Now I've made it no secret that the Wii U hasn't generated much excitement out of me. It's hard for me to get jazzed about a system that, essentially, will just offer a resolution bump for games very similar to ones Nintendo released on the Wii. At least, that's been my attitude before I've had a chance to see one in person. But how have my beliefs changed now that it's finally out and I've had a chance to actually play with it?
Well, I can give you my first impressions at least. I was there for the entire setup process, and got to share in discovering all the little details that go into the launch of a brand new console on the market. In a way, it's sort of like being witness to a birth. You're seeing the fledgling beginnings of a new console taking its first steps towards the next several years of its life, and it's exciting in some ways because you know it will always have some lasting impact on the entire gaming industry, whether its a success or failure.
Aside from actually spending my own hard-earned money on this fun new toy, I was essentially experiencing everything as if it were my own. Granted, being the one to lose the money is a rather crucial element of making it feel personal, and nothing will create a more emotional impact through all the thrills and pitfalls than having a financial stake in it. But I like to think that my part in the event was still pretty intimate.
To start with, we were greeted with a TON of setup. It wasn't enough to just log into a Club Nintendo account. No, you had to put in all your personal information, create your mandatory Mii, answer a bunch of questions, and then go through an extremely lengthy system update, no doubt hindered by the mass of new Wii U owners connecting to the same servers. No joke, it was over an hour from the time we hit the power button before we were finally looking at the home screen. It was probably the most tedious setup process I've seen for a new console.
"Can we just play 360?"
This was exacerbated by the fact that every single game at launch required a large patch. If you bought the non-deluxe version of the console, I'm not sure how you'd have the storage to hold it all. It might be that owners of those SKUs had to add USB storage as soon as it was over. I'm not sure, as I haven't read about other people's experiences with it, but it would suck to have the built-in storage fill up just in the first day. In which case it almost seems pointless to even advertise the fact that it has 8GB internally, if all it will do is hold the OS and patches.
A lot of the 32GB of the Deluxe's storage was eaten up, and of course my friend was interested in transferring his games from the Wii, subtracting more from his available space. This process in particular was a highlight of the setup experience, as I had never seen the marching Pikmin sequence before. Apparently this happens during 3DS transfers too, and it's a brilliant way to add character and even entertain a little during an otherwise dull procedure. I'd like to see this kind of unique charm and detail more often within the Wii U's OS.
The first thing a lot of Deluxe owners will probably do with their new console once they're able to actually do things is put in Nintendoland. This has been likened to the new Wii Sports for obvious reasons, as its main purpose is to demonstrate the potential of the GamePad. It cannot be understated how crucial this is for Nintendo, as Wii Sports was the first killer app for the Wii and was almost solely responsible for its success. From the moment you put it in you knew what the system was about and how fun motion controls could be.
Critically, Nintendoland does not do this. What we're shown is a series of half-baked experiments. Nintendo came up with a bunch of ideas and coated them with visual themes coinciding with their most popular franchises. Some are mildly fun with a group of people. Others are repetitive and pointless. None of them make a striking case for how the tablet controller can change gameplay in significant ways. Wii Sports was a revelation for gaming. Nintendoland is a desperate grab bag.
What's worse is that if you didn't buy the Deluxe bundle, you didn't get Nintendoland. Either Nintendo acknowledges that Nintendoland won't be useful for selling the console, or they're trying to nickel and dime less fortunate or ill-advised buyers of the Basic Set. In any case, this could be an important misstep for the Wii U, as $60 is a ridiculous asking price for what is unfortunately one of the few launch games that actually tries to do something creative with the new GamePad.
Failing to be impressed with that game, you might turn to New Super Mario Bros. Wii U next. This too will be a disappointment. While an iconical move by Nintendo to have a Mario game at the launch of their new system (and one not unappreciated by fans), this feels like a cash grab, hastily made in order to meet the launch deadline. This was probably the reason a 2D platformer was chosen, as it could be developed with limited resources and manpower under a schedule that was made tight by a fusillade of first-party releases on the 3DS.
Nintendo's commitment to handheld success has probably hindered the creativity they were able to explore with the newest console NSMB game, but at least the quality is still comparable to the Wii release. That's most of its problem, however, as it's nearly indistinguishable from the Wii effort, all except for a few novel touches using Yoshis and ancillary touchscreen additions. If anything the new GamePad is de-emphasized by the game, requiring you to go back to using a Wii remote, which only reinforces the feeling of playing an uprezzed Wii game. The only time the GamePad is employed is when the proverbial fifth wheel of your group is tasked with spawning temporary platforms to either save players or help them reach bonuses. This is until they realize it's far more fun to be an asshole and use the platforms to spike players into death pits.
Not that NSMB isn't fun, but it can be a frustrating and needlessly challenging game with more players. It also doesn't make a case for why it couldn't have been done on the Wii. This will leave you with probably the last major exclusive launch game to try to sell you on the second-screen gaming idea, ZombiU.
ZombiU is interesting for a few reasons. Firstly it's ostensibly a hardcore game, meant to be the pace car for the types of games that hardcore gamers should be able to look forward to on the system. Attracting hardcore gamers may be a big reason why the tablet controller is, in many ways, just a traditional controller with a touchscreen, and that makes ZombiU important to the Wii U's launch.
The other reason it's interesting is because it's a Ubisoft game, but it's not a sloppy port just to cash in on another console launch. It's an original IP, and an original game, and it's probably the most ambitious in the entire launch lineup. Nintendo probably paid a good deal to have it made, and it may actually do a better job than any other Wii U game thus far of actually making the GamePad an important and desirable addition to gameplay.
The game is really hardcore. There are no lives, but that's not to alleviate the stress of dying. If you die on normal mode, you must start again as a different character. If you die on hardcore mode, just once, the game is over. The game is survival horror at its most pure. You absolutely must survive, and to do so you must use careful planning, keen awareness, and quick thinking. The game adheres very closely to the tenant of all zombie-genre media where the focal visual feature is gore. Graphically it's inconsistent, as the dim and pedestrian environments don't often offer much opportunity for technical flourish, but occasionally you'll encounter well-lit areas that affirm that the Wii U is, indeed, an HD console.
The GamePad is a real-life stand-in for a similarly shaped device in the game, used for communication with a mysterious hermit who guides you through your objectives (think Atlas from Bioshock). It also serves as a flashlight, a radar, a map, an inventory screen, and tool for interacting with the environment. More I cannot say, as my time with the game was brief. I thought it was a nice touch to have the man's voice come through the speakers of the GamePad, and it seemed to help immersion. The game is very gritty, no-nonsense, sparse and barebones in terms of gameplay, but that seems to fit its intended purpose. Fans of the first Resident Evil games, Alone in the Dark, and the survival horror genre should be satisfied.
But is this game the one to finally show the potential of the GamePad? I'm not sure. I think people might be impressed with the new features, but I can certainly see a lot of people who might be underwhelmed. In a slow-paced game like ZombiU, the GamePad works pretty well. In another type of game, say a faster-paced game, I don't know if people will enjoy taking their eyes off the action to look at the controller screen. Gameplay-wise, I'm not sure people will feel it's important enough to do so.
The only other game I got to play was Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. This is a well-built kart racer, and probably the first to truly give the Mario Kart franchise a run for its money. For the Wii U, it only really proves one thing: local multiplayer might be a boon for second-screen gaming. The game makes excellent use of whatever controller you have available. In addition to the Wii U GamePad, you can use the traditional Wii remote + nunchuck, or the Classic Controller Pro add-on, or the new Pro Controller. For three players, the game will put the first player's screen onto the GamePad, letting the other two players share the TV. This works fantastically well, giving everyone plenty of viewable room, and to the hardware's credit, the framerate remained pretty solid. While this may not be the killer feature to convince undecided buyers, it's definitely a great added bonus, and I'd like to see more of it.
Ultimately Nintendo's challenge is trying to replicate the sense of innovation that they achieved with the Wii. The Wii felt to some like a revolution, and was influential enough to push the other two console makers (who supposedly weren't competition) to give motion controls a serious try. It was easy for anyone to pick up, and intuitive in games that used it well, opening up not just the Wii, but gaming to those previously cold to it. Best of all this was all deftly demonstrated with just one game at the launch of the system.
The Wii U is supposed to be the start of the next generation, but it's not doing so with graphics or processing power, or even online features. Like the Wii, it's trying to introduce the next generation through gameplay innovation with the use of a new kind of controller. The only problem is that while the Wii had a simple idea that lent itself naturally to new ideas, the touchscreen controller isn't as easy to incorporate. Nintendo seems to have invented a new concept and only then thought about how it may be used. Nintendoland is the company saying "here's what we've come up with so far", instead of an exhibit of fleshed-out concepts. Innovation for the sake of innovation, and not with an objective in mind.
Some games might do interesting things. Others may only replicate what the DS has done on a physically larger scale. The DS may have led the way for smartphone games, but it was not a revolution for the majority of gaming. And the Wii U controller doesn't feel as revolutionary as the Wii. It's not as innovative – it's not as broad in its appeal. Third party ports are not going to sell people on the system, so it's up to Nintendo to showcase its merits. They will have to risk tens of millions of dollars on HD-class games in the Zelda and Metroid universes in which they're unfamiliar doing. If the Wii U doesn't take off in sales right away, it will be up to those games to push the console.
If it is unsuccessful, Nintendo will be at a loss but they will not be beaten. Like the Wii, they took the risk on creativity, not on expensive hardware. Marginal or limited success is built into the strategy of the Wii U already. They will still be able to turn things around but it won't be easy.
My initial impressions are somewhat underwhelming. Nintendo did not make a good enough case for the controller with the launch games, and the missing online features and inexcusable ~3 hour battery life of the GamePad only hurts it more. Add to that, back compatibility with the Wii is clumsily handled, requiring a slow reboot process into an entirely separate OS.
"But why does it have a screen?"
I don't have the foresight to see what the potential of the Wii U might be, and Nintendo doesn't seem to have that foresight either. The Wii U will be an uphill battle, I feel, and while several hours of hands-on time aren't enough to determine its long-term standings in the market, it's hard to shake the lack of enthusiasm and excitement that the Wii U generates.
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