Reggie Explains Why Wii U’s Largest Built-In Storage Solution Is 32GB

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discusses the reason for the amount of storage space in the Wii U.

[yellowgerbil]

Seriously, the original xbox had nearly that much memory, they wonder why no one is buying their terrible system, it is things like that. No games, poor decisions and outdated tech.
I'm sorry but If you are charging next gen price you better give me a next gen product.
needs at least 200gb.

[Yep]

That doesn't explain why the console was selling near Wii numbers for the first 3 months.

In actuality, the only reason why the Wii U is in such a bad state is due to the 6 month long drought of games that followed.

[iamnsuperman]

I hope you know, when a console launches they usually sell out for a few months because the loyal fan base (which comes from us guys) buys it. Now after than is where the sales start to get interesting as the people who are initial on the fence decide if they want one or not (which goes on through out the life of the system)

That loyal fan base buys it regardless (also worth noting it was the only next generation console on the market so it should sell well for those early months. It also hasn't been selling well since the announcement of new systems)

[Yep]

@iamsuperman

See my reply to the other guy. You're right, but that it's stems deeper than just having a loyal fanbase.

[abzdine]

this guy is full of s***
Wii U is expensive enough i dont see where it's a good value for consumers. And if external HDD are that cheap then make a Digital Wii U bundle with a big HDD for free.
PR bullshit once more..

[mikeslemonade]

Game drought is not the reason. Even if it had games it would still have lackluster sales and only slightly better than this. Nintendo didn't have a gimmick this generation to sell. Whether it has games or not it's going the way of the Nintendo 64 or Gamecube. The gamers didn't fall for the gimmick this time, and there's nothing Nintendo can do about the WiiU.

[slimeybrainboy]

It has little to do with games IMO.

The succes of the Wii came from the price, which the Wii U isnt matching. It came from the gimmick of motion controls, which people are over. I'm not talking about the gaming community, i'm talking about the parents who bought a Wii to get fit and keep the kids happy and play games with the family. Either they're happy with the Wii and dont need an upgrade, or they got burned last time, and barely ended up using the Wii so are not going to make the same mistake.

The Wii was a fluke, the friendly cheap nature of the wii made it seem simple and fun, but the motion control made it stand out at the time. It truly was a box for everyone (except core gamers).

[Deadpoolio]

First MONTH not 3 months month...and then it nosedived after that month....And it's never going to sell Wii numbers the soccer mom and nana have moved on and the hip cool fad faded eventually, they aren't going to ever comeback, they just wanted to exercise on the Intendo fit and wrist waggle some bowling

[user5575708]

idk i think reggie's statement is nonsense. the ps4 is doing 500GB and has specs that are 10 times better than the WiiU and its releasing at only $50 more than the original WiiU price. and the average consumer has no idea that you can use an external hard drive with the WiiU

but like ps3 before and xbox one now...everyone "fails to see the value" of an overpriced machine

[ABizzel1]

Reggie is full of it. Based on consumer pricing a 32GB SD is $20, you can buy 120GB HDD for $30. This is one of the things holding the Wii U back. Was that $10 difference really killing you Nintendo?

They need 2014 to come so they can release the games people actually want (Mario Kart, Smash Bros., Bayonetta, Xeno?, etc...), Put a real HDD into the console so people can actually download the digital games like Zelda Wind Waker HD and more, and finally they need to get their OS together so load will be cut in half again and get their online network together for streamlined multiplayer experiences and so games that are multiplatform keep their multiplayer component.

[N4g_null]

If the wiiu space is such a problem then get a xone of ps4... yet you will get a wiiu to play Nintendo stuff.

[Mounce]

It sold great for the first 3 months because of gullible fans who bought it because they love Nintendo and wanted to own it because Nintendo made it and that they knew, INEVITABLY, that that system will surely have its own Zelda/Mario games and that they'd wait it out.

So it sold well....to the most hardcore of fans, but even so, I find it unlikely that they'd be using the system a lot, rather that the system is laying there waiting to be exploited, whenever Nintendo decides to straighten their fucking act.

[Kennytaur]

Tve original Xbox had the same capacity as the basic Wii U model. With an external HDD there's no problem, but it would be wise by Nintendo to release a model with more space in it. Say, 250gb.

[Deadpoolio]

Which they have already said is NOT happening....They don't care if your too lazy to plug in an external HDD

[ABizzel1]

@Deadpoolio

It's not too lazy, Nintendo was too cheap to add one, and not it's another expense to the gamer since they have to buy a HDD to download games, putting the Wii U price right back up there with the PS4.

[marloc_x]

Funny.. shave of a few dollars from the PS4 by excluding PS4 EYE and fans swoon about Sony empowering me.. as a consumer with choice.. !!*NOT A REASONABLE LOGIC FOR NINTENDO THOUGH*!? I am confident Sony will not manage to drop the price on their console by the time Ninty lowers the price of a Wii U bundle again in the coming year...

[marloc_x]

The bottom line of this gamer's Console War is as such..playing B02 for drinks with your friends on the Gamepad and Pro Controller at my house results in two things. You are having a good time, And.. you will like Wii U.

[jcnba28]

I'd rather have a console with outdated tech than a console with outdated features i.e. no backwards compatibility, no free online and no option for downloading games onto an external harddrive.

[dredgewalker]

That actually makes no sense. If you're referring to the PS4 you can upgrade the PS4's harddrive internally with a bigger capacity one that is not even a proprietary drive which makes upgrading it cheap. This eliminates the need for an external harddrive. Backwards compatibility is understandable since the hardware is so different from the PS3. It would also make the PS4 much more expensive to produce. Backwards compatibility will be addressed through gaikai in the end.

edit: you know you can defend Nintendo without being offensive. I find it tasteless using mudslinging to make an argument. It's what politicians use to diss their competition.

[slimeybrainboy]

Are you going to get a next gen console too or are you just sticking with Wii U?

[Knushwood Butt]

Free online? Have there been any first party Wii U games released so far with a flushed out online mode?

[SheenuTheLegend]

so u say they should have gone with the cell n made it hard for the developers again just
For your backward compatibility option....

its great they have changed, you can expect bc with ps5 atleast now..

[harrisk954]

@SheenuTheLegend

"so u say they should have gone with the cell n made it hard for the developers again just
For your backward compatibility option....

its great they have changed, you can expect bc with ps5 atleast now.."

Well then, how do you explain the XB1's lack of BC? I don't believe that the XB360 used the cell.

[nick309]

It reads external hdds and up to 3TB

[Angeljuice]

External hdds have extremely slow data transfer rates compared to an internal SATA drive. Not a good alternative at all.

[WitWolfy]

@Angeljuice

Not true my JTAG runs of an EXT HDD, and the games load just as fast as it would if it were internal, so thats kinda false...

[falcon97]

Look Reggie is right,and not everyone wants digital copys of games anyway so it's right not to charge consumers with that it's the right decision end of,ps4 xbox1 making you pay an extra $50 for a big HDD ?? when there are faster bigger HDD's out there at bargain prices.

With ps4 you have gddr5 which is expensive,on wiiu you have tons of edram on everything even cache which is even more expensive,ps4 has a cheaper gpu,wiiu's custom E6760 gpgpu will be more expensive because it's custom not off the shelf,it all evens out,but ps4 is costing $50 more because of a big-ish HDD when not everyone will use it makes no sense,everything on wiiu is integral to your experience,also Nintendo were loosing $50 on every console now even more,so in the end Nintendo are giving you $50+ to buy your own HDD,and throwing wind waker HD in as well,i own a 1TB HDD cost £50....

[ABizzel1]

That's why there are multiple SKU's of consoles. Generally the only difference are features like more USB slots, more media slots, or a larger HDD. If you don't want to pay more those features than buy the entry priced console, but for gamers who have a digital library of games (and with GamCube games likely coming to Nintendo eShop) you're going to need a HDD, and Nintendo should offer the option.

[InTheLab]

Gives you options when it comes to hdd space to make the console chesper but zero options for the tablet controller that is clearly driving up the price...

Makes no sense

[falcon97]

Oh also the GAMEPAD is integral to the dual screen experience and i love it so much i wouldn't even consider a single screen console that's my take on it,the browsing is 2 screens and watching Dynamo magiciam impossible or Cyril takayama on the tv in HD whilst browsing on facebook and what have you on the GAMEPAD is NEXTGEN multimedia only found on wiiu,the GAMEPAD is absolutely needed as its part of the experience also i couldn't live without offtvplay on games like COD........ps4 doesn't need a big HDD when you can get 1TB HDD's for like $75 ?????

[AKR]

Next-gen price? PS3 took HOW long to leave the $300 mark? And besides - that thing is still selling at $250 - which is $50 less than the soon-to-be-established Wii U price.

I think Nintendo made a decent choice not putting a plethora of storage on this thing. Reason being - external hard drives exist. And they don't just exist - they're cheap. You can get a 1TB external HDD for about $70. That's $10 more than the average game. If you can't shell out $70 for something what can store a massive amount of full-retail games, demos, and save data ~ then you need to re-think your strategy.

It makes no sense to increase the price of something where there are cheaper, more efficient solutions. And I don't even think the Wii U's on-board storage is physical, no? So shouldn't that be more expensive?

As for "no games"
It's had a drought for half the year - but that's been turning around from since last month. Pikmin 3 started the wave. I won't repeat the list, because by now people should know that the Wii U DOES have games - and a good chunk of em.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Ignorance is bliss! What helped Microsoft lose four billion dollars on the original Xbox was the hard drive! It cost seventy dollars throughout the whole life span of of the console to produce it! In the console biz the price to produce parts for a console hopefully will go down so you can make a bit more profit. Not so with the original Xbox's hard drive.
Do you own a Wii U? I doubt it. Most people that own a Wii U like it. Some don't. What Nintendo has done is allow Wii U owners to use the amount of space the gamer sees fit. Wether it be two gigs or five hundred. Same goes for head sets. My pair of ear buds cost me eight bucks a friend of mine has a headset that cost him a hundred bucks. If you don't like the Wii U that's fine but why come to the Wii U side of n4g? We don't need you or your kind to rain on our parade! Later troll!

[yellowgerbil]

every system sells well at launch. the diehard fans buy at launch. they would buy regardless. If the system was known to spout fire they would still buy it. Once they've bought it then it is up to those who aren't nintendo fanboys sony fanboys etc to purchase the system. This accounts for a good 80% of the total sales of a system.
Only fanboys have looked at the WiiU and wanted it. So far the general public is saying pretty much what I said above
1 no games
2 outdated technology (hell even developers have laughed at the prospect of working on their system Unreal Engine 4)
3 lack of memory. 32 gb totally hinders the system and drives off hardcore gamers which are moving towards digital purchases. This is a trend that is obvious, and Nintendo is making a huge mistake by putting a roadblock to the hardcore gamers and their content

[Yep]

"every system sells well at launch."

Nope. From Launch to Jan. 2013, Wii U sold a over a million more consoles than the PS3 and 360. While Wii U did sell near Wii level of sales, the Wii did suffer shortages. This doesn't say anything more than just the Wii having a higher demand. By January 2013, the Wii U sold 4.86mil pieces of software. To compare, in the same time-frame the Wii sold 9.45mil, X360 sold 3.04mil, and PS3 sold 2.29mil. It wasn't stellar like the Wii, but it wasn't terrible either.

So no, you're wrong. And about outdated tech, you can continue to ignore the list of developers that say otherwise. UE4 also is able to run on Wii U. Epic just won't be porting it at the moment. Among the many other arguments for Wii U not having outdated tech, there are also games on the Wii U that use PC assets. Many of the upcoming games for Wii U are also outputting 1080p 60FPS. But believe what you will. We won't know how well Wii U can run the 2014 next-generation games until developers decide to port their games to the Wii U (depends on sales).

I don't currently have any opinions on the lack of memory argument.

[Imonaboat1]

Back then, the 360 and ps3 were way more expensive and not many people had hd tvs, also he 360 ps3 launch titles were way worse than what the wii u has to offer (not saying wii u has good games atm except maybe for pikmin) so yeah

[Yep]

You're trying real hard to not admit that the Wii U actually does have a good line up and existing library of games.

[Zichu]

The line up is good, but the existing library isn't that great.

Here are exclusives that might be worth purchasing:

New Super Mario Bros U
Nintendo Land
ZombiU
Lego City Undercover
Game & Wario
New Super Luigi U
Pikmin 3
The Wonderful 101

That's it. None of those games scream, "Gotta buy a Wii U!"

If you want to play Super Mario, get a Wii or even a 3DS, or a DS. They all look and seem to play pretty similar to me.

Nintendo Land, just another game to bundle with the console like Wii Sports, when you've played the games, there's really no reason to put the disc in the console.

ZombiU, a game to show off the use of the Gamepad...

Lego City Undercover, something I want to get, but Lego games aren't system sellers.

Game & Wario... Get WariorWare: Touched! for DS, it will have a lot more content and will last you a lot longer...

New Super Luigi U, if you have played Mario, you will most likely have played this game as well...

Pikmin 3, can't comment on this game.

The Wonderful 101, looks good, I would play it, but it's not a game I would go out and buy a console for.

We need Zelda, Smash Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, etc. The line up definitely looks good, but they should of waited like a year or 2 before launching, this way they would of had a lot more games to release with the console itself. All the good games are being released next year...

[clouds5]

I can see that. It's the same for me with ps4 and xb1. Everyone is super hyped. But when I see the games all I think is meh... Another shooter another racing game, nothing worth buying a system. I bought the wii u for the gameplay and it's unique gamepad knowing that more games will come later. But I'm in a foreign country right now no TV in my apartment but I can still play my games. That is amazing and only possible with wii u. Was already worth it.

@ storage. I prefer it the way it is. I already had an external drive around, didn't need one built in that makes the system bigger and more expensive.
Where is the problem? You can install a terabyte hard drive if you want to.

[Zichu]

@cloud

I'm the same, well the only game I was interested in on the Wii U which was being released within the launch window was Monster Hunter.

Other games were being released in 2014... I am looking forward to the upcoming games on the Wii U.

I am also interested in what the X1 and PS4 has to offer, but even some of the multiplatforms that they are getting aren't being released on the Wii U, like Battlefield 4, NFS Rivals, The Crew, Destiny, Dragon Age, Dying Light, TES Online, The Evil Within, Plants VS Zombies: Garden Warfare, Thief, Rainbow 6: Patriots, The Division, Wolfenstein, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, Below, FFXV, KH3, Mad Max, MGSV: The Phantom Pain, Minecraft, SW Battlefront, Titanfall, and probably some others.

That's a lot of games to miss out on and 99% of them look amazing.

[Deadpoolio]

There has literally been 1 game that used PC assets so we need to quit trying to talk like it's a matter of fact and every game uses that, and it was need for speed not exactly a taxing game...

And Yes the Wii U tech is outdated. It is exactly what Nintendo should have released in 2007 it's not more powerful that the 360 especially not the PS3 and it is significantly weaker than what is coming in 2 months. It will then be getting 0 3rd party games when developers get tired of watering down games to run...The Wii U also is NOT running 1080p 60fps not 1 game does that currently, not even Nintendo's own games it has only ran 720p

[YoungPlex]

That's fine and dandy I really understand the reasoning, but damn Nintendo at least allow developers to give the consumer the option to partially install or fully install full games or texture packs on an external hard-drive. I really wanted to get Splinter Cell on Wii U and probably will one day get it, but what stopped me from doing so was two reasons. One, the load times between the Paladin and the main missions were over a minute long each time and two, the Wii U version did NOT have a texture pack which also leaves textures looking pretty flat on certain areas. The rest was better in most ways including the inventory and drone on the Gamepad with V-Sync engaged at all times and native 720p resolution. The two issues mentioned above could've been easily rectified had they included a texture pack to install for texture purposes or at least partially or fully install the game to decrease load times. I've played the game and I honestly could overlook the texture differences as they are barely noticeable due to the fact that the Wii U version has a much more crisp look and is clearer, thanks to the resolution, with absolutely no screen-tearing, compared to the blurry screen-tearing PS3/360 versions. I got the PS3 version used, will beat it, take it back and get the Wii U version later on when it's on sale. Might as well get my trophies while I got it...

[fpshooter2]

So basically his answer is if you like digital downloads than go buy more external memory. Lol thats pretty funny.

[Yep]

Lol yep, pretty much.

Makes sense though at least to me. We're already only paying $299.99 for the Wii U 32GB. If you don't already have an external hard drive laying around your house, you can pick up a 1-2.5 TB hard drive for at least $70 and that would cover you for the entire generation.

You end up spending less than you normally would if you went with another next-gen console.

[MidnytRain]

Minus the better gaming system.

[DarkHeroZX]

or you can get a 500 gig PS3 for that much. sure the harware is better but with 500 gigs an Playstation Plus you get wayyyy moe value for your money. I think $249 will be that sweet spot for the Wii U.

[Hicken]

Defending Nintendo's stupid decision.

Check.

Making poor analogies.

Check.

Poor understanding of the situation.

Check.

Rejecting anything that contradicts your view.

Check.

Fanboy confirmed.

[jcnba28]

Not as funny as sony's answer to it. PS4 doesn't support game downloads on an external harddrive are you serious??

[Hicken]

With an internal HDD you can upgrade to whatever size, what need is there? Obviously, the Wii U and XB1 MUST support game saves to externals, otherwise the games you can have are rather limited(extremely, in the case of the Wii U).

And allowing for external HDD games has its own problems. Two main ones.

1. Convenience. Don't care what you say, it's not convenient to need a secondary device to play the games you want on your console. Especially when that requirement is due to the memory being forcibly limited by the manufacturer.

2. Piracy. There's no other way around it: allowing for an external device to contain game data means it's far more likely to be hacked and pirated. Far easier to do that with an external than an internal.

By the way, Sony's answer to built-in storage is: as much as you want. Don't see what's funny about that.

Troll harder.

[Angeljuice]

3) External hdds have terrible data transfer rates and are nor a good idea for game installs AT ALL. Just a poor compromise.

[Deadpoolio]

PSSSSSST Neither will One80......Of course the weaker system allows it...It also doesn't allow it to be read by anything else after that....

[young7yang]

bought a Wii U basic set at launch. I preferred the white color. Got a 1TB external western digital harddrive for about 70 dollars. and an additional controller for $40.

MY over-all cost was about $450 after tax.

I love my wii u and i cannot complain.

[Pyro2000x]

PS4 is $400 with 500 GBs and much better graphics 5 FREE 2 PLAY games including a FREE 2 PLAY MMO.

[WPX]

Free to play? did you forget the PSN subscription fee? it's $60 more :)

[R00bot]

And online that costs money.

Trust me, the Wii U is the cheaper alternative.

[devwan]

@WPX - F2P is not behind a paywall on ps4. They are free games and they are free to play online.

[wheresmymonkey]

Yeah considering how big the games are going to be on the PS4 and they will no doubt all need some kind of install. That 500gb hard drive is not going to look so huge once once you've shoved a few 25gb+ games on it.

[DARK WITNESS]

" Yeah considering how big the games are going to be on the PS4 and they will no doubt all need some kind of install."

correct me if I am wrong, but ps4 games will be on bluray and play straight off the disk if you want. You wont need to install anything if you don't want to, unless you are buying digital copies of games.

[young7yang]

Ok and?

The wii u is out now.. and i got mine day one.. as far as I am concerned the graphics are good enough.. If you played Xenoblade then you will even know that the original wii was a capable system.

So as far as graphics go the wii u is more then enough.. While not as powerful as ps4 it will have some cool games.. As it stands Nintendo has the best lineup for this year and next.. sorry but true..

Bayonetta and Wonderful 101 take the cake.. Looking forward to KillZone but at the end of the day it is just another high budget shooter..

[jcnba28]

"and much better graphics"

What are you 5 years old? LOL

[falcon97]

I see no difference in graphics except at the 1min 22 mark 4 player co-op online in an open world with those graphics wow show me a ps4 game open world this nice...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Starbucks_Fan]

Lol at the whiners. You can get a damn 500GB external hard drive for $50 or less

[chente0025]

10 +10=55! .....yeah, try and beat that buddy. :p

[RedSoakedSponge]

because its the cheapest option. And they want to make money on selling more harddrive space.

[EliteGameKnight]

Maybe, but as far as I know Nintendo doesn't sell hardrives. The fact that you can use third party drives also shows that they're not really trying to capitalize on it. just didn't include it.

[RedSoakedSponge]

yeah good point. but i still think the smaller harddrive size is just to cut their costs.

[exfatal]

got no problem with my 32 gig system downloaded a few titles, if i ever need more space its as simple as buying a 50$ 1tb external hd. with the price drop thats 350$ for a wii u a game and more space then the next gen system... yet still cheaper i think the values there. Sonydrones just blind to the hate an insist that every decision nintendo makes is a bad one lol

[R00bot]

Exactly, the system plus a 500 gig to 1 terabyte hard drive is still $50 cheaper.

[devwan]

You might be prepared to do that, but 99% of the regular gaming public, the people who sit and play games a few hours here and there, aren't going to want to go out and buy peripherals and have more things plugged in just to get basic functionality - it's against everything consoles, especially Nintendo ones, are all about - just turn it on & play your game.

If there's a problem here, it's not "sonydrones" thinking every decision Nintendo makes is a bad one, but Nintendo fans being unwilling to admit there might have been some poor decisions made by Nintendo.

@ R00bot - Wii U & an external HDD being $50 cheaper than a ps4... you really think that's a good proposition for people looking to buy a new console? I wouldn't like to have to try to sell that to someone.

[ChickeyCantor]

"but Nintendo fans being unwilling to admit there might have been some poor decisions made by Nintendo.
"

Eh just because one thinks it's a poor decision doesn't mean it is a poor decision. For all I know the price would have been higher if they included a hard drive.

In my case I have plenty of Hard Drives lying around or SD cards for that matter. It's actually in my favor. So no, personally I don't think they made a poor decision.

We don't even know how much people actually download. And those who do it a lot probably already have their solution ready.

[devwan]

@ChickeyCantor

Look at the bigger picture, it's not just this issue and this issue is not just about downloads. Developers work to basic system specs - look at Blacklist, it doesn't install masses of stuff to the console vs the ps360 versions and has level loading times a minute longer than the 6 or 7 year old hardware versions. It's not just about digital downloads.

You want developers to create games and the best versions of games for your platform you give them the platform that makes this simple - Sony learned that the hard way.

[exfatal]

I'd be inclined to agree with you except that the regular gaming crowd, the people you say play a few games here and there wouldn't need a bigger HD. The Wii U doesn't force or even give you the option to install games to the hd, leaving you alot of room to download small games from the eshop or a few full retail games. But it gets back to the point, regular/casual gamers normally just buy a boxed copy of a game from retail if its available there (I.e Mario kart donkey kong, c.o.d), so the only thing really using up the space are the virtual console games and e-shop titles. which you can download quite a bit off b4 you run out of space.

But lets just say for sack of argument the people who want to go full digital with all types of games regardless of size. I'd be more inclined to believe these people are more serious gamers who play alot more often. These gamers are probably alot more like you and I who spend the time discussing this crap amoungst other gamers.. who have knowledge of the gaming world to some extent. These people would need more space, since 32 gigs will fill up fast and even faster in the future if they plan to go all digital. But can you honestly tell me that 350gigs or 500gigs will be enough in the future?
I personally think not since 3 years down the line your gonna have a shit ton of games especially going all digital (for sake of argument)

So i ask you again, why lock someone down to a bigger HD when it would increase the price to say $350(after recent price drop) when some people might not necessarily need that much space and never end up filling it, or to the others who ended up paying more for an internal HD thats 500 gigs but he ends up filling it eventually but with no convenient ways to expand the HD. but without the price increase he coulda have bought a 1tb when needed and extra's if ever there was a time he filled that 1tb up, in which case HD would be even more cheaper.

to wrap this up... Options that benefit the consumer more then the company is a good thing. Nintendo did a good thing with the HD situation in my opinion.

[AKR]

"You might be prepared to do that, but 99% of the regular gaming public, the people who sit and play games a few hours here and there, aren't going to want to go out and buy peripherals and have more things plugged in just to get basic functionality - it's against everything consoles, especially Nintendo ones, are all about - just turn it on & play your game. "

But yet I see nobody complaining about upgrading their PS3's harddrive, no?

I have a friend who's successfully lived off of a 4GB 360 for what I believe he said to be 3 years. Unless you're downloading a plethora of full retail titles, indie games and demos - then you really only need need 32GB (24GB).

That's like buying a 7-seater car and there's only two people who use it at once.

[ziggurcat]

because they're too cheap to include proper internal storage?

[coolasj]

Why would they go with expensive flash memory if they really want you to go digital? And they're so heavy handed about it. If Sony or MS did it there would be riots in the streets. If you don't know, Nintendo is starting to release their games about 2 weeks earlier digitally.

[wheresmymonkey]

Doing some really good deals too. You got 30% of W101 if you bought pikmin 3 off the eshop in the UK.

All of their games are 10% less than they are at retail in japan.

Not sure what americas getting.

Then there's the rewards program that gives you cash back for using the eshop.

[R00bot]

They probably wanted to keep the loading times down with the OS. They're already slow, but imagine if it was a normal hard drive, rather than a solid state.

[stuna1]

Where to start... Where to start!? First letts get the obvious out of the way! How long has it been since a next gen "Console" been on the market before the WII U? I'll tell you, 6 and 7 years respectively! So I was already a guarantee that the WII U was going to explode out the gate, just look at how long some have waited, it really didn't matter who was the first to do it, that why we have Sony as well as Microsoft fans who say they have one

Couple the launch of the WII U with another fact, it also had no competition, other than this generation offerings! Including it's predecessor the WII, which was even then for some unknown reason gasping for oxygen. I have an idea as to why, but I'm not going to say it right now.

Before release every gaming developer, producer, indie vowed support for the system for the exact same reasons I mentioned above! Put yourselves in their shoes, wouldn't you have? Of course with the support, gamers are sure to follow! But what kind of support are we talking? From gamers perspective, they were hand-me-downs! There no other way to put it, sure there were tweeks here and there, but they didn't translate into console sells, which is what I think developer, indies, and yes even Nintendo wanted over software. That statement might seem strange at any other time, but not at this time, simply because to grow the fanbase is most important with console sales, it offer stability to those taking a chance on new release on the console, they have to be confident that sales will translate into money for them.

Then we have those saying what will happen, but as of yet hasn't happened! 1080 P this! 60 FPS that! I'm sorry to say this, I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, but come on guys! You're talking about a company that's just stepping into the HD era, as opposed to two who have been in it a decade now! That's not to say Nintendo doesn't have beautiful games! X comes to mind, but just on extensive modeling on the PS4 and Xbox1 are going to leave the WII U behind. Right now I don't see any advantages the WII U could have over the next gen console and I doubt anyone will see any as the generation progresses.

As far as adding external harddrive space that is something that all consoles have the ability to do! This generation and next generation, but Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4 have the ability to upgrade internal hdd as well

I don't know about the PS4 doing of screen play per se, but I do you can save a game on the PS4, and tranfer it to the vita to continue where you left off on the PS4! The Vita also can be used as a controller, it also has asemetrical multiplayer use, meaning someone could be using the PS4 and controller, and someone else could use the Vita to play against someone on the PS4! The Vita also has it's own dedicated apps. Plus the biggest bonus, it not tethered to the PS4 and can operate outside the home, but yet will be able to play cross platform titles.

Indies don't count for anything I guess? Damn I thought I had at least one! As far as variety playstation is known for bringing it! But as far as Nintendo goes how's that going!? Because from the looks of things, that is all it's has had to survive up to this point!!!!

[wheresmymonkey]

Off TV play, dual screen play, asemetric multiplayer as standard, Will have decent local multiplayer whilst the other two will prbably ditch it in favour of online.

A catalogue of games which isn't going to be an endless precession of shooters and all the stuff we got this gen just prettied up.

[moparful99]

"A catalogue of games which isn't going to be an endless precession of shooters and all the stuff we got this gen just prettied up."

Sony's catalog of games and studios is more than just an endless procession of shooters.. They arguably have a better variety of games than Nintendo. But whatever you have to tell yourself to be comfortable with your WII U..

[The_Truth_24_7]

Pretty much, "we wanted to charge you more for less".
A reoccurring Nintendo theme.

[R00bot]

Nope, if they wanted to charge you more for less then the Wii U would be as much as the PS4.

They're really only charging you less for less, because it is cheaper than the PS4.

[theDECAY]

It was $350 at launch. The PS4 is $400. I for one think the WiiU should be priced at about $200, but I guess that retarded giant controller with a screen costs extra. Look, I'm a huge fan of Nintendo, but they really lost it with this gen. They don't know what gamers want.

[JohnS1313]

The PS4 is ten times more powerful than the Wii U and only $50 more. That's why the Wii U is dead.

[clouds5]

Well at least they know what I want. I don't need another system that does the same thing as the ps3 or 360 with updated graphics. I want to try something new and useful.
Play an open world game on wii u with the map and inventory right there and tell me that it isn't a huge advantage.

[jcnba28]

Sounds like the PS4 to me.

[LordDhampire]

Lol good ol reggie, what a terrible person, do these people actually feed into their own bullcrap

In his defence there is nothing on the wii u worth buying and he probably know that so no need for all that wasted space

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Cheap Nintendo is cheap.

Basically, Nintendo takes a loss on every 32GB model, but its a small loss easily recouped when a person buys just one Wii U game.

Gotta keep the cost of goods down so they can recoup their loss on the hardware.

[young7yang]

You know my day one Wii still works.. I am one my second ps3 and 5th xbox.. what does that say..

Cheap I think not!

[MultiConsoleGamer]

I think you're confusing cheap, aka frugal, with shoddy.

Nintendo hardware is traditionally reliable, for the most part. They're just keeping cost of goods low because they're not usually a company that takes a loss on hardware. 3DS and Wii U being the only exception.

And hey, I've had 4 busted Xbox 360 consoles and no one takes better care of his stuff than me. Those things were made from scotch tape and donkey sh**.

[stuna1]

Less moving parts generate less heat! A better built system means nothing if it doesn't have the key ingredient that would warrant you going out to purchase another for! Which your 2 PS3's and 5 Xbox 360's did, games.

[Klad]

My xbox 360 red ringed too, just through it in the bin and bought another one

[LOOK_AT_THIS_I]

Lol. My wii still works too. A 2 inch layer of dust on top worked wonders to keep it in mint condition. Wii sports , havent tried the zelda games since nes, and Mario (Mario bros style) games were the only things I touched. Besides the old school titles I liked on the NES I just couldn't get into the system.

Bought the Wii u day 1 to give it a shot and pretty much the same thing. I enjoyed the zombie u game, Mario game, tried some multiplat games and again just can't get the same feeling as the other consoles. I wish Nintendo would just drop their systems and develop for ms/Sony. So concerned about money, porting games to those systems would make them a boatload.

[TheFutureIsBlue]

LOL at all the people saying "just upgrade your hdd!" ...the whole point is you shouldn't have to.

[ChickeyCantor]

But then again, playing games free online on PC, I don't see why people should upgrade to a subscription fee to play online on consoles.

Your point is "it must come out of the box" right? Not everything Sony and MS do come out of the box.

If people have no intention of buying the WiiU then they shouldn't complain.

[TheFutureIsBlue]

I'm pretty sure 5 years of ps+ is cheaper than upgrading to a really good computer part lol.

[ChickeyCantor]

"I'm pretty sure 5 years of ps+ is cheaper than upgrading to a really good computer part lol."

No it isn't, 'cause PC games drop in price real quick and there are websites that offer major discounts like g2play. Not to mention 99% of the games have free online play. Sure I paid 1200 euros for my pc 3 years back, but it does more than just gaming. I've hooked it up to my HDTV and play tons of games with my PS3(motioninjoy)/360 gamepads. I also use it as a media center. Work computer. ETC ETC.

Overall PC's aren't that expensive considering its multipurpose nature. And of course the low prices on games. I probably saved more money on games then I did on my consoles( PC games are in general cheaper, and not to mention Steam sales are delicious ).

My CPU can probably serve me for the next 4 years. Buying a robust video card isn't expensive because it will serve me for the next 4 years as well. You don't need to replace everything. Ill be happy to put down 250 to 300 for a good video card to keep my pc kicking. My old card can serve as a PhysX GPU.

[JohnS1313]

The Wii U is a horribly designed console. Not much storage space. They tell you to use an external hard drive but the Wii U doesn't even support USB 3. Dumb. That's one of many reasons to not buy a Wii U. It's way too expensive for what you get. The PS4 is only about $50 more and you don't have to worry about a hard drive. And later you can upgrade to a huge drive if you want.

[young7yang]

You are all idiots! While I am enjoying both my Wii U and PS3 and 4 you guys can continue to fight over which system has the bigger dick. As far as I am concerned they all have their unique advantages..

The Wii U is far from crap and the ps4 is not even out yet. I would rather enjoy what is out now then ponder about the future.

[tigertron]

Reggie: “We believe it’s important to provide a value to the consumer".

Only gives console 32gb of flash memory.

[Klad]

Every console has to compensate something to keep the price affordable.
Its just business!

[Angeljuice]

But the WiiU seems to *compromise* everything, that's the main issue.

[josephayal]

Thanks Reggie, the Wii U is great for its price at 300 dollars with 32GB, sadly 32GB is just too small for todays standard

[XtraTrstrL]

LOL @ Reggie having the nerver to say it's more consumer-oriented than it's competitors. It's still too expensive in that case then, and still just an annoyance to consumers. Because 90% of them will have to go buy an external hdd then.

The price will have to drop way more to even try and compete, considering it's not really a next gen console. It is barely 2x the power of 360/PS3. It's not worth the money when you look at the quality of some of their cherished IPs recently. I can't think of the last Metroid I even cared to look at pics/vids of, because they just started pushing out crappy sequels nonstop. Zelda is still decent, but I feel it's lost some quality also.

This is what happens when you try too hard to be different constantly, like taking forever to go disc based, then always choosing a way smaller media size than competitors. Now they are going with way smaller HDD sizes. I mean, crappy phones and mp3 players hold more than 32GB. This is just pathetic Nintendo. The game size restrictions will keep digital games away from your console, and all you'll have is wii-ware, it's so stupid it's hard to comprehend how they even got to this point.

[jay2]

Nah. You're laucking behind, as usual. It's come back to bite you in the bum this gen.

[MasterCornholio]

I would have gone with a 320GB HDD. And for people who complain about load times.

Have you seen the load times for Kill zone at the beginning of Sonys gamescom presentation?

It was only a few seconds and that's with the game running off a SATA3 drive.

Motorola RAZR i

[Summons75]

Because with the option to add 2tb to the system why would they want to charge you more for a bigger hard drive when your just going to upgrade anyway?

The people who complain about this are either really petty in looking for an excuse to complain or are in complete denial that buying 2tb for 50 compared to the extra 50 they would charge for 500 isn't an amazing deal.

[No_Pantaloons]

I would have to disagree with him. Flash memory has been mass produced for some time now, its in everything from cell phones to ssd's. While prices do go down over time, flash memory is pretty close to bottoming out in its current state so any price reductions will be marginal at best.

And wouldn't "value" be them buying it wholesale, it'll cost us more to buy a retail external drive...

[Green_Ranger]

Ok, so let me get this straight.. A 32 gig Wii u is bad. Sony sells a 12 gig ps3 and it's good. Sony fans tell everyone to just upgrade their hard drive and it's good. Nintendo fans say the same thing and it's bad -_-

[Tei777]

THe 12GB PS3 is entirely optional, so you have no point.

[devwan]

That's a bargain basement entry level SKU designed to entice people to throw a games console in their cart when they're out grocery shopping, kind of like the gimped 2DS from Nintendo - it's a way of fighting for the very bottom end of the market where money can still be made.

[Tei777]

I don't like external solutions, so hopefully a 120GB Wii U is available in the not too distant future.

[Knushwood Butt]

meh

[weirdo]

my phone has more memory lol

[Africa-Garvey]

Reggie, just SHUT Up!!!
You are mocking and putting the Wii U to disgrace.

Today, you will say this, 2morrow that.
KEEP QUIET 4 once !!! And let Iwata speak if he likes......
I LOVE my Wii U as it is, so just SHUT the FUCK out of your mouth !!!

[WitWolfy]

I'm gonna be honest... I'm just hanging on to my Wii U hoping it will get hacked eventually to run homebrew *cough* XBMC *cough*... Other than that its just an overly expensive CURRENT GEN console.

[truechainz]

Lol people are funny. Truly. I can't really sypathize. I had 3 lying around from other stuff that I use and truly haven't noticed a speed difference in using external. What is funny though is the people who this seems to be a problem for are people who wouldn't get a wii U anyways and are just looking for another thing wrong with the wii U (of which there are plenty). The saddest thing is that this really isn't one of them.

[Reeze]

Nobody will agree with me here, but I honestly agree with Reggie. Whether we like it or not, the main audience for the Wii U as of now are both hardcore Nintendo fans and children who simply like Nintendo games.

Nintendo fans will be more likely to buy digital content, so it's understandable that they'd want more memory.

The younger audience, however, cannot buy their own games. They tell their parents "I want this game," so the first thought the parents have is to go to a store to buy it. In this case, there won't be much storage space needed.

So why should you force people (some of which will not even use up EIGHT GB of space) to buy a much more expensive console?

I personally think it'd be interesting if they sold a deluxe deluxe (hehe) edition with 200-500 GB. This would give people the option of how much space they wanted to buy...

[Dravidian]

I think people are forgetting that both microsoft and sony have businesses OUTSIDE of gaming that they also make a profit on so they can actually AFFORD to sell products at a much greater loss...

Dont get me wrong, though. Nintendo has definitely made some bad decisions lately -the wii u name, the early release(should have spent a bit more time/money improving the already decent specs), poor marketing, the account system,and the game drought (I got a wii u mostly to play my wii games since my wii laser was dying)-, but I don't believe pricing was one of them. Using externals isnt a problem since the data transfer rate is faster then reading from a disc or bluray and they're cheaper than people are making them seem to be; I mean I got a 2tb external for $60.

I love sony and nintendo and was ok with microsoft until the XBONE DRM crap, but some of yall are blowing things way out of proportion without considering that Nintendo has ALWAYS been in a different business position and simply cant make decisions the same way sony or microsoft can.

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

trolls @ n4g be like

Waaaahhhhhh the Wii U only comes with 32gb waaaahhhhhh the Wii U is not next gen waaaahhhhhh the PS4 is $100 cheaper
Waaaahhhhhh the Wii remote feel so good in my a**hole

[310dodo]

I root for Nintendo, but some of the decisions that they have made lately have been very head-scratching.

32GB of memory, No DVD/Blu ray, etc...for a next gen console?
seriously that sucks big time.

[AKR]

I can understand why they wouldn't do DVD - but I guess no Blu-Ray is disappointing. But then again ~ most people like to digitally stream their movies through stuff like Netflix now-a-days, so it also makes sense why they didn't bother to add that functionality.

[310dodo]

I actually play a lot of Blu Rays and DVD TV show seasons. I have a nice HD TV, Id like a console to offer the full potential of entertainment options.

I hope I do not sound rude.
But I think consoles should be more then just gaming machines.

[AKR]

@310dodo

I can see where you're coming from - that's not rude at all.

[caperjim]

When you buy an xbox or playstation console you can play exclusives as well as 3rd party games. If you buy a Nintendo system you can play exclusives but very few 3rd party games come to the system. This forces you to buy a second system. This is expensive.

I don't see the value in a Nintendo system these days. I miss the old Nintendo. That was a great time.