@EdeN: yeah I quite like the design too, simple. The actual size of the gamepad (the outline size at least) is nearly identical to that of the console itself (see 5:35 - 5:40 where they are right on top of each other). The website lists the dimensions of the console part as 27cm x 17cm, but having played it at some of the events it is amazing how light and comfortable the gamepad is to hold onto despite it`s seemingly large size. It`s about 1 pound (500 grams or so) but I think because it is distributed across the wide interface it really doesn`t feel like it.
@Hippie/MadBloke/erv: Clearly Satoru has reason to investigate International entertainment viewing habits further (at least in the Southern Hemisphere) judging by your apathy for the feature;) At some point though, if I'm being honest I have to agree with you that I will generally only be playing games content on the WiiU and using other means for watching movies, etc. I do like the sports application integration though, that might be worthwhile, but at that point I guess anyone could just be watching the game on TV while playing a compatible game on the pad...
I can understand there being limitations with negotiating usage rights for international programming, but to be honest I'm surprised that at the very least Nintendo TVii isn't available at launch in Europe with Netflix and Hulu considering they already have a strong relationship with those two providers.
Iwata suggests that they want to better research viewing habits in Europe and Japan, but I'm not sure where the hold up is releasing the service because essentially Nintendo TVii isn't about actually providing the content, it is simply a universal remote that aggregates programming schedules, and those programming schedules should be readily available.
Clearly there is more to it than that though otherwise this would not be an issue. Most likely it is because they are using the i.TV tech to do all the work aggregating program schedules and that company doesn't seem to have clearance in the UK or the rest of the world at large at this time (just go to i.tv on the web to see what I mean).
Living in North America and reading this article, I just realized how easy it is to take the TVii feature for granted on Wii U. I'm looking forward to using this feature, I would feel really short-changed if they didn't offer it knowing that other regions do have it. I've used the i.TV app for iPad (the basic engine and tech that Nintendo licenced for TVii) and it's pretty slick and best of all it's very accurate and literally pulls in programming as region specific as your very postal code, so small-towners can enjoy the feature as well as major market folks.. Anyway, I hope it works out for other regions or at least an equivalent functionality (perhaps this is karmic payback for Europe getting the sweet Japanese Super Famicom SNES design while North America got that ugly boring beige and grey brick with soul-crushing lack of coloured buttons on the controllers).
@antdickens Since we're making this about political semantics.. "It's wrong to highlight one statistic without looking at the whole percentage." I completely agree, that's why I pointed out the relevant counter-point stat you glossed over. The simple hard fact is that 49% of the time NL reviews Nintendo-platform titles higher than all other publications. That's not a deceiving or implied average, that's bulk review totals (Nintendo-platform-review-for-Nintendo-platform-review against other publications). You're claim that "(on average NL reviews are) 10.3 points lower than other critics" is the "definitive" stat on that MetaScore breakdown is flawed, misleading and not a relevant overall percentage for two reasons: 1) misleading because "10.3" metascore points on your 10 point scale is actually the equivalent of 1 point. 2) that particular average is an aggregate of each publications cumulative reviews - so it doesn't take into account that the average being compared to other sites includes reviews across multiple other platforms not including Nintendo, which is a flawed comparison since that is all that NL reviews (whereas the 49% is entirely relevant because it only takes into account identical reviews that NintendoLife covers against other publications for those same titles - which all are Nintendo platform). Anyway, I fear I may have (unfairly) struck a nerve with my initial claim as you and your team clearly care about the content of your reviews and it's obvious that there is no other agenda beyond that. Perhaps relying on empirical evidence to critique the review of or motivations behind literature in itself is irrelevant given the completely subjective nature of (both) forms of art in the first place. So, in the spirit of Phoenix Wright, I hereby withdraw my MetaScore argument and I happily concede to your defence in the name of fun, videogames, and the Nintendo Seal of Quality.
I don't think the lack of public information on MiiVerse is strategic at all (Sony and MS will probably have a full year to copy Nintendo after the Wii U launch for anything they incorporate into their next-gen anyway) and besides they've already mentioned the major features they are hoping to achieve with it in terms of social message sharing, video chat, etc. The real answer is most likely that they simply don't have the final build ready yet and the launch games that would potentially make best use of it won't have that full functionality as a result of this delay (for example Call Of Duty as Activision has mentioned) so they want to limit what they promise to avoid confusion at launch in the meantime so people aren't like "why doesn't it work like they said it would?". I'm not worried though, they have nothing but time to iterate and patch if needed, it's not like we'll be stuck with firmware build 1.00 for the next 5 years. They'll have a virtual focus group of every user on MiiVerse giving feedback about the service in real time to take into consideration so they can make improvements if needed. I'm curious to see how long the MiiVerse environment "suggests" sponsored games to you like ads on YouTube or Facebook based on your user info and activity.
Okay this is a little fanboy, but is anyone else excited just to see what the startup screen is going to look like? It will either be a safety message that we will never escape and become that annoying screen we have to button mash through to blast into the MiiVerse, or it will be that heart-warming magical little moment that ignites our hearts and minds with the promise of fun (remember that perfect little "ca-ling" with the simple Nintendo logo when you powered on Super Mario World on the SNES?). In a way I'm kind of glad it's still a surprise, more exciting for now.
I'm also looking forward to the general design and layout of the "home screen" I didn't mind the "channels" on 3DS and Wii but that design was a little boring (let's make it sexy or fun or both this time Nintendo!!). The screenshots of the MiiVerse show promise though - I like that they imply an organic kind of layout - maybe based on recent activity or most used features are given priority kind of thing...
It's nice to imagine a world where all content across multiple Nintendo platforms (ie 3DS and Wii U) could be accessed via a personal account - even on other friends' or family's systems. I mean it's worked for Sony with Vita and PS3..
@skjia Actually that's a good point, the fact that we know (or at least have been told by Nintendo) that the Wii U will have individual family member accounts (kind of like Windows 7 or XP for example) this would suggest that content is tied to the system as a whole (but at least it can be shared by all accounts on the system). Unless there are (like Windows) administrator accounts that the content would be linked to which would allow portability across systems - but given Nintendo's whole position with this system as the one stop shop in the living room and given their legacy of tying content to one system at a time with Wii and DS and 3DS I think it's safe to assume this will still be the case. It's probably also easier to prevent fraud and piracy to some degree as well, which I'm sure Nintendo would be eager to protect.
Launch Day: picks up pre-ordered Wii U, opens box, connects everything, turns power on, thousands of Miis wandering around with quote bubbles "where is the MiiVerse?"
@antdickens Look, I'm not attacking the integrity of this site or it's authors, I believe they are stand-up, and the writing in general is well done. But, if you want to use Metacritic averages as a point of reference (which includes several other fansite reviews that happen to meet the metacritic criteria) you conveniently left out the fact on that very same statistic page it reveals that NintendoLife in particular (a site that reviews only Nintendo platform games) scores on average 49% HIGHER than the average critic in all of the metacritic database. For those keeping score at home, that means that on average, Nintendo Life is rating any given Nintendo platform game a higher review score than any other competing publication or site nearly HALF of the time. That is an overwhelming majority when you factor in average and negative reviews as the counterpoints. I will say it's worth noting that apparently the majority of negative reviews Nintendo Life has given are for WiiWare titles or less than widespread DS/3DS titles that most other publications don't even review (so good on them for at least covering them) so these reviews don't factor into the MetaScore averages as a result. By the same token WiiWare titles aren't the ones spending money on advertising so the argument can be made that it is a whole lot easier to provide lower scores without big publisher pressure on those while appearing completely objective, Bottom-Line: I love this site, I respect the authors, the news coverage is top-notch, but it's hard to justify reviews here being completely objective given the environment in which they are presented. On principle alone it's easier to trust the objectivity of a publication that waves no platform-specific banner on it's sleeve, but I'm here for a reason: I enjoy Nintendo products and I appreciate the Nintendo fan coverage this site provides.
Ha! We're all talking to ourselves here guys, let's be honest, how impartial can a fansite for Nintendo (it's called NintendoLife for F sakes) truly be? I'm okay with it, I love Nintendo products, I'm here because I find they have a great collection of breaking Nintendo news and the writers have some charm and wit that's fun to read. But attempting to call any review on this site impartial is hilarious - every game reviewed is through already rose-coloured glasses by virtue of being Nintendo products. For example, when's the last game reviewed you've seen that scored less than 7? Nearly EVERY game, including the most obscure WiiWare titles score 8, 9, or 10 and quite frequently. At that point their review scale should just be 1 - 5. I've never seen a game review get less than that unless it's a "safe" score like giving a 14 year old game that's republished on virtual console a 4 (I'm looking at you Castlevania Legends for the original GameBoy) That's a safe score because there's no real backlash from publishers for straight re-release ports where the publisher is just making profits on anything that actually sells rather than having the pressure to have sales to recoup the huge investment of a new game. To be clear, I'm not suggesting NL is "bought" by advertising, I just think that a combination of openly-existing Nintendo Love and common sense of not biting the hand that feeds highly influences every review score on this site. And I'm okay with that because as a reader we also have the responsibility to parse the context of what we read and what we choose to believe. So rock on NintendoLife! Keep giving me awesome amounts of news coverage and entertaining, confidence-boosting, buyer's-remorse-consoling reviews because I can't get enough Nintendo!!
One more thing: A quick way to tell the difference between these two packaging versions of the remote (other than glossy finish vs. matte finish) is if you just look at the top flap of the box (with the blue "U" logo on it) ..
GLOSSY FINISH Wii U-branded Box:
In the far corner to the top-right of that "U" logo on the top flap in small printing are the letters "USZ" on the glossy version of the packaging that feature the external sync button remote and Wii U branded warranty/instruction insert.
MATTE FINISH Wii U-branded Box:
The matte finish boxes that are identical in every other way do NOT have those letters "USZ" printed on the top flap to the top right of that "U" logo. Those versions of the packaging appear to have the traditional Wii Remote Plus with internal sync and even though the box is branded Wii U on the outside, the warranty insert is the same standard "wii" branding on the instructions.
To Recap, if you want:
EXTERNAL SYNC VERSION = Glossy finish box with tiny "USZ" printed to the top right of the "U" logo on the top flap.
INTERNAL SYNC VERSION = Matte finish box without any printing on the top flap next to the "U" logo.
Good news for all (in North America at least) it's clear that Nintendo is just repackaging the existing stock of wii remote plus into new Wii U branded boxes, so if you prefer the internal sync, they're still available and if you prefer the external sync you know they are available too. At Best Buy (in Canada, at least - which gets their stock from the US bacsically) I have noticed that there are two versions of the Wii U branded wii remote plus packaging.
The Wii U branding artwork is identical on these two versions and they are the same size box (which is not as "long" as the regular Wii branded remotes) however the box packaging material itself differs in that some of them have a glossy finish that is the same as the existing wii remote packaging and some have more of a matte finish. Again, the artwork and shape of the boxes are identical so you have to look closely, but up close it is an obvious difference. I bought both versions of the Wii U branded wii remote packages to compare out of curiousity, I noticed when I opened them up, the glossy version of the packaging has this "newer" style remote plus with the external sync as pictured in the article with sync button hole in the jacket and comes with the standard warranty insert with Wii U branding on it, however the matte finish packaging has the traditional Wii remote plus with internal sync button and full jacket on the back and comes with a warranty insert that is still branded as the old Wii (ie there is no Wii U branding on the insert) it is as if they literally gut the box with the standard Wii branding and just re-wrap it in this matte finish Wii U branded box. I prefer the external sync myself so I returned the matte finish box version of the Wii U remote. Just look closely at the finish on the boxes to see if the store you're at has a combination of both or if they are all the same to determine if you want external or internal sync button.
If it is the case that a headset is required it DOES seem like an oversight that the Pro controller doesn't have the same headset jack input as the GamePad though, especially when it's sole purpose for being in the market is to cater to the FPS/core gamer crowd that typically uses in-game chat the most.
Everybody, just chill. The amount of engineering and technology that is crammed into this 500 gram tablet that allows full video AND audio wireless streaming with imperceptible interactive delay is nothing short of amazing. The YouTube kids will never fully appreciate what this thing actually achieves, we're not talking wireless passive video streaming your router pulls via wired connection from your modem, we're talking live, dynamic wireless content streaming of video and audio simultaneously being encoded and decoded while sending wireless interactive input signals from the gamepad all while processing the game without any perceptible delay.
Everyone takes this for granted: The Wii U Gamepad, at this point in time, is a gosh darn Dream Machine Powerhouse of fun tech that until now has never existed on earth or even in Back to the Future II. Unconfirmed Kotaku report says in-game voice chat is possible but requires a headset like every other competing console = U mad? My suggestion to you is to watch Point Break and reflect on the performance delivered by Keanu Reeves because I'm afraid nothing will satisfy you...
@Wheels2050 I agree. This seems like too much of an obvious oversight for it to be an afterthought without some logical reason. Especially if the engineers from Nintendo have been working with developers who would want to implement in-game chat in the Wii U ports like Call of Duty.. it's not like developers would be 4 weeks away from shipping masters and be like "so yeah how does this voice stuff work on the controller again?". If the report is true, there HAS to be a completely reasonable explanation - believe it or not, engineers don't just slap something like a microphone onto a device where every gram is accounted for without a reason or purpose.
I still don't understand how this is news to people...The game has not been delayed because it has never been given an official release date. At the very least it was never promised as a 2012 title so I'm not sure what the point of this article even is other than nothing new to report...
@Jamouse
This article is completely misleading in saying that the release date has been "pushed back". On the source site it is referring to it simply states "Pikmin 3 is scheduled for release for the Wii U console in the spring of 2013". This title was never announced as a launch day or even a holiday release. If anything it was always suggested that it wouldn't be available until 2013, yes, spring 2013 still falls within their promised "launch window".
I would be really surprised if Nintendo didn't release this by March 31, that timing would be perfect for another boost of sales with a first party title (rather than have a bunch of their first party titles competing with each other during the first couple months). I think the release date has more to do with marketing and sales timing necessarily than development demands. I predict Sunday March 24 (the first Sunday in Spring) with a heavily spring-themed marketing campaign.
Comments 71
Re: Wii U Comparison Video Shows How It Sizes Up Against Other Nintendo Hardware
@EdeN: yeah I quite like the design too, simple. The actual size of the gamepad (the outline size at least) is nearly identical to that of the console itself (see 5:35 - 5:40 where they are right on top of each other). The website lists the dimensions of the console part as 27cm x 17cm, but having played it at some of the events it is amazing how light and comfortable the gamepad is to hold onto despite it`s seemingly large size. It`s about 1 pound (500 grams or so) but I think because it is distributed across the wide interface it really doesn`t feel like it.
Re: Wii U Comparison Video Shows How It Sizes Up Against Other Nintendo Hardware
The chill ambient music, keep-calm-carry-on brit voice over, silky slo-mo HD video with glossy close-up visuals - that was dreamy..
Re: Nintendo Considering Wii U TVii For Europe and Japan
@Hippie/MadBloke/erv:
Clearly Satoru has reason to investigate International entertainment viewing habits further (at least in the Southern Hemisphere) judging by your apathy for the feature;) At some point though, if I'm being honest I have to agree with you that I will generally only be playing games content on the WiiU and using other means for watching movies, etc. I do like the sports application integration though, that might be worthwhile, but at that point I guess anyone could just be watching the game on TV while playing a compatible game on the pad...
Re: Nintendo Considering Wii U TVii For Europe and Japan
I can understand there being limitations with negotiating usage rights for international programming, but to be honest I'm surprised that at the very least Nintendo TVii isn't available at launch in Europe with Netflix and Hulu considering they already have a strong relationship with those two providers.
Iwata suggests that they want to better research viewing habits in Europe and Japan, but I'm not sure where the hold up is releasing the service because essentially Nintendo TVii isn't about actually providing the content, it is simply a universal remote that aggregates programming schedules, and those programming schedules should be readily available.
Clearly there is more to it than that though otherwise this would not be an issue. Most likely it is because they are using the i.TV tech to do all the work aggregating program schedules and that company doesn't seem to have clearance in the UK or the rest of the world at large at this time (just go to i.tv on the web to see what I mean).
Re: Nintendo Considering Wii U TVii For Europe and Japan
Living in North America and reading this article, I just realized how easy it is to take the TVii feature for granted on Wii U. I'm looking forward to using this feature, I would feel really short-changed if they didn't offer it knowing that other regions do have it.
I've used the i.TV app for iPad (the basic engine and tech that Nintendo licenced for TVii) and it's pretty slick and best of all it's very accurate and literally pulls in programming as region specific as your very postal code, so small-towners can enjoy the feature as well as major market folks..
Anyway, I hope it works out for other regions or at least an equivalent functionality (perhaps this is karmic payback for Europe getting the sweet Japanese Super Famicom SNES design while North America got that ugly boring beige and grey brick with soul-crushing lack of coloured buttons on the controllers).
Re: Talking Point: The Challenges When Writing About Games
@antdickens Since we're making this about political semantics..
"It's wrong to highlight one statistic without looking at the whole percentage."
I completely agree, that's why I pointed out the relevant counter-point stat you glossed over. The simple hard fact is that 49% of the time NL reviews Nintendo-platform titles higher than all other publications. That's not a deceiving or implied average, that's bulk review totals (Nintendo-platform-review-for-Nintendo-platform-review against other publications).
You're claim that "(on average NL reviews are) 10.3 points lower than other critics" is the "definitive" stat on that MetaScore breakdown is flawed, misleading and not a relevant overall percentage for two reasons:
1) misleading because "10.3" metascore points on your 10 point scale is actually the equivalent of 1 point.
2) that particular average is an aggregate of each publications cumulative reviews - so it doesn't take into account that the average being compared to other sites includes reviews across multiple other platforms not including Nintendo, which is a flawed comparison since that is all that NL reviews (whereas the 49% is entirely relevant because it only takes into account identical reviews that NintendoLife covers against other publications for those same titles - which all are Nintendo platform).
Anyway, I fear I may have (unfairly) struck a nerve with my initial claim as you and your team clearly care about the content of your reviews and it's obvious that there is no other agenda beyond that. Perhaps relying on empirical evidence to critique the review of or motivations behind literature in itself is irrelevant given the completely subjective nature of (both) forms of art in the first place.
So, in the spirit of Phoenix Wright, I hereby withdraw my MetaScore argument and I happily concede to your defence in the name of fun, videogames, and the Nintendo Seal of Quality.
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
I don't think the lack of public information on MiiVerse is strategic at all (Sony and MS will probably have a full year to copy Nintendo after the Wii U launch for anything they incorporate into their next-gen anyway) and besides they've already mentioned the major features they are hoping to achieve with it in terms of social message sharing, video chat, etc. The real answer is most likely that they simply don't have the final build ready yet and the launch games that would potentially make best use of it won't have that full functionality as a result of this delay (for example Call Of Duty as Activision has mentioned) so they want to limit what they promise to avoid confusion at launch in the meantime so people aren't like "why doesn't it work like they said it would?".
I'm not worried though, they have nothing but time to iterate and patch if needed, it's not like we'll be stuck with firmware build 1.00 for the next 5 years. They'll have a virtual focus group of every user on MiiVerse giving feedback about the service in real time to take into consideration so they can make improvements if needed.
I'm curious to see how long the MiiVerse environment "suggests" sponsored games to you like ads on YouTube or Facebook based on your user info and activity.
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
Okay this is a little fanboy, but is anyone else excited just to see what the startup screen is going to look like? It will either be a safety message that we will never escape and become that annoying screen we have to button mash through to blast into the MiiVerse, or it will be that heart-warming magical little moment that ignites our hearts and minds with the promise of fun (remember that perfect little "ca-ling" with the simple Nintendo logo when you powered on Super Mario World on the SNES?). In a way I'm kind of glad it's still a surprise, more exciting for now.
I'm also looking forward to the general design and layout of the "home screen" I didn't mind the "channels" on 3DS and Wii but that design was a little boring (let's make it sexy or fun or both this time Nintendo!!). The screenshots of the MiiVerse show promise though - I like that they imply an organic kind of layout - maybe based on recent activity or most used features are given priority kind of thing...
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
It's nice to imagine a world where all content across multiple Nintendo platforms (ie 3DS and Wii U) could be accessed via a personal account - even on other friends' or family's systems. I mean it's worked for Sony with Vita and PS3..
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
@skjia Actually that's a good point, the fact that we know (or at least have been told by Nintendo) that the Wii U will have individual family member accounts (kind of like Windows 7 or XP for example) this would suggest that content is tied to the system as a whole (but at least it can be shared by all accounts on the system). Unless there are (like Windows) administrator accounts that the content would be linked to which would allow portability across systems - but given Nintendo's whole position with this system as the one stop shop in the living room and given their legacy of tying content to one system at a time with Wii and DS and 3DS I think it's safe to assume this will still be the case. It's probably also easier to prevent fraud and piracy to some degree as well, which I'm sure Nintendo would be eager to protect.
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
@TruenoGT Indeed, on all accounts I agree.
Re: Miiverse To Be Detailed In An Upcoming Nintendo Direct
Launch Day: picks up pre-ordered Wii U, opens box, connects everything, turns power on, thousands of Miis wandering around with quote bubbles "where is the MiiVerse?"
Re: Talking Point: The Challenges When Writing About Games
@antdickens Look, I'm not attacking the integrity of this site or it's authors, I believe they are stand-up, and the writing in general is well done. But, if you want to use Metacritic averages as a point of reference (which includes several other fansite reviews that happen to meet the metacritic criteria) you conveniently left out the fact on that very same statistic page it reveals that NintendoLife in particular (a site that reviews only Nintendo platform games) scores on average 49% HIGHER than the average critic in all of the metacritic database. For those keeping score at home, that means that on average, Nintendo Life is rating any given Nintendo platform game a higher review score than any other competing publication or site nearly HALF of the time. That is an overwhelming majority when you factor in average and negative reviews as the counterpoints.
I will say it's worth noting that apparently the majority of negative reviews Nintendo Life has given are for WiiWare titles or less than widespread DS/3DS titles that most other publications don't even review (so good on them for at least covering them) so these reviews don't factor into the MetaScore averages as a result. By the same token WiiWare titles aren't the ones spending money on advertising so the argument can be made that it is a whole lot easier to provide lower scores without big publisher pressure on those while appearing completely objective,
Bottom-Line: I love this site, I respect the authors, the news coverage is top-notch, but it's hard to justify reviews here being completely objective given the environment in which they are presented.
On principle alone it's easier to trust the objectivity of a publication that waves no platform-specific banner on it's sleeve, but I'm here for a reason: I enjoy Nintendo products and I appreciate the Nintendo fan coverage this site provides.
Re: Talking Point: The Challenges When Writing About Games
Ha! We're all talking to ourselves here guys, let's be honest, how impartial can a fansite for Nintendo (it's called NintendoLife for F sakes) truly be? I'm okay with it, I love Nintendo products, I'm here because I find they have a great collection of breaking Nintendo news and the writers have some charm and wit that's fun to read. But attempting to call any review on this site impartial is hilarious - every game reviewed is through already rose-coloured glasses by virtue of being Nintendo products.
For example, when's the last game reviewed you've seen that scored less than 7? Nearly EVERY game, including the most obscure WiiWare titles score 8, 9, or 10 and quite frequently. At that point their review scale should just be 1 - 5.
I've never seen a game review get less than that unless it's a "safe" score like giving a 14 year old game that's republished on virtual console a 4 (I'm looking at you Castlevania Legends for the original GameBoy) That's a safe score because there's no real backlash from publishers for straight re-release ports where the publisher is just making profits on anything that actually sells rather than having the pressure to have sales to recoup the huge investment of a new game.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting NL is "bought" by advertising, I just think that a combination of openly-existing Nintendo Love and common sense of not biting the hand that feeds highly influences every review score on this site. And I'm okay with that because as a reader we also have the responsibility to parse the context of what we read and what we choose to believe.
So rock on NintendoLife! Keep giving me awesome amounts of news coverage and entertaining, confidence-boosting, buyer's-remorse-consoling reviews because I can't get enough Nintendo!!
Re: Wii U Branded Remotes Feature External Sync Button
One more thing: A quick way to tell the difference between these two packaging versions of the remote (other than glossy finish vs. matte finish) is if you just look at the top flap of the box (with the blue "U" logo on it) ..
GLOSSY FINISH Wii U-branded Box:
In the far corner to the top-right of that "U" logo on the top flap in small printing are the letters "USZ" on the glossy version of the packaging that feature the external sync button remote and Wii U branded warranty/instruction insert.
MATTE FINISH Wii U-branded Box:
The matte finish boxes that are identical in every other way do NOT have those letters "USZ" printed on the top flap to the top right of that "U" logo. Those versions of the packaging appear to have the traditional Wii Remote Plus with internal sync and even though the box is branded Wii U on the outside, the warranty insert is the same standard "wii" branding on the instructions.
To Recap, if you want:
EXTERNAL SYNC VERSION = Glossy finish box with tiny "USZ" printed to the top right of the "U" logo on the top flap.
INTERNAL SYNC VERSION = Matte finish box without any printing on the top flap next to the "U" logo.
Re: Wii U Branded Remotes Feature External Sync Button
Good news for all (in North America at least) it's clear that Nintendo is just repackaging the existing stock of wii remote plus into new Wii U branded boxes, so if you prefer the internal sync, they're still available and if you prefer the external sync you know they are available too. At Best Buy (in Canada, at least - which gets their stock from the US bacsically) I have noticed that there are two versions of the Wii U branded wii remote plus packaging.
The Wii U branding artwork is identical on these two versions and they are the same size box (which is not as "long" as the regular Wii branded remotes) however the box packaging material itself differs in that some of them have a glossy finish that is the same as the existing wii remote packaging and some have more of a matte finish. Again, the artwork and shape of the boxes are identical so you have to look closely, but up close it is an obvious difference. I bought both versions of the Wii U branded wii remote packages to compare out of curiousity, I noticed when I opened them up, the glossy version of the packaging has this "newer" style remote plus with the external sync as pictured in the article with sync button hole in the jacket and comes with the standard warranty insert with Wii U branding on it, however the matte finish packaging has the traditional Wii remote plus with internal sync button and full jacket on the back and comes with a warranty insert that is still branded as the old Wii (ie there is no Wii U branding on the insert) it is as if they literally gut the box with the standard Wii branding and just re-wrap it in this matte finish Wii U branded box.
I prefer the external sync myself so I returned the matte finish box version of the Wii U remote. Just look closely at the finish on the boxes to see if the store you're at has a combination of both or if they are all the same to determine if you want external or internal sync button.
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
If it is the case that a headset is required it DOES seem like an oversight that the Pro controller doesn't have the same headset jack input as the GamePad though, especially when it's sole purpose for being in the market is to cater to the FPS/core gamer crowd that typically uses in-game chat the most.
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
Everybody, just chill. The amount of engineering and technology that is crammed into this 500 gram tablet that allows full video AND audio wireless streaming with imperceptible interactive delay is nothing short of amazing. The YouTube kids will never fully appreciate what this thing actually achieves, we're not talking wireless passive video streaming your router pulls via wired connection from your modem, we're talking live, dynamic wireless content streaming of video and audio simultaneously being encoded and decoded while sending wireless interactive input signals from the gamepad all while processing the game without any perceptible delay.
Everyone takes this for granted: The Wii U Gamepad, at this point in time, is a gosh darn Dream Machine Powerhouse of fun tech that until now has never existed on earth or even in Back to the Future II. Unconfirmed Kotaku report says in-game voice chat is possible but requires a headset like every other competing console = U mad? My suggestion to you is to watch Point Break and reflect on the performance delivered by Keanu Reeves because I'm afraid nothing will satisfy you...
Re: Wii U In-Game Voice Chat Won't Use GamePad Microphone
@Wheels2050 I agree. This seems like too much of an obvious oversight for it to be an afterthought without some logical reason. Especially if the engineers from Nintendo have been working with developers who would want to implement in-game chat in the Wii U ports like Call of Duty.. it's not like developers would be 4 weeks away from shipping masters and be like "so yeah how does this voice stuff work on the controller again?". If the report is true, there HAS to be a completely reasonable explanation - believe it or not, engineers don't just slap something like a microphone onto a device where every gram is accounted for without a reason or purpose.
Re: Pikmin 3 Sprouting For Spring 2013 Release In North America
I still don't understand how this is news to people...The game has not been delayed because it has never been given an official release date. At the very least it was never promised as a 2012 title so I'm not sure what the point of this article even is other than nothing new to report...
Re: Pikmin 3 Sprouting For Spring 2013 Release In North America
@Jamouse
This article is completely misleading in saying that the release date has been "pushed back". On the source site it is referring to it simply states "Pikmin 3 is scheduled for release for the Wii U console in the spring of 2013". This title was never announced as a launch day or even a holiday release. If anything it was always suggested that it wouldn't be available until 2013, yes, spring 2013 still falls within their promised "launch window".
I would be really surprised if Nintendo didn't release this by March 31, that timing would be perfect for another boost of sales with a first party title (rather than have a bunch of their first party titles competing with each other during the first couple months). I think the release date has more to do with marketing and sales timing necessarily than development demands. I predict Sunday March 24 (the first Sunday in Spring) with a heavily spring-themed marketing campaign.