Topic: Wii U - e3 is over... now what?

[NWR_insanolord]

Significant things should get their own threads. Stuff like rumors of Tiger Woods and Toki Tori shouldn't. BnM is so prolific that if he made each thing a new thread instead of having to go back through pages of this thread we'd have to wade through pages of threads in Console Discussion.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Hey, I'm with you. I'd much rather see all these minor things in one place than have a thousand different threads with one or two replies tops.

Exactly. I don't like to create threads that I think will only get a few replies, and having 12 threads on "X Dev comments on Wii U" is really only gonna net a few replies each unless they said something significant (which they usually don't). Everything thing else seems to end up on the front page and gets a Talkback thread anyway, so we might as well steer the singular conversation there for all this minor pre-announcement stuff.

But once again, if you feel something is too big for the Catch-All or generating enough replies to survive on it's own, please just split it into its own thread. I don't have the mod access to do it myself.

[Adrock]

I would be plesantly surprised if Wii U could run Unreal Engine 4. I know we don't have final specs yet but I remember reading a comment from Tim Sweeney a while back that UE4 would be ready in like 2014 (even if unveiled later this year, it may not be finished and in developers hands until 2013/2014). Could a console, especially one made by the same company that's been fiddling with the same basic hardware for over 10 years, released in 2012 really run such an advanced graphics engine? I suppose it's possible. If true, I would be mighty impressed by the Wii U's power and Nintendo's uncharacteristic forward thinking. Honestly, I look at games being announced in 2012 like Resident Evil 6 and I'm still amazed at how good they look despite running on such dated hardware. I almost feel like a developer would have to try to make a game look bad for it to look bad.

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo's uncharacteristic forward thinking

The N64 was the beast of its generation. The NES, SNES, and GC were all at least on par with their counterparts, if not more powerful. The only time Nintendo dropped the ball with weak obsolete hardware is with the Wii, so that's just the exception and not the rule.

[NWR_insanolord]

The N64's cartridges and the GameCube's online deficiencies are indicative of their lack of forward thinking.

[Mannypon]

So by those comments of "systems we can't name" does that mean WiiU isn't supported by unreal engine 4 or that the WiiU is getting a name change and can't be named as one of the recipients of the new engine.

[Chozo Ghost]

So by those comments of "systems we can't name" does that mean WiiU isn't supported by unreal engine 4 or that the WiiU is getting a name change and can't be named as one of the recipients of the new engine.

I like your way of thinking. I certainly hope its the latter.

[Adrock]

The N64's cartridges and the GameCube's online deficiencies are indicative of their lack of forward thinking.

+1

The Wii's inability to run UE3 greatly limited developers. It was the most pervasive graphics engine for an entire generation. Wii U is more than powerful enough to run it but being able to run its successor could make Wii U the lead console for many 3rd party games moving forward even if it's weaker than the competition. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

So by those comments of "systems we can't name" does that mean WiiU isn't supported by unreal engine 4 or that the WiiU is getting a name change and can't be named as one of the recipients of the new engine.

We always have this comment to go by

If Nintendo made a system that could run our engine, we'd be on it like water on fish. And so when someone asked me what I thought about the Wii U, I said, "Water, meet fish."

So it's very possible that Nintendo and Epic worked together to make sure that Wii U would hit UE4 capable specs and that is the reason for the major bump in the last "final(?)" dev kit that was sent out weeks ago. Yet they can't name the system directly due to NDA's
~or~
like you said, the name was changed and they don't want to mention the new name because a NinNinja would have his tongue (and the rest of his head) before he even finished saying it.

[Sarail]

Ahhh, yeah. I keep forgetting about that comment from Cliffy B. at last year's E3 show. This has me very excited for what we're all about to see in a few months from now.

[Ceric]

...
the GameCube's online deficiencies are indicative of their lack of forward thinking.

That's a misnomer.  The GC had the capability to go online.  What it didn't have was the policy to unify the Online.  It just said we have this to offer go forth and use it.  The PS2 did the exact same thing.  The big difference is the PS2 had the Hard drive attachment as well.

Sony saw what MS was doing with its online and when the PS3 came out it mimicked it.  Nintendo took the GCN approach again but with some real 1st party support.

If anything the Wii and DS for that matter shows Nintendo unwillingness to embrace defacto standards.

So by those comments of "systems we can't name" does that mean WiiU isn't supported by unreal engine 4 or that the WiiU is getting a name change and can't be named as one of the recipients of the new engine.

We always have this comment to go by

If Nintendo made a system that could run our engine, we'd be on it like water on fish. And so when someone asked me what I thought about the Wii U, I said, "Water, meet fish."

So it's very possible that Nintendo and Epic worked together to make sure that Wii U would hit UE4 capable specs and that is the reason for the major bump in the last "final(?)" dev kit that was sent out weeks ago. Yet they can't name the system directly due to NDA's
~or~
like you said, the name was changed and they don't want to mention the new name because a NinNinja would have his tongue (and the rest of his head) before he even finished saying it.

With how much of an industry standard the Unreal Engine has become over the years, I think Nintendo would be silly not to meet the ideal specs for UE4.  Everyone knows that the engine itself will probably be used most of the generation.

[Adrock]

That's a misnomer.  The GC had the capability to go online.  What it didn't have was the policy to unify the Online.  It just said we have this to offer go forth and use it.  The PS2 did the exact same thing.  The big difference is the PS2 had the Hard drive attachment as well.

He didn't say GCN didn't have the capability to go online. He said it had deficiencies. What you described is most certainly qualifies as a major definciency. It was especially inadequate for any serious online gaming.

[Ceric]

That's a misnomer.  The GC had the capability to go online.  What it didn't have was the policy to unify the Online.  It just said we have this to offer go forth and use it.  The PS2 did the exact same thing.  The big difference is the PS2 had the Hard drive attachment as well.

He didn't say GCN didn't have the capability to go online. He said it had deficiencies. What you described is most certainly qualifies as a major definciency. It was especially inadequate for any serious online gaming.

By that token the Dreamcast and PS2 had major Deficiencies as well.
In fact of that generation only the XBox was really on online machine.

[NWR_insanolord]

I wouldn't say the Dreamcast had major deficiencies. It had a unified online infrastructure: SegaNet. That thing was ridiculously ahead of its time. Microsoft stole basically everything they did from Sega, which I don't mind because Sega was dead by that point and they were good ideas, so someone might as well have used them.

And yes, the GameCube had the ability to go online, but it was virtually never used. Two games supported it, two versions of the same thing, and nothing whatsoever from Nintendo themselves. The PS2 online system was lacking, but saw significantly more support than the GameCube's. Nintendo is only now catching up to where Sega was over a decade ago.

[bustin98]

Mario Kart LAN parties, and with some tunneling software you could go online with it.

[Adrock]

By that token the Dreamcast and PS2 had major Deficiencies as well.
In fact of that generation only the XBox was really on online machine.

Maybe they did but not nearly to the extent of GameCube. However, this isn't really about those consoles. Gamecube's online deficiencies didn't begin and end with the lack of a hard drive. The ability to go online with GameCube didn't do much else than exist and it didn't even do that especially well.

[NWR_insanolord]

Mario Kart LAN parties, and with some tunneling software you could go online with it.

The LAN stuff was cool, but not a substitute for real online play, and the fact that users had to go to the lengths they did to get it online supports my point.

[Ian Sane]

I won't be "pleasantly" surprised if the Wii U supports UE 4.  I'll be surprised but more in a relief kind of way.  It won't be pleasant though.  That's like being pleasantly surprised the airline didn't lose your luggage.  You're not impressed or thrilled when they don't.  It's like "well at least they didn't **** this up THIS time".

If the Wii U does not support UE 4, then I probably won't buy it because I KNOW the third party will suck.  It will be instant game over, you're finished, casuals-only.  Unless UE 4 is not well recieved and devs hop on to a different engine which the Wii U does support.

[Chozo Ghost]

By that token the Dreamcast and PS2 had major Deficiencies as well.
In fact of that generation only the XBox was really on online machine.

Maybe they did but not nearly to the extent of GameCube. However, this isn't really about those consoles. Gamecube's online deficiencies didn't begin and end with the lack of a hard drive. The ability to go online with GameCube didn't do much else than exist and it didn't even do that especially well.

The reason the Gamecube didn't have online or a hard drive is because it was in third place with very little third party support, so there was little incentive to pursue these peripherals. Developing a peripheral that succeeds is difficult even under the best of circumstances, and the Gamecube was far from being in the best of circumstances. It would have been a failure just like the 64DD (Nintendo's equivalent to the 32X) all over again. So Nintendo probably did the best thing by not bothering with it, because it would have just been a waste of money which no one would have supported anyway.

I won't be "pleasantly" surprised if the Wii U supports UE 4.  I'll be surprised but more in a relief kind of way.  It won't be pleasant though.  That's like being pleasantly surprised the airline didn't lose your luggage.  You're not impressed or thrilled when they don't.  It's like "well at least they didn't **** this up THIS time".

If the Wii U does not support UE 4, then I probably won't buy it because I KNOW the third party will suck.  It will be instant game over, you're finished, casuals-only.  Unless UE 4 is not well recieved and devs hop on to a different engine which the Wii U does support.

You wouldn't buy a WiiU just to be able to play all the great 1st party Nintendo games like Mario, Zelda, etc?

[Adrock]

I get what you're saying but I disagree. Being in first place didn't really change Nintendo's mind about online etc. In fact, it may have reinforced and justified their poor choices. Their online platform at least existed but it sucked in almost every way an online platform could suck. Nintendo still doesn't support hard drives (SD card support is not the same thing). Nintendo Network sounds extremely promising but it's unsettling that it took 2 entire generations, countless complaints from fans and near complete 3rd party abandonment to get on the ball. Still, it sounds so promising that I'm actually excited about the prospect of taking my Nintendo product online.

I won't be "pleasantly" surprised if the Wii U supports UE 4.  I'll be surprised but more in a relief kind of way.  It won't be pleasant though.  That's like being pleasantly surprised the airline didn't lose your luggage.  You're not impressed or thrilled when they don't.  It's like "well at least they didn't **** this up THIS time".

Your posts just make me sad. There's always an extremely negative slant to them. I feel like you need a hug. /Internet hug

No need to thank me. Just pay it forward.

[Ian Sane]

You wouldn't buy a WiiU just to be able to play all the great 1st party Nintendo games like Mario, Zelda, etc?

I've gotten sick of buying Nintendo-only machines.  If that's how it turns out maybe I'll buy one cheap at the end of the run.  Plus Nintendo themselves is in a creative rut, sticking to the same franchises I'm already bored of only now they have shittier controls.  I've had to fight every Wii game's controls to find the classic inside.  Why should I bother?  The Nintendo of ten years ago was known for having awesome responsive controls.
 
Competition is a good thing.  I think if the Wii U had good third party support with good third party game sales Nintendo would have to shape up regarding their own games because they would no longer have a system all to themselves.

[Ceric]

...
Your posts just make me sad. There's always an extremely negative slant to them. I feel like you need a hug. /Internet hug

No need to thank me. Just pay it forward.

And Put up on Youtube as Proof.


/Internet Super HUG

[Kairon]

You wouldn't buy a WiiU just to be able to play all the great 1st party Nintendo games like Mario, Zelda, etc?

I've gotten sick of buying Nintendo-only machines.  If that's how it turns out maybe I'll buy one cheap at the end of the run.

I know some people feel this way and I think it's understandable. I was a pretty big Blizzard fanboy in the early 2000's but my ardor has since cooled immensely, and I'm actually not hyped at all for SC2:HotS or Diablo 3 now. People grow, change, and evolve, and our needs, wants, and situations change too. I don't think there's anything wrong with life happening like that.

However, I hope this never happens for me and Nintendo. The Wii only heightened my sense of why I was a Nintendo fan in the first place, and personally I'm having trouble ranking it against the SNES and N64 for the amount of fun it's given me. I figure if I could survive the N64 and GameCube, I'm in good stead to weather a difficult future with only a Nintendo console under my TV. After all, I'm not here just for Mario and Zelda. I'm also here for F-Zero, Animal Crossing, and Wii Music.

[Luigi Dude]

The Wii did have a good number of good exclusive third party titles though.  Anyone who says the Wii was a Nintendo only system missed out on a lot of quality titles.

[Mop it up]

That just goes to show how much impact a system's image can have. People tend to believe an image rather than look to see if it's actually true.