RETROBLAST

I honestly have to say that since the Nintendo 64, when I buy a Nintendo system, I don't even expect a lot of third party support.  I expect to get about 3 or 4 Mario games,1 or two Zelda games an 3 or 4 miscellaneous titles out of a system during the course of its life.

These are my expectations for the Wii U as well so I am not in shock.

Interestingly enough, the next generation consoles from PlayStation and Microsoft are on longer life cycles than the Wii U ... Sony says 10 years and Microsoft is probably the same.  If the Wii U is on a 5 year cycle, this could give Nintendo the advantage of making a system more powerful then the Xbox 1 or PS4 in 5 years or so.  However, in that case they would have to charge the consumer the same price as the other systems are and they would lose the "cheaper system" advantage.  But it may be the way to go if the Wii U, "the cheaper system" of this generation, fails.   but I think they would do that only if the Wii U is considered a complete failure and I believe they would do it to satisfy 3rd parties and consumers, but not themselves ...

What is more important  is that they make a system that is more user friendly to Devs and that Nintendo as a company is more user friendly to Devs as well.

But what is the most important to me is that they keep making quality games with great game play.

I say that Mario games are hard core because they are unfofgiving with regard to game play mechanics, they are casual however in that they are forgiving in the sense that you get many 1ups and you do not have to find all the secrets or shoot for a high score ... you can breeze through them too.

the reason I do not like Little Big Planet is because the character moves too slow and the controls are sloppy, interesting ideas but not exciting for me,

I believe it is all too easy for people owning other systems to put down the Wii U ... many of these people probably have not played a Super Mario Game in a long time, and perhaps some may have never played a Mario game at all - if this is the case, they have no idea what they are missing.

 

There are huge debates as to wheather or not the Wii U is next generation, however, when a company comes out with a new video game system, it is next generation, no matter what ... it is that companies next generation machine.

 

Owning a Nintento Wii U, Nintendo 3DS XL, PS3, and a PS Vita, I can say that it is not the raw processing power of the system that counts, its the games.  But what makes a game for me is the GAME PLAY.  There are games on the PS Vita and PS3 that visually look more realistic than anything I have seen on the Wii U or 3DS and yet they are not great games because of their Game Play.

 

The PS Vita offered the chance of having console like 1st / 3rd Person Shooters in the Palm of your hands and to this date, in my opinion, all of them were horrible because of their Game Play combined with weak stories as well.  I'm talking about Resistance Burning Skies, Unit 13, and Uncharted ... all major disappointments in my book.  Perhaps the new Killzone game for the Vita may change my mind although I fear it will not have a single player campaign ... which is what I really want, instead it will be short missions to earn money ... time will tell.  To date and very unexpectedly, my favorite game on the Vita is Hustle Kings, and I am not even a Pool Fan in real life ... it is not visually stunning but the game play is great.

 

When it comes to 1st / 3rd person shooters, the PS3 satisfies me with Resistance Fall of Man, Resistance 2 & 3, Uncharted 1, 2, & 3, and KIllzone 1, 2, & 3, Gatling Gears, Lara Croft Guardian of Light, and Warhammer.  But when it comes to platformers, none are all that entertaining or satisfying to me, they are merely passable.  

 

Now when it comes to PLATFORMERS, the Wii U and 3DS beat anything on the PS3 or PS Vita.  Mario games are awesome on both the Wii U and the 3DS ....  What Nintendo does right on its home console, it also does right on its hand held and that can not be said of Sony at the moment.

 

When people talk about HARD CORE GAMING, I guess they are thinking of games with sex, blood, violence, and cursing.  But to be honest with you, being a gamer since the days of Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Defender, Gradius, and breakout, I may have a different view of Hard Core Gaming.  

 

To me, it is the Hard Core Gaming I find in Nintendo games that keeps me coming back.  To me a Hard Core Gamer is one that loves to game a lot and does not consider themselves a casual gamer and they also like a challenge as well, in a game that has good game play.  

 

To me Super Mario and Zelda Games are Hard Core games but Nintendo has also made these games casual at the same time, hence their broad appeal ... You can dash through a Mario or Zelda game if you like, but the hard core gamer will try to find all the hidden items and exits - therefore it satisfies both types of gamers.

 

In addition, its the game play that really draws me into Nintendo games ... miss a jump by a hair in a Mario Game and you are dead!  Now that is hard core in a world where too many video games will practically make that jump for you or compensate for you missing and make it appear you made that jump.  Almost pop a turtle on the head in a Mario Game is not good enough, you will take damage or die if you do not execute the move correctly.  This leads to another point ... NIntendo really focuses on control in a video game ... the controls are spot on, not wishy washy ... So in my eyes at the very core, Nintendo Games are Hard Core.

 

So in my eyes, it is not the specs of the machine that make the game, its the game that makes the system.  Sony has had a bunch of platformers but even to this day , none of them compare the platforming action found in the 8 bit Super Mario Brothers NES TITLE.  

 

If NIntendo really wanted to, they could make one of the most enjoyable and entertaining 1st or 3rd person shooters without any blood, without any cursing, without any sex ... it would have to rely on great game play and an interesting story.  

 

Would you play a Super Mario 1st Person Shooter if he was shooting turtle shells instead of bullets?  If the characters made funny and interesting antics when they were shot instead of blood flowing from their bodies, if in the end princes peach only kissed you and you never saw her naked?  I would jump at the chance to play a Mario 1st Person shooter if the game play was on target and the story was good or funny.

 

I believe the Wii Us power lies in MEGA HIT Video Games with great Game Play and not TeraFlops because I have seen some real beautiful looking games on other systems and when it comes to actual game play, they are Magna Flops to me.

If there is one amazing thing I would love to be able to do, its take my Wii U Pad on the road, connect with WiFi and play the games on my system on the go .... anywhere!

I didn't get my PS3 until Christmas of 2011 - that was perfect !!! the system was out for years with tons of games and digital download top notch games were very cheap.  

I really think I will wait to get the PS4 until they come out with a slim version - not that I'm obsessed with it being slim but by the time a company comes out with a slimmer model, there are a lot of games out for the system, the good games that came out at launch are cheap, and kinks in the hardware and operating system have been worked out.

One thing I can say about Nintendo Games is that they maintain their value!  It is rare to find even a cheap used Nintendo game unless its two generations removed, and even then its rare.  Super Mario Bros Wii used costs almost what the game did when it was newly released.

EA seems to be looking at strictly the number of players playing their games on Wii U in multiplayer, however, for me, the Wii U is the most social gaming system I have ever owned - I feel immersed in Miiverse and love it.  I hardly ever send notes to other players on my Vita or PS3, but the way Nintendo set up Miiverse, I'm constantly dropping notes and pics into the community and feel connected to the communities.

I did not play nintendo games for a while, its refreshing to be back and I have realized that with the new Wii U games I got and the old Wii games I transfered, I have a boatload of Nintendo games to play and 75% of them are top notch !!!

I waited a year to get the Wii U after it was released and I have enough to keep me busy for at least a year before I run out and grab a PS4.

I love Miiverse and the fact that its policed ... I'm tired of people trashing each other in forums.

I am sure you will see the other systems doin what Nintendo is already doing .... posting in game pics, leaving notes in games other players can see ... but I have a feeling it wont be all that policed.

I'm no prude but seeing excessive use of curse words gets annoying quick.

I think Nintendo went with a smaller battery initially to keep the pad as light as possible although this battery doesnt add that much weight really.

Hi all,

 

Just wanted to reach out and let all of you know that I picked up the NYKO Power Pak internal battery for the Wii U Pad.

 

I installed it then fully charged it before using the Wii U.  I am getting 10 hours of battery life out of it !!!!

 

I paid $20.00 for it and think it is well worth it.

 

Installing is a bit tricky so you better watch some videos on You Tube,  particularly the one with the triple twist method, even after using this method, I had to re open the back of the pad and giggle the wires a little bit until I could see the power indicator on the pad reading full ... Since I did that it has been smooth sailing.

 

Nintendo will release their own larger capacity battery, however, it will not last as long as this one because this one is larger and has more capacity.

 

NOTICE THE SIZE DIFFERENCE IN THE STANDARD BATTERY IN THE WHITE PAD VERSES THE BLACK PAD.

NINTENDO WII U DELUXE REVIEW

When the Wii U was released at the end of 2012, people complained that its interface was very, very slow and that there where not enough games for the system.

I just picked up my system, June 2013,  and that was after Nintendo had released a patch to speed up its interface.  I am happy to say that I have no complaints with regard to the time it takes to boot up and switch between applications.

One thing to note is that once get the Wii U - set it up, and connect to the internet via WiFi, there is BIG DAY ONE UPDATE that needs to be installed ... expect to wait over an hour before this update is complete.

THE HARDWARE

I got the Deluxe Model which is Black, has 32 GB  internal memory, and comes with the game Nintendo Land, a charging dock for the Wii U Game Pad, and a cradle for the Wii U Game Pad as well.  It cost $350.00,  The basic set, which is white,  costs $300.00 and does not come with a game or the cradle or charging dock for the Wii U Game Pad.  Both models come with an HDMI cord - this is a first for a Nintendo System - HD gaming.

Both models have 4 USB ports and an SD card slot.  Both models can use a USB external hard drive which has a plug (its own power source).

The Wii U is backwards compatible with the Wii ... any game you purchased on the Wii will work on the Wii U, retail or digital (you can transfer all of you content from the Wii to the Wii U and any games that are not currently on your Wii but you purchased digitally, can be downloaded to the Wii U.  All of the controllers for the Wii are compatible with the Wii U.

The Game Pad 

The game pad has a nice large touch screen on it, a stylus, dual analog sticks, a set of left and right shoulder buttons (Top L / R and lower Rz / Lz) , a D pad, a tv button (the pad can be used as remote control for you TV), a power button and a,b,x, and y buttons, in addition to headphone jack,  a camera (facing you), a microphone, two speakers, an accessory jack, and a charging jack, there is also some type of Near Contact Reader on it as well but no games support that at the moment.  I believe it will be used to read information from cards or toys.

This is the most comfortable game pad I have ever used and I have been gaming since the days of Pong!  It is not as heavy as you think it might be, its actually quite light.   It is not a gimmick, it is an awesome and comfortable tool with no discernible lag between what you see on the pad and your TV.

So what can you do with it?  You can play a game on (most games I have) while someone else uses the TV for something else.  This is really a joy !!!  It is also used a second screen within games .... for example, a character within a  game calls you and the see the simulated video call on your pad.  You may have a differnt perspective as others do while playing a muli-player game (one perspective on the TV another on the Pad).  Instead of split screen, one person can see their perspective on the TV and you see yours on the pad.  It can be used to manage your inventory in a game ... the possibilities of its uses are endless and exciting really.

The Game Pads Battery Life

 Here is where a negative comes in but is easily corrected ..... I get about 2-3 hours of gaming off of a full charge with its screen set the highest brightness.  That is a short time (especially if you forget to charge in between gaming sessions) so to compensate for this I picked up a Niko Power Pak Battery for it (internal battery @ $20.00) and now I get about 10 hours of battery life without adding much weight at all to it.

The internet browser

The internet browser is 1,0000 x better than I expected and has become my go to browser ... what a surprise !!!

External Hard Drive

I connected an external hard drive to the system to expand its memory and it works like a charm .... allowing me to download games instead of getting retail packaged games.  This is a great optional feature.  It runs smooth and there is no difference when playing a game that is on the external drive or internal drive in terms of lag or anything.  When you turn on or off the Wii U System, it automatically turns on and off the External Hard Drive ( Nice Touch ! )  BE WARNED, once you hook up your external drive and use it for the system, it will erase the drives content and it will only be able to be used with the system ... sure you can reformat it to work with your PC again, but then you will lose all the Nintendo content on it and vise versa.

Video Chat

 You can video chat with your Miiverse friends using the Wii U Control Pads camera which faces you and microphone.  The chat service is through Nintendo and not Skype or anything like that.

Miiverse

this is an online community and I enjoy it for several reasons .... you create a Mii (a graphic representation of yourself) and others do too, then you add them to your friends list and can video chat with them or send them notes.  While playing a game you can pause the game, then post to that games community, you can attach an in game screen shot (at the point where you paused the game) and add a comment too that everyone in the community can see ... a neat feature.  Unlike other gaming communities there are no curse words or people talking about your mother and such .... these types of comments do not make it to the community ... it is policed .. and that is refreshing really.

Games

No one makes a better platformer or action adventure game than Nintendo (Super Mario & Zelda games) (and I also own the PS3 and PS Vita).  Currently I am enjoying Super Mario Brothers Wii U, Luigi Wii U, Super Mario World (SNES Virtual Console Download), Bit Trip Runner 2, Toki Tori 2, Nano Assault Neo, Trine 2, Zen Pinball 2, and Mutant Mudds Deluxe, and Lego City Undercover ... All of these games are enjoyable ... and you simply will not find a Mario game on any other system!  Great games are headed to the Wii U Very Soon - Super Mario World 3D, Pikmin 3, Mario Kart Wii U and Smash Brothers.  In the distant future there will be a brand new Wii U Zelda Game, until then, Nintendo is releasing Wind Waker HD, a revamped Game Cube Game - but I never really cared for that particular title in the series.

3rd Party Software Support

Currently, there is not much 3rd Party Support for the Wii U ... to be honest, that does not bother me at all, I get Nintendo Systems for their 1st Party Games ... For example ... Black Ops 2 is out for the Wii U and the PS3 ... if I wanted it, I would just get it for the PS3.  

Conclusion - 9 out of 10 - Overall this really is a great system and is much better than I thought it would be, its family friendly, has great graphics, and its just downright fun fun fun ... I took away one point for the battery life of the Wii U pad, but that is very  easily corrected with a NYKO replacement extended life battery.   Great games for this system on the way so if you considered picking it up - DO SO, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.  In my opinion, it is the best system Nintendo has released since the SNES