The success of Nintendo's console doesn't rely on EA's games and it never has. Nintendo 1st & 2nd party, collaborations with other development studios like Atlus, Sega, and Platinum Games and the odd 3rd party releases from Ubisoft (douchebags) and WB perhaps will get the job done. Sure it's not off to a great start, but I think things will be different by the end of the year (gameswise). Nintendo do things 'differently', and their consoles are designed with themselves in mind first and foremost. I think this is the source of much of the angst. Hopefully there are more 'collaborations' like Bayonetta 2, SMTxFE, Wonderful 101, etc.. because Nintendo do need to fill the gaps b/w the 1st party stuff in the absence of 3rd party support.
Yeah, well a lot of gamers in the 80's and 90's never actually 'finished' those games. NES and SNES games were notorious for their difficulty, and I hate to be the heathen in the house.... but for a fair degree of the time, the difficulty was due to poor game design rather than some 'imagined' hardcore sensibility that pervaded those titles..
Sure, I think a lot of AAA game design nowdays has gone 'too' far in streamlining games...but a lot of those people who post on miiverse are young kids, and I mean, I think most adult gamers would struggle to complete those SNES games today..
If Nintendo made their games multi-platform it would spell the end for their consoles. Mario and friends are 'the' reason for owning Nintendo hardware. Considering the hardware business has been extremely profitable for Nintendo, I just can't see it happening.
We also shouldn't assume that because something is 'cutting edge' and innovative', that's it's actually going to enhance your experience. I can't see the i-pad and mobile devices matching the power of home consoles any time soon. I don't see phones as a viable alternative because they're not going to ever be able to realistically compete with the superior inputs of dedicated gaming hardware. Create an i-pad as powerful as a PS4 (or high end PC), with the controls of a Vita and i might listen. Until that happens, I just don't take these devices seriously from a gaming perspective.
It's probably payback for not putting Origin on the Wii U. EA are like that. Is anyone really going to miss their games??? I mean, I know I won't. I play most games on PC. I can't think of one EA title i'd want to play, aside from a Dungeon Keeper remake or a proper Syndicate game. Does Nintendo care?? I doubt it.. UbiSoft are a far more important partner for Nintendo because they actually make some decent games. So much for this "unprecedented partnership" huh?? blahblaahblah..
Miyamoto's 'secret' new IP shall be very interesting when it's revealed, hopefully at the next NintendoDirect or E3. I suspect it''ll be the 'one' to push the Wii U concept to consumers...
I think Nintendo'll be fine with the Wii U. That's my gut feeling atm. Everybody's freaking out at the moment, but my guess is things will look much better in a months time (after E3..) for 2013 and beyond. A lot of people (me included) are chomping at the bit to play HD 3D Mario and Zelda (Wind Waker). Pikmin 3 looks beautiful, and there's a chance we might get a Metroid by the end of the year as well.
Nintendo have sort of been their own worst enemy through this though, but I think they'll pull it together. If you consider the 'real' launch window August-November 2013, it suddenly looks a much better picture. If Nintendo give a full 5 years of software support for the Wii U (i.e. 2013-2017) like they have with each of their previous consoles, and make an effort to publish other projects like the ones I mentioned, I really don't think there's too much to be distraught about...
The more I contemplate it, the more i'm inclined to believe that the Wii U is actually in a beta phase at the moment (as Nintendo considers it), and the 'real' launch happens at the end of the year alongside the other 2. Why?? Nintendo haven't even bothered to properly advertise the system. They certainly didn't have any games ready at 'official' launch. They've just entered the HD era and are battling with their OS and online infrastructure. Dev kits were made available too late in the piece for most 3rd parties releasing multiplatform titles in 2013 to bother. Nintendo isn't a monolithic entity like Sony or Microsoft, they don't have the same resources, and I think they've been overstretched with getting the 3DS up and going, combined with the fact that I think they were taken by surprise at how quickly wii sales dropped off at the end of 2010/early 2011. So they switched attention to Wii U, which it seems they didn't originally plan on releasing as early as 2012 considering how much of a success the Wii had been until 2011.
So by the time Oct/Nov rolls around and they've had time to iron out the kinks, they'll 'attempt' to launch the thing properly. They were always going to get the diehards to buy in last Nov., but i'm guessing that what we're going to see from NintendoDirect/E3, etc.. over the next month will be the beginning of a 'proper' launch drive leading up to the holiday season.
If you forget the Wii U has actually launched, and in my book it hasn't, then Mario 3D, Zelda: Wind Waker, (perhaps) Metroid or whatever Retro's working on, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, and 3rd party multiplats like Watch Dogs, AC: IV & Arkham Origins starts to make the impending 'proper' launch look quite good. Of course, this means little if the game releases dry up again in the 1st half of 2014.
What i'm looking for, as someone who is watching on with interest and yet to buy the system...is not so much the Mario 3D, Mario Kart, Zelda footage..but what happens 'next'. They need more partnerships like Bayonetta 2 & SMTxFE to fill the spaces between the 1st party stuff. I don't want a Wii U to play a handful of Nintendo releases every year over 5 years. I suspect people writing them off are a bit silly though. I think they've got stuff up their sleeves that'll get people's attention. We'll see.
This is an interesting topic. I really think that it depends on the type of game that's being made. If the game's campaign is fairly linear and doesn't offer much in the way of replayability you'd want a 20+ hour experience roughly. It seems that many of these type of games today fall well short of that. It tends to be about 5-8 hours including cutscenes and often tacked on multiplayer. I think because production costs are through the roof atm for AAA titles, there just isn't enough money (and perhaps time) to be creating these epic single player experiences people expect. I tend to think $1 for every hour is a good rough guide as far as value goes. So paying $60 for a 5-8 hour campaign with low replayability seems a bad deal.
That's a big reason why I think indie games have taken off. You look at games like Spelunky, Terraria and Binding of Isaac...the type of games they are lend themselves to infinite replayability. I mean, both Spelunky and Binding of Isaac can be finished in under an hour, but because you get a different playthrough experience everytime....and because they are very difficult to actually complete, people spend hundreds of hours playing them. So paying $2 for BOI, $3 for Terraria and $9 for Spelunky for hundreds of hours of fun seems an incredible deal to me.
Anthony, they are blatantly ripping off Nintendo's creation, and putting it in an utterly Vanilla app. That is a Yoshi. Did you watch the video? The guy said that it's selling well on the app store.
I've seen this sort of thing before on app stores, and I think it's sad that people choose to steal other developer's creations and put them in their half-assed apps just so they can make a buck. Obviously you don't feel that way, which I think is strange..but y'know, whatever. Different strokes for different folks.
Some people are seriously pathetic. I've seen some Mario clones as well, and I just think to myself...how come you people don't have a single original thought in your head?? You have to steal other people's creations and put them in your awful apps just to make a buck. It's just sad, it really is. It's like that War-Z debacle. Some clown sees a popular mod that's actually good, and rips it off...creating a game that is basically non-functional...shoving it out before the Day-Z standalone is released...just to cash in on someone else's spark of genius.
Nintendo wants the grandma's and moms and dad's, and young families to buy this thing in the numbers they did with the Wii. Hence the continuation of the 'Wii' brand. That's just not going to happen in 2013. Mobile gaming, i-pads, all these other entertainment devices have simply taken that demographic, and Nintendo will never get it back with their home consoles.
Don't get me wrong, Nintendo make great games, but the new system has an identity crisis.. because for starters, it is being predominately pitched at a market that no longer exists, while still alienating gamers who were put off by the Wii's outdated hardware, motion controls, and the absence of multi-platform 3rd party support. There are gamers who won't touch the Wii U simply because of the name, no matter how they advertise it. They should've created enhanced motion controls (for those who want it), instead of the Wii U gamepad, which comes at too great a cost to the overall hardware specs. With the money saved, they could've upgraded the GPU, CPU/System memory to something closer in the vicinity of next-gen consoles.
The novelty of the Wii is gone, along with the mainstream audience who bought it in droves. The only thing Nintendo can do to save this console is to start releasing some high quality games that will give people a reason to buy a Wii U. The games themselves will advertise the system.
Yeah, I wouldn't be put off by the E3 demo. Apart from the story/setting, it actually looks quite good....the gameplay that is. That trailer was designed to appeal to Gears of War/Call of Duty fans. It was the 'all-in action' approach, but there are two other ways of playing it.. 'panther' & 'ghost', and it's looking like it will support those playstyles pretty well. It's supposed to be Chaos Theory with a 'modernized' edge....basically what Conviction was supposed to be before it succumbed in the face of development hell. I think it could be a winner based on the 'ghost'/stealth gameplay they've shown.
I 'really' hope the 'motion based inputs' are made optional...I'd have no intention of waving that gamepad around all over the shop. The gamepad is supposed to be a touch based device not a blinky wiimote right??
We have to keep in mind that everytime we 1st worlders demand cheaper prices for our electronic products, that it places more pressure on the people who are paid peanuts to build them in 3rd world countries. I see where you're coming from, and I think you're right...a cheaper entry point would help to drive hardware sales (moms and dads buying for kids Christmas presents, etc..)...'potentially'....but these i-phones, android devices, ipads & consoles are 'luxury' items, and we're living in a world where about 50% of people are living in conditions of extreme poverty. I remember when a gaming PC cost $5,000 in the 90's, and that was considered prohibitively expensive. These days, you can build a gaming PC for under $2,000 that even today would absolutely smash next-gen consoles in terms of power. So I mean comparatively, electronic products in the West are already dirt cheap. We just need to change our mindset.
Paying $400 (AU) for something that's going to provide years, and perhaps a decade of 'entertainment' isn't too high a price to pay, regardless of how outdated the hardware is. You buy a Wii U to play great Nintendo titles & innovative/different 3rd party exclusives. I'm in a minority where i'd actually be prepared to pay 'more' than the RRP for a Wii U if it meant factory workers could earn a living wage from their labour. Obviously your average soccer mom is not going to be thinking that way, but y'know, what the heck. The damn thing needs games. That's it. Provide great and plentiful software for it, and no price is too high.
As regarding the idea that 'graphical' differences between Wii U and PS4/XBox720 are less pronounced due to the Wii U's conversion to HD. I think the problem is that the Wii U has a poor CPU and low RAM/system memory. It's not about polygons, its about AI behaviours and complexity and scale of level design. Poor system memory means that developers are often forced to cut corners in delivering complexity and depth. I guess you can still make deep experiences with minimal system requirements, but it's much harder if you're trying to make an HD game.
"I keep wishing that all the ex-Rare staff, there’s lots of them about now, would just get together and form a company, and go to Nintendo and say “give us the money. We’ll make you Banjo 3 for the Wii U or whatever”.
"Just make Banjo 3 like it should have been made back then and it would be great, and it would be great on the Wii U".
Yeah, well this is what pretty much every Nintendo fan has been saying all along.. This is what bugs me about the XBox...it has absolutely killed platformers, action-adventure (ala Beyond Good and Evil), puzzle-adventure games, and any game idea with an ounce of creativity.. If you're not Halo, a military shooter, a Gears of War clone or Skyrim then you're pretty much irrelevant.
Nintendo need to round up ex-RARE staffers and get them creating platformers for wii u. DO IT!!
No. He has a good point in that respect. NES/SNES games were known for their challenge...sometimes due to brilliant game design, often due to shonky design...in fact, brilliant & shonky design often co-existed..
I don't think Nintendo have done anywhere near enough to cater for the 30- somethings who grew up with the company. When you consider that your average gamer is in their early 30's, there doesn't seem to be any valid reason for pitching your games solely at 10 year old kids or casuals..
I don't think Nintendo have done a good job at making their games challenging for gamers who are used to being set a hard task, and not having their hand held the whole way. I think a few 3DS titles have sought to address this. Mario Land and Ocarina of Time specifically have modes that offer greater challenge..
Nintendo need to get better at making their games accessible enough for kids, while adding challenge for veterans. Kirby's Epic Yarn for instance is a very charming game, but it doesn't provide any challenge. Offering distinct difficulty levels would be a start...
So it's not a case of "you're old, you're not with it, you're out of touch..move on with the times". Games have progressively become easier to appeal to a wider audience....but, I feel as though Nintendo don't really consider gamers from the 80's and 90's as a prime target audience, which I don't really understand..because they're the one's with disposable income and an historic attachment to the Nintendo brand.
"Lied to" is perhaps too strong. To me, it seems as though Nintendo made the launch window library to look better than what it was. If Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101 & Rayman Legends had been released already...If Metro: Last Light hadn't been cancelled....if Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn't an utter turkey that's probably been cancelled for Wii U...we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. Launch window ends in two days, and there is still no release date in sight for Pkimin 3 & Wonderful 101. That's not great.
I do think Nintendo needed to push harder to get current 3rd party ports onto the system, perhaps by subsidizing them if need be. Games like Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.....there's no good reason these games shouldn't be coming to Wii U. As good a game as Deus Ex is, it's almost 2 years old, and anyone even vaguely interested in the game has already bought and played it.
I'd hold off on making a judgenment until E3 arrives, because then we'll have a better picture on the software outlook from late 2013 into 2014. It's still not clear just how hard Nintendo are chasing 3rd party projects, and what their plans are for 1st party software. Considering the final two years of the Wii saw a dearth of games released for that system, I think people should be worried about year 1 of the Wii U. Still, I have a feeling there will be a LOT of new games coming Q4 2013 and through 2014. Nintendo are probably holding off until E3 to ensure they can catch people's attention with the other two showing off their new systems.
I agree with a lot of the sentiments here, but still, there's probably other causes out there in the world that I could think of that are more deserving of 'an open letter' than this particular topic.
This article is inaccurate. It most certainly isn't 'winter' in July in OZ. I actually live in Melbourne, and I would have you all know that Australia is in the EASTERN hemisphere.
For you English folk, that essentially means we get Winter AND Summer at the same time in July..
We get vicious blizzards on scorching hot 40 degree days. Seriously!!
What kind of twisted world are we living in where people are begging for dlc???! Good lord. Stop encouraging them!!!
Old style 'Expansion Pack' content, that's created mostly after the game's shipped is ok. Everything else is just milking people who buy the games for every last cent they can.
It's called peer pressure. I'm at an age where I could care less what people think of my preferences. In fact i'm more likely to go in the opposite direction, because there's nothing worse than being the member of an unthinking herd. I have a mid-range PC and it makes the XBox360 look like a malfunctioning toaster...So what?? The only real valid argument in favour of 'power' as far as i'm concerned is in the potential for better AI, and larger levels/more detailed environments provided by better CPU/System Memory.. Graphical fidelity is less important. Most Nintendo games are stylized anyway, so photorealistic graphics aren't a priority.
Nintendo games are great, and the Wii U will definately get some good exclusive 3rd party content in time. Ignore those kids... they have no imagination.
Those Activision titles are all horrible anyway, no loss. It's cancellations like Metro: Last Light, & the general lack of current 3rd party games like Bioshock Infinite & Tomb Raider to fill the gap that's problematic right now. What's happened to Splinter Cell: Blacklist?? Oh yeah, & the complete absence of 1st party..but that will change soon. $420 (AUD) isn't an awful lot of money in the scheme of things for a hobby you love. If the system came out with original content that was compelling it would be selling a lot more right now.
It doesn't need a price drop, it needs games. It also needs to convey to people why that second screen is a game changer & not a throwaway gimmick..
Thats around $290 (AUD). It's retailing for around $420 (AUD) here in Australia, which for what it currently is...is too much in my book. i.e. only 32GB's, 3 hour battery life for gamepad, no games, slow OS, middling online infrastructure etc...
To the person above and others, wait till the Wii U actually has some 1st party titles before calling it a flop. Mario 3d, Pikmin 3, Zelda: Wind Waker (HD), Wonderful 101 and probably other unannounced titles will be out by the years end. If I were in the UK, i'd buy that in a heartbeat...because 7 months down the track there's going to be those aforementioned games plus others available, and you're unlikely to see that sale price again for a long time.
A much stronger 1st party showing at launch would've driven the installed base, and encouraged more 3rd party's to port over to the system....perhaps. As it stands, for many people who own other consoles/pc's, it's pretty much a system without games for the 1st 12 months of its existence.
GTA V, Bioshock Infinite, Metro: Last Light, Tomb Raider, Castlevania LOS 2, Grid 2, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Dark Souls 2, Remember Me, Saints Row 4, Dead Island: Riptide, Destiny etc.. aren't releasing on Wii U at this stage. It's asking a fair bit of people to hand over $350-$400 (USD) for a system that doesn't really have any games....that can't even get ports of same-gen upcoming multi-platform titles. Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 still don't have release dates and launch period is done in 2 weeks time.
Those unannounced 'partnerships'... like the one's they've got for Bayonetta 2 & Shin Megami Tensei vs Fire Emblem are going to be important. If they can do more of these, then it's going to help fill the release schedule between the Metroid's/Zelda/Smash Bros. etc in the absence of a steady stream of 3rd party support.
Well... I was going to say something, but I think my opinions on these issues are very much at odds with most others here. There you go, +10 XP for thinking 'aloud'. Carry on..
@ Stipey
Being a bit oversensitive I think. It was dubbed 'The Nintendo Medal' NOT the 'XBox' or 'Playstation' medal, therefore it has relevance to discussions related to Nintendo.
Well, we might need more info...but, I personally think this whole Skylanders thing is a massive con. Whatever happened to just paying $60 and getting your game....everything in the box... no strings attached?? Now publisher's are trying to milk you for every last cent while providing nothing more than a gimmick..
I would've hoped that Nintendo's NFC technology would be used for something more interesting than flogging pokemon figurines..
Been keeping an eye on this one, and it's definately got potential.. though obviously still a work in progress. If they can deliver what they're promising it would be a great addition to the wii u library..
One I really hope makes it's way to the Wii U shop eventually is Spelunky HD..
This guy is the Robert Christgau of the gaming industry. Seriously, who is he?? An industry analyst??
I don't have a crystal ball, and I have no idea how many units any of the consoles are going to move (two of them haven't even been 'seen', let alone released), but i'm glad he does. He's basing his assessment of 30-50 million lifetime sale on 'current sales rates'. So he must be assuming that the Wii U will never get a 1st party title. I have no idea how he thinks that basing his overall prediction on the first few months, when there are no real 1st party titles available makes sense.
The next 6-18 months will decide the fate of the Wii U. If Nintendo comes out with mindblowing HD versions of the classics, making good use of the gamepad, and manages to secure more exclusive partnerships like the one with Platinum Games, people will buy it. It needs games...and it needs to make interesting use of the gamepad....but I think that will happen, given time.
I disagree that it's priced too similarly to PS4. You can pick up a Wii U for about $380 USD here in Aus, whereas I would think that the PS4 will launch for around $750 USD going on the pre-order price of $900. So $370 is a fair differnece. It's virtually another Wii U's worth. As for the XBox720, if rumours of an 'always on' internet connection requirement are true, I can see it tanking in a major way. So really at the end of the day, he's basing these bold predictions on very little evidence.
Why did the wii outsell the PS3 and XBox 360 in its lifetime, and the 3DS outsell the Vita when both units are less powerful than the competition?? He says the wii sold 99 million, then points out that he doesn't think Wii U will sell as well because its too close to current gen in specs. huh??
Yeah, they're clearly having a laugh in that exchange people. Did everyone's sarcasm detectors break or something?? I can see where McMillen's coming from though. They don't want to be tied down to exclusivity, because if their game bombs on that system they're sort of stuck in a bad situation. They want the game to be made available to as big an audience as possible to drive sales, which is perfectly reasonable.
Problem is, expecting Nintendo to placate them and give them an advance to develop a 'multi-platform' title is a bit of wishful thinking. But really, Nintendo should be doing everything they can to placate UbiSoft, because they're the only major western publisher to (mostly) properly support the console (apart from Warner Bros. perhaps).
Having said that, overhead costs are a huge barrier to indie development on consoles. Perhaps Nintendo could look into courting indies like Team Meat with a good track record of producing great games, and reducing the costs associated with getting the game on the system...because it looks as though a lot of indies are shying away from XBox and even Sony. Not necessarily going after exclusivity, but doing a deal so good that they won't want to go on XBox/PS4 anyway (much like what Steam is doing).... Nintendo could make the jump and get an edge on those two...and go after some of the top indie developers, and do what the competition aren't prepared to do in order to get the best indie games on the Wii U.
I think Pikmin 3 will be a fun game. Though it was originally built for the wii, and has found its way onto the Wii U instead. While what Miyamoto's talking about might be useful, the gamepad in this instance is still just being used as a way of reducing UI clutter. I don't think that moving the map to the gamepad is a game changing mechanic.
Apart from the asymmetrical Zombi U multiplayer, i'm still unsure how the gamepad is going to be used in a way that actually 'innovates' in a single player experience. I think people will eventually come up with some interesting ideas, but until we see games that are actually built from the ground up to utilize the gamepad in a unique way that goes beyond simply reducing onscreen UI clutter, it's not conveying its potential to prospective buyers of the system. The other potential problem i see, is that having to focus on both the screen and the gamepad at the same time is going to be something of a challenge, if the gamepad is going to be used for something other than maps & inventory.
Obviously games take time to make, which is a problem for Nintendo. They have a new unique console, but they have no games to illustrate how it might offer experiences that are more interesting and fun than what the competition offers.
I've held off on buying because of the lack of 'exclusive' games & current multi-platform releases (i.e. Tomb Raider/Bioshock Infinite/Metro: Last Light), and I think that's the #1 reason most people have held off on buying a Wii U, not because the system is 'too expensive' of itself. It just doesn't represent value for money at this stage, because it simply lacks 1st party content and 3rd party support. With next-gen games like Thief & Witcher 3 skipping Wii U in 2014, it's pretty safe to assume that multi-platorm support for Wii U from Western publishers (aside from UbiSoft) is already dead in the water. Without AC: IV, Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the horizon, there'd be virtually nothing in terms of 3rd party support in 2013, which is a sorry state of affairs for a system currently RRP for $428 here in Australia... $30 more than a 500 GB PS3 with a sizeable library of 1st party and 3rd party content still to come. People dont want to pay $400 just for the same Nintendo games they got on the last console.
From what i've read, NFS & Sonic & All Stars Racing were the only ports to get it right. Some of the ports are actually worse than PS3/XBOX360 versions, i.e. Arkham City, Darksiders 2 & Mass Effect 3. I know that Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD, Zelda HD, Smash Bros. Mario 3D/Kart, Xenogears, Shin Megami Tensei vs Fire Emblem and probably Metroid are coming at some stage, but i'm yet to be convinced about the long term viability of the machine. I want to see Nintendo actually developing new IP the same standard as a Zelda or Metroid, instead of relying exclusively on those & other stalwarts before I get too excited. They need to show that they've got more co-development arrangements going, such as the one with Platinum Games as well. It was also a mistake calling the system Wii U, but I guess we all know that.
Well, i'd be more concerned that neither Witcher 3 or the recently announced Thief 'reboot' are coming to the Wii U in 2014. Both have been announced for PC, PS4 and other next-gen consoles (i.e. Xbox). Looks like UbiSoft are the only publisher committed to multiplatform releases and that could disappear unless sales pick up by the year's end.
That article is nonsense. 'No kill' has had a great deal of success when implemented 'properly'. PETA is the most hypocritical entity in existence. They don't even bother trying to get new homes for healthy animals, and have blocked attempts at groups trying to find new homes for the animals they take in. Read this Huffington Post article for a different perspective,
Probably the main game is bundled w/h the Missing Link dlc. It's a no brainer if you don't already own it. GET IT!! I've owned it since day 1 on PC. If titles like Bioshock, Dishonored, and Thief mean anything to you, you'll love this one. It's a 'thinking man's (or woman's)' FPS'..about 25 hrs single-player gameplay (+4hrs dlc) of semi-open world dystopian cyberpunk goodness. It has a bit of replayability seeing as you can augment Jensen's skills in a few different ways. It's not flawless, but it's definately one of the better western action titles this generation imo..
I don't think he's saying that. It's more, "Instead of wildly flinging accusations at the gaming industry for allegedly creating violent people, why don't you look at the positive things that stem from gaming??"
Most things in life we engage with can have both positive and negative consequences. You can't say that games cause violence simply because they can have a negative impact upon us...that would be like saying "well, exercise is good, but if we do too much exercise it can have a negative impact on us...therefore exercise also causes violence" It might be that the negative consequences of gaming are a 'loss or poor quality of sleep'.
Oh boy these CEO's of big game companies are so out of touch with what actual gamers want aren't they??
This whole 'connected' gaming experience is just a smokescreen for a sort of intrusive DRM. I don't have anything against multiplayer or co-op play...perhaps that sort of 'connected' experience he's talking about might be fun in specific instances, but it's not coming at the expense of traditional 'offline' single player experience as far as i'm concerned. I loathe social media, and I don't want stupid people with their inane chatter interrupting my experience..
Also, internet is good in the US but rubbish in most other parts of the world. What this shift to 'online connected single player' experience will effectively do is shut out gamers from country's with poor internet infrastructure. It's a stupid idea.
But that's fine, I'll just play indie games... and games produced by companies with some sort of ethical core (i.e. CD Project Red) who actually care about what their customers want instead.
I think what upsets me is that on both occasions, Randy Pitchford.... President of Gearbox has been up front and square selling both games prior to release. Gearbox may have picked up the train wreck that was DNF in the final stages, but that was only in the knowledge that there'd be a big fat paycheck awaiting them for their (minimal) trouble on the otherside.
Pitchford was spruiking DNF prior to release as if it was the best, most fun thing he'd ever played, and he knew it was garbage. It's just cynical behaviour as far as i'm concerned, and it shows little respect for gaming consumers who keep the industry ticking over.
I think if you pay $80 for a AAA game, you should at least receive a game that is mechanically functional. ACM is broken at this stage, DNF was just plain garbage....Gearbox knew it on both counts, but they didn't care because they knew the 'franchise names' would sell them, and they could use the additional funds raised to finance Borderlands games.
This is currently sitting on a metacritic of 42 and for good reason. It's garbage. SEGA allegedly gave Gearbox somewhere in the region of 40-60 million to develop this game. Due to the commercial success of Borderlands, they decided to outsource a lot of the game development to other studios, and concentrate on Borderlands 2 because they lacked the manpower to be developing 3 games simultaneously.
It seems as though the poster is legit, and that this could get quite nasty. People on Steam (PC) who bought the game on day 1 are generally outraged at the game that was released, and some of them want Gearbox, SEGA and Randy Pitchford sued, because the game in action doesn't resemble the game that was demoed last year. Gearbox scraped a lot of things when the outsourced game was returned, because it was garbage. The demo had DX11 features and showed off environment hugging aliens that appeared to have reasonably good AI. It at least looked like a decent game. The game that was released is in DX9 and looks like an early XBOX 360 game a lot of the time.. the enemy and team AI is laughably bad. There's way too much COD style 'manshooting', and little suspense to speak of. The dialogue is awful. It's buggy as hell. There are almost no 'scares' to speak of. I don't know what happened between that demo and the release, but it has little resemblence to the demo. There are also accusations that Gearbox was using funds allocated by SEGA for ACM to develop their own B2. That's just a rumour at this stage, but you have to raise serious questions about Gearbox's integrity, if they were given so much money to develop a game, why they then handed it out to external developers who proceeded to ruin it?? Duke Nukem Forever then this...Seems as though Gearbox were just happy to cash in on the big franchise name without giving a damn about the games.
I know there's no way i'll buy a Gearbox game again. This game is $80 US on Steam here in Australia at the moment. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME
Does the PC count as a home console?? Hahaha...coming in 2015.
I wasn't overly impressed with the gameplay footage. The premise is kind of interesting i guess, but the way it played out was like most other recent 3rd person action games like AC:3, Tomb Raider.....flashy set pieces, QTE's?? firefights, etc. We'll see how much player freedom/choice there is in the final product... i'm not convinced.
I won't buy a UbiSoft game until their board/management is replaced with people who actually give a damn about the people who buy their games. As i've said elsewhere, delays happens..release dates get set back...but what i'm seeing from UbiSoft over a sustained period of time, is utterly 'arrogant' behaviour & a general disconnection from the gaming community.
People say you're punishing the developers by boycotting the game. To an extent that's true. I feel for the developers, because they've been used and abused....but unfortunately, the only way you make these clowns who make the business decisions take notice is if money stops flowing through the coffers.
UbiSoft are serial offenders on a range of issues, and its about time gamers started voting with their wallets for mine.
I get the impression that this may have been the plan all along. Rayman Origins didn't sell well, despite being a good game. Ubi sort of cashed in on E3 and the big Wii U push in general.....remember the 'supposedly' leaked Rayman footage that surfaced prior to E3 last year?? Yeah right. It wouldn't surprise me if it was all just a cynical marketing exercise...because there's no way Rayman Legends would've got the kind of coverage it got at E3 without Nintendo's new console to show it off. It would've been drowning in a sea of grey and brown FPS's and 3rd person action-films.
Nintendo didn't have an awful lot to show off at E3 in terms of software, yet all eyes were focused on them. Seems like a good opportunity to give your under-appreciated platformer some prime airtime. Bet the game was cross-platform all along, and it was all just a cynical marketing ploy to ride the hype wave.
Big middle finger from UbiSoft to Wii U owners, and.....to be honest, also a big middle finger to the Montpellier developers who've crunched for months to get this thing out, to then be told that ALL that time they were asked to spend away from their families, and attending to their own lives was for nothing..
Day 1 dlc is hideous. Look, If it's available DAY 1, then its content that should be included in the game itself. DLC is supposed to be content created AFTER launch.
It's a bit of a joke really. Look, there are much worse things in the world than a game getting delayed, it happens all the time.
But....this game played a key role in selling the Wii U at E3. It was one of the few games that showed off gamepad specific features. It looked terrific. The game was billed as a 'launch title' and an 'exclusive' launch title at that. It's likely the promise of this game at E3 has shifted Wii U console sales. Where would've Nintendo been had they not had Pikmin 3 and Rayman Legends to show off?? Both were advertised as launch (inc. 'launch window') titles..and Rayman Legends has now been delayed 7 months, not because it isn't finished, but because some wise monkeys in suits at UbiSoft's head office decided it would be in their 'business interests' to delay its release until the other versions are ready. Pikmin 3 still doesnt have a release date..
I think a lot of Wii U owners could actually do the smart thing and show UbiSoft that it 'isn't' in their 'best business' interests to delay a formerly exclusive title that is actually ready to ship....by not buying their game!
Comments 225
Re: Did Sumo Digital Just Tease A Sonic Racing And Mario Kart Crossover?
@Urbanhispanic
Still shaking my head at the sale of Rare. What were Nintendo thinking??
Re: Senior EA Employee Caught Out Criticising Wii U On Twitter
The success of Nintendo's console doesn't rely on EA's games and it never has. Nintendo 1st & 2nd party, collaborations with other development studios like Atlus, Sega, and Platinum Games and the odd 3rd party releases from Ubisoft (douchebags) and WB perhaps will get the job done. Sure it's not off to a great start, but I think things will be different by the end of the year (gameswise). Nintendo do things 'differently', and their consoles are designed with themselves in mind first and foremost. I think this is the source of much of the angst. Hopefully there are more 'collaborations' like Bayonetta 2, SMTxFE, Wonderful 101, etc.. because Nintendo do need to fill the gaps b/w the 1st party stuff in the absence of 3rd party support.
Re: Miiverse: Super Metroid - Too Taxing For Today's Gamers?
Yeah, well a lot of gamers in the 80's and 90's never actually 'finished' those games. NES and SNES games were notorious for their difficulty, and I hate to be the heathen in the house.... but for a fair degree of the time, the difficulty was due to poor game design rather than some 'imagined' hardcore sensibility that pervaded those titles..
Sure, I think a lot of AAA game design nowdays has gone 'too' far in streamlining games...but a lot of those people who post on miiverse are young kids, and I mean, I think most adult gamers would struggle to complete those SNES games today..
Re: LEGO Friends Coming to 3DS and DS
sold.
Re: Peter Molyneux: If I were Nintendo, I'd Put Mario On The iPad
If Nintendo made their games multi-platform it would spell the end for their consoles. Mario and friends are 'the' reason for owning Nintendo hardware. Considering the hardware business has been extremely profitable for Nintendo, I just can't see it happening.
We also shouldn't assume that because something is 'cutting edge' and innovative', that's it's actually going to enhance your experience. I can't see the i-pad and mobile devices matching the power of home consoles any time soon. I don't see phones as a viable alternative because they're not going to ever be able to realistically compete with the superior inputs of dedicated gaming hardware. Create an i-pad as powerful as a PS4 (or high end PC), with the controls of a Vita and i might listen. Until that happens, I just don't take these devices seriously from a gaming perspective.
Re: EA Developing Frostbite Engine For Mobile, But Not Wii U
It's probably payback for not putting Origin on the Wii U. EA are like that. Is anyone really going to miss their games??? I mean, I know I won't. I play most games on PC. I can't think of one EA title i'd want to play, aside from a Dungeon Keeper remake or a proper Syndicate game. Does Nintendo care?? I doubt it.. UbiSoft are a far more important partner for Nintendo because they actually make some decent games. So much for this "unprecedented partnership" huh?? blahblaahblah..
Re: Industry Analyst: Nintendo Is "Positioned Perfectly" To Capitalise On Second-Screen Trend
@Banedracul
Miyamoto's 'secret' new IP shall be very interesting when it's revealed, hopefully at the next NintendoDirect or E3. I suspect it''ll be the 'one' to push the Wii U concept to consumers...
Re: Industry Analyst: Nintendo Is "Positioned Perfectly" To Capitalise On Second-Screen Trend
@Banedracul
I think Nintendo'll be fine with the Wii U. That's my gut feeling atm. Everybody's freaking out at the moment, but my guess is things will look much better in a months time (after E3..) for 2013 and beyond. A lot of people (me included) are chomping at the bit to play HD 3D Mario and Zelda (Wind Waker). Pikmin 3 looks beautiful, and there's a chance we might get a Metroid by the end of the year as well.
Nintendo have sort of been their own worst enemy through this though, but I think they'll pull it together. If you consider the 'real' launch window August-November 2013, it suddenly looks a much better picture. If Nintendo give a full 5 years of software support for the Wii U (i.e. 2013-2017) like they have with each of their previous consoles, and make an effort to publish other projects like the ones I mentioned, I really don't think there's too much to be distraught about...
Re: Industry Analyst: Nintendo Is "Positioned Perfectly" To Capitalise On Second-Screen Trend
The more I contemplate it, the more i'm inclined to believe that the Wii U is actually in a beta phase at the moment (as Nintendo considers it), and the 'real' launch happens at the end of the year alongside the other 2. Why?? Nintendo haven't even bothered to properly advertise the system. They certainly didn't have any games ready at 'official' launch. They've just entered the HD era and are battling with their OS and online infrastructure. Dev kits were made available too late in the piece for most 3rd parties releasing multiplatform titles in 2013 to bother. Nintendo isn't a monolithic entity like Sony or Microsoft, they don't have the same resources, and I think they've been overstretched with getting the 3DS up and going, combined with the fact that I think they were taken by surprise at how quickly wii sales dropped off at the end of 2010/early 2011. So they switched attention to Wii U, which it seems they didn't originally plan on releasing as early as 2012 considering how much of a success the Wii had been until 2011.
So by the time Oct/Nov rolls around and they've had time to iron out the kinks, they'll 'attempt' to launch the thing properly. They were always going to get the diehards to buy in last Nov., but i'm guessing that what we're going to see from NintendoDirect/E3, etc.. over the next month will be the beginning of a 'proper' launch drive leading up to the holiday season.
If you forget the Wii U has actually launched, and in my book it hasn't, then Mario 3D, Zelda: Wind Waker, (perhaps) Metroid or whatever Retro's working on, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, and 3rd party multiplats like Watch Dogs, AC: IV & Arkham Origins starts to make the impending 'proper' launch look quite good. Of course, this means little if the game releases dry up again in the 1st half of 2014.
What i'm looking for, as someone who is watching on with interest and yet to buy the system...is not so much the Mario 3D, Mario Kart, Zelda footage..but what happens 'next'. They need more partnerships like Bayonetta 2 & SMTxFE to fill the spaces between the 1st party stuff. I don't want a Wii U to play a handful of Nintendo releases every year over 5 years. I suspect people writing them off are a bit silly though. I think they've got stuff up their sleeves that'll get people's attention. We'll see.
Re: The Wonderful 101 Is Focused On "Fun" And Not Game Length
This is an interesting topic. I really think that it depends on the type of game that's being made. If the game's campaign is fairly linear and doesn't offer much in the way of replayability you'd want a 20+ hour experience roughly. It seems that many of these type of games today fall well short of that. It tends to be about 5-8 hours including cutscenes and often tacked on multiplayer. I think because production costs are through the roof atm for AAA titles, there just isn't enough money (and perhaps time) to be creating these epic single player experiences people expect. I tend to think $1 for every hour is a good rough guide as far as value goes. So paying $60 for a 5-8 hour campaign with low replayability seems a bad deal.
That's a big reason why I think indie games have taken off. You look at games like Spelunky, Terraria and Binding of Isaac...the type of games they are lend themselves to infinite replayability. I mean, both Spelunky and Binding of Isaac can be finished in under an hour, but because you get a different playthrough experience everytime....and because they are very difficult to actually complete, people spend hundreds of hours playing them. So paying $2 for BOI, $3 for Terraria and $9 for Spelunky for hundreds of hours of fun seems an incredible deal to me.
Re: Nintendo's Legal Team Forces Mobile Dev To Make Lead Character Less Yoshi-Like
@rayword45
Anthony, they are blatantly ripping off Nintendo's creation, and putting it in an utterly Vanilla app. That is a Yoshi. Did you watch the video? The guy said that it's selling well on the app store.
I've seen this sort of thing before on app stores, and I think it's sad that people choose to steal other developer's creations and put them in their half-assed apps just so they can make a buck. Obviously you don't feel that way, which I think is strange..but y'know, whatever. Different strokes for different folks.
Re: Nintendo's Legal Team Forces Mobile Dev To Make Lead Character Less Yoshi-Like
It looks like utter garbage...
Some people are seriously pathetic. I've seen some Mario clones as well, and I just think to myself...how come you people don't have a single original thought in your head?? You have to steal other people's creations and put them in your awful apps just to make a buck. It's just sad, it really is. It's like that War-Z debacle. Some clown sees a popular mod that's actually good, and rips it off...creating a game that is basically non-functional...shoving it out before the Day-Z standalone is released...just to cash in on someone else's spark of genius.
These people need to get a life. RANT over.
Re: Talking Point: The Wii U's Identity Crisis
Nintendo wants the grandma's and moms and dad's, and young families to buy this thing in the numbers they did with the Wii. Hence the continuation of the 'Wii' brand. That's just not going to happen in 2013. Mobile gaming, i-pads, all these other entertainment devices have simply taken that demographic, and Nintendo will never get it back with their home consoles.
Don't get me wrong, Nintendo make great games, but the new system has an identity crisis.. because for starters, it is being predominately pitched at a market that no longer exists, while still alienating gamers who were put off by the Wii's outdated hardware, motion controls, and the absence of multi-platform 3rd party support. There are gamers who won't touch the Wii U simply because of the name, no matter how they advertise it. They should've created enhanced motion controls (for those who want it), instead of the Wii U gamepad, which comes at too great a cost to the overall hardware specs. With the money saved, they could've upgraded the GPU, CPU/System memory to something closer in the vicinity of next-gen consoles.
The novelty of the Wii is gone, along with the mainstream audience who bought it in droves. The only thing Nintendo can do to save this console is to start releasing some high quality games that will give people a reason to buy a Wii U. The games themselves will advertise the system.
Re: Splinter Cell Blacklist Sneaks Onto Wii U in August
Yeah, I wouldn't be put off by the E3 demo. Apart from the story/setting, it actually looks quite good....the gameplay that is. That trailer was designed to appeal to Gears of War/Call of Duty fans. It was the 'all-in action' approach, but there are two other ways of playing it.. 'panther' & 'ghost', and it's looking like it will support those playstyles pretty well. It's supposed to be Chaos Theory with a 'modernized' edge....basically what Conviction was supposed to be before it succumbed in the face of development hell. I think it could be a winner based on the 'ghost'/stealth gameplay they've shown.
I 'really' hope the 'motion based inputs' are made optional...I'd have no intention of waving that gamepad around all over the shop. The gamepad is supposed to be a touch based device not a blinky wiimote right??
Re: Talking Point: The Next-Gen Console War is Wii U's to Lose
We have to keep in mind that everytime we 1st worlders demand cheaper prices for our electronic products, that it places more pressure on the people who are paid peanuts to build them in 3rd world countries. I see where you're coming from, and I think you're right...a cheaper entry point would help to drive hardware sales (moms and dads buying for kids Christmas presents, etc..)...'potentially'....but these i-phones, android devices, ipads & consoles are 'luxury' items, and we're living in a world where about 50% of people are living in conditions of extreme poverty. I remember when a gaming PC cost $5,000 in the 90's, and that was considered prohibitively expensive. These days, you can build a gaming PC for under $2,000 that even today would absolutely smash next-gen consoles in terms of power. So I mean comparatively, electronic products in the West are already dirt cheap. We just need to change our mindset.
Paying $400 (AU) for something that's going to provide years, and perhaps a decade of 'entertainment' isn't too high a price to pay, regardless of how outdated the hardware is. You buy a Wii U to play great Nintendo titles & innovative/different 3rd party exclusives. I'm in a minority where i'd actually be prepared to pay 'more' than the RRP for a Wii U if it meant factory workers could earn a living wage from their labour. Obviously your average soccer mom is not going to be thinking that way, but y'know, what the heck. The damn thing needs games. That's it. Provide great and plentiful software for it, and no price is too high.
As regarding the idea that 'graphical' differences between Wii U and PS4/XBox720 are less pronounced due to the Wii U's conversion to HD. I think the problem is that the Wii U has a poor CPU and low RAM/system memory. It's not about polygons, its about AI behaviours and complexity and scale of level design. Poor system memory means that developers are often forced to cut corners in delivering complexity and depth. I guess you can still make deep experiences with minimal system requirements, but it's much harder if you're trying to make an HD game.
Re: GoldenEye 007 Multiplayer Took Just Six Weeks To Make
Goldeneye N64 is the 'only' multiplayer shooter you ever NEED to play. Ok, aside from Counter-Strike..
Re: Grant Kirkhope Wishes He Could Make Banjo-Kazooie 3 For Nintendo
"I keep wishing that all the ex-Rare staff, there’s lots of them about now, would just get together and form a company, and go to Nintendo and say “give us the money. We’ll make you Banjo 3 for the Wii U or whatever”.
"Just make Banjo 3 like it should have been made back then and it would be great, and it would be great on the Wii U".
Yeah, well this is what pretty much every Nintendo fan has been saying all along.. This is what bugs me about the XBox...it has absolutely killed platformers, action-adventure (ala Beyond Good and Evil), puzzle-adventure games, and any game idea with an ounce of creativity.. If you're not Halo, a military shooter, a Gears of War clone or Skyrim then you're pretty much irrelevant.
Nintendo need to round up ex-RARE staffers and get them creating platformers for wii u. DO IT!!
Re: Talking Point: An Open Letter To Nintendo
@PvtOttobot
No. He has a good point in that respect. NES/SNES games were known for their challenge...sometimes due to brilliant game design, often due to shonky design...in fact, brilliant & shonky design often co-existed..
I don't think Nintendo have done anywhere near enough to cater for the 30- somethings who grew up with the company. When you consider that your average gamer is in their early 30's, there doesn't seem to be any valid reason for pitching your games solely at 10 year old kids or casuals..
I don't think Nintendo have done a good job at making their games challenging for gamers who are used to being set a hard task, and not having their hand held the whole way. I think a few 3DS titles have sought to address this. Mario Land and Ocarina of Time specifically have modes that offer greater challenge..
Nintendo need to get better at making their games accessible enough for kids, while adding challenge for veterans. Kirby's Epic Yarn for instance is a very charming game, but it doesn't provide any challenge. Offering distinct difficulty levels would be a start...
So it's not a case of "you're old, you're not with it, you're out of touch..move on with the times". Games have progressively become easier to appeal to a wider audience....but, I feel as though Nintendo don't really consider gamers from the 80's and 90's as a prime target audience, which I don't really understand..because they're the one's with disposable income and an historic attachment to the Nintendo brand.
Re: Talking Point: An Open Letter To Nintendo
"Lied to" is perhaps too strong. To me, it seems as though Nintendo made the launch window library to look better than what it was. If Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101 & Rayman Legends had been released already...If Metro: Last Light hadn't been cancelled....if Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn't an utter turkey that's probably been cancelled for Wii U...we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. Launch window ends in two days, and there is still no release date in sight for Pkimin 3 & Wonderful 101. That's not great.
I do think Nintendo needed to push harder to get current 3rd party ports onto the system, perhaps by subsidizing them if need be. Games like Bioshock Infinite, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.....there's no good reason these games shouldn't be coming to Wii U. As good a game as Deus Ex is, it's almost 2 years old, and anyone even vaguely interested in the game has already bought and played it.
I'd hold off on making a judgenment until E3 arrives, because then we'll have a better picture on the software outlook from late 2013 into 2014. It's still not clear just how hard Nintendo are chasing 3rd party projects, and what their plans are for 1st party software. Considering the final two years of the Wii saw a dearth of games released for that system, I think people should be worried about year 1 of the Wii U. Still, I have a feeling there will be a LOT of new games coming Q4 2013 and through 2014. Nintendo are probably holding off until E3 to ensure they can catch people's attention with the other two showing off their new systems.
I agree with a lot of the sentiments here, but still, there's probably other causes out there in the world that I could think of that are more deserving of 'an open letter' than this particular topic.
Re: PAX Australia is Sold Out
@theblackdragon
Really??
I won't be going to the event. There you go.
Re: PAX Australia is Sold Out
This article is inaccurate. It most certainly isn't 'winter' in July in OZ. I actually live in Melbourne, and I would have you all know that Australia is in the EASTERN hemisphere.
For you English folk, that essentially means we get Winter AND Summer at the same time in July..
We get vicious blizzards on scorching hot 40 degree days. Seriously!!
Re: Nicalis Would Like To Bring Monaco or Spelunky To A Nintendo Console
BOTH!!!
Spelunky HD is amazing (but hard)...and Monaco looks incredible, and would be totally awesome for a 4 player local co-op experience.
Make it happen Nintendo!
Re: Phil Fish: I Love Nintendo In Ways It Probably Doesn't Deserve
I think he's been made the victim of a global conspiracy (probably born out of some nefarious CIA plot) to ruin his credibility.
Re: Fez Creator Believes Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is More Suited To Vita
Sometimes, people are simply born into 'greatness'. Phil Fish is one such example of this fact.
Re: Criterion: Support Need For Speed: Most Wanted And DLC Could Happen
What kind of twisted world are we living in where people are begging for dlc???! Good lord. Stop encouraging them!!!
Old style 'Expansion Pack' content, that's created mostly after the game's shipped is ok. Everything else is just milking people who buy the games for every last cent they can.
Re: Aussie Retailers Express Their Views on Wii U
@ MagicLink95
It's called peer pressure. I'm at an age where I could care less what people think of my preferences. In fact i'm more likely to go in the opposite direction, because there's nothing worse than being the member of an unthinking herd. I have a mid-range PC and it makes the XBox360 look like a malfunctioning toaster...So what?? The only real valid argument in favour of 'power' as far as i'm concerned is in the potential for better AI, and larger levels/more detailed environments provided by better CPU/System Memory.. Graphical fidelity is less important. Most Nintendo games are stylized anyway, so photorealistic graphics aren't a priority.
Nintendo games are great, and the Wii U will definately get some good exclusive 3rd party content in time. Ignore those kids... they have no imagination.
Re: Aussie Retailers Express Their Views on Wii U
Those Activision titles are all horrible anyway, no loss. It's cancellations like Metro: Last Light, & the general lack of current 3rd party games like Bioshock Infinite & Tomb Raider to fill the gap that's problematic right now. What's happened to Splinter Cell: Blacklist?? Oh yeah, & the complete absence of 1st party..but that will change soon. $420 (AUD) isn't an awful lot of money in the scheme of things for a hobby you love. If the system came out with original content that was compelling it would be selling a lot more right now.
It doesn't need a price drop, it needs games. It also needs to convey to people why that second screen is a game changer & not a throwaway gimmick..
.
Re: Wii U UK Price Reaches New Low As HMV Slashes Premium Bundle Cost
Thats around $290 (AUD). It's retailing for around $420 (AUD) here in Australia, which for what it currently is...is too much in my book. i.e. only 32GB's, 3 hour battery life for gamepad, no games, slow OS, middling online infrastructure etc...
To the person above and others, wait till the Wii U actually has some 1st party titles before calling it a flop. Mario 3d, Pikmin 3, Zelda: Wind Waker (HD), Wonderful 101 and probably other unannounced titles will be out by the years end. If I were in the UK, i'd buy that in a heartbeat...because 7 months down the track there's going to be those aforementioned games plus others available, and you're unlikely to see that sale price again for a long time.
Re: Dead Island: Riptide Is Skipping Wii U
A much stronger 1st party showing at launch would've driven the installed base, and encouraged more 3rd party's to port over to the system....perhaps. As it stands, for many people who own other consoles/pc's, it's pretty much a system without games for the 1st 12 months of its existence.
GTA V, Bioshock Infinite, Metro: Last Light, Tomb Raider, Castlevania LOS 2, Grid 2, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Dark Souls 2, Remember Me, Saints Row 4, Dead Island: Riptide, Destiny etc.. aren't releasing on Wii U at this stage. It's asking a fair bit of people to hand over $350-$400 (USD) for a system that doesn't really have any games....that can't even get ports of same-gen upcoming multi-platform titles. Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 still don't have release dates and launch period is done in 2 weeks time.
Those unannounced 'partnerships'... like the one's they've got for Bayonetta 2 & Shin Megami Tensei vs Fire Emblem are going to be important. If they can do more of these, then it's going to help fill the release schedule between the Metroid's/Zelda/Smash Bros. etc in the absence of a steady stream of 3rd party support.
Re: Pentagon To Review Controversial New "Nintendo" Medal
Well... I was going to say something, but I think my opinions on these issues are very much at odds with most others here. There you go, +10 XP for thinking 'aloud'. Carry on..
@ Stipey
Being a bit oversensitive I think. It was dubbed 'The Nintendo Medal' NOT the 'XBox' or 'Playstation' medal, therefore it has relevance to discussions related to Nintendo.
Re: Pokémon Scramble U Set To Be The First Wii U Title To Use The NFC Feature
@KodaSmoss
Now there's an idea!!
Re: Pokémon Scramble U Set To Be The First Wii U Title To Use The NFC Feature
Well, we might need more info...but, I personally think this whole Skylanders thing is a massive con. Whatever happened to just paying $60 and getting your game....everything in the box... no strings attached?? Now publisher's are trying to milk you for every last cent while providing nothing more than a gimmick..
I would've hoped that Nintendo's NFC technology would be used for something more interesting than flogging pokemon figurines..
Re: Pixelscopic Hopes To Bring The Zelda-Inspired Delver's Drop To A Nintendo System
Been keeping an eye on this one, and it's definately got potential.. though obviously still a work in progress. If they can deliver what they're promising it would be a great addition to the wii u library..
One I really hope makes it's way to the Wii U shop eventually is Spelunky HD..
Re: Pachter: Wii U Will Sell Between 30 to 50 Million Units During Its Lifetime
This guy is the Robert Christgau of the gaming industry. Seriously, who is he?? An industry analyst??
I don't have a crystal ball, and I have no idea how many units any of the consoles are going to move (two of them haven't even been 'seen', let alone released), but i'm glad he does. He's basing his assessment of 30-50 million lifetime sale on 'current sales rates'. So he must be assuming that the Wii U will never get a 1st party title. I have no idea how he thinks that basing his overall prediction on the first few months, when there are no real 1st party titles available makes sense.
The next 6-18 months will decide the fate of the Wii U. If Nintendo comes out with mindblowing HD versions of the classics, making good use of the gamepad, and manages to secure more exclusive partnerships like the one with Platinum Games, people will buy it. It needs games...and it needs to make interesting use of the gamepad....but I think that will happen, given time.
I disagree that it's priced too similarly to PS4. You can pick up a Wii U for about $380 USD here in Aus, whereas I would think that the PS4 will launch for around $750 USD going on the pre-order price of $900. So $370 is a fair differnece. It's virtually another Wii U's worth. As for the XBox720, if rumours of an 'always on' internet connection requirement are true, I can see it tanking in a major way. So really at the end of the day, he's basing these bold predictions on very little evidence.
Why did the wii outsell the PS3 and XBox 360 in its lifetime, and the 3DS outsell the Vita when both units are less powerful than the competition?? He says the wii sold 99 million, then points out that he doesn't think Wii U will sell as well because its too close to current gen in specs. huh??
Re: Team Meat: We'd Work With Nintendo If Meat Boy Made It Into Smash Bros.
Yeah, they're clearly having a laugh in that exchange people. Did everyone's sarcasm detectors break or something?? I can see where McMillen's coming from though. They don't want to be tied down to exclusivity, because if their game bombs on that system they're sort of stuck in a bad situation. They want the game to be made available to as big an audience as possible to drive sales, which is perfectly reasonable.
Problem is, expecting Nintendo to placate them and give them an advance to develop a 'multi-platform' title is a bit of wishful thinking. But really, Nintendo should be doing everything they can to placate UbiSoft, because they're the only major western publisher to (mostly) properly support the console (apart from Warner Bros. perhaps).
Having said that, overhead costs are a huge barrier to indie development on consoles. Perhaps Nintendo could look into courting indies like Team Meat with a good track record of producing great games, and reducing the costs associated with getting the game on the system...because it looks as though a lot of indies are shying away from XBox and even Sony. Not necessarily going after exclusivity, but doing a deal so good that they won't want to go on XBox/PS4 anyway (much like what Steam is doing).... Nintendo could make the jump and get an edge on those two...and go after some of the top indie developers, and do what the competition aren't prepared to do in order to get the best indie games on the Wii U.
Re: Pikmin 3 Aims to "Simply Go Deeper" Than Previous Experiences
I think Pikmin 3 will be a fun game. Though it was originally built for the wii, and has found its way onto the Wii U instead. While what Miyamoto's talking about might be useful, the gamepad in this instance is still just being used as a way of reducing UI clutter. I don't think that moving the map to the gamepad is a game changing mechanic.
Apart from the asymmetrical Zombi U multiplayer, i'm still unsure how the gamepad is going to be used in a way that actually 'innovates' in a single player experience. I think people will eventually come up with some interesting ideas, but until we see games that are actually built from the ground up to utilize the gamepad in a unique way that goes beyond simply reducing onscreen UI clutter, it's not conveying its potential to prospective buyers of the system. The other potential problem i see, is that having to focus on both the screen and the gamepad at the same time is going to be something of a challenge, if the gamepad is going to be used for something other than maps & inventory.
Obviously games take time to make, which is a problem for Nintendo. They have a new unique console, but they have no games to illustrate how it might offer experiences that are more interesting and fun than what the competition offers.
Re: Ubisoft Is "Optimistic" About Wii U, But Would Like a Price Cut All The Same
@Shworange
I've held off on buying because of the lack of 'exclusive' games & current multi-platform releases (i.e. Tomb Raider/Bioshock Infinite/Metro: Last Light), and I think that's the #1 reason most people have held off on buying a Wii U, not because the system is 'too expensive' of itself. It just doesn't represent value for money at this stage, because it simply lacks 1st party content and 3rd party support. With next-gen games like Thief & Witcher 3 skipping Wii U in 2014, it's pretty safe to assume that multi-platorm support for Wii U from Western publishers (aside from UbiSoft) is already dead in the water. Without AC: IV, Rayman Legends, Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the horizon, there'd be virtually nothing in terms of 3rd party support in 2013, which is a sorry state of affairs for a system currently RRP for $428 here in Australia... $30 more than a 500 GB PS3 with a sizeable library of 1st party and 3rd party content still to come. People dont want to pay $400 just for the same Nintendo games they got on the last console.
From what i've read, NFS & Sonic & All Stars Racing were the only ports to get it right. Some of the ports are actually worse than PS3/XBOX360 versions, i.e. Arkham City, Darksiders 2 & Mass Effect 3. I know that Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD, Zelda HD, Smash Bros. Mario 3D/Kart, Xenogears, Shin Megami Tensei vs Fire Emblem and probably Metroid are coming at some stage, but i'm yet to be convinced about the long term viability of the machine. I want to see Nintendo actually developing new IP the same standard as a Zelda or Metroid, instead of relying exclusively on those & other stalwarts before I get too excited. They need to show that they've got more co-development arrangements going, such as the one with Platinum Games as well. It was also a mistake calling the system Wii U, but I guess we all know that.
Re: Doesn't Look Like Minecraft Will Be Coming To Wii U Anytime Soon
Well, i'd be more concerned that neither Witcher 3 or the recently announced Thief 'reboot' are coming to the Wii U in 2014. Both have been announced for PC, PS4 and other next-gen consoles (i.e. Xbox). Looks like UbiSoft are the only publisher committed to multiplatform releases and that could disappear unless sales pick up by the year's end.
Re: PETA Starts "Whaling" About Assassin's Creed IV's Animal Cruelty
@ Tscuchiya
That article is nonsense. 'No kill' has had a great deal of success when implemented 'properly'. PETA is the most hypocritical entity in existence. They don't even bother trying to get new homes for healthy animals, and have blocked attempts at groups trying to find new homes for the animals they take in. Read this Huffington Post article for a different perspective,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-anthony-cooper/how-many-pets-did-peta-ki_b_2620660.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/douglas-anthony-cooper/peta-so-many-pets-so-litt_b_1607518.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Re: "Modified" Version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Classified by Australian Ratings Board
Probably the main game is bundled w/h the Missing Link dlc. It's a no brainer if you don't already own it. GET IT!! I've owned it since day 1 on PC. If titles like Bioshock, Dishonored, and Thief mean anything to you, you'll love this one. It's a 'thinking man's (or woman's)' FPS'..about 25 hrs single-player gameplay (+4hrs dlc) of semi-open world dystopian cyberpunk goodness. It has a bit of replayability seeing as you can augment Jensen's skills in a few different ways. It's not flawless, but it's definately one of the better western action titles this generation imo..
Re: Talking Point: The Positive Power of Gaming
I don't think he's saying that. It's more, "Instead of wildly flinging accusations at the gaming industry for allegedly creating violent people, why don't you look at the positive things that stem from gaming??"
Most things in life we engage with can have both positive and negative consequences. You can't say that games cause violence simply because they can have a negative impact upon us...that would be like saying "well, exercise is good, but if we do too much exercise it can have a negative impact on us...therefore exercise also causes violence" It might be that the negative consequences of gaming are a 'loss or poor quality of sleep'.
Re: Crytek CEO: "The Notion Of A Single Player Experience Has To Go Away"
Oh boy these CEO's of big game companies are so out of touch with what actual gamers want aren't they??
This whole 'connected' gaming experience is just a smokescreen for a sort of intrusive DRM. I don't have anything against multiplayer or co-op play...perhaps that sort of 'connected' experience he's talking about might be fun in specific instances, but it's not coming at the expense of traditional 'offline' single player experience as far as i'm concerned. I loathe social media, and I don't want stupid people with their inane chatter interrupting my experience..
Also, internet is good in the US but rubbish in most other parts of the world. What this shift to 'online connected single player' experience will effectively do is shut out gamers from country's with poor internet infrastructure. It's a stupid idea.
But that's fine, I'll just play indie games... and games produced by companies with some sort of ethical core (i.e. CD Project Red) who actually care about what their customers want instead.
Re: Rumour: Aliens: Colonial Marines Tester Says Wii U Version Is "The Worst"
@ToxieDogg
I think what upsets me is that on both occasions, Randy Pitchford.... President of Gearbox has been up front and square selling both games prior to release. Gearbox may have picked up the train wreck that was DNF in the final stages, but that was only in the knowledge that there'd be a big fat paycheck awaiting them for their (minimal) trouble on the otherside.
Pitchford was spruiking DNF prior to release as if it was the best, most fun thing he'd ever played, and he knew it was garbage. It's just cynical behaviour as far as i'm concerned, and it shows little respect for gaming consumers who keep the industry ticking over.
I think if you pay $80 for a AAA game, you should at least receive a game that is mechanically functional. ACM is broken at this stage, DNF was just plain garbage....Gearbox knew it on both counts, but they didn't care because they knew the 'franchise names' would sell them, and they could use the additional funds raised to finance Borderlands games.
Re: Rumour: Aliens: Colonial Marines Tester Says Wii U Version Is "The Worst"
AVOID!!! AVOID!!! AVOID!!
This is currently sitting on a metacritic of 42 and for good reason. It's garbage. SEGA allegedly gave Gearbox somewhere in the region of 40-60 million to develop this game. Due to the commercial success of Borderlands, they decided to outsource a lot of the game development to other studios, and concentrate on Borderlands 2 because they lacked the manpower to be developing 3 games simultaneously.
It seems as though the poster is legit, and that this could get quite nasty. People on Steam (PC) who bought the game on day 1 are generally outraged at the game that was released, and some of them want Gearbox, SEGA and Randy Pitchford sued, because the game in action doesn't resemble the game that was demoed last year. Gearbox scraped a lot of things when the outsourced game was returned, because it was garbage. The demo had DX11 features and showed off environment hugging aliens that appeared to have reasonably good AI. It at least looked like a decent game. The game that was released is in DX9 and looks like an early XBOX 360 game a lot of the time.. the enemy and team AI is laughably bad. There's way too much COD style 'manshooting', and little suspense to speak of. The dialogue is awful. It's buggy as hell. There are almost no 'scares' to speak of. I don't know what happened between that demo and the release, but it has little resemblence to the demo. There are also accusations that Gearbox was using funds allocated by SEGA for ACM to develop their own B2. That's just a rumour at this stage, but you have to raise serious questions about Gearbox's integrity, if they were given so much money to develop a game, why they then handed it out to external developers who proceeded to ruin it?? Duke Nukem Forever then this...Seems as though Gearbox were just happy to cash in on the big franchise name without giving a damn about the games.
I know there's no way i'll buy a Gearbox game again. This game is $80 US on Steam here in Australia at the moment. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME
Re: Rumour: Ubisoft's Watch Dogs Is Coming To The Wii U
Does the PC count as a home console?? Hahaha...coming in 2015.
I wasn't overly impressed with the gameplay footage. The premise is kind of interesting i guess, but the way it played out was like most other recent 3rd person action games like AC:3, Tomb Raider.....flashy set pieces, QTE's?? firefights, etc. We'll see how much player freedom/choice there is in the final product... i'm not convinced.
Re: Sorry Australia, You're Not Getting The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
This is what happened with 007 legends. I think Activision are smart enough to figure out we don't want their shovelware
re: Placlu. Walking Dead is definately on Steam in Aus. It's $25 USD for the series, but I don't think you can buy episodes individually.
Re: Reaction: The Rayman Legends Delay Is a Low Blow, But The Apocalypse Isn't Here
I won't buy a UbiSoft game until their board/management is replaced with people who actually give a damn about the people who buy their games. As i've said elsewhere, delays happens..release dates get set back...but what i'm seeing from UbiSoft over a sustained period of time, is utterly 'arrogant' behaviour & a general disconnection from the gaming community.
People say you're punishing the developers by boycotting the game. To an extent that's true. I feel for the developers, because they've been used and abused....but unfortunately, the only way you make these clowns who make the business decisions take notice is if money stops flowing through the coffers.
UbiSoft are serial offenders on a range of issues, and its about time gamers started voting with their wallets for mine.
Re: Wii U To Get An "Exclusive" Rayman Legends Demo Soon
I get the impression that this may have been the plan all along. Rayman Origins didn't sell well, despite being a good game. Ubi sort of cashed in on E3 and the big Wii U push in general.....remember the 'supposedly' leaked Rayman footage that surfaced prior to E3 last year?? Yeah right. It wouldn't surprise me if it was all just a cynical marketing exercise...because there's no way Rayman Legends would've got the kind of coverage it got at E3 without Nintendo's new console to show it off. It would've been drowning in a sea of grey and brown FPS's and 3rd person action-films.
Nintendo didn't have an awful lot to show off at E3 in terms of software, yet all eyes were focused on them. Seems like a good opportunity to give your under-appreciated platformer some prime airtime. Bet the game was cross-platform all along, and it was all just a cynical marketing ploy to ride the hype wave.
Big middle finger from UbiSoft to Wii U owners, and.....to be honest, also a big middle finger to the Montpellier developers who've crunched for months to get this thing out, to then be told that ALL that time they were asked to spend away from their families, and attending to their own lives was for nothing..
Re: Local Multiplayer Confirmed For Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Day 1 dlc is hideous. Look, If it's available DAY 1, then its content that should be included in the game itself. DLC is supposed to be content created AFTER launch.
GOUGEGOUGEGOUGEGOUGEGOUGEGOUGEGOUGE!!!!
ALWAYS GO FOR THE EYES!!!
Re: Wii U To Get An "Exclusive" Rayman Legends Demo Soon
It's a bit of a joke really. Look, there are much worse things in the world than a game getting delayed, it happens all the time.
But....this game played a key role in selling the Wii U at E3. It was one of the few games that showed off gamepad specific features. It looked terrific. The game was billed as a 'launch title' and an 'exclusive' launch title at that. It's likely the promise of this game at E3 has shifted Wii U console sales. Where would've Nintendo been had they not had Pikmin 3 and Rayman Legends to show off?? Both were advertised as launch (inc. 'launch window') titles..and Rayman Legends has now been delayed 7 months, not because it isn't finished, but because some wise monkeys in suits at UbiSoft's head office decided it would be in their 'business interests' to delay its release until the other versions are ready. Pikmin 3 still doesnt have a release date..
I think a lot of Wii U owners could actually do the smart thing and show UbiSoft that it 'isn't' in their 'best business' interests to delay a formerly exclusive title that is actually ready to ship....by not buying their game!