Café closed: Nintendo debuts WiiU at E3 presser

They really presented it really badly. I thought it was a Wii add-on. I think most people thought it was a Wii add-on. It IS a Wii add-on. But not just a Wii add-on. It’s also the controller to a brand new console.

Wii U, sigh…. really.
1. All the footage they showed from 3rd party is ALL PS3 and 360 footage
2. PS3 and PSP can do this already.
3. Ok maybe not aswell as WiiU
4. Vita will be able to do what WiiU those.

So with all that said.

1.Sony
2.MS
3.Nintendo

Lots of kneejerk reactions here. Looks genuinely interesting!

I’m not convinced by this at all. They’ve obviously done well getting the third parties on board, but everything they’re showing is already coming to the 360 and PS3. Are they saying that those games will be better on the WiiU, or is it all just cheap ‘might as well’ support because it’s easy to port to?

Fuck, some of those pics, along with the third party support, have piqued my interest :-/

Wooow that zelda picture look darn pretty if you ask me where do i sign to pre order this

So its a portable console you cant leave your house with?

The controller is basically the DS/3DS’s second screen, isn’t it? Destined to be your menu/map/status thingy for the rest of eternity on every non-Nintendo game released.

All those 3rd party devs said the exact same thing about Kinect and Move and all we got was gimmicky add-ons to the core game. I hope it’ll be different here.

I also hope the specs of the new machine dwarf PS3/360 so perhaps it’ll be lead platform in a couple of years’ time.

Too many questions.

By the way, when i watched it i thought the same that it was just a Wii add-on.

Hmmmmm.

The Wiimote was brilliant, but I’m not sure this is the way to go. Generally speaking, who would ever want to hold something the size of a paperback between their hands, when they’re supposed to be getting into the game?

The trick should be to make the controller disappear from consciousness, not make it the main attraction.

@54 And that’s the real question. There’s a lot of buts and ifs involved. They basically managed to win the market by betting on innovative control and ingenius branding, but providing a superior offer for developers in terms of efficiency definitely has a part to play as well.

I’m skeptical, but based on the Wii, I’m still not willing to bet against Nintendo.

Ultimately the graphics, power and features of your console doesn’t matter if you can’t make it appeal to everyone.

And Peter Moore looks more like an alien every time they show a picture of him.

@58, you can also play full HD games on it, instead of on the TV

…Wont nearly all of those third party games they showed have been out on PS3 & 360 for quite some time by the time Nintendo release this?

Well not HD, as trhe screen isn’t. But you can play console games on it while the wife watches Eastenders or whatever.

Seriously Nintendo !!!!!!!!!
This is what you’re going to defeat Sony and MS next gen consoles with ??
It barely can compete with the old Wii .

@64: Good point.

If it comes out a year after we’re all done with BF3 etc. then who fucking cares?

They did make it quite clear at one point that it was a console sending the images to the controller wirelessly.

I’m intrigued and interested in what they can do with this. Its not the killer that motion control was but it’s got lots of real gaming possibilities. The key difference between this and what you can do with a PSP/PS3/Vita is that everyone with a WiiU will have one. That’s crucial.

Doesn’t everyone cry out for something new and different in gaming all the time? Then when it’s done you give it a resounding meh before you’ve seen what they have planned? You get what you deserve y’know

Nintendo dont even seem to be ready to show any games running on it. So yeah, at best its out winter 2012 when all of those games are pretty much ‘old news’. Seems like pointless filler to me, the fact that they showed the ‘default’ trailer stuff, running on the competitions hardware just hammers that fact home.

#64 the thing is we dont know if they rush it by the end of this year, or the first months of 2012, but your point is very valid

From my point of view, this new console -Wii U- can benefit those who haven’t experienced HD gameplay on Xbox 360/PS3. Other than that, I dunno!

#68 +1, agree

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JElywbkSbY

But where is the console, or am I missing something

@68 Worth keeping in mind that no one believed in the Wii before it was launched either.

Nintendo weighed the options, took the risk, and won the market.

This seems to me like the opposite of the Wii though. The Wii was easy and convenient, it was essentially a very focused package. Now you go from a small convenient controller to a big fat one that even has its own screen built into it.

Seems like the wrong direction to me. On paper.

Looks quite interesting. Lots of interesting and unique possibilities here, and it seems able to do anything a PS3 or 360 can do too, so it’ll get all those multiplatform-titles that the Wii so sorely missed.

Only problem is that it’s a current-gen console coming out towards what is most likely the end of the current gen.

@74 http://www.eurogamer.net/gallery.php?article_id=1367957

I think this is a very clever move, price point will be crucial now.
Will Sony and MS copy this I wonder. I would prefer the MS version of this idea.

Also will it function as a very, very basic tablet away from the box?
That would interest me greatly even if it just had wi-fi, an internet browser and an sd card reader for displaying photos.

I cant believe folk are doubting Nintendo again.

OK, the 3DS hasn’t proved itself yet, 3D may have been a miss step.
But basically we’ve got a console that will interest the fad driven casual gamers, the games to make the Nintendo hardcore happy, and the possibility to actually play it as a traditional console for someone like myself.

This is what the wii should have been.

Full backwards compatibility and increased functionality with the older Wii games is a very sensible marketing strategy as it gives reason for all the Wii households to upgrade without it seeming like a loss of investment for them.

#78 RandomTiger. ”This is what the wii should have been.”

I agree with you, but it’s a little (too) late!

@77 thanks I was worried for a second there!

I can honestly immagine one of those things will cost A LOT. Does the WiiU come with only one of those little-iPad-things inside? So how much would people have to spend to buy a second (and third, and fourth??) controller? Like buying a REAL next generation console, or something?
Underwhelming to say the least.

@80 I know what you mean, this would have been much more significant 1 or 2 years ago but I still think they have a good window of opportunity. My concern is the non gaming functionality will be rushed and not well considered and simply not as slick as what Sony and MS would do. Its online services are likely to be as dire as usual.

Wow, that’s pants.

http://e3.nintendo.com/hw/

#83 RandomTiger. Sure, but as I said before, this is more usefull for whoever haven’t had the chance to experience these features on Xbox360/PS3.

It’s a hard move because all of the things their trying to achieve are already accomplished by the competitors!

Would love to see the damage these can do while playing wii bowling or tennis. If they are going for people with Wii with small children do not know if id want a 10 year old or younger with that type of tech controllers get tossed dropped and ect a lot.

To those saying Xbox Next and PS4 will graphicly speaking, blow the doors off of WiiU, lemme ask you how much better do you think graphics will get from where we are right now?

Because I don’t anticipate a tremendious leap going forward. I am not even sure we will see a xb to xb360 type jump. I am almost sure we won’t. I think some key games might but most will be limited by everything from dev budgets to multisystem porting.

I am looking for framrate smoothing. I’d love to see full screen AA(but we won’t). I’d love to see more players in our online games(but we prolly won’t see that either).

What are you folks looking for?

The next gen systems will be hitting close to what most would call a medium high end PC rig can do right now. It isn’t gonna be like going from a PSone to PS3 or something insane like that. Besides TVs, and again devs budgets which get reflected in retail MSRP sticker prices, and even the human eye, have limits. I really do not want next gen games to take 9 years to make and sell for 150usd.

Ps3 and vita are already doing what this system is claiming it will try and do by 2012. If they don’t release this console by early next year this will be a been there done that to the already established base. I don’t see 50million of the current 108mil ps3 and 360 owners flocking to this device. But I do see direct competition between sony and nintendo since their practically offerring the same type of content.

I believe 360 will be working on a handheld soon to compete with nintendo and sony. Seeing how they are now implementing a cloud based service. Honestly from this e3 I heavily believe the next gen is in context towards improving current connectivity from home devices and portable. So it appears Sony actually are starting the next gen

Well, showed games for Wii U have a lot of strange lightning flaws, maybe shadows was not complete? Anyway, there is no soft shadow, no shadows inside shadowed area etc. Aliens: colonial marines look ugly compared with Aliens vs. Predator.

There is no Current Gen — it’s just past gen.

Um… HDMI?

The only thing the Wii did that the others didn’t was motion control.

The notion that tech specs sells hardware is pretty much categorically disproven. If that was the case Sony would still be the console market leader, and everybody would be playing on the PC. Which couldn’t be further from reality.

Horsepower isn’t going to sell a product nearly as well as a sensible price point, a well implemented system, or a good brand.

It just makes a few nerds go “Horrrr!!!” when they hear it. That’s it. It doesn’t impress their parents, their kids, their girlfriends, or their civilian friends.

#92 well if we look the previous gens the most powerfull consoles didnt win, the N64 had better graphics than the PS1, the same with the XBOX did had better graphics than the ps2, and the ps3/360 have better than the wii, although mario galaxy both games looked great on wii regardless, so i think it is say something that great graphics is not all, great games alongside with nice console add-on features is the key, and i think this will be the same in the next gen, the company who gives the most innovative ideas will end up winning no matter the hardware graphics capability, therefore i agree with you.

Id have to disagree about graphics not appealing to the casual or kids. In fact, its just plain in simple brand recognition and marketing that sells consoles. When I compared wii and move to my 10 and 8 year old nephew they choose move. Ps3 to xbox they choose ps3. When I did the same for their money she followed the price. Although she was blown away by the exclusives on ps3 to wii or xbox she bout wii and xbox because of the prices.

Its not that nintendo is more entertaining like a lot of people try to write it off as. Its because its cheap and well known. I also used my sister for the study because she is the “keeping up with the jones type”. My nephews they just want to play games.

So, although I agree on tech specs not selling to the casual market. I don’t agree that its not something they do consider. Probably not as indepth as we view it but it is there.

Different demographics will have different criteri when looking at a new system. I also think the day of the graphics are over. Not for everyone of course, but for the majority of the game buying public.

And I have to tell you play a lot of EA Sports Football games. And the actual game functions they can put in there for that WiiU Controler is exciting. I would love to be able to draw up plays to use during my game. Stuff like that has me Very excited.

@94 If that were true, then it wouldn’t be possible for the best selling console in history to be outdone by a new brand from a manufacturer that did poorly in the last race. Clearly people made a decision based on more than just what they knew.

Proper branding is definitely important, but Playstation doesn’t exactly have any problems there. Nintendo had a horrible brand going into this generation, everything they tried to do with the Gamecube pretty much failed.

I think Wiis branding was genius, though, and that’s certainly contributed to their succes. As did the price point. Anyone in the world can say “Wii”, and most people will be able to afford it. The controllers were and are extremely expensive, though, which offsets the affordability.

The defining difference between the Wii and every other console before it isn’t neccesarily that it was more fun (that’s obviously highly subjective) – it’s that it was more fun for everyone. I can literally give a controller to anyone’s 75 year old grandfather and grandmother, and they can play Wii Sports. It’s like reinventing Pong. People who can’t even work a mouse and keyboard can play the Wii, and that makes it universal.

As I say above there are three things that sells a console before all others – Price, brand and superior systems design.

I think marketing should replace superior systems design. Because although wii motes were accessible to the majority of the population, the terrible accuracy of the controls don’t place it above standard controls. But, if you are implying that system design is towards a business model then I agree

@97 You’re missing the point. No one wants accurate controls. They don’t know what controls are. It’s the same reason they don’t care about hardware. Most of them probably don’t know what an HDMI cable is.

They relate to the fact that you wave a stick and it moves around on the screen.

You can kid yourself that everybody’s been had because you feel like your preferred console deserved it more, but the people out there playing their Wiis aren’t regretting the fact that they bought into the hype. In all likelihood they’re enjoying games that they’d never have a chance of getting into before.

Aside from that, it doesn’t really matter how accurate you are when you’re the only show in town

Umm what does my “preferred console” have to do with anything? I’m sorry one second….(proof reads)….. ok you must be making things up because I looked at this from an analytical percpective instead of a “preferred” p.o.v.

My points are made from the directions the e3 showed they were taking. And, on point with my accuracy bit I told you it was based off of the current install base of wii owners who practically don’t use their wiis anymore. So its not my own personal thoughts.

Perhaps the person not getting the point I’m making is you?

@99 The notion that marketing can somehow sell a brand on its own is really just an excuse for anyone who wants something to stop selling. An advert doesn’t reprogram your entire perception of reality. Marketing creates demand, not actual value. You need an actual product to back it up once the hype dies down.

I haven’t seen any numbers on how many people actively use their Wiis. Where did you get those? And where does it say that the accuracy (which really isn’t bad) suddenly became a problem for the users?

To me a control system that lets everyone from your 5 year old to your 70+ grandparent play on a console qualifies as an outstanding design. Really, the fact that Microsoft and Sony both scrambled to catch up says it all.