Nintendo Wii U

[NEG]

Runner 2 finally has a Euro release date - and it's tomorrow!

Finally my console purchase from over a month ago can play what it got the system for. Horray

(ignore the fact I've been playing to death on Steam, about to beat 160mill overall score)

Those of you only about to get into it due to Wii U title starvation (because I certainly haven't seen much discussion on the game on this forum at least, sad times) are in for a treat.

[b00dles]

That Splinter Cell could be quite good, I always liked what they did with the GBA link up cable on the Cube one.

[Fatsam]

Runner 2 is available NOW for £9.99 (2 quid cheaper than steam)

I'm downloading it

Runner 1 is in my top 10 2D platformers of all time list, so I'm a bit excited.

[shirubagan]

Is Arkham City good on the Wii U? It's only £24.99 new at HMV at the moment...

[scottcr]

Aye. It is

[simms]

Is Arkham City good on the Wii U? It's only £24.99 new at HMV at the moment...

It's probably much cheaper to get it on 360 and ps3 with DLC included. There's been reports of framerate issues with the Wii U version. Assuming you want off-screen play that will be the only reason to go for the Wii u version.

[rgraves]

Is Arkham City good on the Wii U? It's only £24.99 new at HMV at the moment...

It is yes (and it includes a lot of the DLC from the other versions already as well), but you can get it much cheaper than £25:

£14:99 from 101cd.com - http://www.101cd.com/Games/Batman-Arkham-City-Armored-Edition-Wii-U/BATCITYWIIU/product.htm

£17:68 from Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00844Q6L6

£19:98 from Zavvi - http://www.zavvi.com/games-wii-u/batman-arkham-city-armored-edition-wii-u/10481348.html

[sweetdaddyg]

There are turtle beach headsets for Wii U:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008YA9BVC (Black)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008YA9BUI (White - more expensive for some reason)

There are also ones from Tritton:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AX51YNY (Black)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008KWT2H2 (White - more expensive again - weird!)

THanks, I am currently leaning toward the tritton white ones....they look lovely, saw them in Game today.

It's probably much cheaper to get it on 360 and ps3 with DLC included. There's been reports of framerate issues with the Wii U version. Assuming you want off-screen play that will be the only reason to go for the Wii u version.

the wii u version is fine and I have never noticed any framerate issues...

[ryodi]

Catwoman is more modestly dressed in the WiiU version as well. Moving from the 360 to WiiU version the big differences are moving the Gamepad across the tv screen to scan crime scenes and radio transmissions come out of the Gamepad speaker.

[Fatsam]

Framerate isn't an issue in the Armoured Edition, but it does drop sometimes with loads happening in the openworld bit.

The map on the screen is a huge plus. Selection of gadgets and other stuff on the touchscreen is nice. The gyros are useful when you want more subtle tiny movement of the batarang. People talking on the gamepad is great. Holding the controller up for detective mode is cool, but not as ace as in Lego Ctiy. The code cracking minigame is a bit rubbish.

It's the version Batman would choose to play. He loves his gimmicks.

[scottcr]

when you're doing stuff on the gamepad, the game doesn't pause - which means you need to get to safety before you fanny about with your batwatch thing.

I think it's very good - but didn't post about it, as it was always 'WiiU Late Ports LOL' and I couldn't be arsed with it.

[Not Thread Owner]

Is Arkham City good on the Wii U? It's only £24.99 new at HMV at the moment...

It's very good, yes.

It has been as cheap as £15 though.

[Not Thread Owner]

The frame rate thing came from when some idiot reviewers forgot that the action is SUPPOSED to slow down during the fights, same as in every other version of AC (and AA).

[SweatyTravolta]

I don't know, the frame rate in the giant bomb quick look was pretty shabby. Not as awful as Epic Mickey 2 of course but I bet someone will be along shortly to tell me that game runs smooth as well.

[rgraves]

Some bargains to be had on the eShop this week (as of now I think):

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2013/April/Grab-a-bargain-from-Nintendo-eShop-in-the-iD-AME-Special-2013-sale--747960.html

Grab a bargain from Nintendo eShop in the iDÉAME Special 2013 sale!

iDÉAME is a conference for young developers, taking place in Madrid from April 13th to 14th. To celebrate the occasion, some independent games are on sale!

Starting today, you’ll be able to pick up one of 13 titles at a reduced price. The sale includes games for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, so whichever of our current consoles you own, you’re spoilt for choice!

Check below for full details on participating titles, sale prices, and when each offer ends.

Wii U download software

Nano Assault Neo

Sale price £5.99 (was £8.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Little Inferno

Sale price £4.49 (was £8.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Toki Tori 2 (launch sale)

Sale price £11.69 (regular price £12.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition

Sale price £6.75 (was £8.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

The Cave

Sale price £7.99 (was £9.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Trine 2: Director's Cut

Sale price £6.99 (was £13.99). Ends 30/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Puddle

Sale price £6.29 (was £8.99). Ends 2/5/13 13:59 UK time.

Nintendo 3DS download software

Mighty Switch Force!

Sale price £4.09 (was £5.39). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Mutant Mudds

Sale price £5.39 (was £8.09). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Fun! Fun! Minigolf TOUCH!

Sale price £3.19 (was £4.49). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Gunman Clive

Sale price £1.49 (was £1.99). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Art of Balance TOUCH!

Sale price £4.49 (was £6.29). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Dress to Play: Cute Witches!

Sale price £1.79 (was £3.59). Ends 25/4/13 13:59 UK time.

Don’t forget that if you’re a Wii U owner there’s still time to grab some classic games at very special prices! To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the Famicom in Japan (known as the NES in Europe), Nintendo is making one NES or Super NES game available each month from now through to July at the anniversary price of just £0.30! Find out more about the Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign!

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Arkham City framerate isn't rocksteady (lol) on 360 either, at least not in the city bits.

[Not Thread Owner]

I don't know, the frame rate in the giant bomb quick look was pretty shabby. Not as awful as Epic Mickey 2 of course but I bet someone will be along shortly to tell me that game runs smooth as well.

I didn't notice a single unintentional issue, and I put almost 20 hours into it.

There was an update though, and I only played it since that.

edit: with Batman

[ras el hanout]

It's not actually the framerate per se, I found anyway. But you'd get to a cut-scene and the drive would go mental and the some frames of the cut scene would skip. The actual game was fine. It's weird though, I mean? Isn't a cut scene just video?

I loved it. Didn't actually find the map helpful though, like the Need 4 Speed map it's kind impossible to use when playing. Perhaps coz it spins?

[Not Thread Owner]

It's not actually the framerate per se, I found anyway. But you'd get to a cut-scene and the drive would go mental and the some frames of the cut scene would skip. The actual game was fine. It's weird though, I mean? Isn't a cut scene just video?

Not if it's using the game engine, which I think most of them were. Didn't have that happen to me, anyway.

[NecroMorrius]

The frame rate thing came from when some idiot reviewers forgot that the action is SUPPOSED to slow down during the fights, same as in every other version of AC (and AA).

I don't know, the frame rate in the giant bomb quick look was pretty shabby. Not as awful as Epic Mickey 2 of course but I bet someone will be along shortly to tell me that game runs smooth as well.

Arkham City framerate isn't rocksteady (lol) on 360 either, at least not in the city bits.

Yeah, the framerate is kind of fucked on the Wii U version. It's actually higher at times because it's unlocked, but veers into the teens during combat, juddering loads. Game speed has absolutely nothing to do with this Dekay, "idiot reviewers" can tell the difference between framerate drops and purposeful slowdown to highlight the action.

Digital Foundry:

In common with Mass Effect 3 and Black Ops 2, once again Wii U has trouble processing multiple characters on-screen at any given point - more evidence that the CPU is simply not up to scratch for straight PS3/360 ports without some extensive optimisation.

Overall, it's fair to say that performance is the Achilles' heel of this new Armored Edition. Frame-rate varies significantly, resulting in an experience that is nowhere near as smooth or as consistently responsive as the existing versions of the game. We're not quite sure why Warner Bros.' conversion team simply didn't stick to the template laid down by the existing games - there's a reason it's in place, and it's not surprising that a similar scheme is also employed by almost every other Unreal Engine 3 title out there on current-gen console.

Unreal Engine titles background load data concurrently with streaming video, and you can hear the drive head zooming about, almost as if it is struggling to maintain both tasks - the halting playback adds further to the impression that this is a rougher, jerkier, more lacklustre rendition of the original.

The overall takeaway is that the Wii U version of this classic title is unpolished and less enjoyable to play than Rocksteady's original.

It's Arkham City, and by default a good game, but the basic reality is that we'd take any of the older - and now cheaper - versions of this excellent title ahead of the underwhelming Wii U port.

[NecroMorrius]

Not if it's using the game engine, which I think most of them were. Didn't have that happen to me, anyway.

Loads of it is video streamed off the disc to mask a load. It's much more obvious when you play it on PC because the compression is horrible and the videos are usually 720p. It's not specific to Batman.

[scottcr]

So - it's only during the videos then? I honestly haven't noticed any problems during the game itself - but then, I'm using Nintendo goggles.

And given that you can pick it up for the same price as the other versions, it has off-tv support, gamepad features that are nicely done (and change the game as you can't pause when checking things out), has a lot of extra content...

If you've a WiiU - chances are you like these kind of things, so it's the version to get.

If you don't have a WiiU, fair enough, Wii U Late Ports LOL whatever.

[ryodi]

I read somewhere that switching the WiiUs output to 720p solves the frame rate problem but it's probably rubbish

[NecroMorrius]

@scott

No, performance is all over the place because the game handles vsync differently and the CPU can't keep up with all the enemies onscreen.

The video issue a separate issue where the videos skip because the WIi U can't handle loading stuff in the background and streaming video off the disc at the same time.

Without going all master race, the PC version is the one to get, even though the DX11 features are broken so they need to be turned off. Infinitely sharper and the combat looks a lot better at 60fps, those animations deserve room to breathe. I say this as someone who played a lot of both Arkham games on 360 and PC. It's fine on 360 though, put about 60 hours in and got almost every achievement.

[scottcr]

I don't have a 1080p telly - so my WiiU is only outputing 720p... maybe that's why it looks fine to me?

[NecroMorrius]

Could be, could be.

[ras el hanout]

@scott

No, performance is all over the place because the game handles vsync different and the CPU can't keep up with all the enemies onscreen.

The video issue a separate issue where the videos skip because the WIi U can't handle loading stuff in the background and streaming video off the disc at the same time.

Without going all master race, the PC version is the one to get, even though the DX11 features are broken so they need to be turned off. Infinitely sharper and the combat looks a lot better at 60fps, those animations deserve room to breathe. I say this as someone who played a lot of both Arkham games on 360 and PC. It's fine on 360 though, put about 60 hours in and got almost every achievement.

Listen mate, you've read the digital foundry thing, well done, we've played it. The frame-rate's fine. We're not lying. If it was fucked I'd say so! Perhaps if you run it through and analyser of some kind you can find problems with it but that shouldn't concern you.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Maybe it was because of the DX11 features (I'm not sure if I turned them off), but Arkham City stuttered like a bitch on my PC when it was trying to cache/preload the next room and stuff. It was especially noticable in the 'Batman going through the door' animation. Nothing like that on the 360 though.

[joffocakes]

Totally bought Runner 2 last night. I've not played it yet, though. I've not played Chasing Aurora either since buying that, though I did enjoy the demo.

I hope Capcom use the new Super Street Fighter IV update they're planning as an excuse to port it to Wii U. I wanna play the game all over again.

[NecroMorrius]

Maybe it was because of the DX11 features (I'm not sure if I turned them off), but Arkham City stuttered like a bitch on my PC when it was trying to cache/preload the next room and stuff. It was especially noticable in the 'Batman going through the door' animation. Nothing like that on the 360 though.

Yeah the DX11 stuff is broken, specifically something to do with loading textures for each new area. if you turn it off you end up with a silky smooth, hi-res, much sharper version of what you get on console. You can leave the physx stuff on though if your PC can hack it, some of that stuff is good and/or hilarious.