Wii U Gamepad is NOT a Gimmick!

Printable View

Show 40 post(s) from this thread on one page

05-29-2013, 04:04 PM
Obviously

The Wii U controller doesn't really do much for me but I don't hate it or anything. I don't play games on a communal television and if I did my girlfriend doesn't watch TV so that feature is pointless for me personally. When I play portable games I usually want something simple and casual anyway so I'm happy with my Nexus 7 tablet (my first Android device. Neither of us have smartphones, we are cave people) or a DS.

It's better than nonsense like Kinect and other motion control devices though, I agree.

Like it's already been said my problem with the Wii U is not really the controller but rather the last generation technology and suffering 3rd party support.
05-30-2013, 03:26 AM
sketch

I don't think the Wii U adds anything to the gaming experience. It's like making the Wii into a giant DS. I always found the two screens format of the DS completely useless as well. The games I liked did not require two screens, and the games that did were not interesting to me (like rhythm action games). They also forced the touch control on games like Zelda which kept me from bothering with them.

The Wii U Gamepad does not seem innovative to me, and from the rather tepid response to the system, I would say I'm not alone.
05-31-2013, 06:00 AM
kool kitty89

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamahl

I've been thinking about this lately and I agree, it's certainly more useful to actual gamers than the Wiimote at least. I really do wish the Wii U had better hardware, much better hardware. It's a generation behind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

I honestly didn't have any issues with the Wiimote. I just wish more developers would have made better use of it. For example games like Metroid Prime 3 and Resident Evil 4 are excellent examples of how to use those controls well while not over doing it. Then you have games like Mariokart Wii and Dragonball Z Tenkaichi that are complete disasters to play with motion controls.

One genre I was quite disappointed we never saw on the Wii was the flying rail shooter genre. Could you imagine if Sega made a Panzer Dragoon game for it? You could move the dragon with the nunchuck analog stick and aim and shoot with the Wiimote. That would have been perfect. A Starfox game would have been nice too.

I totally agree with Trekkies here. The Wii Remote and nunchuck are great additional control options, and they're used really well in some cases (motion controls not so much -at least pre-motion-plus- but the pointer was more significant IMO). They were far too often abusively overused and misused though, and it's really a lot like how many DS games went. There's a huge number of games that should have had GC (and Classic) controller options but didn't, and that even includes many games using the wii remote well (a scant few benefited so much as to render conventional gamepad controls useless). Far too many had pointless gimmicks and/or broken and forced motion/tilt/even pointer controls where conventional consoles obviously made more sense.
Albeit at least it's not like tablet-specific games where conventional controls aren't even a mainstream option for developers. (at least sane developers could opt for conventional controls from day one on the Wii)

Personally, having a tactful mix of wiimotionplus/pointer control and classic/pro controler input options would have been awesome for a next-gen Nintendo console, and basically all that was established prior to 2010, and the internal hardware of the WiiU is pretty much all 2010 level stuff (and of reasonable cost for that time too -probably slower RAM though). The gamepad could have come later or not at all . . . or they could have purposed the 3DS for that in the first place. (and actually better in some aspects given the 3D gimmick)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbigreddog

I love playing games on the Gamepad only. It's great! Looks great! Plays great! It's the ultimate portable system. (And I mean that buy, it doesn't have to play on the TV, and I can sit on the couch and play it without disturbing anyone else. And for the fact that was the only time I would ever play my PSP or 3DS, would be chilling on the couch)

Except you can't do that for games utilizing the gamepad as a 2nd screen and/or requiring Wii remote+nunchuk controls.

Quote:

I imagine that a lot of people are probably close to my age here, and most of you should understand the value in what is here. Yes, some of you have multiple TVs and a Gameroom. But a lot of you have to be married or in a serious relationship. And what do you do at night? Sit and watch TV on the couch while you and your significant other stare at your phones. RIGHT?

And if you wanted to play games, you'd either go in the other room (which would make her feel alienated) or make her watch YOU play games on the TV (which she might get upset about missing her show, even though she wasn't looking at the TV anyways)

Is it just me being overly intellectual on this issue, or does it seem like a pretty poor example for "spending time together" by physically being present near someone while not paying any attention anyway and doing totally separate things. (which should be the case for any reasonably engrossing game . . . maybe, maybe not for some very casual games you might play WHILE paying attention to the person you're with -let alone, gasp, actually sharing in the experience they're interested in -including what's on TV- and such examples of casual games would be pretty well represented on various handheld platforms -including relatively low performance tablet PCs and netbooks)

As for the "game room" argument . . . it's pretty common to have at least 1 extra TV and/or (more likely and) at least one computer-office room. And either could be set up as a gaming area apart from the main entertainment system (typically family room). Using a computer monitor as an HD gaming monitor is pretty straightforward, though you could easily go the opposite direction and use an HDTV as your main computer monitor as well. ;) (and, unless you need a particularly high-end monitor, small-ish HDTVs are quite affordable compared to similarly sized PC monitors)

And that's ignoring the many cases of people with TVs in the bedroom (including master bedroom) for one more potential outlet/location to split things between.

If you're going to spend time together, that's great, but it seems a pretty crappy compromise to do that while being totally (or mostly) absorbed in something else. If you want to do things together, great, but there's nothing wrong with doing separate things from time to time if you want to focus on divergent interests simultaneously . . . and if there IS a conflict over spending time apart like that, then that issue should still materialize when being engrossed in a handheld game system or anything else where you're physically present but truly absent for all intents and purposes. (same thing would go for someone playing around online -be it forum posting, social networking, IMing/texting, or games/movies/tv/videos/etc on a handheld device, or being engrossed in a book or magazine for that matter) And, again, you could do much of that in moderation too and multitask with a shared activity at the same time, but (again) most console-worthy games (and other things that make the Wii U gamepad "better" than contemporary handhelds) wouldn't fall into this category in general.

Oh, and you could take much of this beyond the husband+wife mechanic too, and extend it to a general family situation (or maybe even friend-roommates). Some things differ depending on the example, but there's still a general issue of "doing things together" and actually being present beyond just being in the same physical space.
In the parent/child mechanic, I could certainly see many parents being frustrated/annoyed when they intended to spend time doing a shared activity with sad kid (or family members plural) and one or more of them ended up engrossed in some handheld device or another rather than actually engaging in the intended activity.
Albeit, it's a lot easier to lie and fake interest or attention when you're physically there and engrossed as such than doing effectively the same thing elsewhere. :p

I definitely have personal experience with this case . . . not so much the feigning interest as "being there but not paying attention" issue, and more so my younger brother than me (especially him playing DS/3DS -or more recently Netflix too) though I've had a fair share of cases of having my lap top with me while we're (the family) supposed to be watching a movie or TV show together (etc).
Again, that stuff can be done in moderation too (not totally engrossed), but again, I don't see the Wii U being a good outlet for this at all. (the sort of stuff one would tend to really want the Wii U for doesn't seem like the thing to favor multitasking -ie shared attention with some communal activity)
06-03-2013, 12:11 PM
mrbigreddog

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

Except you can't do that for games utilizing the gamepad as a 2nd screen...[/B]

Which is why I DIDN'T buy ZombiU - Which doesn't make any since actually. It doesn't REQUIRE the 2nd screen, as you can play the game WITHOUT the gamepad. And use Wii Remote & Nunchuck or Wii U Pro Controller. So there is NO reason why it couldn't be GAMEPAD OFF TV play...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

....requiring Wii remote+nunchuk controls.

Not entirely true!

This isn't fake! I tried it, and it totally works. I have NO IDEA why there is a built in sensor bar in the gamepad. But it works with Call of Duty. And it's pretty nice actually!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool kitty89

If you're going to spend time together, that's great, but it seems a pretty crappy compromise to do that while being totally (or mostly) absorbed in something else.

You'll understand when you've been married for over 10 years. That's for sure. But this isn't an everyday thing. (Well it was when my Wii U was BRAND NEW) but it's all in moderation. We watch shows together. We LOVE Walking Dead & Breaking Bad. And neither of us are on our phones or me on the Wii U while these shows that we both have interest in are on. But I promise, she appreciates it more for me to be in the room, rather than in the game room. Even if I'm playing something else. And we still talk. She's staring at her phone, and I'm on the Wii U gamepad. Maybe while the news is on. She'll show me something funny she found on facebook, and I'll show her some crazy idiot 12 year old playing Call of Duty that just killed me. And we both have a good time.
06-03-2013, 09:07 PM
kool kitty89

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbigreddog

You'll understand when you've been married for over 10 years. That's for sure. But this isn't an everyday thing. (Well it was when my Wii U was BRAND NEW) but it's all in moderation. We watch shows together. We LOVE Walking Dead & Breaking Bad. And neither of us are on our phones or me on the Wii U while these shows that we both have interest in are on. But I promise, she appreciates it more for me to be in the room, rather than in the game room. Even if I'm playing something else. And we still talk. She's staring at her phone, and I'm on the Wii U gamepad. Maybe while the news is on. She'll show me something funny she found on facebook, and I'll show her some crazy idiot 12 year old playing Call of Duty that just killed me. And we both have a good time.

I understand your points in general, but aside from my previous comments, I think (in general) the actual number of applicable cases where the specific relationship/household AND gaming-preferences/practices/routine would make for a relatively limited niche in terms of actually being a major selling point.

I'll admit that as an added gimmick, the off-screen playing mode is a decent feature and a modest added selling point, but not a main feature to rely on. The MAIN intended gimmick is the dual-screen mechanic and overall touch/motion/etc interface of the gamepad, and that might have been a good selling point if marketing worked that in better and developers latched onto it (and consumers responded to it), but I don't see it being another Wii Remote TBH.

I see it a lot more like the DS, the dual screen (and touch/etc) gimmick being sometimes really useful and sometimes "just there" while the bigger draw being the massive technical gains in graphics/sound/etc over the GBA (or Wii). Same for the 3DS over the DS, except the 3D gimmick is actually pretty damn cool IMO and hasn't been really misused/abused either. (a shame the Wii U pad didn't include that . . . or, again, that the Wii U wasn't designed to interface with the 3DS instead of a dedicated gamepad -and maybe the 3DS been designed slightly differently to facilitate that more)

One problem so far with the Wii U marketing, is lack of emphasis on it being a new system and not just the gamepad. As lackluster as the hardware is, it's still a massive leap over the old Wii hardware and potentially moderately better than the 360 and PS3's best. (2 years ago it would have been a lot better though)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sketch

I don't think the Wii U adds anything to the gaming experience. It's like making the Wii into a giant DS. I always found the two screens format of the DS completely useless as well. The games I liked did not require two screens, and the games that did were not interesting to me (like rhythm action games). They also forced the touch control on games like Zelda which kept me from bothering with them.

The Wii U Gamepad does not seem innovative to me, and from the rather tepid response to the system, I would say I'm not alone.

The main draw should be the upgraded hardware performance . . . not what is should have been for 2012, but at least way beyond the old Wii hardware, and something new and fresh for Nintendo exclusives and lower-end (performance) mutliplat stuff. (not sure how higher end multiplat stuff is going to end up, but the apparent MS/Sony screw ups might make that interesting -along with various Android-ish platforms/consoles, PC, Apple stuff etc) It's really weird to think Nintendo might be the most "open" of the new big-name corporate console platforms as far as developing/publishing/security goes. (obviously the likes of Ouya are far more open still)

Show 40 post(s) from this thread on one page