I was standing in line in 2006 at 7am outside of one of my
friends’ gamestop because I had preordered the Wii. I was excited and couldn’t
wait to get home to set up my new consoles. When I got the Wii I played it for
about several months before completely forgetting about it. Every now and again
I would get a game for it and play it again but that didn’t last very long and
no more than a few days. It was a fun consoles but it just wasn’t for me. What
with all the family friendly games and low quality ports and last gen graphics
that disappointed me once I got myself an HDTV in 2007. This was pretty much
the story of a lot of people who quickly forgot about the Wii as soon as they
purchased a PS3 or an Xbox 360. In 2012 Nintendo released their successor, the
Wii U. It was pretty much a Wii with HD capabilities. However people who bought
the Wii didn’t transition into the Wii U right away if at all. But that’s not
to say that the Wii U isn’t a great console because it is and this is my review
of it.
Price:
Before I get started let me tell you that I got the Wii U
for $180 with a Wii + remote and everything else pre-owned. Nintendo first
release the Wii U in 2 models which are the Basic ($299.99) with 8GB of Flash
Memory and no pad stand. And the Premium ($349.99) with 32GB of Flash Memory
and Wii U Sports Resort bundled in. Even after discontinuing the 8GB model and
a price drop of the 32GB model, I still think the Wii U is overpriced,
especially when you can get yourself a PS3 for $200 brand new or a bundle with
a 320GB Hard Drive and a game for $250 to $300. For $300 you get the 32GB Wii U
and 2 games which are practically the same game. Nintendo of America President
even came out with an advertisement of the Wii U being a better value at $300
and let me say that he is an idiot who has his head so far up his rectum that
he cannot see daylight and the reality of how things are. The Wii U should be
somewhere in between $200 or $250 and they should just get rid of the tablet
control which is an option in most games but we’ll get to that.
Design/Hardware:
The Wii U is a very small machine that doesn’t take up much
space. It’s practically a round Wii only a bit bigger to accommodate everything
inside and to have better airflow. It has a small exhaust fan on the side that
is not loud at all which is very convenient compared to that consoles of 2006
and is pretty much a requirement for any console now a days. Specially with the
technological advancements that we’ve had in a short 6 years when the Wii U
came out and now 8 years as of today.
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| Monster Hunter Game Not Included in newer Wii Packaging |
The inside of the Wii U is powered by a 3 core Power PC
processor running at 1.24ghz. The power PC processor is the same or almost
identical to the Power PC processor found on G4 Macs from Apple. Which to my
calculation, the last time I saw a G4 was somewhere in 2003. It also has 2GB of
GDDR3 Ram running at 1600mhz. The graphics driving the Wii U is based on the
Radeon HD 5000/6000 series codenamed Latte which was developed specifically for
the Wii U clocked at 550mhz.
One of the Wii U’s biggest changes though is the fusion of a
tablet and game controller. The Wii U gamepad is used as a second screen to
games that holds information or to view inventory. Depending on the game it
could also be used to play mini games while your character on the main screen
gets his ass kicked. Yes I am not a huge fan of the game pad. In fact I think
it takes away from the fun of games by trying to make games more realistic than
they need to be. The only useful feature of the gamepad is the ability to use
it as its own screen and play games while someone else watches TV. Heck you don’t
even need a TV if you want to use the gamepad as a portable device around your
house and by around your house I mean in the same room. But despite its short
range it’s still a very useful feature.
OS:
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| Japanese Man not included in any of the Wii U Packages |
The Wii U OS is similar to the Wii which uses channels or
squares to display a game or an app. You get the basic apps as every other
device out there which is a browser, an app store, messages, calendar, friends,
and messages. You also get some Wii U apps such as vWii which is a Virtual Wii
where you can play all your old Wii games which is a plus and the TVii app
which is just a guide for your TV and nothing else. Some of the apps require
the use of the Gamepad which is annoying as hell and one of these being the Wii
U App store which will render your TV useless until you are finished browsing
the Wii U store.
Games:
This is a department where the Wii U is suffering in since
launch day. The Wii U came out sometime in November 2012 and it’s already been
1 year a 4 months and there aren’t that many games available as there should
be. And the situation has gotten worse with Developers and Publishers leaving
the console. On the plus side there are some good games on the system at very
reasonable prices if you would get one today, especially in the Pre-Owned market.
For new games you can pick up AC III and Black Flag for under $50. Both are
great games on their own. You also have Black Ops II with all the DLC and
Ghosts as well. Both are great multiplayer online games and have a decent story
line to it. You also have some great Exclusive titles such as Sonic, Lego City
Undercover, Zombi U, Legend of Zelda, Monster Hunter 3 and a few others and
reasonable prices.
And if you like old school games the Wii U has a lot of
great titles available for download on the Virtual Library, although a quick
google search should bring you a list of emulators and roms that you can
download if you already own the physical copy of the game.
Storage:
Nintendo must have not thought things through when they
decided to give the Wii U only 32GB of Flash Memory. In a world where people
download apps, indie games and full games not to mention Nintendo has an
extensive library of Virtual Console games, 32GB is just not enough. You can
purchase and use a USB Hard Drive or a flash Drive to extend the memory. The
Wii U will automatically use up the external memory first before filling in the
internal memory. The problem though is that not a lot of parents who buy the
console for their kids will know that. Once the limit is reached you will have
to start deleting saved data and games. At the time the Xbox 360 released it
only had a 20Gb hard drive but there also wasn’t as many DLC games or content
and apps readily available.
GamePad/Controllers:
The Wii U is compatible with all sorts of controllers from
past to present. The Wii U is compatible with the Wii Remote, Classic
Controller, Pro Controller as well as the gamepad itself. This is where
Nintendo fails to properly promote its product. If I would have not purchased a
Pro Controller and a Wii U, I wouldn’t
have known that most games offer the option of just using the pro controller a
la PS4 and Xbox One. You really don’t need the game pad. Games like Ninja
Gaiden 3, CoD Ghosts and Black Ops II, AC III, Mass Effect 3 and a few others
all allow you to play using the pro controller alone. The only problem though
is that the official Pro Controller will set you back $45 - $50 for the
Official Nintendo Version. I was lucky and purchased the Pro Commander for $13
on sale. It’s not as smooth as the official Nintendo Version (review coming
soon) but it gets the job done. I am happy just playing games without the use
of the gamepad which gives me a headache every time I have to use it.
Also another feature not really advertised and taken to its
full potential is the use of online multiplayer for 2 players. I found this out
when my brother handed me the gamepad and he used the classic controller to
play Ghosts. He had the TV screen all to himself and I had the gamepad screen
all to myself while playing. This is way better than playing split screen
online. It functioned properly and there was hardly any lag. The screen could
have been a bit brighter but overall it was a great feature. I was not
distracted by his game and vice versa. Besides CoD, I don’t know what other
games use this feature. I haven’t played them all but if you love online
multiplayer and want to play with 2 players, this is an easy solution.
I mentioned this before but this is one of the greatest
features of the Wii U Gamepad; The use of it as a second screen. Yes the range
is limited to something within 30 feet but the quality is just superb no matter
how far away you are as long as you’re within range. You won’t get any lag at
all during gameplay. Once you get disconnected though the game pauses and just
asks to move in a bit closer. No gameplay is lost. But you may lose a life or
get killed depending on the type of game you’re playing. I was able to take the
Wii U gamepad to my room with the Wii U in the living room and was able to play
comfortably while I lay in bed. Not all games support this feature though so make
sure you check the back of the game package to make sure it does. The PS3/PS4
also has a similar feature (Remote Play) But the games are limited and the
screen is a bit smaller than that of the Wii U’s.
Now let’s get to the negative about the gamepad. Zombi U, I
think it’s a good game. You are a survivor in a post-apocalyptic world and you
must survive. Die and you lose all your stuff until you are re-spawned as
another character and find all your stuff that you lost as the previous character
who is now a zombie. How I wish I could have played this game using the Pro
Controller but sadly you can’t. Why does using the gamepad suck for these kinds
of games? Because you constantly had to keep looking down into the gamepad
screen when you are searching for inventory, or if you are using a machine gun
or unlocking doors as well as solving puzzles. All while getting your ass
handed to you by zombies. You are constantly switching views from TV to gamepad
which has caused me to have headaches and hurt my neck while in the process. This
game also requires the use of both gamepad and TV so you can’t play it on just
one screen.
The other con about the gamepad is its crappy battery life.
At most you can get 3.5 hours out of use out of the thing. Sure you can always
charge once you are finished but chuck that into a list of ways to kill your
battery faster. The gamepad is also huge
and the buttons I think are awkwardly placed. The R and L buttons are very hard
to use as the ZL and ZR buttons curved in the back.
Closing Comments:
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| I have no idea what I'm doing |
Reggie Fils Aime is full of shit when he says that the Wii U
is a better value. What an A$$hole he is. Anyway, The Wii U is not a better
value than say PS4 but it does get you started with 2 games included. It’s a
great machine but just like the Wii before it, it’s only good as a Previous
Generation Console. The Wii U can compete with the PS3 and Xbox 360 but at a
certain point people will move on and the PS3/Xbox 360 will be retired and then
it’s up to the developers to decide if they still want to keep supporting it.
The right direction for the Wii U would be for Nintendo to
charge $49.99 for their games as well as Third Party games. Dropping full
support for the gamepad and only using it as an add-on would also be great or
at least bundle a pro controller with the Wii U. Don’t force me to use it to
change my settings or use it in the store unless I command it to do that. Also
when I use the Pro Controller don’t turn the gamepad on. It’s annoying enough
that I have to take 1 minute to bring up the menu and turn it off manually.
Other than those shortcomings the Wii U is a great machine
with lots of potential and Nintendo should support every developer and
publisher so they can continue to keep bringing out games for their console. Games
run smoother than their PS3/Xbox 360 counterparts and the GUI is very easy to
use. The backwards compatibility is also a great feature that the PS4 and Xbox
One got rid of so you can put away that Wii that is probably housing thousands
of spiders from years of no use.
Keep this in mind though. Nintendo may have the cheapest
console available but the PS4 and Xbox One have longevity on their side.
Design: Very Small and quiet but packs quite a punch 10/10
Controls: Compatible with Wii as well as Third Party controllers, you have lots to choose from but the gamepad is very uncomfortable to hold at times and some games require it. 8/10
Games: It's been 2 years and there hasn't been a must own game that you have to buy the system for. Support is dropping but hopefully Nintendo can turn things around. 3/10
OS: Very easy to navigate compared to other consoles, there's a bit of lag from time to time even though it has 1GB of Ram dedicated to the OS alone. 8/10
Hardware: Tripple Core processor with 2GB of Ram, Wifi and expansion ports for other media storage. Cannot keep up with PS4/Xbox One but can easily beat PS3/Xbox 360. 7/10
Design: Very Small and quiet but packs quite a punch 10/10
Controls: Compatible with Wii as well as Third Party controllers, you have lots to choose from but the gamepad is very uncomfortable to hold at times and some games require it. 8/10
Games: It's been 2 years and there hasn't been a must own game that you have to buy the system for. Support is dropping but hopefully Nintendo can turn things around. 3/10
OS: Very easy to navigate compared to other consoles, there's a bit of lag from time to time even though it has 1GB of Ram dedicated to the OS alone. 8/10
Hardware: Tripple Core processor with 2GB of Ram, Wifi and expansion ports for other media storage. Cannot keep up with PS4/Xbox One but can easily beat PS3/Xbox 360. 7/10
Total Score: 72/100
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