Wii U or We You? Geeze Nintendo what hell man?!

Now that all the E3 buzz has come and gone I'd like to take a second to sift through the bizarre creation that is Nintendo's new next-next-gen console the Wii U. Skip past the jump to see exactly wtf this thing is all about.


It's common knowledge that I typically don't stand by a lot of the things Nintendo does; if you want to know how I really feel, see this link for further evidence of my disapproval. That being said, I am a fan of video games. Even if I don't fully understand what the big name console manufacturers are trying to do at the time. As most of you may already know Nintendo debut it's new next-gen console a week ago at the Electronic Arts Expo (E3). Rumors had been flying around the interweb for quite some time about what the guys over at Motion Gaming central were going to unveil to the masses. The irony being that the new home console met both press and fans with the same amount of skepticism that had greeted the Wii when it first debuted as the Nintendo revolution (which is still a far superior name in my opinion).


Never the less, here Wii...uhm... we are, at yet, another strange and pivotal crossroad for Nintendo. The one thing I will give them credit for, is always thinking outside of the box when it comes to console development. Nintendo always has a way of making Adams Family combinations of ideas work in ways I never thought possible. That being said, this console is no stranger to the Morlock family of Nintendo.

Say Hello to the Wiipad

The first and most mentioned item on the plate for the Wii U is the controller. Once Nintendo had shown off it's new controller all rumors were both confirmed and silenced. Joystiq dubbed the controller the Wiipad and I have to agree with them wholeheartedly. On paper the controller sounds like a monster. Sporting 2 analog sticks, a D-pad, the usual A/B/X/Y face buttons, L/R, ZL/ZR shoulder buttons, 2 built in speakers, a microphone, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, an 854 x 480 pixel resolution touch screen, force feedback and a camera, the Wiipad is almost on par with an IPad, except for the fact that you can only walk around your house with it. This monster of a controller sounds great in design but seems flawed in execution right from the start.


The first problem I foresee is that Nintendo seems to have alienated its main consumer. The non-gamer. Nintendo almost single handedly snuck into the hearts (and wallets) of a huge, untapped demographic that didn't consider themselves "gamers". This produced years of great revenue for Nintendo by taking the cumbersome controller out of a players hands and replacing it with simple motion controls. And let's be honest with each other here, this thing makes the Xbox original "Duke/cheeseburger" controller look like a slider by comparison.


Now listen here, before you fan boys start hurling turtle shells at me, I realize that the Wii-mote and nun-chuck did justice to many a game on the Wii (and it did it well), but that's not who we're talking about here. We're talking about grandpa and grandma death that never played anything but the Wii Sports disc that came with the console. Them, or the "hip" parents that single handedly bought stock in the shovelware of Freddy Fish or SlyLock Fox. Imagine how those same people are going to react when they realize they have to do things simultaneously with the Wiipad screen and the television. Picture it now: "Gryrowho? Speak into the microphone? There's a microphone on this thing?" Seriously, you don't have to be Nostradamus to see how this is going to alienate a lot of loyal Wii fans.

Seriously, the board game would cost less and be just as boring.

Oh, on the subject of alienating people, did I mention the console at present time, can only support one of these controllers? Yep, that whole thing about the whole family playing together is off the table as of right now. That would seem to explain why videos show that you'll be able to play your game on the controllers screen while other house members watch television...most likely out of boredom. My last qualm about the controller is the mortgage I'm probably going to have to refinance just to buy a new one should something go wrong with the initial one the system comes with. I can't imagine anything less than a hundred dollars.

This is not a Wii U. This is just a holding shell.

Now aside from the controller and a few slight hiccups in detail the Wii U looks like it could in fact be promising. Although the U will not support anymore GameCube titles, the entire Wii library will be backwards compatible. Another great announcement is that friend codes will be a thing of the past as Nintendo plans to have a more robust online and social experience including friends' lists and much more. The downside to this is that according to Joystiq, Satoro Iwata of Nintendo has no interest in "free-to-play" anything. Apparently he's worried that the quality of game software will decline if people aren't paying for their gaming experience. Don't be surprised when Nintendo announces that their online service will come at a monthly/yearly fee. 


In another recent development N4G has announced that the Wii U will not play Blu-ray or DVD movies. While this is only minor annoyance due to the fact that most households own a DVD player or at least another console, it makes me wonder why Nintendo wouldn't want to make itself a more dominant force in your entertainment center. 


Also a first for Nintendo since the 80's is a huge push for 3rd party publishing. This is a huge step for Nintendo, it means (hopefully) winning back a majority of its original core audience by bringing back not only a more diverse pallet of games but also a huge arsenal of mature rated games for the hardcore crowd. It's true the third party demo videos Nintendo showed at E3 were from the PS3 and XBOX 360 but I'll forgive that, as the console launch is over a year away and the games will potentially look better than the 360 or PS3. Stop looking at me like that. It's true. According to Endgadget the console will support Direct X 10.1. I don't know what that means either but I do know that The Xbox 360 can run up to Direct X 9. And if Crytek says it can run Crysis, then kudos to Nintendo. Remember though, traditionally a new console release should mean a significant increase in graphical power (which is what Nintendo is going for) I just worried the U will end up taking a visual backseat to whatever Sony and Microsoft release in the coming years.

The body isn't accurate but the outputs are. 

The fact that The Wii U has stronger processing power goes hand in hand with the fact that Nintendo has decided to make the jump to HD. No more will you have to suffer the plight of Mario Party or Zelda whatevertheremake in horrible resolution. The legendary characters of your youth will spring forward at an amazing 1080p. Ok, even I have will admit that I'm curious to see what Metriod and Zelda will look like in high definition. For all those loyal enthusiasts, have no fear, Nintendo has already signed off on patents from Wii U Fit to Wii U Music. Thankfully, all of those titles you already own will be back for another round of wallet mugging.

All kidding aside, I hope this console does well for Nintendo. It seems (at least for now) that they're putting their best foot forward in an attempt to gain back the hardcore audience while bringing new ideas to the table. Will the Wii U be adopted into living rooms as fast as the Revolution, Wii did? That I can't answer. If they Nintendo can overcome some of the obstacles they have set for themselves they stand a good chance of doing so. I do however; look forward to the coming year to see what else Nintendo brings to the table.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2011: Controller Debut Trailer (Stream) HD