170°

Meet the new Wii U exclusive that proves the console's future is bright

here's a little corner of Cardiff that's forever Kyoto. Here, in spitting distance of Cardiff University and within the sprawling student district of the Welsh capital, lies Dakko Dakko, a little cauldron of colour hidden in an otherwise drab office block. Leave your shoes at the doors and you enter a small, busy space, decorated with bright tatami and candy-pastel Mario toys.

And at the far corner you'll find Rhodri Broadbent, a man whose heart's been touched by the Japanese city. He's had a fascinating career, has Broadbent - having worked at Lionhead on the first Fable, the Welsh developer moved out there to join Q-Games, where he got to meet Shigeru Miyamoto while working on Star Fox Command.

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eurogamer.net
Muffins12234082d ago

Yes...a 2d indie plat former will is definitely a unit seller lol..

Neonridr4082d ago

The Title alone makes me want the game..

"Scram Kitty and his buddy on rails"

what's not to love in that title.. :P

Bigkurz854082d ago

"We need a SYSTEM SELLER. Yea, like MARIO! Oh wait, there is a Mario game! I think we meant a 3D Mario...yea thats it! Or maybe blockbusters like Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, and Arkham City! Hmm, we have those too! I know, I know...PIKMIN! That's gonne move consoles. But fear not. If those all fail, we have Scram Kitty and his buddy on rails! Wii U FTW!"

Flavor4082d ago

Yeah this is gonna really save the Wii.

admiralvic4082d ago

I assumed the title was sarcastic -shrugs-

stragomccloud4082d ago

It's less the individual game. More the the fact the Wii U is becoming THE platform for Indie developers. And with it's very PC architecture, many Indie games are only going to Wii U and PC.

bicfitness4082d ago

You realize that Sony and MS are both using off the shelf computer components right? And that both PSN and Live have way more "indie" games than all of Nintendo's platforms combined? Indie games will be EVERYWHERE next gen, not just on certain platforms.

stragomccloud4082d ago (Edited 4082d ago )

Of course I do. I build/repair PCs.
Cell though is a pretty unique architecture though, so I don't think I'dd call it "off the shelf" though.

However, Wii U is a more modern architecture in that it's GPU focused. Modern GPUs are GPGPUs and perform a lot of tasks traditionally assigned to the CPU. Since Xbox 360/PS3 are both more dependent on their CPU than their GPUs it's not quite as PC friendly as the Wii U.

Of course all of the next generation consoles will rely more on GPU than CPU though PS4/720 will also have a little more power to boot~

bicfitness4082d ago

I'm talking about how next-gen boxes and their infrastructure (PSN/ Live) will be the better than this gen. I've built every PC I've ever owned, so I know a fair bit myself. Regarding the Cell, since we're onto next-gen boxes and backwards compatability is out, that seems a rather irrelevant point to discuss. Still, when programming for the Cell, a lot of devs take the easier - but workable - way out and just instruct the 3. something (3.2Ghz? I can't recall) CPU for related tasks and ignore the SPUs entirely. That one core alone is faster than the triple core broadway Wii U CPU, which is a PPU architecture that is over a decade old now.

It also doesn't matter how strong a GPU is (Wii U's in this case), if the CPU is slow and the memory (DDR3) is starving the system for bandwidth. But I digress.

Programing issues aside, both MS and Sony's next boxes will be far more PC compatible and capable than the Wii U, along with their more advanced online services. So I just don't see the Wii U keeping up, sorry.

cleft54082d ago

You joke, but indie games will end up being the driving force behind the WiiU, especially if Nintendo keeps being supportive of indie developers.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4082d ago
bicfitness4082d ago (Edited 4082d ago )

One indie game does not a bright future make. And who's to say that this won't be on the Nextbox and PS4 with their "off the shelf" PC parts and far more developed online infrastructure. I'd be shocked if Sony at least doesn't continue to open up their walled garden mentality. Indies will be on every platform that allows them, that's how the industry is flowing.

Neonridr4082d ago

that all depends on how much it costs to get their games onto the 720 and PS4's systems.

Indie developers don't have lots of money, and with Nintendo opening their arms to indie developers and giving them so much more free reign (ability to set their own prices, patches and updates when they want to), the Wii U will be a great place for these indie developers.

Not to say that Sony and Microsoft won't have their fair share, but just something I have heard a lot lately from many small time developers.

bicfitness4082d ago

From two developers, and the next gen consoles aren't even out yet. The problem with games journalism is that its entirely reactionary and without a sound basis in forecasting or reality. The next two soon to be "current gen" consoles are due in 6-8 months. I think that it would be wise to withhold from making any wild assumptions until they are here.

Neonridr4082d ago

well every developer who has published on the eShop has praised Nintendo, so that's a few more than two. But yes, I am not saying we won't see tons of stuff on Sony or MS next console.

Drekken4082d ago

Grasp those straws Nintendo lovers!

Captain Tuttle4081d ago

Ninty is in trouble with this thing.

80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."

60°

8 of the most useless amiibo figures ever released

A new list goes over eight of the the most useless amiibo, ranging from the Shadow Mewtwo card to the Qbby figure.

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nintendoeverything.com
80°

Looking Ahead: The Lingering Questions About the Next Mario Kart

VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "10 years. It’s been almost 10 years since the last mainline release in the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart 8 came out for the Wii U in 2014 and became the best-selling game for the system by a sizeable margin, and later pulled the same magic trick on the Nintendo Switch under the stage name Deluxe. All in all, it's sold nearly 70 million copies over the last decade and is still selling like hot cakes to this day, so it’s no wonder Nintendo has been in no rush to replace it. However, with rumors of a new system being just around the corner, and reports a few years back that a new Mario Kart is indeed under way, it seems the era of 8 might very well be drawing to a close. It’s an exciting prospect to be sure, but after two Nintendo systems with Mario Kart 8 at their heart, a lot of questions remain about how Nintendo will choose to follow it up."

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vgchartz.com
Yi-Long7d ago

I hope they just keep building on Mario Kart 8; Add a track-creation tool, and probably open it up to more Nintendo IPs with new tracks and characters, so Metroid, Punch Out, Starfox, Animal Crossing, etc etc.

gold_drake7d ago

there wont be a new one until the switch 2 comes out.

nintendo needs their bangers early on