Wii U has come out and has caused an interesting reaction with the gaming community. It’s exploded onto the scene like a bird shitting on a park bench. Wii U isn’t selling as well as Wii did at this very early stage, and after skeptical claims of “artificial shortages” people are now falling over themselves to prove that Wii U is “in stock”. Yes, you can buy it. So why don’t you?
With websites not even playing Wii U games, people tearing apart screenshots, analysts predicting the end of Nintendo and misinformation spreading faster than information, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Wii U was sent here by aliens to capture the worlds population and enslave them in the Miiverse. This console threatens to provide an affordable development environment, new game ideas and an interactive community “outside” these gaming forums. It must be killed before people have too much fun without us.
ZombiU has caused the biggest stir and painted itself a big target. With scores ranging from 4.5/10 to 9/10, it seems this game just might not be your taste. Except I don’t buy that bullshit for one second. If a reviewer doesn’t like an FPS he’s not going to give Halo 4 a 4 out of 10. Need for Speed won’t get a 2 out of 10 because somebody just doesn’t like racing games. ZombiU is an objectively good game no matter which way you come from. It has high production values and gets every aspect of itself right. The controls are great, graphics are fantastic and the gameplay is very finely crafted and balanced. I’m not going to pick apart that Gamespot review because you can see the drama unfold for yourself in the comments and it’s been done to death. I don’t really care what the reviewer ate for breakfast that morning, but 4.5 out of 10 is a statement to get attention. ZombiU hype must be contained, STOP being excited! Here’s some direct quotes from the similar GameInformer review (5 out of 10),
“A Bad Start For New Wii U IP”
“Gamers eager for a new experience tailored to the Wii U likely have their eyes on ZombiU”
“Good zombie games are a dime a dozen these days, and I can’t recommend ZombiU above them despite being the only undead shooter on the Wii U”
I’m sensing he’s trying to tell us something here. The best example of a Wii U game sucks. So that means Wii U sucks, right? He even takes a jab at Red Steel for good measure. Red Steel’s backlash ensured that Wii never got any quality first person shooters despite being perfectly designed for them, do we really want that to happen again? Using that same logic, some people want ZombiU to suck so badly because it threatens to TAKE their games and put them on Wii U, and it also shatters the family console image often snorted through the noses of hardcore gamers. So why does ZombiU suck if it’s one of “their” games? I don’t fucking know and this whole paragraph is doing my head in. Scores need to be taken out of reviews because they lead to an intentional comparative shitstorm, but that topic is for another day.
ZombiU is just the start, we’ve got a brand new Mario game launching with a console for the first time since the Nintendo 64. Remember when the press kept asking “where’s Mario?” at the GameCube and Wii launches? Here it is, day 1. Wii U has the best version of Call of Duty and Assassins Creed, people bought PS3’s and Xbox 360s for those games. Nintendo Land has 12 games in it with new methods of control. Yet it seems Wii U is nothing more than some gimmicky distraction while we wait for the “real” console generation to begin.
Time for a fucking reality check. Wii U is the real deal and “next-gen” is a fairytale. It doesn’t even exist. It’ll always be NEXT, and never actually be here. It’s nothing more than a concept. Of the scant details we DO know, Sony has cancelled a handful of PS4 projects and shut down an entire development studio working on PS4 games. We know Just Cause 3 has been in “next-gen” development for a long time, and any developer hoping to compete is going to have to invest more money than they own. We know GTA5 is for the current generation of consoles. We know that Sony barely has any money left. We know Microsoft is betting heavily on Kinect. Sure, it could all turn out great and Xbox 720 and PS4 could be affordable, reliable, and bursting with new games and features. However, Wii U is out right now and already does that. Developers are happy, gamers are happy, and sitting on the sidelines is nothing to be boasting about. Give Wii U a chance and you’ll be surprised.
Pietriots 
I really want to give the Wii U a shot, but none of the stores in my area have a demo unit. Best Buy has one, but whoever set it up, screwed up. I can’t even play a game on it, and I really wanted to try it. It’s pathetic, and it certainly isn’t going to help it’s sales in my neck of the woods.
Overall, I like the gamepad, it has a good feel to it (I was completely skeptical of it when it was unveiled, but I with held my thoughts until I could try it out). At the moment, Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 are at the top of my list of must have games for it. That doesn’t mean I’m trying to discredit the launch games (I also would like to take a crack at Mario Bros. U), but in all honesty, the reason I couldn’t get a Wii U at launch is that I couldn’t afford it, and also because I’ve become leery of getting a console at launch (especially with the way Sony and Microsoft botched their systems).
I swear, the gaming press and most “hardcorez” WANT Nintendo to fail, and will never give Nintendo any sort of due or credit no matter how well they do. For years they gave bull crap excuses for Nintendo’s success for the past couple of years, and now that the gaming industry is on the downward slide (which Nintendo WARNED ABOUT YEARS AGO), they’re jumping over themselves to pull NIntendo down.
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Well Said friend.
Also VERY GREAT ARTICLE. I ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT.
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Pachter needs to troll Nintendo in order to stay relevant, considering he’s been wrong about everything these PAST SIX YEARS is really telling. $250 is the perfect price for 3DS, Vita will steal 3DS marketshare, Wii will underperform.
ALL WRONG.
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Fortunately sabotage from the gaming media is just ‘same old-same old’ as far as Nintendo is concerned. They’ve been dealing with this since at least the mid 90’s and as much as I’m sure it frustrates the hater, it hasn’t stopped them yet. That said it would be great to see what Nintendo could do with a console without having the gaming media and most western developers pulling against them every step of the way.
Toadofsky makes an interesting point, it seems Best Buy aren’t the only ones incapable of making their Wii U kiosk work. I laid eyes and hands on a Wii U for the first time at an HMV yesterday and sadly ‘demo’ was greyed out on every game…all I could use it for was videos. Lame.
Still, in spite of the best efforts of gaming journalists and internet trolls (that’s a bit redundant) I’ll be another sure sale as soon as I return home from vacation. I for one can’t wait to play ‘Super Mario Rehash’, ‘Casual Minigame Collection #10000’ and ‘Red Steel U’!
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Dude, what are you trying to do? The gaming media has spent years painting the image of Nintendo being the worst gaming company in the world.Don’t ruin it for them. /s
Nintendo’s on top of the world right now. They’re definitely in a better position that the other two. I’ve been thinking about this tired “Nintendo abandoned the hard-core” argument and come to the realization that it’s a very selfish way of thinking. Think about the Wii as the NES. The NES had a very simple controller, nothing fancy about it. But it was easy to pick up and play and anyone could jump right into it, even people with no experience in gaming. It gave birth generations of gamers around the world. The Wii is the exact same thing. A whole new generation of gamers are here because of Wii. As much as we cherish our memories with NES, they feel the same way about Wii.
Now look at the SNES. It’s controller is much more complicated than the NES and people still got right into it. It’s the same way with the Wii U. Nintendo is challenging those gamers who cut their teeth with Wii, graduate to something bigger now and I think they will accept that challenge. Nintendo didn’t abandon anybody. Small minded gamers abandoned Nintendo because they didn’t want to try something new. They just wanted the same thing with prettier graphics.
I’m going to pick up my Wii U as soon as I can afford it next year and I’m going to buy all of the launch games that interest me. Ninja Gaiden, Mass Effect (even thought EA screwed us over on the trilogy, Straight Right shouldn’t have to suffer because the folks at EA are stupid), Batman & Darksiders. I’m not really big on FPS so I don’t think I’ll get CoD. I can’t wait.
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I recommend getting Batman and Ninja Gaiden, since the former actually makes amazing use of the Game Pad and the latter is a not-shitty version of NG3. I’m not getting EA games since a) I’m not forcing myself to use Origin and b) EA joke.
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Yeah, I’m definitely getting them both.
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The lack of a WiiU edition for games annouced at the VGAs (ahahaha) is further proving our point that third parties don’t give a shit about WiiU, and Nintendo bending over to them was pointless.
No problem though, its not like those “bigger audiences” that supposedly exist on the PS3 and 360 saved all the companies listed in this article: http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2012/07/02/the-rise-of-costs-the-fall-of-gaming/
…from folding. The list, from 2006 to now, is REALLY telling.
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That list was depressing read. I think Nintendo made the Wii U to be at the level of the current gen in terms of development cost for this very reason.
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This should be sound proof to NIntendo to not bother bending over backwards to these companies. They’ve done everything to appease them, and still can’t get them to play nice. I say it’s time for a little bit of tough love, Yamuachi style. If your game didn’t appear on a Nintendo system, he felt there was no need for your game to be on it. That sort of mentality probably wouldn’t work these days since publishers/developers have more option on where to shop their games to, but the fact remains that Nintendo is wasting their time trying to appease developers that have no desire to work with them.
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How can you sit there and defend this crap?
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Well, e3 happend, Wii-u has nothing exciting untill 2014. EA is no longer making ANY titles for it.. it may have launched first, but it’s pretty Damn obvious the Wii -U was DOA. and I don’t expect much of a resurrection.. when it’s titles do come out they will already be far behind ps4 and Xbox.. fan boys will disagree .. but open your eyes.. even the big name developers are abandoning it.
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I could care less about the “big name developers” when over the last six years they ignored the Wii and the payment for that was closures in layoffs. I know you think you are entitled little shit thinking Nintendo should just fail, but telling us to open our eyes and see the truth is kind of hilarious when your sense of reality in this comment makes me laugh. Guess what! PS4 and Xbone don’t have audience now, and developers are delusion if they think there will be one to offset their bloated budgets at launch.
Also, the fact you used EA as something to back up your opinion just marks you as a horrible entitled little kid or a man-child. The most hated publisher in the world is something you use to show WiiU is doomed. Give me a fucking break.
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Haha, that was a bit harsh. I think he’s just worried, E3 hype can do that. It was clear from the start that nobody was going to buy a Wii U for EA games.
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E3 means nothing, gamers almost never back up E3 hype (and Nintendo knows that more than anybody). PS4 and Xbone are still at 0, not that it even matters anymore.
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Nintendo actually had the best showing at E3 last week. They had the most content, the most diverse lineup, the most exclusives and showed they actual gameplay from games we’ll be playing throughout the next year.
All of the games Nintendo showed for Wii U at E3 were running at 1080p 60fps btw.
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*they showed
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