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So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:36 pm
by pd Rydia
My images can only be up to 800 pixels high. :[

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/56 ... awiiu.jpg/

Joke stolen from F@anb0y$, yes. :nyoron:

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:53 pm
by BrainWalker
Wow... F@nboys. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. That shit was great. Is he actually updating occasionally these days?

I... really don't know what to think about Wii U. It's completely insane, except that Nintendo has been experimenting with both touchscreen technology and separate-screen controllers. Remember the GBA link cable? I don't think that thing ever caught on, but I guess they liked the idea enough to make it the focus of their first "HD" console.

And they have to know the Wii U is a ridiculous name. They have to. I think they're doing it on purpose; naming it something so goofy that it's going to get people talking about the name. Free word-of-mouth advertising!

I am skeptical, along with the majority of the Internet, apparently.

... was I supposed to comment on the comic? It's cute. :octopus:

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:33 pm
by pd Rydia
Oh, the comic is just something that popped into my mind, and I thought I'd make and post it, cuz I don't post here enough. Yeah, Fanboys is updating again!

I don't really think the Wii U is as batshit as it first appears. There was so much emphasis on the controller, but the controller's only...well, the controller. It's otherwise a fairly traditional console setup with a TV display, which means you have 2 screens, one of which is a touch screen. It's a fair bit like the DS. If devs remember that, and remember what we've learned from DS games when starting to make Wii U games, then it shouldn't be all that impossible to start off by making decent games--even games that are an improvement over what was there before.

Mind you, I don't think every game that was good for the DS will be good for the Wii U, and I think the Wii U will have strengths that the DS doesn't (as one obvious example, the screens are bigger, which means more information can be displayed at once; also, games should be able to hold more information than DS carts). So it will take some time for devs to figure out how to make the best games on the Wii U. But at least we shouldn't have that dead area at launch (as we did with the DS and Wii) when devs had no fucking idea what to DO with the thing.

Personally, I'm kind of interested in seeing a game with multiple input types. The Wii experimented a very little with different players taking on different jobs (Zak and Wiki, Mario Galaxy 1/2), but the input method was the same (wiimote). If Wii U games can use Wii controllers as well as the tablets, then you can have, say, an FFCC ripoff where your mage classes cast spells using the tablet (a la DS games Tao's Adventure, Lost Magic) and your melee fighters use simple wiimote gestures (a la Wii games MadWorld, No More Heroes). I'm not sure how well they will be taken, all in all, but we might get a few interesting little niche or downloadable titles.

I'm mostly concerned about the transferral of VC and WiiWare games, and the fact that the Wii U is not GameCube compatible. I'm not interested in rebuying VC, WW, and GC games, or keeping around 2 Nintendo machines.

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:02 pm
by BrainWalker
Actually, speaking of different input methods for different players, one of the tech demos I saw had five people playing a hide and seek minigame. The seekers all had wiimotes + chucks and were each looking at their characters in splitscreen on the TV. The hider controlled her character via the touchsscreen controller thing, and got a head start to find a hiding spot before the other characters entered the stage. A relatively simple application, but neat, and it shows that they're at least thinking about the idea of multiplayer using different input methods.

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:13 pm
by PriamNevhausten
Are we on about the name thing again?

Did we forget it's called the Wii? I'm pretty sure the thread mocking that one is still around, posts don't decay very quickly around here anymore.

Also, I'm surprised something like a screen-separated tech got picked for an educational purpose in a nation such as Japan, where the schoolwise perception is more "we sink or swim all together." You'd think that something that enables individuals to "catch up" in a more private fashion runs a little counter to that kind of value. The times, they are a-changing!

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:22 am
by BrainWalker
Yeah, and "Wii" was a pretty ridiculous name, too. And it also gave them some free publicity from people talking about the weirdness of the name. We've acclimated to it now, but that doesn't mean it wasn't weird when it was news. And just because they've done it again doesn't mean Wii U isn't a weird name. It's just less unexpected this time around.

I actually hadn't heard anything about Wii U being considered for use in education in Japan. Got a link, perhaps? I could just Google it but I need to leave for work in... now.

Re: So, about that Wii U...

Unread postPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:30 am
by PriamNevhausten
Wasn't that....wasn't that its purpose? I thought its design was to be an educational tool. Hence, the U part of the name. Am I thinking of some other news thing?

edit: Wow, apparently I totally was thinking about something else. Consider my entry in this discussion retracted while I readjust my paradigms.