IGN-Nintendo Wii U Review

IGN:Like most consoles at launch, Wii U is a mix of awesome new ideas and mediocre execution. This is Nintendo's first foray into HD, into true social offerings, into the dangerous business of internet communities, and for the most part it's been handled fairly well.

[NYC_Gamer]

Wii-U the console has been getting a lot of mixed reviews

[camel_toad]

Got mine on launch day, wasn't blowing my mind or anything but was enjoying having a new system and playing Zombi U until it bricked an hour ago. Froze up at the eShop and I powered it down (didn't unplug it) and it it wouldn't come back on.

Launch console woes.

[BattleAxe]

7.6/10 is a very appropriate score for this console. Looking forward to playing some Mario.

[MartinGlow]

Shit man that sucks. I'm hoping you will be getting a free replacement?

[camel_toad]

@MartinGlow

Yeh I called them and barely even had to wait in a queue to speak to a real rep. They're shipping me a box to ship it to them in, all free. Hopefully it won't take too long.

[Man-E-Faces]

Nintendo is so cheap they can't even put a reset button on the console, instead you have to literally unplug the power cord from the wall power socket. Given how many games & apps freeze all the time it's Russian roulette every time you pull the plug you will brick your console, does this not piss people off. I didn't think it was possible to match 360's cheap hardware but here comes Nintendo making a strong push. Also is anyone pissed off that there's no ethernet port on the console only wifi, why should I have to buy an ethernet port adapter seperatly. I have to say it makes me appreciate how good the PS3 is in having features we take for granted like a reset button, ethernet port, dvd/blu-ray playback. WiiU just feels incomplete to me.

[SilentNegotiator]

Buying launch is a sucker's game, man. No offense.

[NegativeCreepWA]

I'm on my second already, power went out during the update. What are the odds.

[Starbucks_Fan]

Didn't the PS3 get a lot of mixed reviews when it came out?

[NastyLeftHook0]

it got bashed to hell, but that was 06-07, now its getting mad love.

[LOGICWINS]

Different situation. The PS3 offered a tremendous value at $600 considering that standalone Blu-Ray players were valued at $999 in 2006. The Wii U doesn't offer that type of value from a specs perspective.

[Jinkies]

Yeah but I don't think people were saying

"This dosent really feel like a next gen console"

The price was the main thing people went on about, but now it's understandable since the PS3 is pretty much futureproof and what it offered at the time

[Blastoise]

The Wii U just doesn't seem like a good investment for the money.

Look at the PS3 now, look at the games coming out after all this time. They're still impressing me. The Last Of Us, Beyond, God of war ascension

Halo 4 shows the 360 can still make some great looking games too.

I just don't see this with the Wii U...

Obviously graphics aren't everything, but I can't shake this feeling that the Wii U is kind of underwhelming for the price tag, and after all this talk of 5GB installs and error's I can't see myself buying one anytime soon

[LOGICWINS]

"The Wii U just doesn't seem like a good investment for the money."

Your not alone. Expect Nintendo to hold back supply to create the illusion that the Wii U is this must have product that people need to go crazy over.

[Donnieboi]

Yeah, but at least the PS3 really was next gen at the time. Having to put up with Wii U's shortomings, AND it's hardware/software issues just isnt worth it.

[stuntman_mike]

PS3 got the crap ripped out of it when it came out probably the same people crapping on WiiU.

[LOGICWINS]

Mixed? I think the general consensus is that its rather underwhelming. These are cases when I trust IGN/Gamespot over gamers who bought it. VERY few people will admit that something they JUST paid $299 for sucks.

Do the games have potential...yes. But, at the current price point and game library, I don't see it being worth it. I can get Mass Effect 3, TT2, Black Ops 2, and AC3 on my PS3.

I'm shocked that Nintendo didn't give more info about Zelda and Mario 3D Wii U. That would have helped them sell more Wii Us between now and next fall.

[millzy102]

actually no if I spent $300 on something and it was crap I would be furious. and openly admit it. when my first 360 red ringed I told people not to buy it at the moment and after my 5th I gave up. so I would listen to people's options that makes more sense especaily when web sites tend to be more biased as aposed to user rating.

[LOGICWINS]

^^Not everyone has your common sense. I know several people that are on their 3rd 360. They complain about their 360s red-ringing...but they keep buying them lol.

[jbgamer]

The ps 3 got bashed 600 dollars for a machine that had nothing? A good value wow look at all the fans of sony, and microsoft gathering here, talked to a lot people who have console, and people who work at stores the fans love it, amazon 5 out of 5 stars so please nice try to act like you are "fair" that term i use jokingly. The wii u has sold out everywhere. And the wii sold 90 million gee what type of illusion did they make with that one?

And how could they sell more wii u's it has sold out everywhere. And the controller is what sells the machine, all you can do with the controller. So a blu ray for 600 bucks? What a joke.

[Quetzll]

We have games that take days after release to review. The wiiU is an entire console with who knows how many years/games to go. a review this early is simply unfair.

and for the record, i'm not saying its ok to release a console that's likely to brick on its first and day-1 update, that really is disappointing.

[Eyeco]

I have nothing against the Wii u I think.its set to be an excellent system the problem I have is that its trying to appeal to the gamers that game primarily on ps3 and 360 platforms , as of right now why would any of those gamers buy a system to play games they either already own or can play on their current consoles especially if there hardly any graphical difference between the 2,
with the exception of classic Nintendo exclusives, I really don't see anyone rushing out to buy the console as of right now

[Beastforlifenoob]

@quetzll
wtf do you think reviews are? For fun and games? Reviews are for people who are looking to buy the console/game/product so why should they release a review ~1 year after it's come and so many have alrezady bought?

[finbars75]

Its funny that I have been saying this about the wii-u for months that it wasnt going to be that impressive on launch day.It was just another gimmick nintendo came up with so all you idiots would buy it.You can bash me all you want but it wont bother me at all.I no the truth and all you people who went out and bought this supposid next gen console which it isnt can come out of denial on how you got duped.I have played the wii-u uzombie and it was terrible.Very stiff mechanics, grainy, washed out graphics and uncomfertable controll I pad wannabe crap.Have fun playing last gen while %80 of us will play next gen nest year.

[Thatguy-310]

The next batch of consoles are going to shit on this so badly. They should have just waited instead of rushing into next gen.

[kwyjibo]

"Like most consoles at launch."

So true. Never be an early adopter, or you'll get lumbered with a red ringing HD-DVD.

[InTheZoneAC]

had a launch gameboy, ps2, psp, ps3, vita

so far so good...

[GillHarrison]

I really enjoy the community features, but I just really need some killer software to actually test the thing. They should've really put downloaded game data into a cache before applying it to the actual system. Also an automatic roll-back on core system software in case of shutdown during an update. I feel like a lot of kids will be unplugging the system when the updates are taking too long.

[maniac76]

Im just gonna use it for past wii games iv yet to play and nin exclusives,save the multiplat games for 360 or ps3. Least nin characters are finally in hd Kappa :)

[Deku-Johnny]

What about the multiplats that are better on Wii U like Black Ops, Assassin's Creed, Aliens etc?

[Godchild1020]

From 2013 on, if Multi-platform games are better and I don't mean just using the touchpad better. I will be buying all my games on the Wii U. If not I will still with my PS3/360 for Multi-platform games. As of now my Wii U is for First party titles.

[TKCMuzzer]

Their not £300 better that's the issue. Who would fork out all that money for slightly better versions, your essentially paying to have HD versions of Mario and Zelda etc.
I get this strange feeling for Nintendo that when Sony and Microsoft show some next gen game footage they could be in trouble, especially if their trying to entice the hardcore crowd.

Remember the multiplats are not better on the WiiU they just look slightly better, they are in all truth the same games.

[NastyLeftHook0]

im getting one for zelda alone! there is lso mario, starfox, metroid, f zero series ect.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

ps4 will have the tech to generate it's own unbiased review - fact..

[Deku-Johnny]

Just like everyone else you don't know anything about the PS4 so what's the point in trying to hype it up on a Wii U article?

[Deku-Johnny]

I'm glad they don't go too much into the specs. A lot of articles go on about how underwhelming the specs are even though no one outside of Nintendo knows much about them.

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

I can't believe the Wii U still doesn't even play DVD's. -_-

[DeadPixel]

Who the hell still watches DVDs anyway, it would be like putting an antenna on an iPad...

[Hicken]

DVDs have been around for about 20 years. Most of those movies are not on Blu Ray, so what good would it do to have a media player that DOESN'T play all those movies?

And that's just the old stuff; new movies STILL come out on DVD. Hell, I got the Avengers combo pack with DVD, Blu Ray, AND digital copies.

DVD isn't going anywhere any time soon, and it's a simple format, so why NOT have that playability function?

[NYC_Gamer]

Wii-U just doesn't strike me as being next gen..Nintendo never spoke on hardware specs for this very reason because they knew it wasn't the big leap people expected...Nintendo will be in trouble with third party again once PS4/720 come into the picture....

[Jinkies]

"Nintendo will be in trouble with third party again once PS4/720 come into the picture...."

and yet people are still in denial about this

"Well you don't know what the PS4/720 specs are, you don't know nothing"

Sorry but what I've seen from the Wii and the Wii U so far it won't be as powerful.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

I don't know about getting a Wii U. I mean the next generation of consoles for MS and Sony is right around the corner. Besides games, there's nothing really that the Wii U can do that my 360, PS3, or PC can't. Probably going to wait until E3 2013 and see if MS or Sony announce their systems and see announced games for the Wii U.

[jbgamer]

WAIT AND SEE THE WII U WILL BE DOMINATE, LOOK AT THE SALES. APPLE GOT THIS KIND OF SHIT ALL THE TIME, AND WHO DOMINATES THE PORTABLE HAND HELD DEVICES? APPLE I PAD, I PHONE, YEAH, THE BIASED CRITICS WILL NOT STOP THE WII U! THE FANS WHO ARE BUYING THE SYSTEMS AND THE GAMES, which are selling out ever where.. just like the wii got mixed reviews when it came out 100 MILLION SYSTEMS WORLD WIDE LATER... so as you can see the biased media means nothing!

[Beastforlifenoob]

Actually the Samsung S3 has surpassed iphone 4s and iphone 5 sales for about a month now so....

[jbgamer]

Well it took a long time though didn't it, and who has the overall no1 sales? Apple, so sorry 2 months does not count sooo....

[wingman32x]

To be honest, I am kind of underwhelmed by some things I've been hearing about the system. I'm not upset with graphical capability, because I can see some benefits of a more modest leap in tech. For example, it could serve as a home to smaller devs depending on how much more dev costs are going to be for PS4/720.

However, the slow OS, if true, is just sloppy IMO. Hopefully there's a resolution for it. Also, I think the battery life to charge time ratio is pretty weak.

Overall I don't know how I exactly feel just yet. I will get one, though, because there's no way I'm missing Zelda.

[DeadPixel]

I think there's lots of room for improvement, like longer lasting battery packs and we can expect a few patches to fix the biggest issues sometime soon as the console goes on sale worldwide. Anyone would think this is the first time a console has had problems at launch lol

[mydyingparadiselost]

People seriously need to stop and think a little more about the ps3/360 launch problems. Anybody remember the 40% 360 failure rate, red rings all over the place, sonys almost 20% hardware failure rate, the numerous patches that have brought them to the state they are at now and the fact that this is just the FIRST FEW DAYS of wii u existence. Everyone seems to think its supposed to be perfect right from the start, no issues and badassery in every aspect day one, and thats just not how consoles work now.
I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with the wii u and how exactly it intends to rival ps4/720 competition. The possibilities of what the accessory port at the bottom of the gamepad could be used for instantly comes to mind... some augmented reality glasses? some kind of attachment to add to overall system power? hell maybe just a battery pack, i don't know. I do know that gaming history shows that where there is a port there will something to plug into it ;)

[admiralvic]

Thats just how the industry and community works and honestly makes no difference who or what the console is. I own a Wii U and while I don't think it's the best thing ever (I actually went back to Borderlands 2 to finish off my Torgue trophies 4 hours after hooking it up), I think we will see more uses down the road. For instance, I thought the remote stuff was stupid, but it took maybe 3 minutes to set up and now I can control my TV / Set top box via the gamepad. I also find playing Mario on the controller a bit more fun since I don't need to look at the TV. Unfortunately we're going to hear all this hate till Nintendo releases / announces more info on Smash Bros or the "killer game" comes out. I don't think it's something people have to buy at the moment, but I certainly think it will be really cool down the road.

[Servbot41]

To be fair, Nintendo had 6 years to take in and learn from Microsoft's and Sony's mistakes this gen, and yet they learned nothing.

[Toadmaster89]

Kinda off topic, but:
Has anyone noticed that that guy LX_Commander or whatever his name is hasn't posted as often as before when the Wii U was barely coming out?

[Jinkies]

Oh he got banned, the reason he had so many bubbles was because he was using dupilcate accounts. His first account from ages ago was when he was a one bubble troll on this site.

He had like Five in total, he was actually talking to himself at one point with two accounts

I knew he was fake...sad really

[Blastoise]

Lol no way as if he actually got banned.
So all those other accounts like Kaos-Emerald ect were actually just him?

I genuinely thought they were just wannabe's.

Either way, I wont miss the guy

[Protagonist]

@Jinkies

Just out of curiosity, how do you know that?.

Eh, I just realized you are out of bubbles!

[vitullo31]

For real he actually got banned? That's great news

[Beastforlifenoob]

He would be in here ranting about how WII U will be the best
rated H- For happy he's gone (see what i did there ;p)

[Ddouble]

He got banned for the Wii-U launch.Praise The Lord!

[Williamson]

I'll eventually get a wii U as I'm sure Nintendo will deliver with the next 3D Mario,Zelda, and hopefully another donkey Kong game.

[Beastforlifenoob]

They will deliver because it will be the same :)

[potedude]

And then 2.5 hours to charge it again. Plus gamepad wont charge from WiiU. That reeks or crap right there.

Essentially if you want to keep playing you have to buy several gamepads. If you want to play coop on the same machine then realistically you will need four gamepads. That's not great...

[oldskool79]

I have a Wii U and you can charge and play the cord is like 10ft.. I like the system I see the potential its all up to the developers. Lets judge when games are built for the Wii U from the ground up and not based on the X360/PS3..

[admiralvic]

While you're right about it not charging from the WIi U, it comes with a power cord so you can charge it via the wall socket (pretty long cord, though I also have a small room). If this is such a problem for you, you can always purchase the DX or cradle, which is just drop and charge. Sure it's not insanely long, but the average gamer doesn't have 3 - 5 hours to drop on gaming rotunely enough to really make it bad. Also you can use wii motes or other things to co op on the Wii U. Games like Mario U don't even require the gamepad (it just lets you place blocks where you see fit), so thats also not a problem.

[Munnkyman]

I got mine last night. When it works I like,but man it's freezing on me all the time. From just clicking to go to settings or just playing a game it locks up. I got trine 2 And it was unplayable since my remote kept getting disconnected. I knew there would be issues but man this is ridiculous

[DeadPixel]

How old is this review? he talks about not having apps like Netflix ect they're all available plus YouTube lol

[wiiulee]

mix reviews besides just haters hating...are just base on the fact that developers need more time to bring out the true innovation and power of the wiiu, which will no doubt start happenning late next year.....nintendo has done mostly everything right with the wiiu and with 3rd party developers on board, i see wiiu winning next generation hands down...haters will disagree at their own peril

[-Gespenst-]

Can you really review a console that's just come out?

[NYC_Gamer]

Yes,the functions and features of any hardware could be reviewed...

[tonywood]

I think ign is looking at the specs and judging what the wii u may be able to do moving forward. I made a comment about wii u price..because its capablilties are mostlt current gen, and my waiting is solely based on the launch asking price.

I will still call the wii u next gen, because this system is better than what they had...and the gamepad could help with gameplay innovation. I agree with the score though...their best titles are mostly 3rd party. (And are all out now and cheaper on ps3 & 360)

[tonywood]

The only reason this would get a low score from me is due to the price. $200, and only one model...then thw wii u would be a no brainer for consumers. (Eventhough people are paying $300+ now!) Wow.

[Kos-Mos]

First you trust ig,n then you dont, then you trust them again. I will never trust them again after they gave gtaiv 10/10.

[360ICE]

It's weird how many people in this thread agree that Wii U is a bit of a let down. Looking forward to try it for myself, so I can agree with you guys :P

[abzdine]

Nintendo hardware is 99% about games. I'm not surprised about the mixed reviews but it's gaming first!!
I think they could have made a better looking interface.

[360ICE]

Nintendo hardware is 99% about software?

But the interface isn't that good?

[Killman]

$300 for what is essentially a slightly beefed PS3 with 2.5 GBs (Because of that stupid patch) with the potential of the console breaking if my router decides to cut out the connection only for a few seconds while this massive update is happening. That kind of frustration is not worth Mario Bros. U, Nintendo. I am just unimpressed right now.