Wii U Can't Replicate Xbox Live/PSN

[Dcubed]

The thing is... Miiverse just sounds a bit like this forum, except you have to access it through a slightly clunky Wii Game Pad, and your posts might get censored and take longer to get through.

 

Also the whole recommendation thing is a little bit... weak. I don't need to go to my Nintendo console for recommendations... I look at proper reviews, etc. If it's just going to be a way for Nintendo to say "Have you tried playing New Super Mario Bros U yet?" it'll be a bit disappointing.

I don't like the way Nintendo treat multiplayer and online in general, as a treat. It should be standard.

 

That's not how it works in Miiverse. You're right in saying that it's effectively an officially sanctioned gaming forum, with swears, spoilers and other nasties curated. They've already said that they're not going to do a recommendations thing or a "other people who bought this also bought this" sort of thing, but rather that the Miiverse will act as a source of word of mouth communications. So you would be able to get "proper" reviews and impressions from people through Miiverse (assuming that Nintendo aren't stupid enough to try and censor negative impressions about their own or 3rd party games - the PR fallout would be massive!)

 

Don't forget, he's talking to his investors here and explaining Miiverse in a way that makes sense to them. Miiverse is essentially a videogame message board for the masses who don't usually check out places like here on N-Europe. And that's a huge step forward in terms of game awareness, communication and proliferation of good taste! (assuming that it's handled well)

 

Just imagine your mum actually reading impressions and basing her purchases off of good comments made about a quality, but niche, title like Phoenix Wright, instead of buying the shlop that gets advertised on TV... Actually TBH I'm not sure if I'm helping my argument there, gives me Chinpokomon vibes LOL!

Edited June 14, 2012 by Dcubed

[Hamishmash]

That is a good point. My mum would be the kind of person who'd buy an Agatha Christie PC game because "I like the ITV adaptations they do."

[Rummy]

This really is just the media not actually paying attention...CVG is turning into the Daily Mail of UK gaming sites, and it's sad

 

DAILY MAIL: Foreign Miis seen congregating on white wiis, buttfaces, michael jackson, hitler and more. No space left for original miis.

 

Tbh, this isn't shocking at all. Well played @Dcubed for going to the source too, unbelievable that they'd just run an article with half arsed facts, but meh.

 

Tbh, how fantastic is PS3's service, really? Can't say I like it as much as 360's, as you can't have private party chat. Admittedly the only game I've PS3'd online is Max Payne, but also had a huge host of issues with that in losing my mate, which is very annoying. Easier to fix on Xbox with party chat, as it'll actively search for them/let you join etc.

 

All Nintendo *really* need to be able to do is make sure people can play online. Have a decent voice chat too. What else do we really need from online gaming?

[Dcubed]

OMG! I just realised something!

 

I totally called Miiverse back in May in the Wii U Speculation Thread!

 

It's multifaceted. You have the typical fear of change in general, plus the inclusion of new consumers into the industry. Suddenly the little geek's club was under threat from the "jocks".

 

Couple that with the "kiddy" stigma (which became the "casual" stigma), the conceited industry effort (both on the part of developers and the media, who want to see nothing more than the push of graphics tech over gameplay innovation - which most developers are no good at. Pushing graphics is much easier than coming up with good gameplay!) to destroy the Wii and the "casual" movement and the general anti Nintendo agenda pushed by most western 3rd party devs and media outlets and it's quite obvious to see why this kind of attitude persists.

 

 

 

I reckon the best way to go about it is to put forth this kind of change gradually. The Wii U controller goes a long way towards bridging that gap in that it is both familiar (control wise, it can replicate the 360 controller perfectly - so long as it has clickable sticks) and new. The trick behind this will be whether or not Nintendo can encourage consumers to gradually try out the new stuff.

 

Nintendo also should look towards more communication methods that bypass the corrupt gaming media all together. Nintendo Direct is a good start, but they need to go further. Why can't we watch these events on our 3DS/Wii U? Why not open up a dialogue on the device itself? Maybe even a curated message board where you have some people from Nintendo itself answering questions!

 

In general, they need more direct communication to the consumer and better game review systems in place. Having the 5 star system is nice, but why not let (possibly select) people put up some comments about the game itself? Also more game demonstration videos that showcase what more you can get out of the games if you explore some of the Wii U controller/Wiimote & Nunchuck functionality!

 

Of course, the hardest part will be changing the attitudes of developers (who in the west come from a PC gaming background and have an affinity for graphics tech and the Xbox style vision of the future). That is the big ? in regards to the Wii U's success.

 

Also, as an aside, I can see Nintendo reserving 512MB of RAM for the OS (assuming that it has 2GB total). They reserved a quarter of the 3DS' total RAM for the OS and that would be the same amount here.

 

Better to reserve lots at the start and chip away at it as time goes on, then to set a low target at the start and find that there's not enough for features that you want.

 

Fuck yeah! (All my other points still stand!)

[Fused King]

The thing I'm a bit worried about is: Is Miiverse country-specific?

 

Because from what I've heard, you'll be more into contact with people of your own language (hence country in Europe) than with others.

I hope you can switch this off somehow, but with NINTENDO's new-founded love for excessive localisation in Europe these days, I fear the worst.

[Zechs Merquise]

Really ?!

 

I'm sure the Sidewinder had motion control years before the wii came out. And Miiverse look like a cartoon version of PsHome

 

Yes really.

 

And obviously Nintendo started the whole motion control thing. If you want to play the "let's go back in time and see who did something like this ages ago before it became mainstream" game then I can play that too:

 

 

Oh yeah, it's a motion control device for a NES!!!

 

And as for Home - the idea, which is centred around a virtual version of yourself - came after the hugely popular Miis. Strangely I believe XBOX avatars came after Miis too!

[Cube]

Avatars did come after Mii's - probably why they're better in every single way. Plus Rare did most of the work on them.

[m_fergy]

Yes really.

 

And obviously Nintendo started the whole motion control thing. If you want to play the "let's go back in time and see who did something like this ages ago before it became mainstream" game then I can play that too:

 

 

Oh yeah, it's a motion control device for a NES!!!

 

And as for Home - the idea, which is centred around a virtual version of yourself - came after the hugely popular Miis. Strangely I believe XBOX avatars came after Miis too!

 

Haha well played, even tho it wasn't made by Nintendo so they stole it !

[Helmsly]

Man, I had a Uforce. It was pretty good too.

[Sheikah]

Sony and MS will eventually end up ripping off Nintendo's online structure. Fact. :wink:

 

Had to comment on the absurdity of this statement. Come on, you're not even kidding yourself with that statement. :p

 

All comments slamming security of XBL/PSN are moot because both services are optional. If you want similar services on the Wii though, you're out of luck.

 

While I agree that it may be hard to catch up to Xbox Live (which is helped by a paid subscription), they should be able to do something to the level of the PS3, which has a fairly basic online system.

 

I find it odd how people continue to breathe life into the myth that XBL is somehow vastly superior to PSN. IMO it's like people arguing firefox over chrome, android over iOS. They both do roughly the same thing with almost exactly the same features, but with slightly different interfaces that people will argue over which is better until hell freezes over. The only thing you might argue in terms of advancement is that Sony took most of what XBL offers and made it free, then offering a plus service for a similar cost to XBL subscription where you get lots of free games.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Sheikah
Automerged Doublepost

[Cube]

I find it odd how people continue to breathe life into the myth that XBL is somehow vastly superior to PSN.

 

One works incredibly smoothly, is fast, has more features and is much more stable.

 

The other is slow, clunky and checking messages and trophies is a pain and takes ages.

 

It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Volkwagon Beetle (well, not that different). Sure, they'll both get you from A to B, but one is of much higher quality.

[Sheikah]

Having used both excessively I can say that that's not the case. I actually prefer PSN in general as it has better functionality in terms of backing up saves online for me to play at other people's houses and some cool things like plus which XBL lacks.

 

As for the sluggishness, I can only think something is up with your PS3 as clicking things in the store is near instant for me. Chatting to others is made really quick and almost menuless with the sub £10 keypad attachment which has shortcuts straight to your messages/friends, something I don't think even the 360 pad has. As well as that, when you start chatting to someone a simple press of the home button makes the chat box reappear.

 

Simply put, the myth was at one point true, but conservatism/lack of knowledge tends to cause people to continue reciting it.

[madeinbeats]

Just had a thought. I wonder if signing in to your account on another U console will be handled by a card and the NFC reader.

[Cube]

Simply put, the myth was at one point true, but conservatism/lack of knowledge tends to cause people to continue reciting it.

 

I'm only speaking from my personal experience.

 

The Guide on the Xbox 360 (middle middle button) required one or two button presses to get to friends or messages. You can also press the guide button when an achievement, invite or message pops up to get taken straight to it (something that doesn't seem to happen with the PS home button).

 

Really, the main reason the Xbox is much better is due to the pop-up Guide which quickly lets you access what you need while in a game, rather than the full dashboard like the PS3 does. On PS3 when a message pops up I have to go to the XMB (wait a few seconds) scroll right, go to messages (wait a few seconds) then go to inbox (wait a few seconds). For trophies I need to go to the XMB (wait a few seconds), scroll to games (wait a few seconds), go to trophies (wait a few seconds) find game and click on it - and the one you're playing isn't always the first (wait a few seconds), find the trophy I just earned (wait a few seconds) then read it.

 

On Xbox both of these just require a single press of the guide button, and it's less than a second for it to load.

[dazzybee]

PS3, instant. Are you wired into the internet? The only explanation. I replaced my HD last night and today downloaded every download I've ever done, it was just painful and I know it will take weeks before they're all on there, it is frighteningly slow. The only people who don't have problems are people who are wired... But it's 2012 and I don't want to be wired in. It's the only thing I have a problem with, and I bang on about it all the time so sorry about that, but it's relevant now.

[Sheikah]

I'm only speaking from my personal experience.

 

The Guide on the Xbox 360 (middle middle button) required one or two button presses to get to friends or messages. You can also press the guide button when an achievement, invite or message pops up to get taken straight to it (something that doesn't seem to happen with the PS home button).

 

See this is what I'm getting at - the home button does a similar thing on PSN (takes you to the notification) but people don't always know this. Can't remember if it does it for trophies and not near my PS3 to check.

 

Really, the main reason the Xbox is much better is due to the pop-up Guide which quickly lets you access what you need while in a game, rather than the full dashboard like the PS3 does. On PS3 when a message pops up I have to go to the XMB (wait a few seconds) scroll right, go to messages (wait a few seconds) then go to inbox (wait a few seconds). For trophies I need to go to the XMB (wait a few seconds), scroll to games (wait a few seconds), go to trophies (wait a few seconds) find game and click on it - and the one you're playing isn't always the first (wait a few seconds), find the trophy I just earned (wait a few seconds) then read it.

 

I'll admit that the menu could load faster in game, but pressing home as the message pings or using the keypad attachment eliminates the need to do most of those things.

 

All in all, any pros to the interface are easily outweighed by the funcionality of plus and the shedload of free games you get in a year for the same cost. That's why I'm kinda surprised by the claim that it's less advanced.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Sheikah