Nintendo Wii U

[JPickford]

I wonder if future consoles will do an Apple Mac Air and remove the optical drive and make it an optional extra to make the machine seem slimmer.

Or perhaps the optical drive has been moved because it's not needed? I've barely even used the drive 2 or 3 times on my desktop mac.

[FSW]

I don't have an optical drive for my desktop either. I've got an external one that I plug into whatever needs it as and when. Having my macbook air permanently fatter for the ultra-rare times I need a CD drive seems daft. Good riddance!

This lack of optical out on WiiU has got me really annoyed. Moreso than it should. I'm close to ordering one but now I either have stereo through the TV or buy a new amp.

[mushashi]

Possibly, but it's Apple, they remove or upgrade stuff, even if it's still needed.

[strider]

I'm so hot for WiiU

To be fair though you'd be hot for a corpse if it had a Nintendo logo on it

sounds excellent

Agreed it does sound rather ace.

[FSW]

Possibly, but it's Apple, they remove or upgrade stuff, even if it's still needed.

This is totally true. My new Air has no firewire (I backup - or used to - to an external firewire drive) and no conventional audio input (for ripping vinyl) so now I need an alternative backup solution and some kind of USB adapter for audio in. Good job everything else is lush.

[Aardvark]

I'd say a first class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering makes me somewhat qualified.

Fair enough, I only asked because your enthusiasm for Nintendo can sometimes seem a little excessive.

[FSW]

Shit man, that ZombieU video on the ubisoft site does make me want to play it. Seems so slicklifting the pad up in front of the TV. Will it really be like that? how does the pad know where the TV is? The base WiiU pack doesn;t have a sensor bar. Does ZombieU require the sensor bar for this functionality?

[SMD]

Zombi U pack has the sensor bar in it, as well as the Premium pack.

[Space Renegade Ulala]

Am I imagining it or is there very buzz about this? No one I know is at all excited about it bar one, and even he's strongly considering cancelling his pre-order now.

I don't know, it just seems odd that we're a couple of weeks away from a spangly new console launch and not many people are talking about it or showing much enthusiasm when time was, we'd all go mental with the HYPE, yo.

I guess I just kind a miss the days of boundless optimism and FUCK YEAH that we'd get in the build up to a console launch.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Shit man, that ZombieU video on the ubisoft site does make me want to play it. Seems so slicklifting the pad up in front of the TV. Will it really be like that? how does the pad know where the TV is? The base WiiU pack doesn;t have a sensor bar. Does ZombieU require the sensor bar for this functionality?

It doesn't use the sensor bar for that, it's using the built in gyro.

[JPickford]

I guess the assumption of the TV being straight ahead when you hold up the gamepad is enough to maintain the illusion.

[FSW]

I guess the assumption of the TV being straight ahead when you hold up the gamepad is enough to maintain the illusion.

Now you say that it seems obvious.

OK, given that 50 gig isn't much space (long term) and I already have a Wii and hence a sensor bar AND whole bunch of external SUB drives, the base pack would be my best buy yes? Otherwise I'm kinda paying £80 for the zombie game.

[scottcr]

Am I imagining it or is there very buzz about this? No one I know is at all excited about it bar one, and even he's strongly considering cancelling his pre-order now.

I don't know, it just seems odd that we're a couple of weeks away from a spangly new console launch and not many people are talking about it or showing much enthusiasm when time was, we'd all go mental with the HYPE, yo.

I guess I just kind a miss the days of boundless optimism and FUCK YEAH that we'd get in the build up to a console launch.

There was a time, not so long ago, when a console releasing with the follow up to Super Mario World and then soon following with Pikmin 3 would have had people all excited and foamy.

[FSW]

I'm sure I already knwo the answer to this but:

WiiU->HDMI->TV->OpticalOut->AV Amp

That's not gonna work is it?

[Professor Puzzles]

I just can't afford to get all frothed up about it yet, but I'd sell your Grandma to get one.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

It's not actually relative to the TV anyway, so it wouldn't matter if you turned away from the TV and lifted it up. Same way the aiming worked in Skyward Sword which confused people, it's all relative to the controller position.

I'm sure I already knwo the answer to this but:

WiiU->HDMI->TV->OpticalOut->AV Amp

That's not gonna work is it?

It'd work, but most TVs won't output anything but stereo over optical. It also only supports some weird surround standard that isn't Dolby Digital or DTS. LPCM or something.

[Mike S]

I'd say a first class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering makes me somewhat qualified.

That was pretty funny. Although, for me, the design of a circuit board is pretty much at the bottom of my list of considerations when it comes to buying games consoles..

[FSW]

Maybe if I chose Dolby Pro-Logic as the audio option I'd get something marginally better than stereo? I'll have to wait til launch to find out I guess. Nintendo have just bypassed my tech it seems. With Wii I was more than equipped: I could do DTS and Dolby digital when Wii could only do Pro-Logic, now WiiU wants to deliver uncompressed 6 channel!.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Maybe if I chose Dolby Pro-Logic as the audio option I'd get something marginally better than stereo? I'll have to wait til launch to find out I guess. Nintendo have just bypassed my tech it seems. With Wii I was more than equipped: I could do DTS and Dolby digital when Wii could only do Pro-Logic, now WiiU wants to deliver uncompressed 6 channel!.

I don't think it even supports Dolby Pro-Logic. Incredible, I know.

[JPickford]

That was pretty funny. Although, for me, the design of a circuit board is pretty much at the bottom of my list of considerations when it comes to buying games consoles..

Me neither, knowing nothing about electronics but the circuit board design caused a lot of problems for 360 so I guess it's good to know the Wii U is well designed.

[NEG]

Not bothered about achievement implementation. Hearing/seeing a 'plonk!' for picking up the Master Sword in a Zelda? Just sounds wrong. There's so few games that get achievements 'right' on 360, that I'm glad they didn't do it.

Everything else however, they just don't have a excuse not to have put in. Xbox Live pretty much set the standard for what a online connected console should be in the department of interactivity. That means voice group chat. That means chatting while your playing one thing and your friend another. That means inviting a friend to your game (or joining theirs).

I realise Microsoft didn't have much of these things until the second or even third year of the 360, but have Nintendo really not looked at Live? (and whatever PSN does, I wouldn't know, but heard on occasion that it's nearly if not 'as' decent whilst also being free.)

I'll enjoy a interface that doesn't force advertisements down your throat, though. Or change the interface completely once a year for shits and giggles when the old one worked just about fine as is.

They have no excuse for not transferring VC titles properly, also. Using the VC is for respecting to be legit, remove hassle, and having all you want under one roof(er, shiny white plastic box). Otherwise I might as well get a Mega EverDrive or a Super EverDrive and enjoy all the snes/md titles on their proper hardware without having to switch a cart or worry about emulation quality, ever. Who'll give a shit if I'm playing my 20year old hardware and/if I don't have the originals at this point.

I've rambled off the point I was making I think, but they basically need to respect those that bothered to respect them and used the VC.

Heck, even the DSi to 3DS software transfer was better.

Outside of interface decisions though, like I said in the other thread, the Wii U needs games. I mean I'm sure it'll be novel to play from day one to go oohh and ahhh, and the games will come down the road, but it doesn't feel justifiable.

Even the Vita has games I want to 'play'.

Even the Neo-Geo X is a brand spanking new experience if I were to grab one, at least for yours truly. (Outside of Metal Slug)

...

I think I've just realised that all the hardware released this year sucks 60-75% due to being overpriced to hell. (Wii U, Vita, NGX)

[JPickford]

All these consoles coming out that are underpowered, over priced and sold at a loss. Why don't these crazy manufacturers do it the other way around? Mental.

[NEG]

Vita isn't underpowered.

edit: Not a console, yes yes.

[Nobuo's Organ]

There was a time, not so long ago, when a console releasing with the follow up to Super Mario World and then soon following with Pikmin 3 would have had people all excited and foamy.

Seems like it needs to be prepended with "Exactly the same as the XBox and..." these days.

Speaking of XBoxes, it seems like taking screenshots is an OS-level feature. I've wanted in everything that since Shenmue II's photo album on the original XBox, great for adventure games in particular.

[Chooch]

I'm very excited so suck on that doomsters.

[Mike S]

Me neither, knowing nothing about electronics but the circuit board design caused a lot of problems for 360 so I guess it's good to know the Wii U is well designed.

Although I suspect the OP meant well-designed as in a small form factor rather than unlikely to fail in 6 months as 360's were prone to.

[Super Craig]

It'd work, but most TVs won't output anything but stereo over optical. It also only supports some weird surround standard that isn't Dolby Digital or DTS. LPCM or something.

It's just uncompressed audio. I'm not sure that it's an issue. I think that a Blu-ray player would convert the audio to the same format if the connected amp didn't support DTS HD-MA or whatever the Dolby Digital equivalent is.

Also, I'm sure that at least one game supports Dolby Digital as well. It was posted over at NeoGAF. It's probably going to be up to developers to decide whether to use it or not.

I don't think it even supports Dolby Pro-Logic. Incredible, I know.

I don't see why it wouldn't.

[deKay]

That was pretty funny. Although, for me, the design of a circuit board is pretty much at the bottom of my list of considerations when it comes to buying games consoles..

It was pretty important for the 360 to have a great circuit board design. Shame it didn't.

Oh, and you can't pause the game in ZombiU? No sale for me then

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Because they didn't want to pay to license it.

[Super Craig]

Because they didn't want to pay to license it.

If it was paid per system, they'd need a license for the Wii backwards compatibility.