii U CPU Is "Horrible" According To Metro: Last Light Developer
@TrueWiiMaster The thing about Metro is that not only does it feature high-end visuals and fast gameplay, but it has a relatively deep physics engine running on top of all of that. The PS3 can handle most anything that they can throw at it, but learning to develop on its architecture is absolutely insane for any developer's first time, as it's completely different from the norm. From what I've been able to find out, the Wii U just doesn't have the capacity to compute HD graphics, strenuous gameplay and a deep physics engine on top of it.
Could it be done? I have no doubts that it most likely can, but squeezing every inch out of a system takes a lot of time and money, and if all is indeed true and they'd have to squeeze power to put Metro on Wii U - what does that mean will happen to the next generation of multiplatform games?
Re: Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior
@Malic I've been carefully watching the system specifications carefully and in simple terms - if things turn out to be true - it looks like the system can indeed produce incredible graphics and seamless gameplay (which we already know, of course), but the hardware (possibly) has a major flaw in the sense that it runs out of memory when it tries to equate a serious physics engine into the mix. It can easily do two of the three, but not all.
This is the issue with current generation consoles (PS3/Xbox 360) and it's something that you can guarantee won't be an issue come the next generation of those consoles. If true, it means that Wii U could miss out on a lot of multiplatform titles in the future.
@StarDust I'm the same way. I prefer home consoles and portables over PCs as well.
Re: Dangerously Infectious ZombiU App Now Available On iOS
Now downloading.
Re: Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior
@StarDust Why in the world would you spend the money on a PC rig like that and not constantly play games on it?
Re: Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior
@rjejr I tell them I have "the 4th Generation iPad." But, yeah, I totally face-palmed when Apple announced it as "The New iPad!"
@pntjr Ha! Awesome rebuttal mate! Well done!
@hamispink I wouldn't be worried. Sony's PS4 development kits mostly have a big RAM boost to produce seamless 1080p output in full 3D and Microsoft's next console can't go beyond 1080p either (television limitations). The only thing going past the 1080p benchmark is the mobile and PC gaming markets, where The New iPad can produce 2048 X 1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) and the Nexus 7 produces 1280 X 800 resolution at 216 pixels per inch (ppi), where PC's can go beyond this at a much higher cost to the user.
Wii U should do just fine hanging with the next PlayStation and Xbox. The only thing that is upsetting people right now is that Nintendo is outright claiming it's "the start of the next generation of gaming" (which it is on one hand and not on the other), yet it seems that it's (possibly) underpowered from a technical standpoint in some aspects, especially when you detract the amount of power that's being used for streaming.
Re: Premium Wii U Owners In The UK Need To Spend £62.50 To Receive £5 eShop Voucher
That's kind of dirty.
Re: Review: Chasing Aurora (Wii U eShop)
Great review Morgan!
I love the aesthetics of this title! #beautiful
Re: Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior
@pntjr You couldn't be further from right!
The 4th Generation iPad is a brand new model, that doubles the 3rd Generation iPad's graphical capabilities, as well as its processing speed (thanks to the new A6X chip). In short, it's the most powerful tablet on the market and I'm posting this from one right now.
Re: Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior
You forgot to add the specifications for the 360 and PS3!
360: 22.4 GB/s + eDRAM for framebuffer
PS3: 25.6 GB/s main memory BW + 22.4 GB/s graphics memory BW, no eDRAM
Wii U: 17GB/s of DDR3 memory (eDRAM isn't yet know, which could possibly increase its speed somewhat)
Wii U, the "next generation" of consoles looks to run at a lower peak performance speed than the last generation of consoles, and that's before you detract what it takes to stream it too. Oops!
Re: Talking Point: The Wii U eShop Could be a Developer's Dream
Glad to see that Nintendo is finally getting up to speed, but there's nothing new here, seeing how all of this is available on other platforms and has been for years now.
While Wii U might not have file size restrictions, the lack of a significant HDD is a restriction and Wii U owners will see that they'll have to shell out the cash to upgrade it because of it. HD downloads are big!
Re: Nintendo Network IDs Are Tied To A Single Wii U Console, For Now
Wow! I'd have thought they would have learned their lesson about this by now.
Re: Halting Wii U System Update May Brick the System
The update issue is an error in the code, and these type of things happen sometimes. The system should create a cache backup, so if anything was to happen during the update, it can restart the system in Safe Mode to alleviate this type of thing from happening. But obviously, that's not happening for some people.
I do find it unacceptable that one of the system models has an 8GB HDD and there's an 5GB mandatory update to use the system - you can't even install Nintendo Land afterwards! This is the reason that so many people were complaining about the limited storage space for the systems - you'll have to upgrade your memory, which inflates the system cost even higher - a major complaint with Sony's PS Vita.