When the NWR staff set out to create this feature, they had no idea just how far the discussion would take them.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/roundtable/34273
When NWR Site Director Neal Ronaghan asked staff to chime in on last week's Nintendo Direct, he never expected the frenzied back-and-forth that would follow. Nintendo fans are commonly believed to have very strong feelings about the company and its games and that passion definitely seemed to play out last Friday amongst the Nintendo World Report staff. Though the discussion started on topic, it quickly became inflamed with themes of negativity vs. optimism, objectivity, nostalgia, the N64, launch windows, the Nintendo Direct format, timing, new IPs, and finally Metroid.
The following account is the result of more than 100 e-mails flying back and forth over the course of a single day. Some sections have been re-arranged chronologically so readers can better understand the flow of discussion, and some non-relevant sections of discussion have not been included.
Continued in "On Topic: Favorite Announcements from the May 17 Nintendo Direct"
Good to see Carmine fighting the good (fanboy) fight. In many ways, he's right: Wii U will have many great games and will be a console worth owning. When you focus on the games that will be available during the full Wii U lifecycle, there is no doubt about that.
However... the console isn't there yet. In the present, in the right now, the many glaring holes and omissions in Wii U's software lineup outweigh any knowledge that good stuff is coming down the road. Why invest in an expensive new console when the software support obviously isn't in place yet? Having major publishers like EA openly reject the console doesn't help, and makes single console owners like myself think twice before opening their wallets at all.
Recent NPD results show that Wii outsold the Wii U last month, so this isn't an uncommon consumer response. Makes it hard to be too optimistic in the short term.
They haven't posted it yet...Well don't I feel silly.
Nintendo 64 had an industry changing title in Super Mario 64, which alone puts it ahead of the Wii U's offerings. Wii U does have more games in its launch window (pathetic as it is) than the Nintendo 64, but the quality of original software for the Nintendo 64 was leaps and bounds ahead of what is on the Wii U.and the n64 had a glorified tech demo in pilotwings. Even mario 64 can't salvage a launch lineup of two games.
Nintendo 64 had an industry changing title in Super Mario 64, which alone puts it ahead of the Wii U's offerings. Wii U does have more games in its launch window (pathetic as it is) than the Nintendo 64, but the quality of original software for the Nintendo 64 was leaps and bounds ahead of what is on the Wii U. There was real innovation going on with the Nintendo 64, as developers were filled with new ideas moving from the mostly 2D sprite based games to fully 3D. The Wii U, which having some solid titles, doesn't do much differently than we've seen before in its games. The promises of many more titles within the launch window (which was original March 2013) is what stings for many as well.
i think the Wii U came out with more games then thatNintendo 64 had an industry changing title in Super Mario 64, which alone puts it ahead of the Wii U's offerings. Wii U does have more games in its launch window (pathetic as it is) than the Nintendo 64, but the quality of original software for the Nintendo 64 was leaps and bounds ahead of what is on the Wii U. There was real innovation going on with the Nintendo 64, as developers were filled with new ideas moving from the mostly 2D sprite based games to fully 3D. The Wii U, which having some solid titles, doesn't do much differently than we've seen before in its games. The promises of many more titles within the launch window (which was original March 2013) is what stings for many as well.
I loved the N64, but its early offerings were weak. Yeah Mario 64 was great and Pilotwings 64 was good, but not much else for a LONG time. Looking at North America, these were the games out for N64 as of March 1997 (the same timeframe Wii U is at now):
Cruis'n USA
Killer Instinct Gold
Mario Kart 64
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Pilotwings 64
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Super Mario 64
Wave Race 64
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey
Blast Corps
NBA Hangtime
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
The Wii U has been out 6 months, these are the N64 games out in North America after 6 months
And the fact the Super Mario 64 is such a huge deal puts the N64 way ahead.as revolutionary as Mario 64 is it is only one game. it cannot make up for a gap of 18 games.
The Wii U's lineup thus far comes across as unessential while that N64 lineup was groundbreaking at the time and was a huge step up from the previous generation.we will likely never see anything as groundbreaking as the N64 again. virtual reality might do it for us but i'm not betting on it(and the tech is years off).
And the fact the Super Mario 64 is such a huge deal puts the N64 way ahead.as revolutionary as Mario 64 is it is only one game. it cannot make up for a gap of 18 games.
If you look at the N64 list, though, of those 12 games, 6 of them are first party while the Wii U has only 2, and frankly that N64 list is pretty solid.
again NOTHING can match what that game did and how much influence it had. that said Nintendo Land does do that sort of thing (along with zombiu)I think when buying a new console the feeling of a new experience is really important. Super Mario 64 gave the player the feeling that the N64 purchase was worth it just to experience that game because no other platform offered that type of gameplay at the time. The Wii U does not have that.And the fact the Super Mario 64 is such a huge deal puts the N64 way ahead.as revolutionary as Mario 64 is it is only one game. it cannot make up for a gap of 18 games.
If you look at the N64 list, though, of those 12 games, 6 of them are first party while the Wii U has only 2, and frankly that N64 list is pretty solid.
For the N64, you seem to count any game Nintendo published as first party even if they don't own the IP (like Crui'sn USA). Under that criteria, the Wii U has had 4 first party games (they also published Sing Party and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge.
Carmine really hit the nail on the head when asking what people online really mean by a "new IP.""New IP" obviously means first person game by american studio made with at least 10 million budget, having an expensive ground TV ad campaign, released in retail, targeted at 11-25 male demographics and not made by nintendo.
The staff here is pretty set on Retro's game being Metroid. If you ask me, I'm betting all on that it is Starfox. It feels right for some reason. Also, I'd just like to say that I'm tired of Metroid. Those games are great (in general) but jeez! Pace yourselves, Nintendo. Come back with things like Starfox and F-Zero, much like you did with Metroid after the absence on N64, and dribble them out on a bidecade basis or something.Close. You've got the first half of the game's name correct.
