Sean MacGillicudy
Staff Writer
The latest Nintendo Direct has come and gone and the veil has been partially lifted. Join me in my ruminations on why the Wii U is for you (fear not, I shall resist all temptations to use ‘U’ in place of “you”).
While Nintendo was strangely mum on the actual pricing structure in Europe, history tells us that the usual strategy of changing the dollar signs to euros is depressingly probable. Given this assumption, I present to you my predictions for the European models:
- Basic(€300): White WiiU Console (8GB of memory), Gamepad and no sensor bar.
- Premium(€350): Black WiiU Console (32GB of memory), Gamepad, NintendoLand, sensor bar and access to the Nintendo Network Premium (10% reward on all purchases through the online store)
So for half the price of the PS3 at launch, you can get access to this console, but quite frankly you would be a fool not to pay an extra €50 for a free game and a simply better package. Even at this price point (€50 less than a Premium Xbox 360 at launch) the WiiU is a steal, and at this point in time I am confident that it will be the most affordable console out of the next generation.
The WiiU marks a bold new step for Nintendo, featuring an online service not purely to facilitate shooting fellow gamers in the head but to foster community and an appreciation of the interconnection of humanity. The innocuous Miiverse is set to portray the gaming consciousness on a hitherto unattained level. A simple, wonderful and uniquely Nintendo idea will allow you to see a snapshot of the gaming landscape of your friends, your country, or even your planet. This Miiverse will be ever evolving with new releases, and remain as a monument of your time spent gaming – also to welcome new players, so they know their experiences are shared. This is a mind-blowing, innovative concept – for instance, imagine dying in Zelda, becoming frustrated, but then seeing that many others have died in the same spot – this could very well give you the encouragement to continue playing.
The lessons of the 3DS have been learned, and the once reluctant developer/publisher giant is embracing the digital future. Day and date digital release of all Nintendo published titles (at a minimum) to save you the trip to the store, and an immediate 10% put back into your account? Discounts on digital goods? A free online service to play with friends? Seamless video chat in your controller? Aggregated video streaming services? Monster Hunter sharing save files between the 3DS and WiiU? This paints a new and exciting picture of Nintendo’s online ambition with a personal flair aimed at reducing the hassle that gets in the way of your leisure time. Add onto this a Virtual Console of some of the greatest games of all time, the rumoured GameCube support, and you will satisfy all gamers, veterans and newcomers alike.
As a lifelong Nintendo fan, third party support has always been a mark of shame – for instance, the N64 was the console of my childhood, and as such I didn’t play a non-Pokémon RPG until I was fifteen. The GameCube exclusives died in development and left me to get frighteningly good at F-Zero. My most recent purchase for the Wii was six months ago. Not a great track record. However, I believe things can change – to quote Dr. Venture: “I am not only a man of science, I am a man of hope”.
Last year, at E3, Nintendo announced that huge EA multiplatform titles such as Madden, FIFA and Mass Effect will make an appearance on the WiiU, often in superior form (in order to excuse the delay in arriving to Nintendo). Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is coming as a launch game feature for feature with the other versions, not to mention that your friends can play on the gamepad while you exclusively use the television, handily eliminating the frequent arguments of whose turn it is to use the TV. Also, controversially, Bayonetta 2, originally a multiplatform title, was announced as an exclusive to the WiiU. This to me is suggestive of an aggressive Nintendo eager for dominance in the next generation.
All that said, and as nice it would be to last an entire generation with third party support (something Nintendo is more primed to do than ever before, with the control options ranging from industry standard to industry transcendent and hardware to boot), I would gladly scrap every launch game (forgive me, The Wonderful 101) for Pikmin 3 alone. Nintendo’s sheer quality as a developer has time and time again earned them the title of “Best Developers in the World” and the uncontainable joy of Mario Galaxy makes a hypothesised Mario Universe nigh irresistible. The allusion to a truly realised HD Zelda game is enough to sustain me through the bleakest gaming droughts. Smash Bros with a powerful online system not hamstrung by friend codes is also something to look forward to. Not forgetting the hours of entertainment and multiplayer competitiveness with siblings on games like Mario Kart WII Version.
While we currently know and have seen a lot of the WiiU, its potential as a whole is certainly untapped. The NFC (near field communication) reader/writer on each gamepad opens up a whole world of possibilities – just imagine miniscule tags on the next generation of Pokemon cards(or any such game), that will allow you to swipe your card and then battle your friends online. Turn your Gamepad into a comic book viewer, buy a copy of Watchmen online and read a couple of pages before an alarm sounds, telling you that your next online game is ready – and this is all without leaving the comfort of your sofa. All theoretical, of course, but all easily achievable with the amount of power, thought and care that has been lavished on to the Wii’s successor. This is without mentioning the opportunities that arise from asymmetric gameplay – unique, complimentary, and even antagonistic relationships can be created in ways unheard of before.
In summary: Pre-order now, Nintendo is set to take the world by storm.
