WII U

[Tiplodocus]

If you thought the Dredd promotion was bad, promotion for this must be worse.

3 weeks to console launch and I've yet to see a poster, TV advert or even display in a games shop window. 

Does it actually exist or is it just a brilliant practical joke being played on me by EDGE and NINTENDO OFFICIAL MAGAZINE?

[Banners]

At this rate, I'm not going to make any profit from the very many Wii U consoles I've pre-ordered ready to sell on eBay.

[Keef Monkey]

It's 3 weeks to launch? Wow. I hadn't even noticed, I don't think I remember any of my many gamer mates/colleagues even mentioning it so I assumed it was out next year.

[JamesC]

To be honest, I don't think there's a very exciting launch line-up and I think that lots of people got stung by the hype for Wii and then realised there was a major shortage of quality software.
Nintendo really need to build some bridges with third party developers.

[Goaty]

Honest, many people stops used Wii, so is it bit out of the date?

[radiator]

I don't think anyone is remotely interested in the Wii U. The only people I can see buying it are parents with young children. I'm certainly not buying one - I was burned by the Wii (which would have been sold long ago were it not for Wii Fit, which my girlfriend uses).

Nintendo seem really out of step with recent trends in tech/videogames. 3DS and Wii U seem like real missteps.

[JamesC]

Nintendo are a very strange company.

The press on the Wii U is all about the innovative use of the second screen and how it will bring everyone together. Trouble is, you only get one of these supplied with the console - so how is it bringing everyone together?
When the NES was released even the most basic set included two control pads and a copy of Super Mario Brothers (a proper game - not some tech demo).

The 3DS, in it's first year of release brought out a first party game (Kid Icarus) which you needed an extra peripheral (the circle pad pro) to play properly. This seems like terrible planning to me. Why not include a second analogue stick on the 3DS in the first place?

[radiator]

The 3DS seemed misconceived entirely - it's telling how they've dropped the focus on he 3D in the marketing, as people just don't like it.

They should have come up with something to really rival the iPhone/iPad.

[JamesC]

It seemed sensible enough to capitalise on the massive success of the DS - so I can understand the two screens etc.
They'd have probably been better off having two touch screens.
They're having a laugh charging £5 for downloads of old NES games and £3.50 for games that are 69p on iPhone.

[Link Prime]

As you can no doubt tell from my avatar, I'm a Nintendo WHORE, but even I aint that pushed for a Wii U. It'll actually be the first Nintendo console I wont be buying on launch day since the SNES.

No doubt I'll pick one up after a price drop (or same day of release of the next Zelda game ), but I totally agree with the sentiments regarding the seemingly zero advertising / visibility / hype regarding the upcoming Wii U launch.

The original Wii had some crackin (and exclusive) games though- both Zelda titles, both Super Mario Galaxy titles and Metroid Prime 3 to name but a few.
For me, even a handful of essential games justifies the purchase of a system (in the same mold, I only ever used my X-Box 360 for Halo / GOW titles).
I'm sure I arent alone in that mindset.

I hope this thing doesnt sink Nintendo further than the 3DS did- but its not looking good.
Genuinely, I hope I'm wrong and that its a success. We'll see...

[WhizzBang]

A shame to see so much negativity towards the Wii, it is a superb machine. All those Nintendo classics on Virtual Console plus about 15 AAA titles. Sure, there is some dross but that goes for all machines.

I have a XBox 360 as well and I think it is an appalling machine - noisy, slow at simple browsing tasks and very few decent games if you find the overwhelming majority of FPS games boring. The only retail games I like for it are Civilization Revolution and Oblivion and Kameo was okay, other than that I just use it for Indie stuff.

I am not bothered by the Wii U though. I am never an early adopter of these things, I prefer to wait until prices go down and the library has increased a bit.

[TordelBack]

What baffles me is that Skylanders Giants wasn't developed as a (non-exclusive) launch title for the Wii U.  The buzz around that thing for young kids is huge, and with all the figurines from the first game still playable, there'd be a  built in loyalty/investment for existing Wii+Skylander owners.  Skylanders on the 3DS was already a distinctly different game from the console versions, surely something similar could have been delivered for the extra gubbins on the U? 

I know that we'd have come under enormous pester-pressure for a Wii U if that had been the case.  Mercifully the trusty Wii will do just fine.

[JamesC]

There's no doubt that there are some good games on Wii but they are few and far between - and mostly first party. Nintendo just don't have the support of third party developers which can only be bad news for gamers.

Personally I'd be happy to see Nintendo go the way of SEGA and concentrate on games and peripherals.

I'm not convinced by the Wii U and I think the handheld market is dying with the rise of tablets, smartphones etc.

In my fantasy world I'd like to see Nintendo and SEGA team up and release the Super Mega Entertainment System that's backward compatible with all previous SEGA and Nintendo software (and new Sonic games that are actually good)!

[vzzbux]

The most common games console I notice when installing is a WII.




V

[Professor Bear]

I'm not convinced by the Wii U and I think the handheld market is dying with the rise of tablets, smartphones etc.

This is a common techie complaint about handheld consoles that overlooks that they're first and foremost for gaming with the internet and social networking stuff bolted on as an afterthought - with tablets and smartphones the inverse is true.  You won't get the last Uncharted game fitting on your iphone, and if you do it'll be utterly unplayable.

Wii U sounds like the sound on Star Trek whenever a captain comes onto a starship for the first time.  I am not saying this is the only reason the Wii U will fail, but it deserves to be.