First and foremost I am a gamer. Always have been, always will be. I started with the NES back in the early 90s. I have many consoles from many different companies. I will say I have given Nintendo a large piece of my mind about the Wii, GameCube, and Wii-U. Only because, I expected more. Let me preface this, I am not a Nintendo fan boy. In fact my last favorite Nintendo, was the Nintendo 64. Since Nintendo has taken 2nd or 3rd place in my eyes.
Nintendo is like a child that you want to succeed and when mistakes are made you are disappointed. Because you wanted more, you expected more, and you know they could do more. GameCube I was disappointed in the small discs, lack of DVD playback, and lack of internet. Wii I was disappointed in lack of communication in online play, and not allowing to adjust from motion gaming. Wii U was disappointed in a few things. That has shrunk. I did a hands on demo on the Wii U earlier this week, I played Sonic: The Lost World and I loved it. The colors popped, the video was smooth and the GamePad was strangely comfortable. The Wii U is definitely setting itself apart with playability. Is that bad? Not in my eyes, look at when the N64 was released. It stayed “True” to Nintendo, PlayStation and Sega Saturn were out and on discs. Nintendo, was in cartridges. Nintendo sticks to what it wants to do. Some feel this is wrong, some feel its right. I think it is neither. The Wii U is definitely mis-marketed, to be honest, people don’t know what it can do and what it is. This is apparent, because as someone who prides themselves in video game knowledge, I barely knew anything about it. It wasn’t until I played demo that I go my hands on it and made me want it. After my purchase, I did a lot of research on it. Found out a ton of things, I feel everyone should know. So this will be my hands on thoughts on it.. Games - Nintendo is known for awesome first party. Super Mario U and Super Mario 3D World have been released. Sonic: Lost World (Nintendo exclusive) is a great Third Party from Sega. Also they have announced Mario Kart 8, Super Smash and more than likely a Mario Party. The Wii U also has backwards compatibility with the large Wii Library, something that has been forgotten on the other consoles. Would that being said, EA has backed out supporting it due to lack of console sales. With EA having big properties like Mass Effect, Battlefied, Madden, NCAA, Tiger Woods, Dead Space, and many more this is large hit. EA is a large Third Party developer. Activision has stuck by so far, which is a positive. Nintendo needs to make a “Mature” first party title. Something close to Halo, Uncharted, Last of Us, etc. They need to open up marketing to those style gamers, most marketing is towards the “family”. Though I am sure this is a niche market for them, with XBOX having Plants VS Zombies: Garden Warfare and PS having Knack, that market start disappearing. Not saying Mario isn’t a hot commodity, because it sure is, there are options now. Controllers- The Gamepad has been on the receiving end on a lot of negative heat. It is definitely large, but not as heavy nor uncomfortable as it looks. It is a bonus to remote play games and also utilize the services that the Wii U offers. The Wii U also can use the Wii Motes, which was a huge hit on the last generation. The Wii U also offers the Wii U Pro Controller, which in my opinion feels and looks like the XBox and PS controller had a baby. The controller is comfortable and is great for FPS and has an 80 hour battery life. The Gamepad is a great second screen for the map and scoreboard. It is a great addition. Both Wii U controllers are able to be recharge on any USB plug in, also the AC adapter for the Gamepad. On the negative, the Gamepad is large and is needed for the use of the Wii U. Also, if you play online, it is the sole peripheral that has a headset plug in. So it is needed no matter what controller is your preference. Also, the game pad has a reported 6 hour battery life. Online play- Nintendo Network is free, something that is loss with the other systems. PS Plus is needed for Sony and Xbox Live for Microsoft. On the negative, it is still very basic, not as flashy as PSN or XBOX Live. Basic isn’t bad, but it is brought into a lot of light recently. Playback- Digitally, the Nintendo will connect to Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. It doesn’t play any disc play back, DVD or Blu Ray. This is due to Nintendo using a proprietary technology, optical disc. Similar to what was used in the Wii and Gamecube. This allows Nintendo to avoid licensing cost for the DVD or Blu Ray Technology. The Wii U optical disc holds 25GB per layer, similarly to the Blu Ray Disc. Memory- The Wii U supports SD card and USB memory extensions. The USB memory can be Flash Drives or External Hard Drives. The Wii U comes with 8GB and 32GB in the Deluxe edition in flash based memory. The PS4 and XBOXOne comes with 500GB memory in form of a hard drive. Flash doesn’t have a moving disc or moving parts. Graphics-They are as good as I can ask for, the 1080i/p capabilities make it a valued player in the console battle. I will say Nintendo’s colors pop a little more than the other consoles (my opinion of course), though the shaders are greater with PS4 and XBOXONE, I think Nintendo has done well to get into the HD field. As I said PS4 and XBOXONE have higher shaders, so the graphics are a little more defined. I would rate the console an 8/10, but I would buy the Wii U. It is much better than most give it credit it for. Nintendo did well on this console. The only thing better would be the graphic definition, even then, I feel the Wii U has a proper place this generation. Links to sites to see some related information http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/22/5135024/spec-sheet-xbox-one-playstation-4-wii-u-compared http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/10/08/5-reasons-why-you-should-buy-a-wii-u/ http://www.giantbomb.com/wii-u/3045-139/ |