So the price point - I don't find it necessarily unreasonable, but it did land $50 more than I thought it should have been priced. While the tablet controller is no doubt more expensive to assemble than your average controller, the specs I have read on the system don't place it as being significantly any better than say, the Xbox 360 or PS 3, both of which are cheaper by a fair margin at this point. Also I worry that the Wii U will pale next to what the next Xbox and Sony machines can put out visually. $300 and $350 aren't horrible, but I'd have been more comfortable at $250 and $300.
In terms of the at-release games, there appears to be a decent selection, with a few surprises like Bayonetta 2 in there, but I was also a bit surprised at how weak the Nintendo first-party selection is going to be upon release. The titles will probably be quite good, but for me the Wii was always more about Nintendo's first party titles. There were some good 3rd party ones out there like Monster Hunter Tri and Silent Hill - but it was Smash Bros, Super Mario whatever, Samus and Link that had my kids clamoring for one and tickled my nostalgia-bone (I'm pretty sure I have one of those).
I still haven't seen enough about the online strategy to feel good about it, and it sounds like transferring your data from the Wii to the Wii U will be a bit clunky. Also the announcement that initially at least, Nintendo will not be selling a separate controller was a bit odd. I understand that they want their focus to be on actual unit production because they do not want to wind up short, but what if someone breaks a controller? For now at least, their only option is to send it into Nintendo for repair it would seem.
I am also leery of the storage space offered. With the push to more downloadable games and content, it seems odd to me that we do not see a more robuts storage option. I've used up my 120 gbs on both of my ps3's, and most of my 250 gbs for my Xbox 360. It sounds like you can use external storage solutions for this, but that is an additional cost not unlike the Vita and its need for an expensive proprietary memory card. I honestly would have expected something more to the tun of 100 gbs or more I guess at this point.
I do enjoy Nintendo games - I have owned just about every Nintendo console along the way over the years, including this generation's Wii and 3DS. My son has a 3DS, one daughter has a DSi and another a DS Lite. That being said, the Wii was the least-played of our consoles - the PlayStation 3 has easily been our most heavily played this generation.
I guess my thoughts are Nintendo did not do anything to make me want to rush out and put down a pre-order on the console. Odds are, I'll be waiting until sometime next year until I can see how it is performing, what the online presence looks like and to better weigh the other console options coming out in the future. What were your thoughts? Impressed, unimpressed, concerned, thrilled or somewhere in between?
Hey there, Chalgyr! Your reaction isn't too different from my own. I also was a bit surprised by the price, for instance -- I thought $249 for the 'basic set' would be the 'sweet spot,' so to speak -- although I also don't think the as-is prices are too high when compared with the 360 and PS3. I'm guessing Nintendo will drop the price sometime next year -- which likely is when I'll jump on board.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit shocked, too, that only two Nintendo-made games will be launched alongside the system. I guess they're going for a 3DS-like situation and they're trying to give third-parties a bit of 'breathing room.' That tactic didn't work so well for them with the 3DS, though, so I'm not sure it's such a wise move here, either. At the very least, I expected to see Wii Fit U launched with the system. Oh, well.
That said, NSMBU is sure to be a big seller in all territories, even with NSMB2's seeming underperformance. So, maybe Nintendo doesn't need to release any more first-party games at launch?
It's interesting that my current-gen experience has been the complete opposite of yours. I've bought more games for my Wii than almost any other system I've owned, yet I've bought just one physical/retail game for my 360. (I have bought about 20 digital games for the latter, though.) Given that, I have no worries at all that my future Wii U won't get played.
For me, the question is *when* I'll buy the system, not *if*. I'm guessing it'll happen in the first-half of 2013, but that's just a guess at this time. Should some amazing info come out about Miiverse or about the system's NFC implementation or should more interesting games be announced in the next few weeks, I may buy one sooner, but at the moment that's not the plan.
Hey, thanks for dropping by to comment! :)
ReplyDeleteI suspect I'll be later next year if I buy - because I do suspect there will be something of a price drop. And I agree with your 3DS comparison to the launch titles - it is similar and didn't seem to go so well as the 3DS launch was considered pretty soft.
Yeah, there are all sorts of reasons to think the Wii U will see a bit of a price drop next year -- the PS3 and 360 are sure to get price drops of their own, Nintendo's sure to want to try to put the nail in the coffins of the PS4 and next Xbox, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for the comparison to the 3DS's launch (esp. in terms of games): One thing I'll give the folks at Nintendo is that the Wii U seems to have a better bunch of games this time around. So, I suspect the launch will be more successful than that of the 3DS. Even if it's just as soft, though, they certainly have a bunch of titles waiting in the wings that can be whipped out to lend a helping hand. Or at least that's how it appears.
I'll be writing out some thoughts...I always try to give 24-ish hours of news after these events for clarification purposes, and to make sure I have watched stuff again, if need be.
ReplyDeleteI was very unimpressed with their conference. No talk about friend codes, accomplishments in game, voice chat being a standard with the GamePad for online (or not). Nintendo Network? No, nothing about gaming and online, but we did get Nintendo TVii...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
As you pointed out, nothing about the transfer process from Wii to Wii U (heard Virtual Console games won't stream via the GamePad and apparently the "Wii" aspect is a "mode"?).
The story space, I'm not concerned with initially (I'll address this in a bit), as long as they realize this and make sure "mandatory" installs don't happen.
All this being said, if you saw the cloud of smoke rising from the East yesterday, that was probably the smoke from my tires heading to GameStop...#1 on reserving the Deluxe (and system).
ROFL - I knew you were lining up to grab this guy, so your opinions on it were of high interest to me - were you disillusioned, happy with what you saw, etc. Sounds to me like you are buying more on faith than what they've hsown so far, would that be safe to say?
ReplyDeleteNintendo has never had the soundest of strategies when it comes to online so I have no reason to believe it will be much different here. But as with every past Nintendo system and handheld, I'll be getting a Wii U for the same reason I always pick up something from Nintendo: the games. Nintendo Land sounds intriguing and New Super Mario Bros. U on day one is win for me.
ReplyDeleteAs for price, I don't think it's too high. Granted that kinda money is a lot for anything these days, but I'm positive it will be much cheaper than Sony and Microsoft's offerings.
Not even faith. More for Mario for a certain reason.
ReplyDeleteI also nicked them for not announcing online and accounts. Though that's really 2 things. I think Nintendo Network is a lock to be a copy in some capacity of PSN/XBL. They pretty much gave it away with the 'free' Nintendo Network Premium membership to 2014 with the purchase of Deluxe.
ReplyDeleteThere's 2 ways you can view the lack of info on this. Be cynical and say they've had a terrible history with online and thus they must be trying to hide it, which is a logical conclusion, or look at more recent patterns and maybe think it's because they're not ready to share it yet. I mean, they barely touched on Miiverse and it's suppose to be one of the Wii U's distinctive social features. And we know that will need online and an account of someform to make posts too.
I recall reading forums posts from E3 with people mocking them for turning the tablet into a cheapo Logitech universal remote and questioned why they even spent the money to include a 'tv' button on their controller design. Fewever people who laughing after NintendoTVii. Actually I sensed some annoyance on the forums that they had their shit together on that.
The first party titles are exactly why I'll likely wind up with this thing, even if it's not right at release time. Those Zelda, Metroid and Mario games are just too good most of the time. :)
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