I find it appalling that critics are bashing the Wii U! When you have critics stating that Nintendo does not even know how to deal with or what to do with their own Game Pad and cite Pikmin 3 as prime example of this, you know these people have no idea what they are talking about.
To begin with Pikmin 3 uses for the Game Pad are excellent. You can play using the Wiimote & Chuck to control your character while at the same time use the Game Pad as not only a map, but also to review your inventory of Fruit & Data Chips collected. In addition to that, you can have the characters move to point on the map by initiating it on the Game Pad, then watching them move there on the TV Screen. The Game Pad is also used to receive "In Game Transmissions" from other characters within the game itself. You also use the Game Pad to take in game photos by pointing at the TV, using the pad screen as a view finder, then snapping a pic and the posting that pic with a comment on Miiverse. You can also play the game entirely on the Game Pad without using a TV.
Critics point out how confusing it is ... one minute you use the Wiimote, then you have to put it down and pick up the Game Pad to continue .... Obviously, these critics are not real gamers and have no business reviewing anything even remotely related to video games at all.
I am the proud owner of a Wii U and I have never second guessed my decision to buy one. As with all Nintendo Systems, I wait until I hear of a game announcement for a game I really want, then I buy the system. For me, it was the footage of Super Mario World 3D that made me want a Wii U. I went to GameStop and tried out SMBU and that was the clincher ...I loved how it looked and played so I ordered my Wii U and have never looked back!
Having owned many video game home consoles dating back to the Colecovision TelStar Pong System, I can honestly say that the Nintendo Wii U is not only the best video game home console Nintendo has made, but is the best video game home console I have ever owned.
People don't like the Wii U because they have never played the Wii U and they are reading negative statements about it by uninformed critics or non gamer critics and they are basing their dislikes about the system on what those idiots have said and not on their own experiences with the system.
Why do I like the Wii U so much? For one thing, I love the controller. It feels great and it works great too. There is no lag, the touch screen on it is the perfect size, the Z buttons are perfectly placed, switching from analog stick to the D pad is smooth, the D pad offers tight control unlike many other D pads on other controllers, it has a headphone jack, its own volume button, you can use it to play console games without the use of the TV, and you can even video chat on it. My God, does it get any better than that?
Some people mock the Control Pad saying its only used for maps and item screens ... I personally do not care if its use goes beyond those two things ... Those two things alone are huge in my book ... and after using the pad in those ways, I would cringe if I had to pause a game go into an onscreen menu, and bring up a map. Its like having Air Conditioning, you don't know how much you need it until you have it and once you have it, you can't live without it!
The Control Pad & The System were made at the same time with each other in mind 100% They were a team from the get go and that has its advantages. Every Wii U owner owns a Game Pad, that means any game for the Wii U can provide its use without risk. Not every PS4 or XBox One owner will also own a PS Vita / Tablet, that means it is risky to develop for a second screen as a developer for those platforms ... that means, the best dual screen integration will occur on the Wii U.
I love the internet browser on the Wii U. If you have not really tried it, boot it up, you may find you love it as much as I do. Make sure the move around the analog sticks ..... you can scroll or zoom in and out with them. Hands down, the internet browser on the Wii U is the best internet browser on any game system to date and will more than likely be better than what is offered on the PS4 / XBox One ... simply because of the Wii U Game Pad.
I love the control options ... some say Nintendo has too many different types of controllers out there but in my opinion, that is one of the best features of the system. You can use the Wii U Game Pad, the Wiimote, the Chuck, the Classic, Classic Pro, and Wii U Pro Controllers with the system. The fact is, different games play better with different types of control input devices. Therefore, in many cases, you have a choice of what type of input device you want to use to play a game. The only type of controller the Wii U is missing is a paddle controller ... and I sure wish they would come out with one and a slew of great brick breaking / racing games to use with it.
Graphics are the icing on the cake ... Many people are saying that the PS4 / XBox One will blow away the graphics on the Wii U. For me, the graphics are icing on a cake ... if the inside of the cake is not that great, the icing may help but the cake is really not that great after all. Let me get a little deeper on this statement. I just got Puppeteer for the PS3 ... it looks great and even has an interesting game mechanic, the use of scissors, but the gameplay itself does not hold up, making it a not so great game. The icing (Graphics) helps the game be appealing but can not compensate for its lack of great gameplay. Now if you asked me, which game is better, Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES or Puppeteer, my answer would be SMB3, which has far inferior graphics but far superior gameplay. In my eyes, Nintendo is serving up the most tasty dish of all .... Tried & True, solid gameplay and gameplay mechanics along with the icing on the cake too .... New HD Graphics. I love Super Mario Wii U, it looks and plays great! And the beauty is, that was a release title, so future games are going to look even better!
I honestly think that people just say ... Nintendo is for kids ... have either never played a Mario Game or have not played one recently ... They are not only very fun, addictive, & graphically beautiful, but they are also very challenging if you want to find all the 3 special coins and secret exits too.
I feel sorry for people who will never play the Wii U, they will never know what they are missing ... and that is a damn shame in the world of gaming, it really is.
Edited by RETROBLAST, 23 September 2013 - 06:29 PM.