GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
The PS4 is out! So... I don't even care. The critically acclaimed Super Mario 3D World drops tomorrow. Every single review is giving it ridiculously high scores. So today I bought a Wii U Wind Waker Bundle with the 32GB SSD.




I already wanted Rayman Legends, Wonderful 101, and Pikmin. X, Bayonetta 2,Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, and the eventual new Zelda will be no-brainers too.


Holding the controller feels great with awesome grip and form-fit:



One of the best-feeling game controllers I have ever held actually. I had my initial reservations given its size, but it's actually a nicely shaped controller with well-spaced buttons - you don`t see this from the picture. The only real difference compared to traditional controllers is how far apart your hands are during gaming compared to something like an Xbox 360 controller or Gamecube controller.

My very first impression was that the built-in speaker in the Wii U controller is really cool. It uses phasey surround effects similar to a sound bar in good conjunction with my philharmonics to really immerse you in... firmware downloading. Yeah, of course that's what every new video game console loves forcing down our throats these days... although last gen Nintendo wasn't as bad about it as Sony's weekly "hour of updates".

As you may have noticed, the center of the controller has a touchscreen similar to a tablet, and while tablets are nothing new, it was nice to be able to shut down the television during the aforementioned firmware update and still be able to check the progress.

As for games, I asked the guy at the store if they had any copies of Wonderful 101, which they didn`t, so I decided to wait until tommorow for Super Mario 3D World. In the meantime I plan to mess around in Wind Waker HD Hero Mode. I've played it already, but the U version supposedly improves enough that it'll be worth it.
 
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fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
I've always been intrigued by the Wii and the few times I've played with on they've been a blast. I still don't know that I would see myself owning one (at least without a PS4 or Xbox as well), but who knows. I'll have to read up on the the Wii U a little and maybe take a swing by best buy to demo one.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
I've always been intrigued by the Wii and the few times I've played with on they've been a blast. I still don't know that I would see myself owning one (at least without a PS4 or Xbox as well), but who knows. I'll have to read up on the the Wii U a little and maybe take a swing by best buy to demo one.
Early on, I didn't really care for the Wii... thought it was just a gimmick. My sister bought it for me though, thinking that "as a gamer I must have wanted a Wii" and my only real thought was "Already borrowed this system+only game I wanted from someone and it wasn't even that good". It didn't help that the Wii maxed out at 480P while my PS3 was doing gorgeous 720P.

But then Wii games just kept trickling in for it that I just could not help but LOVE! Okami, Fragile Dreams, The Last Story, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Pandora's Tower, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and finally, a game that had imagination and scope that you can't fathom, Xenoblade Chronicles. By the end of its lifetime, the system just had a quality library of exclusives. The party games - Mario Kart, Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort were always a fun time when people were over, too. I still love my PS3, but probably liked Skyward Sword and Xenoblade Blade Chronicles at least as much as I liked my favorite PS3 game. It always made me sad that Wii wasn't HD.. it's like loving that one song but only having a 128kbps MP3 of it.

The Wii U hasn't been selling very well, since the new "gimmick" is the tablet, when most people already have an IPad or the like. But it has some well-received exclusives... a lot of people feel that ZombiU is a "true" survival horror game - a genre that has basically been turned into "Zombie Action Shooters", Rayman Legends is a very well-received platformer that won't sell, Wonderful 101 is a unique over-the-top action game that won't sell, and Pikmin 3 is a quirky strategy game that won't sell either.

Even I wasn't really sold on Wii U until I saw the trailer for X, the spiritual sequel to Xenoblade and Xenogears:

Wii U - New title developed by MONOLITH SOFTWARE INC. Trailer - YouTube

But that seemed so far away. Then I saw the trailer for the new Mario... the level design seems amazing and the multiplayer looks perfect for having friends over

Wii U - Super Mario 3D World Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

and the flurry of reviews giving it 9/10 or perfect score just went and sealed the deal.

The only big negative about Wii U is that it unlike Wii, it doesn't have a controller port for playing Gamecube games, even though it should be backwards compatible. Eventually I'm sure we'll get those games on Virtual Console or HD remake to be played with a WiiU controller though just like the Wind Waker HD. Because Baten Kaitos, Tales of Symphonia, Thousand Year Door, Baten Kaitos Origins, Skies of Arcadia Legends, Eternal Darkness, MGS Twin Snakes, and Viewtiful Joe are not games that should be lost into the past. The system is however backwards compatible for Wii, so if you ever wanted to play the list above, you'll have no issues as long as you grab a WiiMote (might need a nunchuk and might want a Pro Controller depending on the game), and you can play the Wii games on the little tablet screen or your TV.
 
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fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
You've just about convinced me that the Wii U might be the perfect way to ride out the Holiday season, until the PS4 comes back in regular stock.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
You've just about convinced me that the Wii U might be the perfect way to ride out the Holiday season, until the PS4 comes back in regular stock.
If you do pick one up, also consider grabbing a used copy of NintendoLand for 20 bucks. It's the multiplayer game that's supposed to "showcase" the possibilities of the new controller, kind of like Wii Play did.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I've always been intrigued by the Wii and the few times I've played with on they've been a blast. I still don't know that I would see myself owning one (at least without a PS4 or Xbox as well), but who knows. I'll have to read up on the the Wii U a little and maybe take a swing by best buy to demo one.
I used to have a hacked Wii. There is nothing quite like the nervousness of buying a new piece of gear and immediately voiding the warranty! :cool: I could play NES and SNES on it, and plenty of Wii games too. The Homebrew channel was pretty slick.

Most of the games were pretty silly, mildly entertaining, but there are a few that you absolutely MUST PLAY!

1) Boom Blox -- get it, play it, thank me later
2) Link's Crossbow Training -- what a fun little game this is
3) Punch out -- awesome
4) No More Heroes -- something a bit different
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
I haven't even gotten around to playing xenoblade chronicles :/

Maybe I'll get a wii u one of these days as well.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
That controller is ginormous, but I like the touchscreen. PS4 controller has a touchpad that is also pressure sensitive, but no screen. I have no interest in the Wii U for myself, but I might buy one for the kids for Xmas :)

PS4 does ALL downloading in the background now, including updates. So you can now play a game or presumably watch something while it does that and install when you are ready so what you are doing isn't stopped so you can watch a status bar. Even on the PS3 you had the ability to allow the unit to turn on and perform updates automatically at a preset time so you can have it do this when you are asleep or at work.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I just checked out the U at Frys. Other than the odd positions for the analog sticks because it is so wide, I actually liked the controller. Looks like a pretty cool little system.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
I used to have a hacked Wii. There is nothing quite like the nervousness of buying a new piece of gear and immediately voiding the warranty! :cool: I could play NES and SNES on it, and plenty of Wii games too. The Homebrew channel was pretty slick.
I hacked my wii too, only because I wanted to play my games off of USB instead of wearing out the disc drives. Still bought everything I played, but preferred to run an ISO and keep the system's lifespan long.

I haven't even gotten around to playing xenoblade chronicles :/
It's really great stuff as long as you overlook the few MMORPG aspects (the auto-attack element and the sheer quantity of optional fetch-side-quests). The story, combat system, adventure, and world-building are all top-notch. My only issue with the game is that it's 480P resolution on the Wii...its art direction is just too beautiful and just gets a bit lost in the blur/jagginess. The best way to play it is to have a ~4.7ghz core i5 and run it on dolphin emulator and raise the native res to 1280x720 or higher. One of the best games ever, though.

PS4 does ALL downloading in the background now, including updates. So you can now play a game or presumably watch something while it does that and install when you are ready so what you are doing isn't stopped so you can watch a status bar. Even on the PS3 you had the ability to allow the unit to turn on and perform updates automatically at a preset time so you can have it do this when you are asleep or at work.
That's true for WiiU as well, but the issue isn't downloading. It's being restricted from accessing the store or downloading game patches until you update firmware. Too often for the PS3, I'd want to play a game, but there would be a new patch out, so I'd start to download the patch, then be told I have to update my firmware first.

Anyways, I played Super Mario 3D World yesterday.. holy crap is it fun and polished. Graphics look beautiful too.
 
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Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
View attachment 12678I have too many toys and not enough HT space. Getting a custom shelving system built soon....

I will say I am having more fun with the Xbox One at this point.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
We played Wonderful 101 yesterday. I think it's one of the most awesome games ever... even though I don't know what I'm doing 99% of the time. It's somewhere between Devil May Cry/Bayonetta meets Okami meets Pikmin.

Besides that, Mario 3D World is a hell of an experience. Truly reinforced my opinion that offline multiplayer is 100X better than online.
 

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