Wii U General Discussion

[Clownferret]

A bit harsh, isn't that? Yeah, they make a lot. But it's not all they do.

Dillon's Rolling Western is fun, damnit...

What you like may not be exactly what the majority of gamers like. I wouldn't buy a new F-Zero or Wave Race at all, just like I didn't buy GX or Blue Storm. They don't interest me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world who thinks so.

 

Of course everybody has different gaming tastes, but that's the problem. Nintendo are not catering for those those tastes with the Wii U. I'm not going to list every platformer but they must number 90%+ of Nintendo's output for the Wii U. They are not catering for anybody else. With the loss of 3rd party support they have an obligation to give us a football game, tennis game, FPS, driving sim etc. They can't just drop every franchise that does not sell a million copies, they have to give the gamer variety.

 

How can anybody as good as Mario Kart as you not be into other brilliant racers like Wave Race, F-Zero & 1080 ?

[Glen-i]

How can anybody as good as Mario Kart as you not be into other brilliant racers like Wave Race, F-Zero & 1080 ?

 

The items. Quite frankly.

 

I wouldn't like Mario Kart without them.

 

I'm also not that great at the more finicky handling most other racing games have. Nothing bad about that, I look positively clumsy playing F-Zero. The only reason I downloaded the SNES one was because it was 30p.

Still don't enjoy it.

[Zechs Merquise]

Other M was a great game, I loved it. It also had amazing replay value and the melee mechanics were simple yet addictive and mastering the dodge with tougher enemies was really satisfying.

[Grazza]

For me it's in tiers:

 

The amazing...

Zero Mission

Fusion

 

Great/good games...

Super Metroid

Other M

Metroid Prime

Echoes

Corruption

 

The once-only...

Metroid (NES)

Metroid II

 

Give us, Metroid V, please! Proper 2D!

 

 

Ideally, I'd like the next Metroid game to combine the best parts of Other M and Prime.

 

Agreed. When you see how well they integrated 1st- and 3rd-person in Wind Waker HD, I'm sure they could do it well in Metroid. Speed Boost in 3rd-person or aim at a particular target in 1st-person. It should be seamless and always the player's choice, using a lock-on system that stays locked on whichever perspective you're using.

[Wii]

Wii U a distant fifth as a game development platform, but it's on the rise

 

While future Wii U game development remains surprisingly low, according to the most recent annual Game Developers Conference poll, the percentage of developers planning to release a game on the Wii U actually rose slightly in 2014.

 

Nearly 6 percent of those survey participants said they anticipated that their next game would be released on the Wii U, GDC officials told Polygon. That's compared to about 4 percent the previous year, and 4.6 percent in the 2013 poll. And 6 percent of those surveyed said the game they are currently developing will see release on Wii U, according to the survey.

 

Organizers of the Game Developers Conference today released its annual state of the industry report. The report, which polled more than 2,000 North American game developers who attended GDC 2014, is meant to provide a snapshot of the game industry. GDC officials provided Polygon with the statistics on Wii U development, which were not included in the day's press release.

 

Keeping in mind that this survey doesn't differentiate between platform exclusives and cross-platform titles, PC's popularity as a platform for developers rose in 2014, increasing from 53 percent to 56 percent of developers planning to release a game on the ubiquitous platform. Mobile was a close second, though it dropped in 2014 from 52 percent to 50 percent .

 

Both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One saw a jump in popularity as a platform to develop for, according to the survey. Of those polled, 29 percent said they expect their next game to be on the PlayStation 4 and 24 percent said they expect it to be on the Xbox One.

 

Perhaps more important than where developers plan to release their next game, was how studios did last year. More than 40 percent said they had higher profits in 2014 than in the previous year, while 20 percent said they remained essentially the same. The survey also showed that those profits were put to good use, with 44 percent saying their staff expanded in 2014, 38 percent staying at the same headcount and 15 percent letting people go.

 

Other interesting statistics include that more than one in every 10 developers surveyed said they are working on an eSport game and that 79 percent of those surveyed see eSports as a long-term, sustainable business.

 

The survey also found that 29 percent of those who responded said they made most of their profit from direct sales to consumers or digital sales, while 21 percent said micro-transactions were their primary source of profit. Only 13 percent said retail sales made up a bulk of their profit.

 

This year's GDC will run March 2-6 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

 

http://www.polygon.com/2015/1/15/7552097/wii-u-a-distant-fifth-as-a-game-development-platform-but-its-on-the

[bryanee]

All these nut jobs who liked Other M, you all cray cray :p

 

I have a Wind Waker itch I need to scratch.

[Retro_Link]

[Wii]

Nintendo dominate Neogaf's top video games of the year awards.

 

01. Bayonetta 2 = 1132 points, 12 honorable mentions

02. Mario Kart 8 = 925 points, 21 honorable mentions

03. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U = 850 points, 20 honorable mentions

04. Dragon Age: Inquisition = 803 points, 22 honorable mentions

05. Dark Souls II = 721 points, 10 honorable mentions

06. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze = 675 points, 16 honorable mentions

07. Wolfenstein: The New Order = 607 points, 19 honorable mentions

08. South Park: The Stick of Truth = 564 points, 12 honorable mentions

09. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor = 559 points, 25 honorable mentions

10. Shovel Knight = 549 points, 14 honorable mentions

11. Alien: Isolation = 395 points, 15 honorable mentions

12. Destiny = 344 points, 21 honorable mentions

13. Infamous: Second Son = 342 points, 21 honorable mentions

14. Divinity: Original Sin = 339 points, 7 honorable mentions

15. Sunset Overdrive = 313 points, 11 honorable mentions

16. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc = 298 points, 12 honorable mentions

17. Transistor = 279 points, 16 honorable mentions

18. The Evil Within = 278 points, 19 honorable mentions

19. Far Cry 4 = 255 points, 14 honorable mentions

20. Driveclub = 255 points, 7 honorable mentions

 

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=147857783&postcount=1

[Ronnie]

Nintendo dominate Neogaf's top video games of the year awards.

 

01. Bayonetta 2 = 1132 points, 12 honorable mentions

02. Mario Kart 8 = 925 points, 21 honorable mentions

03. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U = 850 points, 20 honorable mentions

04. Dragon Age: Inquisition = 803 points, 22 honorable mentions

05. Dark Souls II = 721 points, 10 honorable mentions

06. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze = 675 points, 16 honorable mentions

07. Wolfenstein: The New Order = 607 points, 19 honorable mentions

08. South Park: The Stick of Truth = 564 points, 12 honorable mentions

09. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor = 559 points, 25 honorable mentions

10. Shovel Knight = 549 points, 14 honorable mentions

11. Alien: Isolation = 395 points, 15 honorable mentions

12. Destiny = 344 points, 21 honorable mentions

13. Infamous: Second Son = 342 points, 21 honorable mentions

14. Divinity: Original Sin = 339 points, 7 honorable mentions

15. Sunset Overdrive = 313 points, 11 honorable mentions

16. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc = 298 points, 12 honorable mentions

17. Transistor = 279 points, 16 honorable mentions

18. The Evil Within = 278 points, 19 honorable mentions

19. Far Cry 4 = 255 points, 14 honorable mentions

20. Driveclub = 255 points, 7 honorable mentions

 

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=147857783&postcount=1

 

I liked this sarcastic post...

 

Wii U is dead guys, might as well pull the plug right now

[Wii]

Terraria Coming to Wii U, 3DS?

 

Terraria, the Minecraft + Metroid mash-up, may be the next major indie game to find its way onto Nintendo platforms. GameFly has listings for currently nonexistent Wii U and 3DS ports, both with a tentative release date of October 31, 2015.

 

Terraria is already available on just about every other gaming platform on the planet, from PS3 to 360 and even Kindle Fire. In the last couple of months, it finally arrived on PS4 and Xbox One as well. Some Nintendo representation wouldn't be completely unusual for a kid-friendly game like this -- disregarding the case of Minecraft, that is.

 

We'll keep you posted if anything new develops.

 

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/26189/article/terraria-coming-to-wii-u-3ds/

 

Never heard of it before but it's supposed to be a big deal and fairly popular. Another Wii U retail release is always welcome and if it is released that it comes to Europe. Reading some of the reviews, it seems pretty good and the trailers for it look interesting.

 

Terraria Official Trailer

 

 

[dazzybee]

This wouldn't be a retail release, it'd be an eShop game.

[Dcubed]

Oh hey! Looks like the digital versions of Wii games do actually sport improved loading times after all!

 

You couldn't really notice it with SMG2, but look at this footage of DKCR (JPN version) on Wii U... (skip to near the end of the video, around 10:50, and look at how fast the map screen loads!)

 

 

So there IS a performance bonus outside of just digital convinience

 

Metroid Prime Trilogy should benefit greatly from this!

Edited January 21, 2015 by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

So there IS a performance bonus outside of just digital convinience

 

Metroid Prime Trilogy should benefit greatly from this!

 

Oh... Oh no...

 

I already own Trilogy, don't go giving me reasons to double dip!

If it has a way to get the online bonuses in Corruption, I might just bite.

[S.C.G]

Oh... Oh no...

 

I already own Trilogy, don't go giving me reasons to double dip!

If it has a way to get the online bonuses in Corruption, I might just bite.

 

I seriously hope so, I always thought even back then that having certain bonuses linked to Wii connect 24 was a bad idea, just let me get them all in-game by killing a thousand space pirates or something ludicrous.

[Wii]

Dan Adelman Believes Third Party Developers Skip Nintendo Platforms As They Don’t Think They Can Compete

 

Nintendo’s former head of indies Dan Adelman believes that third party developers skip Nintendo platforms as they don’t think they can compete against the first party titles that are available. You’d think it was more likely due to the fact that Nintendo implements gimmicks in their platforms that large third developers aren’t interested in taking advantage of. Lack of sales on Nintendo platforms doesn’t seem to help either. Here’s what Adelman believes.

 

“It really comes down to the business case for these publishers. Nintendo consumers buy Nintendo systems primarily for the first party content. There’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy in that publishers feel that they can’t compete with Nintendo first party, so they choose not to invest in making high quality products for the platform. There are some notable exceptions to this over the years like Rayman Legends but many times third party publishers set low sales projections for their games, and then decide a development budget based on that. I can’t say outright that they’re wrong either.”

 

“There have been cases where companies decided to pull out the stops and make a great game for Nintendo platforms only to find that consumers weren’t interested. And it could be because consumers have been burnt by third party games on Nintendo platforms before.”

 

“For Nintendo to break this cycle, I think they need to invest and absorb some of the risk for third parties who try to embrace the features of Nintendo platforms and help communicate to consumers which games are on par with Nintendo first party games in terms of quality. Sony and Microsoft spend a lot of money securing exclusives – or at least exclusive features – on the top games and since Nintendo doesn’t really do that, third parties focus on the other systems. I’m not sure about Sony, but I know Microsoft also has a team of technical people that will go work with a studio for a few weeks or even months to help them make their games as good as they can be on those platforms.”

 

http://mynintendonews.com/2015/01/21/dan-adelman-believes-third-party-developers-skip-nintendo-platforms-as-they-dont-think-they-can-compete/

 

I can think of a few games where that last paragraph would be helpful. Like ZombiU 2 but I don't think anyone will come back at this point. Next time around, maybe they could try helping. And listening to what 3rd parties want...

[Dcubed]

Oh... Oh no...

 

I already own Trilogy, don't go giving me reasons to double dip!

If it has a way to get the online bonuses in Corruption, I might just bite.

 

What if they updated the games with online features to connect to Nintendo Network instead of WFC...

 

After all, Nintendo have no way of updating disc based games on Wii, but these digital re-releases? Now that's a different story

[Rummy]

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/26189/article/terraria-coming-to-wii-u-3ds/

 

Never heard of it before but it's supposed to be a big deal and fairly popular. Another Wii U retail release is always welcome and if it is released that it comes to Europe. Reading some of the reviews, it seems pretty good and the trailers for it look interesting.

 

Terraria Official Trailer

 

 

 

Quite a few people here have played it on PC and I think other platforms too. I personally absolutely loved it, and have clocked a few hundred hours on it(and all for just £2.50!) in addition to having hosted worlds/servers for people to come and go(with some people here and also with friends of mine). I haven't played Minecraft, but I've heard it essentially referred to as a 2D minecraft of sorts.

 

Honestly loved it so much I might even buy it again if it comes to WiiU, depending what infrastructure etc is like regarding worlds/multiplayer.

[Wii]

That post above from Dan Adelman is but a small excerpt from a big interview he did. You can find the rest here:

 

Former Nintendo Executive Dan Adelman Discusses Nintendo’s Culture, Third Party Support, Virtual Console, And More

 

I highly recommend people read it, it's very informative. It's a bit too long to post it all in here.

[Hero-of-Time]

http://mynintendonews.com/2015/01/21/dan-adelman-believes-third-party-developers-skip-nintendo-platforms-as-they-dont-think-they-can-compete/

 

I can think of a few games where that last paragraph would be helpful. Like ZombiU 2 but I don't think anyone will come back at this point. Next time around, maybe they could try helping. And listening to what 3rd parties want...

 

The whole article is a fantastic read. Does that link show the whole thing, @Wii?

 

EDIT: Nevermind, you've posted the whole thing now.

 

Some of info about how Nintendo runs makes it very clear why they takes ages to make certain changes. It certainly explains why they have been so slow to adopt certain online features. I don't understand why Iwata is even in charge if the poor guy doesn't even have the final say on matters.

[Wii]

It's a fascinating and quite frank interview. It shows why Nintendo take so long with decisions and the amount of bureaucracy is unreal. Some of the dinosaurs in there need to be put out to pasture because they're holding the company back.

[Serebii]

The whole article is a fantastic read. Does that link show the whole thing, @Wii?

 

EDIT: Nevermind, you've posted the whole thing now.

 

Some of info about how Nintendo runs makes it very clear why they takes ages to make certain changes. It certainly explains why they have been so slow to adopt certain online features. I don't understand why Iwata is even in charge if the poor guy doesn't even have the final say on matters.

Unfortunately that's business. Person can be the leader but still not have the overall say.

 

Boards suck

[Kav]

Unfortunately that's business. Person can be the leader but still not have the overall say.

 

Boards suck

 

Especially Nintendo's board, they're out-dated dragons with a backwards view on gaming these days. They're detrimental to company and industry!

[Goron_3]

Unfortunately that's business. Person can be the leader but still not have the overall say.

 

Boards suck

 

Dude, did you even read the interview? 'Boards' aren't a problem, at least for most companies. The problem is Nintendo's board, as he explains:

 

'Nintendo is not only a Japanese company, it is a Kyoto-based company. For people who aren’t familiar, Kyoto-based are to Japanese companies as Japanese companies are to US companies. They’re very traditional, and very focused on hierarchy and group decision making. Unfortunately, that creates a culture where everyone is an advisor and no one is a decision maker – but almost everyone has veto power.'

 

Clearly the culture in the company means that changes aren't able to be made to benefit the company, unlike with the boards of other companies.This would also explain how Iwata still has a role in the company, as it's probably impossible for him to go unless he walks.

 

Edit. Here's another great quote:

 

'There are two other problems that come to mind. First, at the risk of sounding ageist, because of the hierarchical nature of Japanese companies, it winds up being that the most senior executives at the company cut their teeth during NES and Super NES days and do not really understand modern gaming, so adopting things like online gaming, account systems, friends lists, as well as understanding the rise of PC gaming has been very slow. Ideas often get shut down prematurely just because some people with the power to veto an idea simply don’t understand it.

 

The last problem is that there is very little reason to try and push these ideas. Risk taking is generally not really rewarded. Long-term loyalty is ultimately what gets rewarded, so the easiest path is simply to stay the course. I’d love to see Nintendo make a more concerted effort to encourage people at all levels of the company to feel empowered to push through ambitious proposals, and then get rewarded for doing so.'

 

Sad reading

[liger05]

What Adleman says about third parties has truth to it but I think third party games flopping on Nintendo platforms is more down to Nintendo not cultivating an audience which is receptive to the genre of games third parties produce.

[Goron_3]

What Adleman says about third parties has truth to it but I think third party games flopping on Nintendo platforms is more down to Nintendo not cultivating an audience which is receptive to the genre of games third parties produce.

 

Yup, it's a combination of both.