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

[magicpixie]

Picked up my Deluxe Wii U preorder from my local EB this morning.  I didn't receive any notification so I was worried that they didn't get enough stock or something.  I walked into the store and they had about a dozen other reserved packages sitting on the floor.  I guess they forgot that they were selling these or something.


Picked up Super Mario Bros U and ZombiU after jumping on and off the fence a number of times.  I will pick up Assassin's Creed at some point. 


My update process was relatively painless.  Got a few timeouts, but everything else has been pretty smooth.  Mario looks great on the tablet screen, and I find myself looking at the controller more than my TV even when I'm using the TV.


ZombiU so far is alright.  I don't like the decision to create atmosphere by throwing "dust" everywhere, but I guess I can understand why they did it.  Since I'm such a weenie, I can only play games like this in short spurts, and the tension in this game doesn't change that one bit.  The controls are a little bit off, and I have look sensitivity cranked, but it still feels a bit unresponsive.  In other words, it's a Ubisoft FPS.


The controller is surprisingly comfortable.  I really like the ergonomics, especially with regards to the triggers(boo on digital triggers).  Recessing the second trigger is something that I've been wanting on controllers for a while, and this nails that feeling.  Unfortunately, the bumps that you wrap your fingers around on the back feel a little bit awkward when you are holding both triggers at the same time.  The placement of the face buttons is a little awkward, but isn't anything to get worked up about.


I have the unit set up in my bedroom with all of my other toys.  While messing around with Mario, I had the urge to... expel some liquids, which reminded me to try out the range of the tablet.  It worked, kind of.  The bathroom is next to my bedroom, and I got a few unstable connection messages that I remedied by treating the tablet like a cellphone trying to get reception.  I don't think the walls are necessarily "thick", so I was a little bit disappointed.  Tested out a few other rooms(a bit further away) with much better results.  I haven't tested different floors yet.

[Shorty McNostril]

Looks like the update process has caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/11/wii-u-owners-bummed-out-by-huge-firmware-update/

Hopefully overseas launches go a bit smoother. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm done installing, and now ive tested out a few things briefly, and i must say that the browser so far is AWESOME (especially in comparison to Wii and 3DS).
selecting text for copy/paste is a breeze
All that I need now is some Swype for the touchscreen, and I'm set.

Netflix is really fast loading, and the switch from TV to uMote is instaneous. It's a shame the same can't be said about switching from one menu/app to the next. But hopefully they will fix that over time.

eventually i will play a game at some point today... maybe.
Now I'm off to add friends and see if there is anymore updating i can entertaim myself with.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Looks like the update process has caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/11/wii-u-owners-bummed-out-by-huge-firmware-update/

Hopefully overseas launches go a bit smoother. 

haha

StrikerObi & Neal Ronaghan are featured in that story

[MrPhishfood]

ZombiU so far is alright.  I don't like the decision to create atmosphere by throwing "dust" everywhere, but I guess I can understand why they did it.

I saw a video with one the developers. He said he wanted everything to be dirty. Which doesn't really make sense because I can understand why indoor areas would be dusty but outdoor areas shouldn't collect any dust. Of course its just a game and its kinda like the grain effect in some movies.

[shingi_70]

The update process and miiverse being down are making me feel somewhat better for waiting a bit. All things considered its not that bad considering its nintendo first big jump into online.


One thing I hate though is giantbomb confrimed that the Nintendo Network ID is tied to the hardwarewhich entirely defeats the purpose of it in the first place.

[Traveller]

The update process and miiverse being down are making me feel somewhat better for waiting a bit. All things considered its not that bad considering its nintendo first big jump into online.


One thing I hate though is giantbomb confrimed that the Nintendo Network ID is tied to the hardwarewhich entirely defeats the purpose of it in the first place.

Yeah having the account tied to the system is this way is silly. But, I assume it will be possible to migrate content somehow between Wii U systems. Afterall, you can on the 3DS.

[shingi_70]

But that defeats the purpose of an account based system. I don't have to some weird transfer system for my xbox. (Only for saves and I could still throw most of the them into the cloud or a usb)

[Caterkiller]

Just played Tekken online, not an ounce of lag. The guy I played tracked me down so I befriended him. Miiverse posts are awesome! Its Swapnote extreme!

Seriously everything about the interface so far is absolutely fantastic. I am very impressed!

Only thing is my stylus doesn't feel smooth over my gamepad, it's very responsive but it has a weird feeling to me. This Miiverse is the future! Seriously!

[Shorty McNostril]

Good news. Everyone can access the admin parts of miiverse.

http://kotaku.com/5961665/this-guy-reckons-hes-accessed-miiverses-debug-mode-by-accident

[tendoboy1984]

I really hope Namco fixed all their network problems that had plagued Soul Calibur 5. I kept getting "you were disconnected from the host" messages constantly. I could go to the character select screen and (sometimes) spectate on matches, but the game would always disconnect me right before my turn to fight.

[tendoboy1984]

Good news. Everyone can access the admin parts of miiverse.

http://kotaku.com/5961665/this-guy-reckons-hes-accessed-miiverses-debug-mode-by-accident

Great. Now all the hackers will have a field day over this. It's the "Twilight Princess bug" all over again.

[Mannypon]

As BnM and Caterkiller have touched on the browser is 10 times better than I was expecting.  Heck, the whole OS is great.  I jumped into Miiverse real quick and was checking out a few of the communities.  Its great and reminds me of twitter/facebook in a way.  Its also a good way to get some quick feedback on a game as you can skim through the comments and see if their are any complaints being slung at the game. 

I haven't really tried Netflix yet but I'll be doing that tonight hopefully.  I still can't get over the browser though.  I don't have a tablet so this is going to become my "go-to" device when I am home and want to check something out online.  It used to be my phone but this thing is just so much smoother and better to use.  I also LOVE that my Mii is at the bottom of the browser and everytime I open my bookmarks, he opens his book.  If I flip through the pages of my bookmarks, he does the same.  Its a small touch that's very typical of Nintendo which really makes something so common become unique.  Like BnM said, if they can get swype on here, I don't think I'll ever bother to turn my computer on again unless its for college purposes. 

[shingi_70]

The TP bug was cool. Wasn't that the one that exploited the wii shop channel to see what was coming out on the VC early?

Also a mod just shut a thread down in nintendolife because I complained about the Nintendo Network id being tied to the console. But to be fair I was a bit more aggresive than I should have been.


Also so many games on that giantbomb stream looked like lazy ass framrate dropping ports. Is the wii u in danger of becoming the next ps3 port wise?

[tendoboy1984]

I guess all that RAM really did the trick. How does it compare to Internet Explorer on the Xbox 360?

I'm surprised that Nintendo built a good web browser this time. The Wii's Opera browser is decent, but somewhat slow; while the 3DS browser is awful (especially when compared to Safari on iOS). I wonder if hope Nintendo will update the 3DS browser to match the speed and efficiency of the Wii U browser.

[EasyCure]

I haven't tried the bowser yet, I just spent a few hours on Nintendoland and I must say, Battle Quest is my favorite attraction so far. I haven't gotten a chance to play the multiplayer games but that should change by tomorrow.

Miiverse is finally working and its pretty cool. I like the interface a lot, it's very simple and easy to navigate. I can't wait until the app becomes available for smartphones, but then again the Gamepad is such an awesome device I wish i could take it on the go with me.

I haven't tried the browser yet but I will tell you Netflix works like a charm. Very fast, nice image quality even on the gamepad and the switch from TV to Gamepad view is like lightning. The only thing I don't like about Netflix on the gamepad is you don't get the screen shots when forwarding or rewinding through video, but that isn't really a big deal.

I haven't tried the youtube app since my first attempt, where it kept indicating i needed to connect to the internet.. which I already was.. but perhaps it'll work now. I had TONS of issues connecting to miiverse and even the system update at first but now everything is working flawlessly.

The ability to control the tv/cable box right from the gamepad is one of those small touches that you don't realize you'll appreciate until you try it. I hate shuffling between my two remotes (1 tv, 1 cable box) and I don't sync the cable box remote for a few different reasons; so sometimes i'll have the wrong controller next to me when I need the other, or I just can't find them at all. No longer an issue thanks to the gamepad.

I haven't tried to test the range of the controller yet but from my regular distance everything works great. This was a rocky start due to server issues but right now I'm reeeeallly impressed by what the Wii U can do, and that's without playing any other games besides Nintendoland. Currently waiting for the controller to charge and then it's Zombie U alllll night

[Mannypon]

Hey EasyCure, when you map the pad to be your cable remote, do you get a guide displayed on the gamepad or is it just numbers simulating a controller?  I'll die if an actual guide shows up similar to the one used on cable boxes.  Even without that though, I can easily see this Gamepad and the WiiU being THE device I turn on when I get home at night and try to relax. 

[tendoboy1984]

So that "1 Nintendo Network ID per console" thing is a big letdown. What happens if your console breaks and you have to get it replaced? You have to create a new ID and rebuy all your stuff?

It would have been SO much easier to link everything (Nintendo Network ID and purchases) to Club Nintendo. But no, Nintendo has to be behind everyone else in the industry. I like that Nintendo does their own thing (most of the time)... But during times like this, it's like they live in their own little Japanese bubble or something.

Sony is Japanese too, yet they aren't oblivious to what the rest of the industry does. Their regional branches have plenty of input with hardware & software development. I wish Nintendo would do the same.

[EasyCure]

@manny: if you haven't set it up, I dunno if it'll work for you, but try hitting the TV button next to the power button. even with the system off it'll work (i'm doing it right now).

All it has is a number pad for channel selects, both channel and volume up/down keys, an input button that'll scroll through all available inputs (which I didn't notice before, SWEET! this is definitely going to be my main tv controller now haha). While there is a guide button, it only brings up a legend for which physical keys on the gamepad correspond to what.

@tendoboy well you CAN link up your account to club nintendo but I don't know what'll happen if your system breaks. I figure since they're linked Nintendo would let you re download everything at no cost but that's just a guess. If they do super, then the only real downside is not being able to log-in to your account from someone elses system.

[Mannypon]

Thanks for the info Easy, I set it up with my TV just not my Tivo box.  Hopefully a full guide will be available once TVii is released in a couple of weeks.  I'm going crazy though looking for reviews.  I can't find anything on AssCreed 3 or Black Ops 2. 

Quick note about the Gamepad, that screen is bananas, its only 480p but it looks just as good as my 1080p TV.  Was looking at the Trine 2 images on the Eshop, game looks like bullshots which is crazy becuase from the videos I've seen, that IS how the game actually looks.  Its amazing, I think that'll be my first Eshop purchase.

[Caterkiller]

Only draw back is I don't think I can pause, rewind and fast forward from the gamepad. Trying to figure it out now. But the input is so fast compared to my normal remote! Insanely fast!

[shingi_70]

Isn't NOA really just a giant PR factory. There are probably people on the site whoare better qualfied to answer, but from what I've heard NCL makes a lot of the decsions.

I do think nintendo would have really benefitted from having more western R&D as well as western game development studios. I think NCL really believes they will lose control if they branch out more. Stuff like saying a retro zelda would diffcult to make due to the location and language barrier's seems odd when Retro had input with the prime games and they turned out great.


To be fair Sony's Japan development studios have been pretty quite compared to its american and european devlopment.   The last guardian has been mia for quite a while.  They did just do tokyo jungle and gravity rush though, as well rain and puppteer in the pipline.

[TJ Spyke]

The TP bug was cool. Wasn't that the one that exploited the wii shop channel to see what was coming out on the VC early?

Nope, the TP hack was just the one that let you download the Homebrew Channel

[Adrock]

I tried Trine 2 for a bit. It's pretty good. I just want to be Zoya all the time. I don't care about Bootleg Gandalf or the other guy.

I spent most of my time today with the Wii U playing New Super Mario Bros. U with a friend of mine. It's so much better than NSMB2. I'm pretty sure it's because of co-op. The game feels short. We were blazing through the worlds like whoa. We missed a few Star Coins, but didn't bother replaying the stages to get them again. I'm not terribly fond of the Super Acorn power-up even though it reminds me of one of my cats (who is named Acorn). It's still better than the Propeller Mushroom (that suit Mario wears is ugly as sin). I don't have a Pro Controller yet, but not being able to use it is still shenanigans.

I didn't open ZombiU or Nintendo Land yet. I watched my friend play the 1st level of Mighty Switch Force.

The web browser is the best on any Nintendo system which isn't saying much. Really, it's a competent browser though I'll probably still use my MacBook Pro if I need to look something up. Netflix was... well, Netflix. Switching to the GamePad was neat-o, but probably not something I'll use often.

Other Musings:
1. Switching between apps and such is brutal. I'm confident that Nintendo will improve that in future system updates so I'm not worried. It's just mildly inconvenient because I like to pretend I live a fast-paced life even though I don't.
2. Miiverse didn't work the 1st 7 times I tried it. I kept getting an error. I did finally get it to work and I posted a picture I drew in the NSMBU thread thing. I got a few "Yeahs." Go me!
3. I already had to charge the GamePad twice. That's going to get old. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy a new battery before this generation is through.
4. I haven't found a way to shut off Wii Remotes when they're not in use. They just power down after a while, but it seems like a waste of battery in the meantime.
5. Not being able to change the Nintendo Network ID is kind of lamezorz. I figured you wouldn't be able to so I spent the last week or so making a final decision. My PSN ID is what I use for most things, but I just liked Catsylvania more. My friend came up with it about 2 years ago. She was with me when I bought Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and just kept saying, "Catsylvania? Why are you buy Catsylvania? Catsylvania." It stuck.

[UncleBob]

So... a bunch of people said they sent me friend requests... but I haven't seen anything.  Where am I supposed to go to see them?