by Jonah
2012/01/27 in Blog/News Discussion, Wii 2, Wii U
It seems Nintendo are considering a new name for Wii U. A source close to Nintendo has supposedly revealed that the Big N is worried about confusing the consumer with two home consoles which share similar branding.
Do you think Wii U should get a new name? If so do you have any ideas regarding an identity for Nintendo’s upcoming home console.
by Jonah
2011/07/21 in Wii 2
Can you remember how some folk were upset about the Wii U’s lack of GameCube ports at E3? Well it seems playing GameCube titles will be possible after all thanks to the next iteration of Nintendo’s store channel. The following snippet is taking from an interview with Amber McCollom whose currently the Director of Entertainment & Trend Marketing at Nintendo of America. The quote comes direct from Nintengal.
‘NG: I noticed on backwards compatibility at the press conference that the GameCube was missing. Why is this?
AM: You know it’s interesting that you bring up backwards compatibility and Nintendo’s history usually goes back one system. The Wii was compatible with GameCube and Wii U will be compatible with Wii and that’s pretty traditional in launches from Nintendo.
NG: So the Wii U will not support the discs or accessories?
AM: Actually the GameCube discs will not be compatible with Wii U, but a number of the games that were playable on GameCube can be downloaded from WiiWare.’
Now I do have some questions about this. First of all, will a potential GameCube game on Wii U boast classic controller support? I suppose it would have to or otherwise games would be unplayable. And secondly would you like to see downloadable GameCube titles on Wii U?
by Jonah
2011/07/20 in Wii 2
Marvin Donald from THQ has commented on the current difficulties Wii U developers are experiencing.
“[Wii U] will be at least as powerful [as PS3], if not more, but honestly we don’t really know because the hardware has been changing a lot… We just got the generation two dev kits and there’s no release date for the Wii U, so we don’t know how long the hardware development process is going to go on for, when they’re going to stop and what they’re ultimately going to be happy with. So it has provided some instability when working on it.”
This news makes me think that we will not be seeing Wii U until at least late 2012.
by Jonah
2011/07/20 in Wii 2
It seems Nintendo has been busy filing trademarks for its upcoming Wii U console. Now these trademarks may just be a means of protecting themselves from blatant Wii U rip offs of famous Wii titles, or they could to something more significant.
&Wii U + logo
Mii U
Wii Fit U
Wii Sports U
Wii Music U
Wii Party U
Wii Play U
WiiWare U
Wii Balance Board U
Balance Wii Board U
Wii Wheel U
Wii Zapper U
Wii U Fit
Wii U Music
Wii U Party
Wii U Sports
Wii U Play
Wii U Ware
Wii U Balance Board
Balance Wii U Board
Wii U Wheel
Wii U Zapper
Wii Speak U
Wii U Speak
Shield Pose
by Jonah
According to EA boss John Riccitiello, Motion Control isn’t precise enough to be the main control method in gaming. In a statement about Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U he said:
“It’s a high definition platform and I love the controller. I just think it’s cool… You’re a gamer – so you’ve got the screen here [in your hands] and you’ve got the [TV] screen there and you’ve got full control… Personally, while there’s some great experiences on Move, and there’s some great experiences on Kinect, I’m not a motion control guy, It’s still too imprecise for me. I like shooting something and hitting it. I like turning a corner and feeling precision.”
Now I don’t know what he’s on about regarding shooting for that is probably where motion controls on Wii has excelled the most. The controls from prime were awesome but then again the Wiimote has a great pointer set-up. Anyway your thoughts will be much appreciated. 
by Jonah
Nintendo are now making double efforts in order to make sure the Wii U has a strong launch line up. Why? Well they release the 3DS launch was somewhat lacking in terms of solid system selling titles.
“We also must reflect on the fact that we were not able to launch Nintendo 3DS at a time when a sufficient number of strong software titles were ready,” said Iwata. “In order to avoid the same thing from happening to the Wii U, we are considering details, such as what software is suitable for the launch, more carefully than ever before.”
Now you all know my views on the 3DS launch line up but I don’t think available software was the only problem. I think the major problems stemmed from pricing issues. The 3DS RRP is high and it’s quite a hike in terms of previous Nintendo hardware RRP’s. Yes we expected the console to cost more than previous systems but I think the price hike was perhaps to high. But more than that, Nintendo’s software was priced to high. I love Pilot Wings but it isn’t worth £34.99. Now if it was a pack in title, I think people would have jumped at it.
What are your thoughts about Nintendo’s latest 3DS launch comments.
by Jonah
2011/07/06 in Wii 2
It seems Nintendo are devising an entirely new system for Wii U’s online functionality. In a recent interview Reggie made the following statement:
“We’ve seen what our competitors have done, and we’ve acknowledged that we need to do more online. For Wii U… what we’re doing is creating a much more flexible system that will allow the best approaches by independent publishers to come to bear… So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers.”
So each publisher will have the freedom to devise their own independent network. Is this a good idea or do you think it could lead to other problems? Will this interfere with the one user tag for one network idea?
Regarding the consoles launch itself, NoA’s president stated that we will not see it on store shelves before 1st April 2012.
by Jonah
2011/07/01 in Wii 2
According to Nintendo president Mr Iwata, the Zelda Wii U demo from E3 cannot be replicated on any current piece of hardware. The demo itself does look remarkably stunning but in all likely it’s the new controller set-up which sets it above anything else.
by Jonah
2011/06/25 in Wii 2
In a recent interview Shigeru Miyamoto stated quite plainly that Nintendo doesn’t want to be number 1 in terms of online gaming.
“We’re not going to sit here and say that our goal is to become the number one online gaming company, because that’s not our goal… But, understanding that the types of experiences our consumers like to play do often contain elements to them that can be improved or may even require an online connection and also knowing that the system is going to have a browser I think suggests that obviously internet and internet connectivity is going to be very important for the system… For example, there are opportunities to take advantage of online to expand a local, same-room multiplayer experience by connecting that to the internet and making new types of play that way. Also by having the smaller screen, being able to go online and perhaps see what game your friend is playing or see what TV they’re watching, I think there’s a lot of possibilities for how you could use that. Certainly internet functionality is something that will be important for the system.”
So it seems Nintendo are quite content to do their own thing regardless of recent criticisms where online’s concerned.
by Jonah
Can you remember that little announcement that was made sometime back about a Pikmin game being developed for Wii? Well Nintendo has decided to change what they were doing and they’re developing it for the Wii U instead. So why the change? Well in the words of Miyamoto, Wii U is a ‘much better fit’.
From a tech point I suppose its good news but I’m saddened that the Wii will not be able to have a last major title. :(
by Jonah
2011/06/08 in Wii 2
Here’s a Gametrailers interview with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. He talks a little about Wii U and Nintendo’s philosophy behind it.
