Nintendo Wii U

[HarryBizzle]

I don't get the ranting robots hate. They're pretty funny at times.

[NEG]

The latest review is also more in-depth about the complaints then usual.

[scottcr]

At these sales rates, my WiiU collection is going to be worth a fortune in the future

[Vemsie]

Ruderless wrote a nice Tropical Freeze review for CVG:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/447110/reviews/review-donkey-kong-country-tropical-freeze-is-a-retro-game-in-every-sense-review/

That David Wise score:

So good to have him back scoring games.

[BarryL85]

My copy of Donkey Kong TF just showed up, time to give it a go

[rgraves]

Oh Oh, something else is actually getting a Wii U release (and only just over a month away)

Warner Bros. has announced 2.5D action game Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.

The Armature Studio-developed spin-off originally launched for PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS last year. The Deluxe Edition, as this new version is called, includes the same story and gameplay with high definition graphics.

Also new is a new map and hint system for improved navigation and objective tracking, 5.1 surround sound and a fully voiced narrative

It's out on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Marketplace, Nintendo eShop and Steam on 2nd April and costs £15.99. Trailer is below.

Anyone play the 3DS or Vita version already - any good?

[HarryBizzle]

My brother will be over the moon. Really hope they don't include a load of stupid touch screen gimmicks, or I'll be buying it on PS3 for him.

[simms]

A couple of Wii u offered turned up on ukhotdeals

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/wii-u-8gb-basic-pc-world-currys-instore-for-129-91-1831016?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=02202014&utm_campaign=Daily%2BHot

£129.91 for Wii u basic in store at a particular PC world/Currys in Surrey

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/nintendo-wii-u-mario-luigi-bundle-for-154-99-clearance-bargains-corby-1831222?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=02202014&utm_campaign=Daily%2BHot

In store price for a Wii u premium Super mario/Luigi U pack £154.99

[Shimmyhill]

So having just had a riot on wii party but recalling people didnt rate wii party u i wanted to ask if it had the same games as wii version - just played the board game with wife and kids and was good fun and some of the mini games are brilliant?

Basically is it not liked as its more of the same or is it a worse game than the wii one??

[stefcha]

It's a worse game than the Wii one, although I've admittedly not yet bothered to play through all the minigames (at least some of which are more highly rated than the ones we did play - there's some sort of rating system) or indeed play it more than twice. Which is pretty damning in itself, although that was largely down to the terrible, terrible gameboard we played through.

It just tries to do too much and uses all hardware available to do so at the expense of actually being much fun. At least Wii Party just had waggle, this has that, that and a combo of gamepad stuff, some two player only gamepad stuff (some of which I still have no idea even how to play - the sumo game specifically - despite making my first foray into Miiverse to ask, and what a load of shit that turned out to be given it got no response whatsoever), it's a bit all over the shop. Maybe I need to play it more, but it wasn't immediately as fun as the game prior that's for sure.

[Jackson]

Agreed, it's got some fantastic ideas but it was just a bit too fiddly. The camera mode where people guess your expression, and the drawing mode are both great but really laborious to get anywhere. There are board games (Telestrations) that do those sorts of things better anyway.

Board Game Island just sucks, they stuffed in loads of boring dice rolling gimmicks. For a fun mode with a similar pace to the old Board Game Island I did enjoy the mode thats like a penny pusher arcade machine, but overall the minigames are worse than the old lot.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Oh Oh, something else is actually getting a Wii U release (and only just over a month away)

Anyone play the 3DS or Vita version already - any good?

No, it's shit I'm afraid. I was hugely disappointed by the Vita version. It starts off pretty well (the vibe is not unlike Shadow Complex) but confusing level design mixed with a completely useless map and completely empty sections when backtracking turn this in a disoriented and uneventful slog.

[roberthazelby]

My girlfriend's Wii Balance Board (yes, I know) just died this evening after years of service

This suggestion does involve second hand, but facebook could be a good place to look.

Search for "items for sale in [xxx]", where xxx is the area you live in. We've got a facebook group covering our local area.

The wife and I picked up a Wii with two wiimotes, balance board, charging bay and a number of games for thirty quid. We gave my brother all the wii stuff and we kept the balance board.

The machine came from a family, so it was unlikely it was nicked.

[mrsnrub]

Apparently the Wii U boot rom sector thingummy has been cracked

http://wiiuhax.com/wii-u-bootrom-dumped-welcome-to-the-scene/

[gone fishin]

Apparently the Wii U boot rom sector thingummy has been cracked

http://wiiuhax.com/wii-u-bootrom-dumped-welcome-to-the-scene/

Wait, I thought it had been hacked within weeks of it being launched, but the group said "it's such a shit console we're not going to bother releasing anything"?!? :-)

It would be great to get Homebrew on the console.

Also ask this - is it coincidental that Nintendo's console sales have dropped since they were unhackable to play roms? How many people bought a DS or a Wii for their kids because you could get games for free?

[Yewone]

Also ask this - is it coincidental that Nintendo's console sales have dropped since they were unhackable to play roms? How many people bought a DS or a Wii for their kids because you could get games for free?

An absolutely tiny percentage of total sales I'd imagine.

[Darren]

I suspect it's pretty low for the Wii but it's significant for the DS if my experience is anything to go by. I have a few friends whose kids wanted a 3DS but were refused because "their old games wouldn't work on it" - which seemed odd at first but invariably they meant their R4 cards*. My kids long ago accepted I wasn't going to let them have the same thing (and I'm trying to bring them up to value digital content, not pirate it) but their argument was always that all their friends have one!

I see most of those kids now playing flappy bird or whatever on cheap Android tablets.

*I have no idea whether this is actually true and have never wanted to get into a discussion about it with them...

[Rudderless]

It probably is true. A few years ago, most of my son's school friends had DSes, and I'm pretty sure all of them had R4 cards. Got into a conversation about it with one of the parents who said everyone she knew had one.

[gizmo1990]

For the DS this was certainly true. For the Wii though? Much much less so, a fraction even.

[gone fishin]

Few less compared with the DS, but I knew of a few parents that had hacked the Wii to play games (i.e. "free games") from a hard disk.

But it was rampant on the DS, every child (relative, friends of relatives) I knew had an R4 card. They still bought some games, usually for birthday presents and the like.

I said this before, that audience (the free games one) has moved onto cheap Android tablets where you can legally get games for free. Yeah, they're mostly utter garbage, but it's free.

Maybe I'll get negged for this post too. You know, mentioning piracy and Nintendo.

[Darren]

I said this before, that audience (the free games one) has moved onto cheap Android tablets where you can legally get games for free. Yeah, they're mostly utter garbage, but it's free.

Yep, this is spot on. People love free stuff.

[Myshkin]

Apparently the Wii U boot rom sector thingummy has been cracked

http://wiiuhax.com/wii-u-bootrom-dumped-welcome-to-the-scene/

That's really, really bad :-(

This may be the event that causes Ninty's exit from the hardware market :-(

[Jack]

Or not:

http://blog.delroth.net/2014/02/wii-u-bootrom-dumped-what-it-means-in-practice/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

So the machine is still fucked, just not because of this new development.

[shirubagan]

Arkham Origins is £13.50 in HMV Oxford St at the moment. Worth it?

[Myshkin]

Or not:

http://blog.delroth.net/2014/02/wii-u-bootrom-dumped-what-it-means-in-practice/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

So the machine is still fucked, just not because of this new development.

nice

[Protocol Penguin]

I love the Wii U as much as anybody else, but will readily admit to anyone that it's screwed. I've shown the console to people who'd otherwise have not heard of it, and they've liked it (it really impresses non-gamers usually) but I've had to advise anyone who expresses interest in buying their own Wii U not to do so unless until the death spiral clearance price-cuts really start. I just can't recommend anyone laying down several hundred Pounds to purchase a console with such a short, games-drought-ridden future ahead if it.

[McCoy]

I agree. It's surely, by far, the worst supporter console out of the recent Nintendo 'misses' - N64, GCN. Both of those consoles, by comparison, had a wealth of third and first party content compared to the draught that the Wii U has found itself in. For a long time the Gamecube was getting most of the third party cross platform stuff and the N64 had plenty of exclusive high profile third party games (Turok, Extreme G, Body Harvest to name a few) to keep it going.

[SMD]

I love the Wii U as much as anybody else, but will readily admit to anyone that it's screwed. I've shown the console to people who'd otherwise have not heard of it, and they've liked it (it really impresses non-gamers usually) but I've had to advise anyone who expresses interest in buying their own Wii U not to do so unless until the death spiral clearance price-cuts really start. I just can't recommend anyone laying down several hundred Pounds to purchase a console with such a short, games-drought-ridden future ahead if it.

Isn't that just compounding it? People holding off making it even harder for the Wii U to even tread water.

[McCoy]

That's what's stopping me at the moment. I see deals for about £180 but it still seems like too much for the 1 or 2 games I want on it. Do you think if Nintendo introduced a hefty price cut now it might pick up some pace before all hope is lost?

I've still not picked one up. I quite fancy one but the future looks bleak in terms of releases and I sense we'll have some authorised clearing the stocks discounting before too long. Of course, a unified account system with 3DS and cross purchase compatibility compared with a proper virtual console experience may well have just tempted me to pick one up to play SNES and GBA games on the controller screen.

Nintendo should look at how Sony at using the PS4 to promote the Vita with PS+ and cross platform purchases and should be doing the inverse to promote the Wii U to 3DS owners. Buy a Virtual Console game and, hey, you can also play it on the big screen if you have a Wii U. Instead they'll sell the original Super Mario Bros, again, for a fiver and require separate purchases for each platform.

[NEG]

I just hope this generations Zelda is still on it's way, even as a swansong. Zelda's the main reason for owning any Nintendo console since the N64, really.

....it's probably not coming, is it.