I definitely appreciate the subtlety of the improvements made. It doesn't change what made the original great, it just brings it up to the level of detail the designers wish the could have brought to the table originally.

I think this ^ is obvious, and I totally get your point. I know that "hardcore" is a term that tends to provoke flames, but there is SOMETHING to the pervasiveness of the view that Nintendo is not hard core - meaning, at least to some extent, that the perception is that Nintendo is not listening to those that consider themselves to be dedicated, intense gamers.

Certainly, you can play (almost) any game obsessively... I think the real question is, what does the demographic that buys the most games and logs the most hours WANT to play, and is Nintendo making that kind of game?

Every time I pick up a Nintendo title, I LOVE my experience. But sometimes I don't WANT to play those games... it's just a shift of aesthetic taste and thematic preference, really, but nonetheless, I am the kind of consumer that will drop $100 a month on games and online connectivity. I want a company to make games that I want to play... not just games that they want to make.

Very well put. When talking about hardcore in the context of video games, a Websters definition wont cut it. Nobody spends a 7 hour gaming marathon playing wii sports.

I think the perception that nintendo consoles are for kids started with the gamecube. Then that reputation got 10 times worse with the Wii. The WiiU has the potential to get things back on track with competent online, adding new more mature franchises, and even making classic nintendo franchises more gritty and mature.

I don't know about you guys, but there's no way in Arlen that I would like to see a Gritty, and "mature" Mario title. Let's face it, after the Wii lost "hardcore" gamers' "respect" everyone forgot what Nintendo used to do. Even when talking to an older gamer, who considers himself casual, he could only call Nintendo "kiddy" and said they haven't made anything but remakes and will never gain third party support because Nintendo make's it too hard for third parties to develop on the consoles. He continued to argue this even after I laid it out that the Big N is trying to rectify their past by reeling in third parties and is doing a good job at it.

I'm not talking about giving Mario an AK, but more classic Nintendo franchises could benefit from taking a Twilight Princess-like turn. The Metroid prime series for example I believe was a step in the right direction.

And there's really no good way to make a platformer more mature...

How about this then:
Imagine an RTS game with Hero units, like Warcraft III. One player would be controlling groups of units RTS style on tv while a second player takes full control of the Hero unit as a third person RPG on his own screen. Could provide some interesting co-op, RTS player has better field of vision allowing him to give tips on where to go on the battlefield while he provides support with his army. Could maybe even expand the RTS series into something more. While RTS is creating buildings and units to prepare for battle, the rpg'er goes around doing small quests to gain resources quicker or unlock certain buildings for the RTS'er. Those buildings in turn provide better weapons or armor for the RPG'er.

I may be going a bit crazy here though

A pretty ambitious idea, but I think that would be really cool. Two different gaming experiences, but they work together towards the goal of winning. It would almost be two games in one. As long as the games wouldn't end up being good at both the RTS aspect and the RPG aspect but not being great at either.

My idea is a sort of hide-and-seek shooter. One player takes the Wii U controller with a zapper. He is a sniper and runs around trying to kill the other three players (or computer simulations). The other three players just run around trying not to get killed until time runs out. Its kinda the opposite of the "Chase Me" demo.

In general I think mounting a the new controller on a modified zapper will create awesome sniping experiences.

Nintendo always seems to bring something new to the table while omitting features that we'd "like to see" but aren't deal breakers.

I think no matter how many new controllers the wiiU supports, Nintendo will hopefully find a way to make it work. My only gripe is that they're keeping the stigmatized wii remotes around.

I think there will be a nice mix. I can't say that the wiiU will have the most casual games of the next gen consoles (I really hope they don't), but the casual games Nintendo puts out are usually pretty well executed.

I don't think you really know what a hardcore game is. A Hardcore game is a game that attracts the true fans of a franchise. If there is a very large following of a game it is Hardcore. Mario games are what considered is (should) Hardcore.

I think a true hardcore game attracts not only fans of a franchise, but fans of a genre. Mario is "hardcore" because it is a top-tier platformer.

Yeah, let's not get our hopes up. It's tempting to jump on the idea that you could stream to two controllers at once (as that's how we all imagined/hoped it would be), but until I've heard it from Nintendo, I'll wait to be "undisappointed" in the 1 controller only news.

I'd like to see a wiiU sports.  A sports game is always a fun and easy way to show off the console to any friends who come over (so it would be a good marketing move on Nintendo's part).  That said, I think the short baseball footage we saw at E3 wasn't really new.  It appeared to be mostly footage taken directly from wii sports baseball itself.

well im hoping in an update with the 3ds they merge ur wii u account with ur 3ds account

That would be a nice touch.  It would really create a nice connected Nintendo Network of sorts.  Although I currently don't have anybody on my 3DS friends list anyways.  

No friend codes, you can add anybody you want, and next gen connectivity.  I think it's sad that the best we can hope for is for it to be on par with this gen's consoles in terms of online.

Well now Mass Effect 3 on the Xbox 360 uses Kinect to tell your teammates where to go and the Mass Effect 3 creator said he can imagine all the cool things that the new controller for Mass Effect 3 and that he'll announce something later, probably Mass Effect 3 on the Wii U. Then they could use the built in microphone to mimic Kinect's microphone. Also in the Ghost Recon Online trailer they were using voice chat without headsets so I's say it's pretty much confirmed.

Mass Effect 3 on the WiiU? I'd kill to play that. Imagine having the power wheel always up on the touch screen so it wouldn't have to interrupt the flow of battle. But unless the WiiU version comes out almost right after the 360 version, there is no way I could wait for it. I need my epic finale now!

Im not sure if that is a overestimate if you compare the xbox to modern computers.

True, although I can't say I've ever had a computer that was even CLOSE to top of the line.

Most current information and rumors from developers telling IGN that Radeon HD 4850 was the closest commercially available GPU, the rumors of R700 series GPU, specifically RV700 core, and Power7 based CPU all point to Wii U being at least about four times as powerful as Xbox 360. I certainly wouldn't call it next gen, but it should be able to pull off anything current PC games have accomplished and perhaps a little more with optimized code.

A super powered Nintendo console? Count me in. Although 4 times as powerful sounds like an overestimate.

We can only hope that not only is the hardware inside more powerful, but that developers also try and take full advantage of the hardware. Granted, the Wii was the weakest console of this generation, but most games didn't bother to push the system to its limits.

Let's keep in mind that the whole 10% thing isn't some exact figure.  It was just Reggie saying there's a lot more to look forward to.  It's not like there's 90% more console to show...unless...unless...unless the ACTUAL WiiU is 10 WiiUs stacked on top of each other in a tower for maximum computing power!  

To be honest, it's way too early for even the most die hard Nintendo fans to make a wholehearted pitch for the WiiU. I'd like to say, "buy it man, it'll have way more mature games and less rated E shovelware!" But we just can't know that yet. The WiiU is at least a year away, and the other next gen consoles are likely 2 years away. I'd be happy to do some convincing a year and a half from now, but now is not the time.

Not sure too much about the source, because I probably read it on NeoGaf, and threads there can die and be sent back about 5 pages in a day. But apparently it was confirmed the first dev kits used underclocked hardware, I don't know why, but perhaps it was easier for ports? It has been comfirmed that they've now sent out more powerful dev kits.

Although that sounds like an excuse in the form of a rumor, I hope it's true. If there is a reliable source for this I'd like to see it...

It does. No worries. The battery is also removable, by the way.

Sweet, so it sounds like you'll be able to charge while playing even.

I would think that the single feature that drives up the cost of individual controllers would be the touch screen, which you simply couldn't remove. Your solution is a cool idea, but I'm still waiting on Nintendo to explain how this whole controller mess is going to work.

I would agree that the single most expensive feature of the controller is likely to be the touch-screen, but another major expense will be the processing power needed to compress the signal and stream it to the wireless unit.

That is why I am so curious about the HDMI socket in the bottom of the controller, can extra screens be hooked up to the base unit by cable? That socket must have a purpose, what is an HDMI socket for if not transmitting High def images and sound?

I thought most devices these days use an HDMI port to upload the image to a bigger screen like a TV. But the wiiU does that wirelessly, so who knows what it's for.

yea i have heard people talking about that, but havent find the source, where is it?

and doesnt the controller have a socket for recharging the batteries like you do with the ps3 controller?

I hope it has a recharge socket. That controller is going to lose charge pretty fast compared to other controllers.

It depends on what you want. Do you want to pay a wad of cash for online to be able to play with a bunch of 13 year olds who trash talk, and play games that are generic, or do you want to play a console that will undoubtedly be an innovative success and has games made by the big N? I don't think there will be much of a problem with competition.

To be honest, I'd pay a fat stack of cash for Xboxlive if the WiiU's online is crap, 13 year olds or no 13 year olds.