WiiU Thoughts

November 30th, that was the day that I stood outside my not so local (had to drive 50 km) Gamestop to pick up my since long ordered WiiU. I was about half an hour early and first in line, although only two more would come before the manager opened for us, 15 minutes early. I bought it together with Nintendoland and New Super Mario Bros. U. And than I had to work the entiee weekend so I dd not get to sit down with my WiiU properly until monday, the 3rd. And I've been playing it on and off since. So what do I think of it?

Well first off, what is good about it? Well, I can honestly say that I love the console itself. I love the HD-graphics, I love the way it looks, I love the menues. I haven't gotten to try the online functions just yet but youtube works nice...

I love the controller. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but that is of no concern, you ger used to it pretty quickly. But it's inovation at its finest, it will be really interesting to see what will do with it.

This is best shown in Nintendoland. It is what Wii Sports was for the Wii, it shows perfectly what the controller is capable of, and does it in a really fun manner. I took my WiiU with me to my teens at church and they had a great time with Nintendoland, even the people who normaly doesn't play video games at all. This shows me how Nintendo once again manages to make gaming mainstream.

So what about us hardcore gamers, we who in manies opinion where left out by Nintendo, previous generation. And here's somethig to be glad for, because since the specs of the WiiU is much closer to the 360 and the PS3 (and probably better) many of the games released on those platforms are also being released on the Wii U, many even say that most of them are better on the Wii U, though some games say the opposit, unfortunatly.

But that brings me to my first concern. Becaue even though they are on equal ground at the moment, the next generation consoles of Sony and Microsoft is at most only two years away. Then they will swoop in with their monsters and Nintendo will once again be reduced to doing awesome first-party game with little to no third-party support. I would have wished that the WiiU were a lot stronger, but still, at the moment they are at the peak of it.

Two years is better that none, the problem with WiiU is in the other end this time, the excusive titles. While Nintendoland is a great game, it is best played Toghter with others, preferly five people. New Super Mario Bros. U is the game that combines great multiplayer fun with intense singleplayer gaming. And it's still sort of the exact same game as the other three in the series. Don't get me wrong, that's not necessarily a bad thing, it's only a safe thing. New Super Mario Bros. U is a great game. It's just not an amazing game, the kind of game we've come to expect from Nintendo, and most of all Mario.

The only other game that kind of interest me is ZombiU, and from what ive heard it's a good game but not much more. The problem that Nintendo is facing now is that there does not seem to be any amazing games on the horizon for the WiiU either. I mean sure, I look forward to LEGO City Undercover, Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2 and most of all Rayman Legends, but do I think they will be amazing games, no. Well maybe Rayman, but otherwise no. I think we will have to wait until we find out what Retro Studios has been up to, to get out first really amazing game for the WiiU.

With that said, I love my WiiU, for two reasons, one universal and one just for me and some other people. Because, I never owned a Wii, and bam, I suddenly got a whole library of AMAZING Wii-games, that I have yet to play. In this regard, WiiU might be the best buy for me this entire year. The other, there will be good games. I look at the history of Nintendo consoles and I see amazing games everywhere, some of my favourites, on every console Nintendo has ever produced, so I don't think we have to wait too long for games we can all enjoy, for the WiiU.

With that said, I say goodbye, I have some self-torture to do... I so hate you Final Fantast XIII...

What was better in the past?

The past was better; a saying that many agree fits perfectly in the gaming world. Games were better in the past. But is this really the truth? I will start my brain and think a while about it, as I write it down here. The past is the 64-bit era (not excluding higher games from the same era) and before and the new is after.

I believe, as usual, that there is no black and white here. That game was awesome.... Ehm, I mean, it all depends on where you look at the game. Obviously, the graphics are better now than then... right? What was better then, and what is better now, may surprise you.

Let's talk graphics. The graphic today is great, in many aspects, much thanks to HD and better TV's in general. But somehow the games that had the most impressive graphics at any time still managed to impress. A sunset in Chrono Trigger could be just as beautiful as a sunset in Crysis. Furthermore, I think the pixels had uniqueness to them that today’s graphic does not have. Well, then there's Wind Waker... Super Meat Boy... Alice: Madness Returns... let's just face it, despite the cuteness and uniqueness of the pixel era, which was way better than the early 3D-graphic, at least, you can create so much uniqueness with the new type of graphic that it's just more than enough to be better than the old games. One point to new games!

But what about music? Today we have great orchestras conduction epic music, in the same league as the best movie-musicians. Surely this must be better than the blip-y bit-music from the early days? Well, when you hear the words game music, what comes to mind? Let me guess. Super Mario, Zelda, C64 music, Final Fantasy, Metroid, Sonic, Chrono Trigger. Maybe Metal Gear Solid, so I guess some of the newer games has good music too. And maybe these are classics just because they are older. Doesn't, again, Super Meat Boy, or Halo, or Mario, have just as good music today? Still, I think it is a bit like comparing Film-music and actual music. The old songs were hits, the kind of songs that everyone knows about. Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo are legends, and to be honest, there were more great music in the old games. One point to the old games.

So, what decides it is the games themselves. Is the games as good they where back in the days? It really depends on what genre of games we're talking about, so lets go through some genres to determine.

JRPG: This is hard, because the greatest JRPG of all time were made in the new era, Persona 4. As well as a lot of great JRPGs as Tales of Symphonia, Star Ocean III, Final Fantasy X and XII. At the same time, the rest of the great JRPGs were made in the old era. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and VII, the Phantasy Star series, the Dragon Quest series, Secret of Mana, not to forget Seiken Densetsu III. What ultimately decides it is that Japanese RPGs are really bad nowadays. Star Ocean IV was almost unplayable, not to talk about the biggest letdown of the 21st century, Final Fantasy XIII. Most of the JRPGs are okay, but nothing more. Sorry, but JRPGs was better in the past.

FPS: Doom is a classic, Wolfenstein revolutionized and started the genre. But to be honest, who would really play them when we got Halo, Modern Warfare, Battlefield, Killzone, Half-Life, and so much more from a genre that have litreally exploded and barely existed before the 64-bit era. Even with games like Unreal Tournament, Quake and Goldeneye with the old games, the new games still beat them, headshot, FPS is better now.

Strategy: Another easy win, if it wasn't for the 64-bit games. But even if they then have Final Fantasy Tactics, Civilization, Age of Empires and Command and Conquer, they really stand no chance against Warcraft, Starcraft, Dawn of war, Total War, Civilization III, Ceasar III and so on. Strategy games, better now.

RPG: Ultima and Baldurs Gate II are great games, Diablo II, all games that were amazing, and is still today the best in the genre, better than Fable, Better than Neverwinter Knights, Better than Morrowind and Oblivion, although those are great games too. RPG would have been better in the past, if it wasn't for the masterminds at Bioware. Knights of the old republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, are just too good of games for the genre to be worse now. All honour to Diablo II, but RPGs is better now.

Platform: Mario rules, he ruled then, and he rules now. So I'm simply going to remove him from the equation. Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Sonic then ruled the old era. The new era is then ruled by Ratchet and clank, Jak and Daxter and... Sonic? Let's remove them too. Then we have Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV taking up the front for the new, and for the old we have, oh I don't know, every game? There were a lot of them in the old days; almost every game was a platformer. As much as I love Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV, I have to say that there aren't that many platformers now. But the old has Aladdin, Kirby, there was a great Batman-game too. A lot, but I'm not sure, but I will say the old, for the fact that I love Rayman. Platformers were better in the past.

Puzzles: This is a hard one. On one side we have Tetris, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Puzzle Bobble, Dr Mario, it was a golden age of puzzle games. There were almost more of them than there were platformers. They would easily win, if it weren't for one detail... Motherf-ing iPhone. The thing just crawls with great puzzle games, Peggle, Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Osmos, Cut the Rope, just to name a few. The puzzle games are on the rising, and they are better than ever.

Adventures: The same here as with platformers; take away Zelda from the equation, and then you have Uncharted versus Metroid left. Oh, and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus... and Tomb Raider... and Metroid on the new side too... there's just so much that Wonderboy and Castlevania can put up against. Adventure games are better now.

Action: This is also a tough one. On the old side we really only have Turrican, Contra and Metal Gear Solid. But they're all awesome. On the new we have Devil May Cry, God of War and Gears of War as the greatest. The complex story of Metal Gear makes me want to choose that one, while the awesomeness of DMC, GoW and.... GoW.... makes me want to pick the new... Action is better now, because we also have MGS.

Fighting: This is probably the hardest, because the games you played in the old days are the same you're playing today, Tekken and Street Fighter. The new also has Soul Calibur, and the old has Basic Instinct. But the fact that the genre has evolved makes is harder to say that the older should win. Fighting is better now.

So there we have it. I know I didn't go through all genres, but I went through the ones that were the most important. It would seem that games are better now, right? Wrong, or not really wrong, but yeah, you can do so much these days. Still, the games are not always better today, but in a whole, there are much less bad games today. But I love old games, and I love new games. Let games be games, try and enjoy new ones, go back and enjoy old ones. Be nostalgic; explore old classics you haven't tried yet. Games are great now, games were great then!

Nintendo's E3 Press Conference

Then finally, the moment we had been waiting for, came. Nintendo were to show Café. Every muscle in my body where cramping up with excitement. This was going to be the most awesome press conference ever.

Shigeru Miyamoto gets up on the stage, to start the show by talking about The Legend of Zelda, as it celebrates 25 years this year. Among the Zelda announcements where Links awakening and Four Swords Adventures to the DSi, and that's about it. He talk about how Ocarina of time 3d comes out soon and Skyward sword will be released in time for Christmas.

Then, the 3D started. Five Nintendo-games were shown for the platform 3DS. First up was Mario Kart. It looks like a Mario Kart-game, so it should be good fun. And if it's anything like Mario Kart usually is on the handheld consoles, this should be really good. With online multiplayer, this could be really great actually, looking forward to seeing it when it's released.

Second up was yet another Nintendo 64 conversion with some extra stuff, like online multiplayer: Starfox 64 3D. This is something of a warning sign for me. The game is great, as it was then it first was released, but I just hope that Nintendo won't put too much effort into just renovating Nintendo 64 games and releasing them in 3D.

Next up was Super Mario 3D. It's a brand new Super Mario game, drawing a lot of its inspiration from Super Mario Bros. 3. This really tickles my nostalgia sense. Somehow it fits perfectly in the trend called new-retro. Just as New Super Mario Bros. was inspired by the first games, or rather the whole 2D era of Super Mario. Just looking at it gives me some type of sense that this will be a great game.

Then they showed another new trailer and gameplay footage for Kid Icarus: Uprising. A couple of new features where shown, like, again, multiplayer. This it probably one of the few games that compels me to buy a 3DS. A lot of the games shown are games that I would by if I actually had a 3DS, but this one actually makes me want to buy one. As long as they succeed with the gameplay, this is a game that will make 3DS even more attractive.

The fifth and final Nintendo-game shown for the 3DS was Luigi’s Mansion 2. Haven't played the first one, but I think it looks a little like a Nintendo version of Ghostbusters. The atmosphere is great, but I'm not sure how fun it actually looks. Looks kind of repetitive. But who knows, I, for one, likes Luigi so let us hope that this is a great game after all

Next up was a video of some third party games to look forward to, like A couple of Resident Evil-games and a conversion of what I consider to be a real indie-pearl; Cave Story. If you haven't played it, get it now!

Nintendo ended their 3DS section by presenting Pokedex 3D. It looks really stupid, could be a cool idea, but the fact that it only contains the 150 new Pokémons of Black/White makes it less interesting.

Then it happened. Nintendo showed us, for the first time, their new stationary console. It is called... Wii U... WHAT THE?!! Wii U?! Seriously? Why couldn't they have gone with Stream, like it was rumoured? Or Café, even that sounds better then Wii U. I hated the name Wii, but I learned to live with it. Wii U sounds retarded. Wii U sounds like an upgrade, rather than a completely new console. Let us hope that I'm wrong by saying that.

I, as many others it may seem, thought that it was only a new controller. I got really scared. When I understood that it in fact was an entire console, I calmed a little. The Console, with the new controller as the new revolutionary thing about it, was still a big let down. The controller looks great, with things like camera, microphone, gyro, dual analogue sticks and a big touch pad. The fact that it actually looks more like a controller make me happy, and it would seem that it makes the third party developers happy as well. You can play, due to the screen on the controller, on the controller if the TV is occupied. The only thing I'm concerned about when it comes to the controller is the size of it, it doesn't look that comfortable to hold, plus that the analogue sticks looks tedious to get to.

Other things revealed about the console itself were things like HD-graphics (yay) and that's about it. No specifications were made, no price, no nothing. The trailers shown for the various games weren't even shown on the Wii U, but on a PS3. The only thing that we actually got to see from a Nintendo-view was a graphic demo of The Legend of Zelda, although that looked amazing. Let's hope it will come to the console later on.

After a small announcement that it might be a Super Smash Bros.-game on the platform, a trailer was shown, showing the games being released on Wii U by third party developers. Among them, Darksiders II (Looks really cool), Tekken, (For the first time on a Nintendo console!), Batman Arkam City (Got by far the biggest response from the audience, and sounds great to me), Assassins Creed (figures, but good game) and Ninja Gaiden 3.

And that's it. No Nintendo-games at all. This was so disappointing, that I left the Nintendo E3 press conference with a big disappointment. But then I started to think. This was actually great. Nintendo-games will come, of course they will. But the fact that Nintendo now has the support of this many third party developers is amazing. And the fact that many of the games are games that focuses on a mature audience is a big step in narrowing the gap between Nintendo and the hardcore-players they lost with Wii. But too much is still a question mark. Maybe it's because the hype was way up in the skies, that we felt that this was a failure. Or the fact that it was announced to be two hours long but only lasted 45 minutes. Hm, here's a thought, maybe Nintendo decided to skip a big part of the show. Maybe they're hiding something. Let's hope we get to enjoy more of Wii U (worst name ever) during E3. And to be honest, Nintendo's E3 conference was still better than Microsoft and Sony’s conferences, just not as much better than I thought.

Why all this negatiWiity

It seems that anywhere I read, the Wii gets bashed and disliked for various reasons. I just don't get it. I'm going to argue my point at the most common complains for the Wii.

There aren't any good games for the Wii!
Ehm, Super Mario Galaxy one and two, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Awesome partygame!), Punch-out!!, Rayman Raving Rabbits (Yeah, it exist on the other consoles too, but seriously, it's soo much funnier in the Wii), Super Paper Mario, Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, Mario Kart Wii, The Bit.trip-series, The Legend of Zelda: Twillight Princess, just to name a few, and not to name the games released non-exusivly to the Wii.

I mean no good adult games. These are all kids games!
Well, you have No More Heroes one and two, Red Steel 2 (not the first one, that sucked), Mad World, Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition and as mentioned above, Mertoid Prime 3 and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILLIGHT PRINCESS!!! And just because Nintendo have decided to go with a more kids friendly look to most of it's games doesn't mean that you can't play them. If you think like that you might miss out on some of the best games on the console, and on the market for that mater.

What about the console then? The Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 are so much more technologically advanced! The Wii doesn't even have a hard drive!
That depends on what you defines as technology. Sure, the fact that you need a SD-card to save your games is extremely annoying, and I don't like that I can't play my games in HD, but what about the motion controller? Isn't that much further in development than the others? It took Sony 4 years to do the same thing. Not to speak of all the other things that the Wii have made to enhance the gaming experience. And since when have the best console been the fastest and the one with the best performance to generate the best graphics? When did graphics get prioritised over gameplay? The Wii sold more that the others without having awesome graphics for the most part.

But the only ones that buy the Wii are families and the ones who were swept away by the initial wow-factor!
The thing that the Wii did that is amazing is that it made gaming into something that wasn't just for the "Nerd" but a socially accepted hobby. Just like Nintendo always have done, I mean, how many of you didn't have a Nintendo Entertainment System when you were kids? With Wii, and at some fault of the guys at Harmonix, gaming is a bigger phenomenon than ever before, so big that neither of the consoles has sold even near bad. And the so-called initial wow-factor was 5 almost years ago, and last year, the Wii still sold more that the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

What I want to see from the Wii, is an updated console, with support for HD and with a HDD, still at the same price. I love the Wii. I love the fact that you can play with one hand, resting your head on, while holding the nunchuck, and be just as relaxed with the other. So don't judge the Wii, because it might not appeal to you, the hardcore-gamer. Sad but true, we're not the main focus of the industry anymore, an industry right now ruled by Nintendo.