Wii U promises appealing features
Posted September 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm in Columns, Lifestyle
It’s no secret that Nintendo has had some problems these past few years.
Lately, the company has been garnering more ridicule than it has praise. We constantly hear about the Wii’s pitfalls — how its graphics lack detail, how its games are generic and lackluster and how its target audience is the casual, noncommittal gamer. Evidently, Nintendo has fallen behind in creative and technological innovation.
Now, however, Nintendo is attempting to pull themselves back into the competition with their latest console, the Wii U.
Announced June 7, the Wii U will be a direct successor to the Wii, making it Nintendo’s sixth home video game console. The company’s newest creation will hit stores sometime next year at a soon-to-be-announced retail price.
In theory, the system sounds relatively ideal. The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to allow 1080p resolution, which effectively places it on equal footing with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. It also flaunts backwards compatibility — the ability to play old Wii games and use old Wii accessories — with all Wii games and Wii console accessories.
One of the biggest draws — and also, complaints — is the massive, 6.2-inch touch-screen controller, which dually functions as a second perspective during gameplay and a limited portable console. In other words, you can use the controller’s touch screen to play a Wii U game without having to turn on your main television set.
With an array of appealing features, you’d think the system would be the talk of the town. So, then, why are so many people bashing the Wii U?
Since the release of the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 consoles in 2005 and 2006, most hardcore gamers have demonstrated allegiance to Sony and Microsoft, primarily because of the Wii’s childish style, inferior graphics and online capability. Therefore, to a large number of gamers, the Wii U is simply an overdue and unnecessary attempt to compete with the familiar and reliable Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
It’s also difficult to give the Wii U a chance given its price tag. If Nintendo’s 3DS and Wii offer any grounds for comparison, the Wii U will most likely enter the market at a much higher rate — probably anywhere from $300 to $400. A high price alone is enough to sway any hesitant purchaser away from the newest addition to the Nintendo family.
But Nintendo might be able to negate any problems with the Wii U via a new generation of games. One of the system’s few silver linings is its potential for a remarkably versatile game selection. Nintendo announced plans for the newest installment in the Super Smash Bros. series to be included in the Wii U’s list of titles along with Super Mario Bros. Mii and Pikmin 3.
Other popular, non-Nintendo games, such as Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham City, are also slated for release on the Wii U. Such third-party games could entice hardcore gamers back to the Nintendo field and promote a more positive opinion of the company once more.
But one problem is inevitable: The PlayStation Vita, Sony’s successor to the PlayStation Portable, is also due for a 2012 release. Following its release, Sony’s portable device will certainly steal some of the limelight away from Nintendo’s novel creation.
According to a poll by Japanese gaming publication Famitsu, 87 percent of Japanese gamers are interested in buying a Vita, whereas only 38.3 percent of gamers expressed interest in purchasing a Wii U.
The findings are not terribly surprising. The Vita is like the Wii U controller with a basic touch screen and high-definition graphics. But games can be played virtually anywhere online, and the Vita’s starting price is a very reasonable $250. And, for just $50 more, the portable game system includes 3G capability, a feature the Wii U lacks.
The Vita is pretty much everything the Wii U should be — a sleek, sophisticated handheld device. Nintendo, however, opted for a home video game console when it should have created an innovative, transitional piece of technology that has all the features of a home console plus more.
Even with some interesting attributes and a possibly impressive game selection, the Wii U just doesn’t hold much promise on its own, particularly in battle against the Vita. Nintendo is trying its hardest to return to its glory days, but this next step just isn’t in the right direction.
Though the company is by no means a failure, Nintendo needs to take a few hints from Sony and Microsoft if it ever seriously hopes to get back in the game.
Hannah Muniz is a junior majoring in East Asian languages and cultures and English. Her column “Game Over” runs Wednesdays.
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This article is tagged: Nintendo, playstation 3, Playstation Vita, Wii U
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Seriously, the ONLY way Nintendo can fully regain its lost ground is to appeal to the hardcore gamers that it obviously neglected with the release of the Wii. I hold great respect for Nintendo, especially as an avid Zelda fan, but their showings these past five years have been pitiful from the eyes of a “non-casual” gamer such as myself.
I have a few things to say here, to start off the vita is not competing with the wii u, its competing with the 3DS, and really ”Nintendo needs to take a few hints from Sony and Microsoft if it ever seriously hopes to get back in the game.”
Nintendo beat them both in this gen, the only reason the ps3 and Xbox have stayed in the game this long is because they stole ideas from Nintendo, Sony stole the d-pad, the portable, analog sticks, the wii mote, shoulder pads, touch screen on a handheld, and rumble. microsoft got the idea of the avatar from the mii, and the idea of kinect from U-force,
i think nintendo will do great. all consoles from the past were great. they may LOOK childish but the way they work is just amazing for adults as well. so good luck nintendo :)
Nintendo need to take hints from Sony oir Microsoft if they’re to stay in the game?!! Seriously, where on Earth did this writer come from? The Wii sold more than the 360 and the PS3. Just because it’s slowing down, where does this make it a failure, or place Nintendo in the $hit pit? I’ve noticed how Sony and Microsoft both take hints from Nintendo and copy them! Also, The Wii controller comes with the system. The Vita and PS3 are 2 systems. The Wii U is more powerful than both the 360 and PS3, so it really should not suffer from ports and the very fact 1080p is rarely featured in the 360/PS3 games also means it’s superior and in TRUE HD. Good night from my rant of haste! gah.
Where did I come from? My writing is worse!!! hehe.
you getting it all wrong vita is not wii u’s competttor its the 3ds wii u has the next xbox n playstation to worry about.one last thing nintendo are still living their glory days does wii ring a bell hell yea it still selling like hotdogs even hthough not like it used it.
I suppose if you have a ps3 then a Vita would be the way to go. Assuming the WiiU was 250 bucks. You could theoretically get that tablet experience with the handheld on the system you already own.
Potential problem? How PS3 handled motion control in their sixaxis controllers. I’m saying that this tacked on experience is replicating another system that made said experience its core. Even if it can compare it won’t compete as well.
The real question is does grand turismo allow for sixaxis motion control now? Their past gimick tech has been washed away by newer tech. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tablet attributes of vita get replaced by “playstation certified” tablets.
It’s not exactly fair to make unverified (and indeed, unverifiable) general public feeling and a Japanese poll your main sources when talking about the possible success or failure of the Wii U as compared to the Vita worldwide. Of course interest in the successor to the PSP is high in Japan. The PSP outsold the Wii in the land of the rising sun (by a margin of 50% of the Wii’s total sales no less), which is not true of any other region. I’m not saying that the Wii U will be the runaway success that its predecessor was, nor that Vita couldn’t very well trounce it this gen (as much as the markets for handhelds and consoles cross over, which is truthfully not much); but to take a Famitsu poll and extrapolate those results as an indicator of the console’s future success in all territories is poor journalism, even in a college publication, and smacks of a writer who isn’t very familiar with the video games business.
Muniz should be comparing the possible success of the PSVita to that of the 3DS as they are actually in the same market. There’s plenty of juicy Nintendo-bashing material there. Or, if she wants to talk home consoles and compare the functionality of the Wii U to that of the PS3 + PSVita (not taking into account the limited support that non-standard control options receive) then she should also be comparing the price of Nintendo’s next console to that of both Sony platforms combined, which exceeds even her projected price of the Wii U by a wide margin. Running games NATIVELY in 1080p would put the console head and shoulders above its “HD” competitors in the graphics department, not on equal footing. Finally, why the hell would Nintendo need to take hints from the competitors that it absolutely trounced this generation on both the handheld and console fronts? Return to the glory days? By whose reckoning?
All in all, a poor column. The author takes into account only those facts that suit her argument. Sadly, this puts Muniz at par with most of the spin-happy media channels out there. Sad day.
This article is written by a stupid person, yes I used the word stupid.
At first I was like… Oh ok that is a fact but when this idiot started comparing with the vita, I wish I would go to him or her and strangle him or her so hard. I thought only poor minded fanboys would do that. I mean come on, a HOME CONSOLE NEEDS 3G. You know how ridiculous that is?
Real gamers are smart enough to tell who is trying to show off ( that’s the case with idiot up there) and who is passionate about it. GAMERS DON’T COME HERE.GO TO A MORE RELIABLE SOURCE LIKE IGN, KOTAKU or something like that. NOT SOME WEBSITE THAT WAS NAMED BY A VIRUS
My village is no longer missing its idiot. Time for your medication, Mr. Ravyu.
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vita will never take away or outsell the wiiu now that dragon quest X has been announced for the wiiU say goodbye to vita sales japan will want wiiU DQX