Considering the terrible track record SEGA have with Sonic I would definitely not praise them for this game until actually playing it.

Sonic Lost World sounded like a decent game, on paper, but it played dreadful IMO.  It was a Sonic game trying to be Mario, not what a Sonic fan wants at all.  As a whole I don't like Mario - Mario 64, Galaxy and the new 3D World are the only ones I actually enjoyed.

Give me Sonic Adventure 3 already, SA1 & 2 had their flaws but they were much more fun games than anything they have done since - except perhaps Generations which wasn't too bad.

Can't say I'm impressed with this.  While I never played anything online on Wii, this comes across as a desperate attempt to force the people who did into buying Wii U. 

It also mocks the Wii U backwards compatibility.  What good is 100% compatibility if they slowly shut down functionality?  Even Microsoft gave it 4 years before they shut down original Xbox Live, although granted those people WERE paying for it.

Still, Nintendo should be trying to come across as BETTER than the competition, not worse.

I disagree, Playstation Move is an excellent implementation of a motion controller.  The problem is it has very little software support.  I am also very much looking forward to Project Morpheus.

That is not to say the WiiU Gamepad is bad, but I have to agree that for most games it doesn't add anything.  Even on Lego City Undercover, while I found it amusing how it was used to listen in to conversations, sometimes I just didn't want to have to hold the controller in the air just to play the game.  There were literally times when I thought "my arms are tired, I wish I didn't have to do this".  Mind you, that might partly be down to the fact I feel the GamePad is an extremely uncomfortable shape, its the least ergonomic controller Nintendo have made in a long time.

There have been some bad uses of the GamePad too such as taking the mini map off the screen to put on the GamePad instead.  This actually makes the game more awkward to play, it breaks the flow having to look down where normally the mini map is in your peripheral vision.  At the end of the day if you have enough RAM to pull the full game map up INSTANTLY, there isn't really any benefit to looking down to see it on the GamePad.  In most games you really need to be paused when on the map anyway to avoid something bad happening.

Inventory control is a huge improvement on the GamePad however, although I think they could have done that on a much smaller screen.

Its telling that even Nintendo have failed to really show something innovative about using the GamePad, apart from Nintendo Land.

I loved the idea of the GamePad but the more I use it, the less I care about it.  Although at least it WORKS, tried to use Smartglass on Fable Anniversary and my Windows tablet refuses to find the Xbox 360 even though my Android phone can.  Oh the irony.

For off-screen play the GamePad is a great idea.  I don't get along with playing games on such a small low resolution screen myself, but I can see the merit for it.

Also when you compare it to PS Vita Remote Play, its leagues above.  The PS Vita only having 2.4Ghz WiFi makes it useless, too much interference and it just constantly loses the connection.  The same distance from the console, the WiiU GamePad works flawlessly.

However, its not very ergonomic and that is by far the most important feature of a game controller.  Its a big reason why I loved the Xbox 360, its what I loved about the Gamecube, which is why its so disappointing that Nintendo dropped the ball on the ergonomics this time.  I refuse to get a pro controller because it doesn't work on everything and I am losing out on the Gamepad functionality.  I have it, I might as well use it.

Still, at least Nintendo were thinking about gaming.  Xbox One is even worse, throwing away 25% GPU power compared to PS4 just for the sake of including a better version of Kinect, something already proven as pretty pointless for most games.

I don't mind the feel of the gamepad.  Perhaps it's because I grew up on such handhelds as the original gray brick gameboy and sega's gamegear.  While we felt spoiled back then having such things, I think it might make some of us appreciate what exists now a bit more.  Sure, the gamepad felt bulky at first but it settles in nice.  As far as the Pro Controller, I'd say get it!  I can't think of any games I own that don't allow for it.  What games don't support it??

Its not a choice I make, my fingers hurt where they grip around the triggers after playing for a while.

Then again, we are all supposed to take way more breaks than we do so Nintendo can always say its our fault.  But the fact remains, I could play on Gamecube for hours without any problems, the controller was so comfortable.

yes i know, but they don't need to have TVii or whatever it's called, all they need is a app.

You still seem to be missing the point of TVii, that you only need to perform a single search to obtain results from ALL the services you have. 

So if you searched for Doctor Who it would tell you which episodes are available on iPlayer, Netflix and Lovefilm.  Even though I never use Netflix on WiiU due to the lack of surround sound support, I would use this.

Interesting, as so far I feel I enjoyed Sonic 06 MORE than this game.

I think perhaps its because I have gotten used to modern open-world games where there is so much more to do, as even my love of Sonic Adventure is not as strong as it once was.

I agree though that bugs and controls wise its definitely not as bad as 06, but with AC Unity, The Crew, GTA V and many others to choose from on PS4, I just don't feel motivated to play Sonic Boom at all.  I have pumped more hours into Pure Pool than this.

This game is finally making me feel happy to own a Wii U again.  I just hope I am better at it than MK7 lol.

I own a Fanatec Forza Wheel but I really can't see how a wheel is remotely practical for playing this kind of game.

Wheels are for simulation or certain kinds of arcade racing games where it works as somewhere between arcade and simulation (eg Test Drive Unlimited).

The reason the Xbox cant reach the resolutions of the ps4 games, at the same fidelity of the ps4 games, is because the xbox gpu is missing 1/3rd of the Graphics Core Next alu's compared to the ps4, which is why it just cant keep up.

Exactly, and the reason why its not hitting 1080p isn't because it CAN'T do it - but it can't do it while outputting the same graphical effects as PS4.  People would notice lower quality assets/processing much easier than a lower resolution, so maintaining parity on effects it more important than resolution.

I'm also not sure where this theory that the Wii U has a ton of 1080p games has come from.  Can someone enlighten me as I am yet to see a single one bar Wind Waker.

Well if its got similarities to Saints Row but in a realistic setting, pretty certain I am going to love it then.  (although I have only played SR 1-3)

I find it hard to believe the graphics are THAT bad though, none of the footage I have seen looks particularly bad.  Maybe not as good as people hoped but that is no shocker for a cross-gen title.  I hope it does well so we get a current-gen only sequel that can really push the engine.  You can't use the extra CPU power if the game has to play the same on all platforms and those platforms include 8 year old consoles.

Build quality is better on Xbox One?  I beg to differ.

It seems clear to me they hadn't a clue about case design so just picked a plain box and kept the PSU external so they didn't have to come up with a good design for the cooling.  To me a company that is able to build a case with a bespoke cooling system so they can keep the PSU inside the case is clearly superior when it comes to build quality.

When you see the two consoles taken apart the Xbox One looks like I threw it together from off the shelf PC parts, the PS4 is clearly more intricately designed from scratch.

Both consoles are flawed by how deep they are though, very awkward to fit on a shallow shelf which all previously consoles had no problems with.

Another thing about Xbox One is why have two USB ports on the back when it supports external HDDs?  That means they expect you leave them plugged in all the time and even the one on the left is awkward.  The PS4 clearly wins there too IMO with easily accesible USB ports, although a bit narrow so you cannot fit some USB sticks in without an extension.

Now before anyone comments, the Wii/Wii U I count as decent designs because the reason THEY have the PSU external is to keep the console as small as possible - clearly not the reason on Xbox One a its HUGE.

Of course the REAL build quality will only really be known in a few years when we see the failure rate on the hardware.  But in general I consider external PSUs a bad idea particularly for Xbox where it has a fan that people forget to keep clear of dust because its stuck down the back of a cabinet somewhere.

Downloaded it earlier but haven't tried it yet.  I also got the Battlefield Beta code today too.

Its highly likely that the GC support is still in the Wii U firmware (the Wii part), and I believe for the Wii functionality it includes all the hardware (apart from controller ports and memory cards) necessary to run GC games.  So it may only be minor modifications needed, not exactly going to hold back Wii U development.

It is a shame the drive cannot accept GC discs though.  The only reason I cannot get rid of my Wii is for GC games.

Dont know, but it wouldnt surprise me.

I haven't seen that on PS4, pretty sure I would have noticed it.

Personally, I really enjoyed the game as I didn't have the insane expectations that some people seemed to have.  I'm very much looking forward to Watch Dogs 2 HOPEFULLY properly optimised for the PS4/One/PC.

Then again I have also been enjoying Assassins Creed: Unity and still looking forward to The Crew even after playing the beta, so I'm guessing I wont have much credibility.

I don't think it looks poor at all, still very much looking forward to it .... on PS4.

That review is awful, they don't seem to say much about the single player at all, positive or negative.  They just talk about the story and a little about the mechanics, not if the missions are actually fun.  Then they moan about the multi-player being lacking, not something I am really bothered about.

I mean its a shame it doesn't have coop play, but its not the end of the world.

After all the work they did with Super Mario 3D World, I feel they should make a Super Mario 64 style game with the engine they have now. Oh man, that would just be the best thing for me

Same here.  I am really enjoying 3D World which is quite a surprise as I HATE having a time limit. (I hated all the original Mario World games and suspect I might even fall out with this on later levels)

I much prefer having time to really investigate the world and appreciate its beauty, and solve puzzles.  I don't have anyone to play multiplayer with either so that functionality is of no use to me.

Not to be an apologist or anything, but they started and stopped the game play at precisely the same time. 

 

I am not seeing the big deal. 

 

Plus it was one level. With tweaks to the interface...

 

Apparently this is too far over my head to be relevant. 

EXACTLY!

The first game may have loaded quicker but it didn't let you actually start playing the game until more or less the same time.

Also, the comments on YouTube seem to imply its only this first level that takes this long to load.  Presumably its loading in all the assets but can reuse many of them for later levels.

Thirdly, why is anyone surprised?  Its not like Sony and Microsoft want to throw money away, they wouldn't FORCE you to install games to the HDD on One/PS4 if there wasn't a damn good reason for it.  If Nintendo had included a HDD in the Wii U then load times would be MUCH improved.  Heck, even the original Xbox used a HDD cache to speed up game loading.

Portal is but one game, and its a very unique one at that.  It doesn't compare to the many many console exclusives.

Its rather besides the point though as without PC we wouldn't have the healthy console indie market we have today.  I dare say it also contributes to iOS/Android software because there were already trained programmers thanks to the PC indie market.

We also must not forget that a lot of games which have gone on to do well on console wouldn't have existed without the PC indie/shareware market.

Indeed.  I am constantly surprised by how nice games can even look on the 3DS with its INSANELY low resolution by todays standards.

Do I wish it was higher resolution?  Sure.  Does it ruin the games that its not?  Nope.

The only reason resolution-gate is a "thing" is because some of us, me included, bought a next-gen console partly to finally HAVE 1080p games on console.  I already had it on PC and liked it.  Its more a value-for-money thing.

Then again, if ANY PS4/One game looked as nice as Mario Kart 8, I really wouldn't give a crap what resolution it was in.  Again yes, it would look even nicer in 1080p native, but its darn gorgeous game anyway.

If you both have a Wii U you can always take your Wii U around there and play it online with you both using your own console and Gamepad.  Unless if course only one of you has the game.  But seriously, are there ANY Wii U owner that doesn't have Mario Kart 8?

Does Mario Kart 8 have LAN support even?  I have been too busy with Watch Dogs to check.

Nope. It's just for Wii data.

No that is the SD card port, they were referring to plugging in a USB SD card reader which is essentially the same as a USB stick.

That should work but it might not be as reliable as a USB stick which should have their own wear leveling.  Also as you point out, a HDD is a LOT cheaper per GB so the only point really is if you already have some SD cards to use or know the can reuse the one you bought for the Wii U later if you upgrade.

Everywhere else says 30fps for both.

That means either Xbox One will run more choppy, the PS4 version will look much much more pretty, or they scale down the graphics on both to make Microsoft happy.

I fear its most likely the latter, I just hope it doesn't become a "thing" to scale down PS4 games so they can have platform parity on performance.  Its bad enough some developers are doing this on PC already so it doesn't outclass the  console versions as much as it should.

I resent the implication - I have ALWAYS been a resolution snob thank you very much!

It comes from having gamed on PC since the very first 3D cards came out.  Before advanced graphical effects showed up, the biggest gain WAS an increase in resolution.

I agree its not necessarily the same today, but still if you can have the same game at 720p or at 1080p there is no denying the higher resolution is better.

For me its more the fact if I JUST wanted 1080p I can use PC, but I bought a new console to get 1080p ON A CONSOLE.  That console was PS4 though, I only ever expected 720p on Wii U and with games like Super Mario 3D World you really don't care about resolution so much.  I mean sure it WOULD look better at 1080p, but its not a game really about the small details anyway.

Its more racing games or shooters where being able to see someone in the distance can have a tangible advantage on the game play.  Or (and I know I will get bashed for this) in Knack where as he gets bigger they zoom out the camera so everything else gets smaller.  That was clearly done to show off how can you still clearly see everything in 1080p.  So yes, 1080p can actually be part of the art style but its not always "essential".

I honestly don't know why every modern console game doesn't do that (including the Wii U Menu, which sadly only runs at native 720p).

I'm guessing its down to a 1080p frame buffer still being a tradeoff (especially on Wii U/Xbox One with limited dedicated RAM) compared to a 720p frame buffer.  It may be better to just save some of that RAM for effects.