I'll start off by saying that I have been a huge Nintendo fan for as long as I can remember. I like innovation, new ideas, companies trying new things, but I am also a realist. These things need to be fool proof, need to work properly, and most importantly, they need to DELIVER! This applies to any company out there, trying to sell any product. While the Nintendo Wii has been immensely popular with the general public due to its "mass playability," but the same feeling hasn't been shared by all of the game developers.
Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku stated the following about how the Wii fell behind on their promise:
"Wii games were never as interactive as that initial trailer promised—we never jumped behind sofas. The console ended up with a heavy casual game focus, and there was poor third party support—both of which Nintendo hopes to rectify with the Wii U."
The challenge Nintendo still faces with the Wii U
A Wii-owning friend of mine stated the following regarding Super Mario Galaxy:
"You shake the remote to spin. In a few levels you move by tilting the remote. That's it."
I couldn't have summed up my thoughts any better about the state of Nintendo's "motion" approach to gaming. Nintendo themselves never attempted anything TRULY UNIQUE with their games, and neither did developers. In result, the Wii has lost support from some major developers throughout the years. Continue reading for more thoughts...
The fact of the matter is that making unique games for a single "unique" console is plenty more difficult than the standard Xbox 360/PS3 process. Now, developers not only have to develop for 2 screens, but the 2nd screen which happens to be a controller with a full-list of sensors, cameras, and whatnot! The potential for extremely complex interaction from controller to TV is stellar. What are some things I think people will NEVER get accustomed to with the Wii U?
- Using the Wii U controller to zoom websites. I can't think of something more annoying than having to constantly refocus my eyes on different screens, looking for and trying to get the right thing to appear on my controller screen.
- Using the Wii U controller to play sports games. During Nintendo's E3 presentation, they demoed playing golf by placing the controller on the floor to "feel" the ball in front of you when trying to interact with it. Seriously? The Wii U controller will NOT improve the old/fake sports playing experience one bit, unless you're 7.
- Using the Wii U controller screen to primary drive gameplay. The main thing I see developers doing with the controller screen are things like item selection, changing weapons, issuing touch-based and/or 1-button commands to your virtual pet, and so forth. Throwing ninja stars and using the controller screen to snipe your opponents in a FPS? Yes, maybe once in a blue moon.
I commend developers who will prove me wrong and completely blow me away. Ken Levine, the Creative Director of Irrational Games said "...when any new technology comes along, you have the spirit of experimentation." Sorry, Ken, but I saw almost none of that spirit with the Wii, and I am doubting I will see any more with the Wii U.
This time, maybe Nintendo won't wimp out of creating a revolutionary Super Mario title, and back up their seemingly revolutionary approach to gaming with a few bangs.
With all that said, I leave you with a LOL (that may not be so funny if you think deeply about it): The Greatest Prank Nintendo Ever Pulled.
UPDATE 3/19/2011:
Nintendo's Satoru Iwata recently stated in an interview that games utilizing a 2nd Wii U controller aren't yet being considered, because it would be too expensive to sell to customers. Do you know what this means? Kids (as well as adults) around the world will always be fighting each other for the single Wii U controller. The losers will be stuck with an old, less-cool, Wiimote. Read the Engadget post here.
Expensive? EXPENSIVE? ARE YOU SERIOUS!??!! This, to me, sounds like a big fat lie. I think that the real reason why a 2nd controller isn't being considered is because of development complexity, and the possibility that the console can't handle MULTIPLE Wii U controllers without it being bogged down. How many screens can a single Wii U console process for and output unique content for each player (board games aside!)?
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Nintendo is, without any doubt, the last true gaming entertainment company in the world. Neither Sony or Microsoft truly innovate in the gaming market without a push and that push came from the "Revolution" started by Nintendo.
This article almost mirrors the many that haunted the months before the Nintendo Wii was released. The Wii was a failure on arrival many will claim, but the console nicknamed Revolution did indeed cause one.
With millions upon millions of new gamers, Nintendo is poised to launch an intermediate step for these gamers to take. Not only that, Nintendo seems to have listened and now will focus on the "core" gamers in addition to the casual crowd.
The Wii U is the combination of the Wii and all other Nintendo consoles before it. Depending on its initial price (I predict $299.99), Nintendo will have another hit on its hands.
"Nintendo themselves never attempted anything TRULY UNIQUE with their games, and neither did developers."
This is subjective and opinion based. Wii Sports came bundled with the Nintendo Wii (in the US) and did serve an amazing job as what you can do with the Wii. This proof of concept game, I expect, was more an example to Wii third-party developers than to the actual consumer.
"Truly Unique", name one console before the Wii that allowed you to play baseball, golf, bowling and etc with almost pure motion? There is a reason why almost ALL first-party titles from Nintendo sold the best.
"Using the Wii U controller screen to primary drive gameplay."
The Nintendo DS's success proved that a dual screen setup works. Like the DS, some developers will use the Wii U controller and its functionality more than others. Nintendo is providing the tools, but it is the developer at the end of the day that must be creative and inventive to use the Wii U controller to its full potential.
"This time, maybe Nintendo won't wimp out of creating a revolutionary Super Mario title"
This quote pains me, as I suspect Lasha, you have not played Super Mario Galaxy nor its sequel. SMG 2 in particular rivals and even surpasses Super Mario 64 in its gameplay. Then there's Super Mario Bros. Wii that takes the classic Mario gameplay and amplifies it with crazy multiplayer. I beat the game alone, but trying to beat the game with three other players is an amazing challenge.
I have spent hours and hours playing Super Mario Galaxy, and the utilization of the unique Wii controller was WEAK. I am not saying that the game was bad in any way or form, in fact, the opposite. The game was AMAZING, as it ALWAYS IS, but it just lacked the unique and truly revolutionary input methods during the gameplay that could've made the game THAT much more!
I've heard the same argument from others as well regarding the Nintendo DS. Frankly, having 2 screens stacked vertically is a lot easier to product content for. Nothing changes physically with the screens. They are both always in the same place. With the Wii U, however, that is NOT the case at all. You're dealing with screens with the following differences:
• The difference in screen size of the TV and the controller are HUGE.
• The controller will always be moving, providing input methods that affect the larger screen in ways the DS couldn't replicate.
• While the controller is moving, content appearing on it will differ significantly from what you see on the TV as feedback, versus 2 screens of the same size on 1 device that are significantly easier to keep in synch.
• With 2 screens, one being your TV and the other being the Wii U controller, one will constantly have to shift focus to play a game successfully. This can get pretty annoying, I think.
Just remember, I never doubted or stated that the hardware wasn't revolutionary. I only said that the output of CONTENT to take advantage of this revolution is/was extremely lacking, both from Nintendo AS WELL as the 3rd party developers. There are literally only a handful of titles that have taken advantage of the Wii's unique controls.