Wii U’s launch line-up shows just how much of a challenge the GamePad poses to game designers

EDGE- Wii U’s principal innovation, the GamePad controller, manages to meet both accessible and social design goals. It has a friendly, unintimidating design, and although it seems to have been designed for a child, Nintendo clearly also had older gamers in mind.

With approximately one billion touchscreen smartphones and tablets already in use, it builds upon a familiar interaction metaphor. The large touchscreen is not only accessible but also offers the potential of a different view on the game world, allowing new singleplayer and multiplayer experiences. But what will those experiences be?

[1upgamer99]

I am engaged! Love the gamepad, and to be honest, did not even play Nintendoland much (after having the system 2 weeks) till the past two days. WOW.. Great Job Nintendo, showing us what is possible with the gamepad. Oh now come the people who have NO INTEREST, AND HAVE NOT PLAYED ON WII U say, disagree. To the people who "Have no interest" how come you keep COMING BACK? Should all of us come and BASH your console (I have PS3, Wii U, And PC)!

[bicfitness]

I played a demo at BestBuy for about 20m and the screen-tearing, lack of AA and lagging UI for a "next gen" box was utterly astonishing. The Wii U will be great for people who want Nintendo games in 720p HD (there are no 1080p games). And that's about it. If you're not into Nintendo franchises, you might as well pass. Unless you like paying full price for ports of so-so games from this gen (i.e. Ninja Gaiden 3).

The hardware won't keep up with next gen titles - Star Wars, Watch Dogs - and that's a fact. At best it will keep getting all the old PS360 ports. Again, great if you're a die hard Nintendo fan or light gamer (prefer that term to casual) who had a Wii and nothing else last gen (doubtful), but a pass for almost everyone else. Also the release calendar for next year is anaemic and there aren't many game announcements yet. So waiting might be good thing for any consumer till the library fills out.

P.S. I think that the PS360 have had plenty of "bashing" over their lifetimes. I just came in here to correct some of your frothing, myopic fanboyism. However, by all means, please enjoy your Wii U as much as you can. Just don't try preaching to people about virtues that the system simply doesn't have.

[Wolfbiker]

"The Wii U will be great for people who want Nintendo games in 720p HD (there are no 1080p games)."

...yet...it is fully capable of 1080p.

"Unless you like paying full price for ports of so-so games from this gen (i.e. Ninja Gaiden 3)."

Ninja Gaiden 3 on Wii U is the absolute best Ninja Gaiden 3 out.

"The hardware won't keep up with next gen titles - Star Wars, Watch Dogs - and that's a fact."

How is that fact? Day 1 it is doing games as good as PS3/360 games that have had 6/7 years of polish plus the games you listed are for PS3 and 360...not their successors.

"Also the release calendar for next year is anaemic and there aren't many game announcements yet."

Rayman Legends, Aliens, Monster Hunter, Pikman, and then if u did research you would find an incredible looking little indie title called Two Brothers slated for 2013 as well as a nice looking indie jrpg called Pier Solar coming next year too...Plus there is E3.

"Just don't try preaching to people about virtues that the system simply doesn't have."

You're on a Wii U topic spreading uneducated nonsense without logic. If the Wii U is not for you that's cool but why care? Most people with Wii U's are happy with it.

[bicfitness]

@ Wolf.

There isn't a single game that is 1080p. So you are incorrect. I'm sure some DLC titles will be, but the launch games are all at 720p native and upscaled. That's not misinformation it is fact.

The list of ANNOUNCED games is anaemic. Another fact. Also there are no new NA games out till around February. There is no misinformation in suggesting that people wait for what is clearly a thin library to flesh out a bit.

If you think that the hardware will run something like Watchdogs or the new Star Wars, you're beyond help. The Wii U will get ports of this gen. And that's pretty much it. Bookmark this and come back to it in six months and you'll see that I'm correct. Then come back in two years and you'll see that I'm STILL correct.

Aside from my last comment, which is speculative, everything else that I said was factual and correct. Some people don't like the truth, not that I care.

P.S. Ninja Gaiden 3 is the 6-7/10 version of a totally crap game. It also runs at 720p. Not sure what point you're to make. Here's the DF article for you to chew on:

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

"The vast majority of our articles inevitably concentrate on the technical differences between the various gaming platforms and, with the Wii U in particular, our work has been interesting in getting some raw measure of the horsepower Nintendo's console has under the bonnet. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge once again suggests a piece of hardware not far beyond the capabilities of the existing HD consoles"

And quote. If Watchdogs and Star Wars won't run on the PS360, there's no prayer for it on the Wii U. Fact.

[princejb134]

im a nintendo fan but the wii for me sucked but the ds was awesome
i bought it, had it for like 2 months and sold it after the disappointing smash brothers brawl. But i want to give the wii u a try it looks amazing.

@bicfitness

idk about the screen tearing on the gamepad since i havent played it, but remember the system just came out so you cant expect every console to launch with AA or AAA consoles day 1.
i wonder why people want 1080p so much sometimes, the human eye can barely see all the pixels for 720p yet your begging for something thats not even needed.

you say "hardware wont keep up with next gen titles", can you see the future?
i really doubt next gen we will see a huge leap from this gen to next gen since the majority of pc games aren't that big of a improvement with current console games

all im saying is give the wii u a few more months. its barely been out for a month since its launch

[morpha]

Its a good article and a valid point. With so many features it can be hard for designers to figure out how to use them all. But honestly, I wouldnt care if they didnt.

The biggest problem was the Wii was the lack of AAA third party games. Even if on the wiiU they are straight ports that dont use the wiiU's features; I would be fine with that. We just need them on the console. Period.

[iamnsuperman]

"The biggest problem was the Wii was the lack of AAA third party games. Even if on the wiiU they are straight ports that dont use the wiiU's features; I would be fine with that. We just need them on the console. Period."

And that is really down to Microsoft and Sony in a weird way. It all depends how powerful either one of their consoles is. Third party will develop for the weakest platform and port upwards (easier that way) but there will be a limit. If either Sony or Microsoft launch similarly powerful consoles then the Wii U will get AAA third party support. If the both don't then it wont. Simple as that

[Zodiac]

I think once developers get used to it we can look forward to some great games, or even the new home for console RTS games.

[animegamingnerd]

i have been saying this since the wii u was announced it would be perfect for a RTS

[josephayal]

game designers, Welcome to Next Gen Consoles

[animegamingnerd]

agreed gamer designers this gen got really lazy cause we have been seeing a lot of games have day 1 patches and have on disc DLC

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

Aparently PS3 isn't the only console with Devs finding something to complain about... lazy ass Devs complaining about keeping up with newer tech... if they keep this trend up Im afraid to see what happens to our games in the comming years!

[bigfish]

Whats this social interaction malarkey all about ? just give us proper games,, il guess i'll stick to my ps3 then,,,, right where was i in Far Cry 3,- Oh mission 6,, lets get it on!!!