Nintendo’s Wii U Coverage Comments

Finally. On September 13th, the public was enlightened with Nintendo’s plans for launching their new console, Wii U. Now that a week has passed, I've been in many discussions with peers about the console in addition to wear out the spectacle of an news event. Doing commentary this late also lets me comment after developers or publishers break their silence with their plans, allowing a more educated opinion. From date to price to any new announcements, everything that was announced was announced for very important reasons so here’s the breakdown on why. 

Date: Reggie didn’t hesitate to announce the date and price. November 18^th was the safest guess around the Internet and that guess was absolutely correct. This date allows Nintendo to produce as many consoles as possible until the last minute: the week of Black Friday while allowing the longest amount of times for developers to finish their games.

Price: While everyone guessed that the console would be about $250-300, I didn’t expect 2 different SKUs. It’s a very un-Nintendo decision and, in fact, it’s a move from Microsoft’s playbook. Release a console at a respectable price, but parallel a much more irresistible package for a higher cost. It’s a move that absolutely works - allow the core to pay more for their better package and the casual to pay less (mainly for the holidays), and buy software/accessories later. Props for Nintendo for being ballsy to have both SKUs include only HDMI cables since it’s going to make people know that this is a high-def Nintendo console. Plus many people have Wiis, which their composite and component cables work for Wii U if needed.

I personally believe the Wii U Deluxe’s $350 price is a decent introductory price with what you get, though the Basic $300 bundle seems thin of content when an extra fifty bucks nets you much more (which I guess is the point). The many who disagree with the price should check out Wii U bids on eBay this December and understand why Nintendo might have asked for a little bit more than you wanted.

Nintendoland: Many people who have been previewing Nintendoland say that Nintendo’s terrible E3 2012 conference didn’t do the game justice. With the recent inclusion of a supped up version on E3 2011’s Battle Mii, renamed Metroid Blast, they might be right. I’m just shocked that the Wii never really got more third-person shooters after Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition with its sublime IR controls, and here we have a great example of the Wii’s control scheme in top-notch form… five years later for Wii U’s launch.

New Super Mario Bros. U: I have previously stated my opinions on the New Super Mario Bros. series, and this one’s a buy strictly on its co-op along with Rayman Legends. They decided to “hardcore” it up a bit with the option for harder, autoscrolling levels and a mission mode that is guaranteed to frustrate me sooner or later. While I might be a fan of the concepts, I feel that Nintendo just wanted to make people happy with the smallest amount of added code as possible. I just hope the final version does two things:

1)   Allow the players to not forcibly use the GamePad’s asymmetrical gameplay and allow the group to just co-op it ala the Wii Remote players. Forcing it when there are only two players would kill one player’s part of playing through the level (this isn’t Mario Galaxy 2).

2)   Have a diverse artstyle. Seeing the level that look like Van Gogh’s Starry Night made me extremely happy, and I hope each world contains some fun looking stages.

Lego City Undercover: This is ironically one of my most anticipated titles, but the lack of new info scares me. It’s looking like a Lego Grand Theft Auto and if it ends up being one, well then awesome! Most of the footage was from the E3 trailer in June and knowing Nintendo, a lack of new gameplay coverage after this long is never good. Telltale has a good history of these Lego games, but I’m also expecting a break from the normal beat-‘em-up that they seem to only do with this license.

Nintendo TVii: While I don’t judge a video game console on non-gaming entertainment, it’s always a nice addition. With Nintendo TVii, the more I discuss it with others, the more I really like the idea of it, minus its spelling. I already knew that the Wii U was replacing my Xbox 360 as my Netflix box due to Microsoft’s explicit hatred towards making a proper user interface, but I didn’t know that Nintendo, or shall I say their partner i.tv, was planning to streamline streaming. Searching via the show name and deciding what you want to view it with is pretty neat, and using the Gamepad as your TV remote in addition to your TVii remote make it a one-stop device for everything. That is a real difference maker in terms of console streaming.

There are two problems with Nintendo TVii’s ideology, the first being the cost of admission to use it 100%. Nintendo’s stage demo had the console equipped with a subscription of all the services: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and TiVo. While one isn’t really expensive, all four (plus your cable) makes this a service that’ll never get the treatment I’m seeing onstage in my house. The second issue is while Nintendo stated that most cable/dish providers will be onboard with Nintendo TVii, we don’t know which cable providers take advantage of it. Unfortunately, my town’s cable provider is Charter, which is low in popularity, quality, and value while being my only option.

Bayonetta 2: This was the biggest game-related news from the conference. Not only does Nintendo get the sequel of a highly rated game that wasn’t on their console, like Batman or Mass Effect, but also that they’re publishing it. This is the first game that might make an Xbox or PlayStation owner buy a Wii U, and that’s what makes this the biggest deal game-wise. Though with Sega’s financial troubles, I bet they couldn’t/wouldn’t even want to fund a sequel of a niche game like Bayonetta. Also, according to Platinum Games’ CEO Tetsuya Minami, it seems Nintendo approached Platinum for a new installment.

Despite the criticisms they’re receiving about the game being Wii U exclusive, it was a good move on Platinum to team with Nintendo since they’re much stronger than Sega to fund and possibly propel the IP. I also doubt Sega (who owns the IP) would allow any other third party to continue Bayonetta without them and in contrast, no other publisher would want to continue Sega’s IP when they can just make their own and profit without a middleman. It’s sad to see Platinum get so much gruff about this since if Sony or Microsoft cared, they could have done what Nintendo’s doing years ago - but didn’t.

The Wonderful 101: The new name of Project P-100, Nintendo and Platinum’s other title unveiled at E3. Other than its new name, nothing else is really known about this stylish action/strategy game from when we saw it at E3.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: Another shocker. Monster Hunter is like Japan’s Call of Duty, it’s a consistent seller and more importantly, it sells systems. For it to launch with Wii U, bundled with the hardware no less, assures a quick system seller Japan. While it’s only being a remake of 2010’s Monster Hunter 3 on Wii, it still brings the franchise to HD consoles for the first time in the West. Monster Hunter 3 is a very online-heavy game and since Nintendo still needs to prove that they know that the Internet exists, it might be a good example of how the Nintendo Network holds up to a game of this caliber.

They also confirmed a 3DS version to simultaneously launch with the Wii U version with save transferring between the two, which shows off the tech the next Smash Bros will use very early in the console’s life.

Activision: Though anyone that owns a 360 or PS3 might not think much that 007 Legends, Skylanders and Call of Duty are hitting Wii U, these announcements are prove that Activision, the number one third-party publisher, isn’t handling the Wii U with old ports or selectively deciding if a multiplatform title deserves a Wii U version. Activision is treating Nintendo’s HD console the same as the Xbox and PlayStation. That’s not something that EA, 2K even Ubisoft (who is supposedly showing the most support) are doing.

While nothing groundbreaking happened with Activision, their Call of Duty demo was neat. Treyarch is handling a new way to play couch multiplayer without splitscreen by allowing the Gamepad user to have his or her own display via the touchscreen while another player is playing off the TV on a Pro controller. As a guy to does a lot of splitscreen co-op, seeing a demo like that makes me beg for a Wii U version of games like Borderlands, Resident Evil 6 or Earth Defense Force with this functionality.

Nintendo’s September conference was more assuring than any other previous showing of the console, which is great because the news brought forward is make or break for Wii U. They nailed a strong launch lineup filled of first and third parties, got a decent price to open the console with and a safe date to ready both hardware and software. It really seems Nintendo really learned their lesson from past launches, 3DS’ most of all, with no worries about launch or launch window content or asking supposed no-brainers like if the Nintendo Network will be up day one (though ARE still asking how good it’s gonna be). Let’s hope this is a start of a great generation.

New Super Mario Bros 2. - Mini Review / Mega Rant

Though Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were in the works, I bet someone at Nintendo was scared over the 3DS’ scarily bad start and thus a system-saving savior was needed. Enter New Super Mario Bros. 2. What’s sad is that whoever thought of making NSMB2 was a genius because like the DS and Wii installments before it, all it takes for a Nintendo system to take off is a NSMB title. It’ll sells for years, which can’t be said of most video games. And still seeing New Mario Bros. 1 for DS still sell hundreds of thousands to millions years after its launch in 2006, at its full $34.99 price, is nothing less than astounding. There’s a reason the box of this installment’s shows a lot of gold.

So my experience with NSMB2 started around twelve hours before I wrote this. I woke up at noon, had breakfast, surfed the web and decided then to start the game. Then, while curled up on my patio playing with the neighbor’s cat, I finally picked up my 3DS. Throughout the day I picked up and put down the system, playing just a little bit more. During this 11-hour on and off play session, I beat Bowser, played through the three “secret” worlds and unlocked most of the hidden stages, just enough time in my night to write this.

I felt déjà vu. When I played the first NSMB for the Nintendo DS, I walked away completely irritated over the experience due to Nintendo butchering the ideology of what makes the previous 2D Mario games, Super Mario Bros 1-3 and World, special. While the core level design and gameplay was rock solid, the worlds, the artstyle, the easy-to-notice hints - the entire ambiance was just utterly generic, like it was some by-the-numbers platformer. Although its console successor, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was a definite step in the right direction with its frantic-but-fun couch co-op, these New Super Mario Bros. games needed a kick in the ass when it came to presentation. New Super Mario Bros. 2 was no exception.

So in NSMB2, Peach is kidnapped… again. You go through your generic grass, water, desert, dark lands... again. You run and jump on Goombas, Koopas and the seven Koopalings… again (though no Bowser Jr. - that’s a plus). They decided to bring back old favorites like Renzors and the Raccoon Tail, but this is the recurring pattern - that mostly everything in its core is recycled. Hell, all of the music was ripped from the previous two NSMBs. When I expect a new badass final Bowser theme (because he always gets one) and get NSMB Wii’s, you’ve really pissed me off.

I say, “mostly everything in its core is recycled,” because the developers added a metagame in the mix throughout the game’s experience. There’s a coin theme to the design because the game’s box (nothing in the game ironically) tells you to collect one million coins. This is achieved by spamming coins everywhere. Coins pop up if you touch the right place, there are coin-enhanced Fire Flowers which can turn nearby brick to coins and coin bonuses to enemies, and big gold rings which turns enemies gold and gives them a Midas Foot (coins trail their path). There’s even a Gold Rush mode, where you power through three levels with a single life trying to get coins and coin bonuses. It’s an interesting touch, but other than a coin counter on the bottom of the map screen, there’s no other achievement to perform this. I beat the game with 20,000 coins and I am not bothering to do such a useless and time-consuming task if there’s no goal on my end.

Maybe I’m just getting old and jaded, because if you aren’t a hardcore Mario fan like me, you’ll probably enjoy most of what’s here while given a decent challenge. In fact, its familiarity would be actually a sign of solace and safety that you’re getting into something easier to understand. Where if you want explore something, you’ll be rewarded and feel rewarded (see some bricks/coins/structures in a mirrored pattern? Jump between them.). Where your replayability is finding where the hell that alternate exit is and combing the level for its secrets. I understand I’m not the primary audience for the NSMB series, but it can if it gets a damn personality.

And that’s the problem I’m really having with NSMB2. It’s bad per se, it’s just not exciting, but that’s what gets to me the most. There’s no reason that a 2D Mario cannot have something fresh and new while feeling slightly familiar, like Super Mario World or Yoshi’s Island did in the 90’s. It’s weirder that while Nintendo uses the same layout for NSMB, the 3D Mario games are blowing them out of the water in terms of reinvention and style. Super Mario 3D Land took those familiar Mario tropes, but built a whole new way of playing 3D Mario titles with a mix of the sidescroller blended in a 3D plane. Super Mario Galaxy 2, while a traditional 3D Mario, is my favorite game this generation because of its amazing art direction, pixel-perfect controls, it’s fair-but-challenging difficulty and inventive power-ups that made the gameplay feel newer. These two games represent what Mario games should feel like, but NSMB2 does none of that - it feels rushed and forced. Its other modes, like Gold Rush and it’s last-second attempt of 2-player co-op, are unappealing add-ons to a game that has no personal replay value. It feels so rushed that even the stereoscopic 3D effect is badly implemented, on a supposed system seller of a stereoscopic 3D system.

Come on Nintendo, give me something to latch to with the NSMB series. Maybe we can experience some new artstyle or some really unique power-ups that’ll change the way we play. Do something drastic, like how Super Mario Bros 2 (Mario USA, Doki Doki Panic, whatever the hell you want to call it) is incredibly different than Mario 1 and 3. Hell, if you want to recycle, do something we haven’t seen reused since Super Mario Bros. 2, because it’s really unique, stupid and fun. I feel at this point it’ll probably be impossible to ask for a Snifit. I don’t know why Nintendo thinks NSMB players don’t deserve more than hitting the same enemies in the same locales. On top of NSMB2, New Super Mario Bros. U is coming out for the Wii U’s launch later this year. Seeing that same personality as NSMB Wii will feel even staler when put side-by-side with something like Rayman Legends, another co-op-friendly platformer that furthered themselves since last year’s Rayman Origins.

To those who never saw a Snifit before. My point exactly.

The worst thing about it is that though NSMB2 is a short, unfulfilling experience, I respect its existence because it’ll drive the 3DS through its entire lifecycle. Though it’ll destroy the sales of the infinitely superior Super Mario 3D Land like how NSMB Wii dominated the sales of the gaming nirvana that were Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 combined, I can watch it burn its name on sales charts for years to come and not be terribly upset. That’s because just knowing that it’ll help fund future 3D Mario titles, developed my more talented and inventive developers, can make this lackluster title seem somewhat worth my money. 

Why the Nintendo 3DS Engulfed My PAX East Experience

When I was at PAX East last month, the amount of content that one could write about was anything but bare. I could write about my experiences with new games like Steel Battalion, Heroes of Ruin or Borderlands 2; but that would just be repeating the same things you could read anywhere else. Another option could be discussing the panels I attended, like Penny Arcade Report’s Ben Kuchera running an excellent long-form journalism panel, but I would rather write an example of what I learned. There's no better example of my experience of PAX East than the reason I barely remember it, The StreetPass Mii Plaza.

What is the StreetPass Mii Plaza?

The StreetPass Mii Plaza is built-in to the Nintendo 3DS and it exists for two reasons: to show every owner what StreetPass is and to primarily go back to it. StreetPass is a feature when two 3DS’s enter each other’s wireless range and swap data for certain, compatible games. Some games award players with in-game items such as ammo for Resident Evil Revelations, while some allow replayability ala Mario Kart 7’s swapping of ghost data. The idea to make it a console-wide feature was due to Nintendo falling in love with Square-Enix’s successful implementation of a similar, more primitive feature within their big DS RPG’s like Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies and The World Ends With You.

The second point of the StreetPass Plaza is the reason you open it - Puzzle Swap and Find Mii. The first, Puzzle Swap, simply has you completing puzzles by grabbing pieces acquired by other Miis. These puzzles unlock 3D pictures of various Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda and Pikmin. Find Mii is more of an endeavor, using those Miis to rescue you in a surprisingly engrossing and complex RPG that could last years. This free RPG takes lengthy factors into every battle your friends get into, such as the Mii’s shirt color, the number of times you passed that Mii and whether you can team up with other Miis that you acquired at the same time.

That’s the addicting part of StreetPass, every Mii you gain in your plaza means further completion of those games. Miis can only fight one time in Find Mii until the next time you pass them while puzzle pieces are only obtained one at a time. For some players, these ventures will never end while some will blow through most of it in a single weekend at a convention. Players can cheat using Play Coins, currency acquired by walking around with your 3DS, but it still proves a purpose. Furthermore, Nintendo has updated these games via firmware updates to add more content so it doesn’t end until the 3DS’ lifespan ends. 

That brings us to PAX East. The reason I was always taking StreetPass breaks every 15 or so minutes instead of allowing them to accumulate is because the system only saves ten Miis at a time. In a convention of over 50,000 people who love video games, a few of them were bound to carry their 3DS hoping for similar results. My constant StreetPass obsession is not anything new since PAX is the fourth convention I attended since the 3DS’ launch. While I indoctrinated 600 unique Miis in 900 passes within the system’s rookie year, PAX East alone gained another 700 Miis and 800 passes.

Why would Nintendo include software like the StreetPass Plaza?

Nintendo has stated many times that they don’t directly compete with Microsoft, Sony or Apple. While those companies are no-doubt adversaries, Nintendo’s main competition is everything that takes up your free time. Web browsing on your PC, watching TV, talking on the phone, shopping or social networking: these are the true, wide-spread threats to traditional gaming and these are the reasons of some of Nintendo’s features and designs. It's why the Wii U has the option to continue playing by streaming the display to the controller and that’s why the StreetPass Mii Plaza exists for 3DS. What better way to get people to keep their handhelds on them than to reward them with StreetPassed Miis or Play Coins to spend? Seems to work since I always keep my 3DS on hand in order to further myself within the plaza, Resident Evil or Dead or Alive: Dimensions.

Bravo Nintendo, you made me use my 3DS all weekend while I was surrounded by the spectacle of PAX East. I’ll chalk that up to good design on Nintendo’s part versus my lack of self-control.

A Fresh Start

When Stephen Colbert ended his last episode in 2011, he stated a statistic of an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll about how 76% of participants said that 2011 was below average to one of the worst years of their lives. I for one agree with the majority since 2011 was one of the roughest years of my life.

While the first half was swarmed with the tail end of my senior year of my bachelor’s program, it was only followed by a summer of disappointment with a lack of potential career leads. After my parents had enough of my failings, they forced me into an unrewarding second job that had me working eighty hours a week without all that nice overtime… or time to continue looking. With no potential to better myself, I chose to leave my home and the second job to start a new life.

I love my new home now but its issues took a lot of my time and sleep, most notably the mice crawling in the walls. After a month of failed attempts to kick them out of the cottage, my landlord gave up and just redid a chunk of the entire outside of the place. The mice did their damage though with me not having sleep for days on end.

Throughout that horrible year, I wanted to update Never Unplaying so bad. All I could do was my Dead or Alive Dimensions review during the only part of the year that I had personal time. Through a plentiful holiday season and the ups and downs of the industry, I wasn’t able to even jot down opinions. Most notably, I couldn’t create a Game of the Year article this year even after most of my issues, though that was due to another problem I had:

None of the games I played deserved it.

Nothing that came out in 2011 grabbed me and explicated video game design. This lack of quality was heartbreaking since I had such issues debating with choosing the greatness of 2010 with stuff like Mario Galaxy 2 and Halo Reach. Everything from Pokémon Black/White to Deus Ex: Human Revolution to Batman Arkham City just didn’t reach the potential I expected. Even the big dog of 2011, the somewhat-impressive Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim couldn’t keep my interest when it put me to sleep every time I roamed its massive terrain. In this case, something would normally come from nowhere and surprise me like how Rune Factory Frontier or Arkham Asylum blew my mind in 2009. This year did contain a notable shocker, however for much different reasons.

There lies a game in 2011 that triggered a legendary heartbreak within me due to its deplorable execution in every way. That cream of the crap disappointment of a lifetime was without a doubt The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It tried to be the jack-of-all-trades with Zelda with Wind Waker’s exploration, Ocarina of Time’s epic adventure and a mixture of their visual prowess… all sprinkled with a unique control scheme. I craved reviewing Skyward Sword since it broke everything it tied to be while spitting on what Zelda and Nintendo games in general stand for thanks to its busted art style, disgusting game design and most importantly: abysmal controls.

If I had to award the GotY to something in 2011, it would reluctantly be Super Mario 3D Land. It was a great twist to the gameplay of 3D Marios by having more of a sidescroller motif. While it loses more of its freedoms to play and roam around, it still garners a bit of exploration with hidden goodies. 3D Land’s controls are as tight as Mario has always been, meaning it gives complete ownership to any errors made to the player. No excuses. The only issues 3D Land has is length, while it has 16 worlds (Well 8 original and 8 remixed versions of the originals), their stages are only a few minutes long. Not too shabby for a triple-A Nintendo title that was teased, announced and released in less than nine months.

When 2011 ended and 2012 started, I played games when time allowed, but it really felt like work more than fun. This is a pastime! January 2012 was a terrible month that focused on nothing but the lousy releases of the holiday’s fallout. I was also depressed between adjusting to a new life I never expected and doing it alone.

Then on the last day of the month, Final Fantasy XIII-2 came out.

Let’s get this straight - I strongly disliked Final Fantasy XIII. It felt too designed to tell a story about six outcasts destined to save a world who want them dead instead of indulging the player in a epic quest where THEY go out and save that world. It’s like Square-Enix really wants to make another Final Fantasy movie, but is afraid to risk bankruptcy again, so they put their fans through sheer crap.

It’s only sad that Final Fantasy XIII-2’s biggest flaw is that it’s attached to Final Fantasy XIII-1 because design-wise, the two are polar opposites. XIII-2 gives freedom, offers choices, encourages exploration, contains an appealing soundtrack, pokes fun, and it offers kooky DLC, like Mass Effect armor. It’s extremely fun and gives off that vibe I always wanted in XIII-1. Final Fantasy XIII-2 should have come out a month earlier, so I could have easily awarded it the Game of the Year without hesitation.

After dumping eighty-something hours in Final Fantasy, something crazy happened: Resident Evil Revelations and Mass Effect 3 arrived one after another, and they were also amazing! Resident Evil Revelations is the best game on the Nintendo 3DS and one of my favorite installments of the series with a wonderful blend of classic horror, modern controls and shockingly good presentation. Mass Effect 3, however, is my favorite installment of that series, offering an incredible campaign that made me on the edge of my seat during the action. Shame the ending didn’t deliver, or made sense. It is only March and already I have three excellent games I would consider awarding.

I hope this proves that 2012 will be a better year for me. My life has finally come to a new normality, one completely in my control. While I hate that I lost so much time with worthless forces beyond my ability, it was only made my resolve stronger since I have less time to fulfill my life goals. This week I will restart my regularly scheduled blogging and there is no better place to start than PAX East. I’ll deliver demo impressions on as many things as possible and hopefully meet many influential people.

I don’t want 2012 to be another statistic of a year like 2011 was.

For everyone who clicked on this link or typed this URL in via my business card, I thank you for spending your time to visit my page. It hurts like hell to see such a lack of updates of my work, but I assure it won’t look like this for long. Please don’t hesitate to comment this post, reply on my Twitter (@NeverUnplaying) or email me at neverunplaying@gmail.com.

-Sonny Oliveira