Like many people going into E3 this year, I was excited to see what Nintendo's new console would bring to the table. Would it be an iteration of the Wii with better graphics? Would it be a traditional controller and console? Would it be the next revolution in gaming? I was both excited and freaked out. At the end, I was just confused.
First off, let me tell you that I am not a huge fan of Nintendo. They have great franchises but most do little for me. The last Nintendo console I owned was an N64, but it was quickly usurped by my Playstation and Xbox consoles, but I am waiting for them to win me over again.
Next, for all you Nintendo funboys (sorry fanboys), we all know that you will love the Wii U and buy the Wii U and talk long, loud, and hard about the Wii U. But what about everyone else?
Right now there is just too much that is not known that will be critical for me in my decision:
Graphics: will it be better than my PS3/360? Worse? The same?
Price: if it's not close to the PS3/360 why would I get one?
Controller: Can I use two, three, four, only one? How much are the controllers (if it's over $100 we have a problem).
Storage: how much flash memory will I have?
Online: will Nintendo improve their online functionalities?
Games: will they have real 3rd Party support or just slightly modified ports of PS3/360 games. Will they have 1st Party titles that are little more "mature"?
All these questions have yet to be answered and are all critical to most gamers.
In my opinion, Nintendo was not really ready for an E3 unveiling of the Wii U. They didn't give enough info and didn't have much to show as to capabilities outside tech demos. And while they showed that they have some 3rd party support, it was all assurances that they would be working on games (how much trust do you have in game developers telling you the truth?)
The thing that confuses me the most is what is Nintendo trying to do with Wii U? They had great success with the Wii in marketing to kids, non-gaming adults, and those who jump on fads. These market groups do not care about hardcore games, graphics, online capabilities, etc. They care about ease of gameplay and cost. Is Nintendo abandoning them? Do you want your 6 year old moving the Wii U controller all over the place if it costs $100+ to replace? Are they serious about going after the mature/hardcore demographic and wowing them with specs, graphics, mature games, and online versatility? I couldn't tell from their presentation.
Right now I am not making any plans to get a Wii U. Maybe once more of my above questions are answered I will change my mind, but right now this is looking like another GameCube debacle for Nintendo. Who knows, I thought the Wii would tank and was dead wrong, so I may be mistaken again.
What do you think?
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I agree, the WiiU did not really excite me in anyway. The graphics look good from what i seen so far but the controller and the games they showed arnt really for me. Not really a fan of Zelda.
Last nintendo i owned was a Snes lmao but i really did enjoy the N64 with my friends to play goldeneye but i never saw nintendo as a good console most of their games seemed childish to me. Well their exclusives.
Besides im sure the Next Xbox and Playstation will come out a year after and i sure can't wait.
I'm with you and never been a huge Nintendo fan. I respect and admire them, but, as far as gaming goes, they don't really do anything for me (Mario, Zelda and their other IP's just never appealed to me). I go one generation farther than you, though, and chose the Genesis over the SNES. I wanted more mature games like Road Rash, Desert Strike, and EA Sports games (damn EA, you really should bring back Road Rash). SNES seemed mostly geared towards kids and sidescrolling, platform games (which just isn't my thing).
And each generation onward, I chose a different system other than Nintendo: PlayStation over the N64 and PS2 over the GameCube. Now, I'm mostly a PC gamer (about 10 years now), but have a PS3 as console "sidekick". I have it so I can play the console only games like Red Dead Redempton plus Sony has a pretty great lineup of exclusives (love Uncharted, inFamous, and want that new Twisted Metal game....loved the first two). I really don't see switching over to Nintendo now. You list a lot of revelant reasons to be concerned over their new console.
I'd add the lack of HDD as another possible big concern (doubt the single digit flash storage will be enough; what is it only 8gbs or something?). Nowadays, a large HDD is needed for all the downloadable games and DLC. My guess is that this new console will be this generation's Dreamcast: barely better than current generation and sure to be surpassed when Sony and MS release their new machines. I also think it's just bad timing all around. The economy still sucks and the alternatives (PS3 and 360) will be much cheaper and have better 3rd party support (the key to any successful console).
Third party support till the ps4 and 720 launch.
i was interested because i thought they might have a good showing of games, but they didnt really show any.
sure they had some ps3 footage of games that are planned to be multiplatform, but i dont care about multiplatform games, i already have a console that i like that has a full list of friends that i enjoy talking to and playing games with.
they were a big disappointment to me, im all about the games and they didnt even offer me any that i dont already own.
they spent waaay too much time on their hardware (and btw, they didnt even tell us any specifics about their hardware) and not enough time on software. i would have lied to hear at least 10 exclusives being announced for it, or sell me the multiplatform games for 40$ instead of 60$
The price point of the controller and it's durability have me wondering. How rugged is it going to be? My controllers (xbox,ps) get a little wear and tear.
How does it feel? I mean let's be honest. That's a clunky looking thing. How will my wrists feel after a couple of hours into it?
Also one of those tablet controllers per system won't cut it. It needs to support more then one.