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E3 Wii U impressions
Editorial by 
(Editor)
June 13, 2011, 06:42
 

During their E3 2011 conference on the morning of June 7th, Nintendo finally showed off the successor to the Wii: the Wii U. The reveal was not a surprise, as Nintendo flat-out announced that the device would be playable at E3 when info about it started leaking from everywhere. Gamers everywhere struggled to make sense of the rumors of a dual analog controller integrating a 6'' touch screen and wondered what to make of the reports that the device would be on par, slightly more powerful, or much more powerful than Microsoft's or Sony's current consoles.

E3 came and went, and I got the chance to play it.

But first, directly from Nintendo's fact sheet (and keep in mind, details are subject to change) :

New Controller: The new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touch screen and traditional button controls, including two analog Circle Pads. The rechargeable controller includes a Power button, Home button, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. It includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.

Other Controls: Up to four Wii Remote™ (or Wii Remote Plus) controllers can be connected at once. The new console supports all Wii™ controllers and input devices, including the Nunchuk™ controller, Classic Controller™, Classic Controller Pro™ and Wii Balance Board™.

Video Output: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, component, S-video and composite.

Audio Output: Uses AV Multi Out connector. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI.

Storage: The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive.

Other: Four USB 2.0 connector slots are included. The new console is backward compatible with Wii games and Wii accessories.

Controller impressions



The Wii U's tablet controller definitely feels more comfortable than it looks. I have nearly always been pleased with the ergonomics of Nintendo's controllers, and this one is another winner. When my thumbs were resting on the dual slide pads (which are pretty much identical in look and feel as the 3DS's slide pad, as far as I could tell), my index and middle fingers were ideally placed for all four shoulder buttons. I wonder if I would not prefer Nintendo to switch the placement of the face buttons and the right slide pad, however.

The screen is vibrant and sharp. I was not able to verify how responsive the touch controls are when using your finger, but I certainly have no complaint about its responsiveness to the stylus.

I was pleased to notice a headphone port on top of the tablet controller. I regularly play games with headphones on, and this feature will help reduce the clutter in my living room. Plus, its presence there simply makes sense when you consider that Nintendo wants you to be able to "move" your game from the TV to the tablet when you need to free the television for someone else. There is also a port at bottom of the tablet, no doubt for recharging and for various accessories Nintendo showed off during their conference. I find myself dreading those, to be honest. Enough plastic already!

Finally, I know little about how accelerometers and gyroscopes work, but it seems to me that Nintendo's tech (or the way they use it) keeps improving. More on that in my impressions of the Japanese Garden demo.

Demo impressions

Measure Up


May as well start with the weakest demo of the bunch, Measure Up. With a look and feel very reminiscent of games like Wii Fit and Brain Age, it is definitely the plainest-looking demo on the show floor. The goal? The game will ask you to draw a 40 cm line, or a 75 degree angle, and then score you on how close you were. That's it.

I have been struggling to find a point to this demo. Was it fun? Kind of, in the same way Brain Age is kind of fun. But is it a good demonstration of the Wii U's potential? Hardly. This is nothing that couldn't be done on a regular tablet, the original DS, or even the Wii. Perhaps Nintendo felt there was a fear that the casual audience who bought Brain Age would be forgotten with the Wii U, and wanted to assuage that fear? Who knows.

New Super Mario Bros. Mii

Again, I am unsure what exactly this demo was supposed to show off. NSMB in HD looks nice, sure, but it's hardly a technical showcase. And the player using the tablet as opposed to a Wii remote gains no extra functionality whatsoever. When I asked the booth lady what the advantage was, she simply said "it's just another way to view the game". Alright, fair enough.


Perhaps they simply wanted to show that yes, absolutely, you WILL be able to take this game to the john with you, for those times when you just gotta go and can't stop playing. If that is the case, I think having a working port-a-potty next to the TV that the person with the tablet could use would have helped illustrate that point better.

Chase Mii

Now here is a more satisfying demo of a game concept only possible on multiple screens. In Chase Mii, four players control their Miis on the TV screen using standard Wii remotes in split screen view, while a fifth player controls his Mii (which dons Mario's hat) on the Wii U controller's screen. In addition to the regular view, he can also see the whole map and the positions of each player, whose goal it is to try to find and catch him.


I got to play both roles. First, as one of the chasers, I had to run around and try to locate the target. It took me a while to spot him, but once I did, I did not let him get out of my sight. The timer was running out, however, and I failed a last second attempt at jumping on the target to catch him.

I then got to play as the Mii with the red cap. Hiding the screen from the prying eyes of the other players, I got a 10 second head start to try and find a hiding place. But either I was not doing enough of a good job hiding my screen or the woman working the booth had gotten way too much practice at this game, but as soon as the chasers could move she started shouting my location to the others, telling them I was in the red area, then the green area, going back to the red area... I only lasted little more than a minute. You will pay for this one day, booth woman!

That is the demo in a nutshell. There is nothing else to add, really, other than yes, HD resolutions do improve the look of games as simple-looking as the Wii ___ series. The Miis were not more detailed than in the Wii Sports games, and the level could have been a remake of a Super Mario Kart's Battle Mode map, but they looked nice and sharp nonetheless.

Battle Mii

Another good demo showing off the usefulness of having a secondary screen. In Battle Mii, two players control Miis who have stolen Samus' suit with the Nunchuk and Wii remote combo and view the action on a split TV screen, while a third controls a Mii who stole Samus' ship with the tablet controller.


The explanation for Samus' absence from the show this year: a mugging

Again, I got to play both roles. As a pedestrian with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, the controls are as expected: you point where you want to aim and you shoot, you move the cursor to the edge of the screen to turn, and you walk forward, backward, and strafe with the Nunchuk's stick. There is not much to say, really, other than I seriously hope the Wii U will get more third person shooters with these controls than the Wii did.

Piloting the ship was not as simple and familiar as the good old remote+Nunchuk combo, however. With one stick, you could move up, down and strafe left and right. With the other stick, you could move forward, backward, and turn. And in addition to that, you could use the gyroscope/accelerometers controls to aim in general. It was a bit like rubbing your belly and tapping your head at the same time: not impossible, but not immediately intuitive either.

Again, I lost at this game when using the tablet, but come on, two against one is so unfair! Ah, but I also realize I should have made better use of the tilt controls to aim. I tried too hard to make it work with only the dual analog controls, a mindset deeply ingrained now at this point. The tilt controls could have helped give me the extra accuracy I needed. There was no aim assist in this demo, I have to mention!

Shield Pose

This is the demo that looked the most appealing to me, for some reason. Perhaps the combination of rhythm-based gameplay and the use of the dual display in a single-player game.


This is the only Wii U video I managed to take, so try to enjoy it.

You begin the demo looking at a black ocean on the TV. You are then prompted to raise the tablet controller in front of you and on it, you get a zoomed in view of a pirate ship. Then you are tasked with finding two more ships as well as the moon, but those things do not show up at all on the TV screen. So you move the tablet farther and farther left, beyond the edge of the TV screen, and what do you see? Another pirate ship! Outside of the field of view offered by the TV! How cool is that?


That is just the initial setup. Things get started for real when the pirates start flinging arrows at you. You keep the tablet lowered and instructions appear on the TV: left, center, right. Then you have to point the tablet in those directions to the beat of the music in order to block the volley of arrows. It wasn't as easy as it looked when others were playing it, but then again I have always been rhythmically challenged... It was definitely fun, however, and I feel it offered a window into how the tablet could be used to enhance single player games in general.

Japanese Garden demo

Much like the Shield Pose demo, the Japanese Garden demo showcased the possibilities the tablet's accelerometers and gyroscope open up. Nintendo's PR talks about "removing the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world". Now, you can take that as marketing spiel, but this demo helped me understand what they were getting at and believe in it. It is almost, almost, like holding a little window to another world. You move the tablet around, and the view changes with it. Imagine playing Face Raiders and the background, instead of being your surroundings, were instead another place entirely. If the tablet were goggles instead, we would be calling the Japanese Garden demo virtual reality.

The unfortunate thing is that the demo was not a full 360 degree view. Move too far to the left or the right, or up or down for that matter, and the camera stops moving, breaking the illusion.

The rest

There were two more demos that I did not check out. A Zelda HD demo, which did not attract me, as I thought it was a non-interactive demo playing on the TV screen. Whenever I looked at that booth, the lady in charge was holding the tablet in one hand waving it about, no one paying attention to it, as if it did next to nothing. And while I thought the trailer looked nice, I am not a graphics guy. I was far more interested in interacting with the controller than looking at pretty details. But as it turns out, the tablet in that demo did in fact have applications. D'oh!

There was also a Ghost Recon Online demo. After waiting in line for five minutes while the booth guy showed off nothing but the load out selection screen to the guy having his turn, I decided it was not worth my time.

Conclusion

So there you have it, my impressions of the controller and the demos being shown for the Wii U. You will have noticed that I focused much more on the use of the tablet than the graphics, and that is simply because of the kind of gamer I am: as long as things "look nice", I'm happy, and I would only embarrass myself if I tried to judge graphics on their technical merits.

Overall, I would say I am definitely intrigued by the Wii U's potential. The demos I have played at E3 were just that: mere demos. I do not expect a full $50 for Measure Up at the Wii U's launch. But Battle Mii and Chase Mii have shown me the potential for new, super fun same-couch multiplayer experiences, while the Japanese Garden and Shield Pose did, in fact, "show me a new way to look at games", as contrived as that sounds, and I cannot wait to see similar functionality implemented in, say, a new Metroid game.

I do not know if I would feel the same had I not played it with my own hands. I do not believe that the saying "you need to play it to believe it" holds as true as it did with the Wii. Nevertheless, I am sure it helped me form a favorable opinion.

What about you, reading these impressions? Are you a Wii U believer, or a doubter? Does holding a window on a video game world sound appealing to you, or is it the most contrived thing you have ever heard of? Post your comments!

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Posted: 06/13/11, 06:42  - Edit:  06/13/11, 10:33
 
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Never seen that picture of the back of the controller before. That looks really comfortable, the way the bottom shoulder buttons jut out like that.

That's kind of lame that the booth lady would give away your position when trying to hide I'd be annoyed if that happened to me. That would kind of defeat the purpose of the game.

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 06:52
@X-pert74

Haha, no, she was playing against me, she was doing exactly what she should have been doing!

As for the pic of the back of the controller, it's from the press kit. You can see the rest in my photobucket album.

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 07:03
Nice impressions!

I wasn't really wowed by any of the tech demos from Nintendo (from a conceptual point of view, but I actually really enjoyed the graphical showcases), but I do really, really want this system on the potential alone. I do like the tablet design and it is indeed very comfortable to hold. I actually disagree that the sliders are just like the 3DS circle pad. The grip feels much 'fuller' and has more friction. Yes, the movement is just like the 3DS circle pad, but how it actually feels, imo, is much more like the tip of an analog stick. I think I actually prefer this instead of a straight up analog sticks because they offer a more digital feel while steel maintaining analog control.

Anyway, for me, Ghost Recon Online is what really sold me on this baby. I MUST HAVE IT!!

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 07:23  - Edit:  06/13/11, 07:41
What a relief to hear that the controller feels so good, and man, does that controller have a ton of nice features.

This was the first time I realized that the Garden demo actually allowed you to move the tablet around to change your view point. That concept sounds really cool.

In general, I am really excited by the concepts Nintendo has shown us so far with the Wii U, and I can't wait to see it all implemented into a full featured Nintendo game.

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 15:58
Can you comment on how the sticks and buttons feel on the controller?

From the pictures, the sticks look like the slide pads on 3DS. What is the tension like on them and the rotation radius?

For the triggers, are they clicky or spongy? What's the tension like on those? Do you think there's a good range of motion (i.e. you can pull them half-way comfortably for racers and such)?

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 17:17
@New Forms

I don't remember the "triggers" acting like triggers at all. They were just regular, clicky buttons. I may be wrong, none of the demos I tried used them.

As for the slide pads, they behaved much like regular analog sticks would.

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 18:34
Day 1 or wait, for you based on what you played?

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 18:42
@-JKR-

lol, good one!

If you're being serious: they were just proof of concept demos, man! I haven't played real games, this was not enough to make this kind of decision!

Posted by 
 on: 06/13/11, 18:45  - Edit:  06/13/11, 18:49
Cool impression. I'm very interested New Super Mario Bros. Mii, Find Mii, and Battle Mii.

I also added this to the Official Negative World Wii U Links Thread.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 00:46
First of all, you're a lucky bastard.

Glad to see the Wii U controller more comfortable than it looks. Would you say it's actually comfortable then? Or just not uncomfortable?

The Japanese garden being like virtual reality sounds pretty awesome. Reminds me I need to bump a thread of mine...

Did you like the demos enough that you would buy a game made up of them?

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 04:00
@Jargon

Haha, the controller was comfortable.

I would buy a collection containing expanded versions of the Battle Mii and Chase Mii, sure. And if that Shield Pose game were part of a Wario Ware game, I'd get that too, I'm sure.

But in their current form, as demos, they were fun but pretty limited. I would not buy a "demo collection" containing just the demos, as they were at E3, if that's what you're asking.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 04:04
@Guillaume

Yeah, I was serious. Based on what you tried if it was enough to sell you on the thing Day 1.

I mean, come on, we know Nintendo will bring the goods down the road, so even if launch is iffy it will depend on if you like the controls and what they're focusing on.

For example, once I played a demo level of Elebits on the Wii at the Wii's E3 debut, I absolutely knew I wanted one on day 1. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced, and I knew I loved the direction they were headed. That and Wii Sports.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 04:09
@-JKR-

I guess you and I are different. The demos sold me on the concept behind the console and the potential it presents for games, but without games, potential remains just that: potential. I don't know if the games will deliver at this point.

I can't just assume that the demos shown will be turned into full games (save for NSMB Mii, which has been confirmed in development as a full game, I believe?). Nintendo made sure to point out these were just demos, and I do my best to convey that. Anything else would be misleading.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 04:21
Nice, those tech demos looked fun. But to be honest, I'm not very excited for Wii U. I can see the potential, but it's gonna take some real game announcements to raise my eyebrow more than that.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 06:30
In a perfect world, little demos like these would be $5 or less on the Shop Channel, but I can't see Nintendo doing that.

How perfect would that be though. If some of the games they're cooking up are so great for parties, just keep them on the console so there's no switching discs in and out.

Posted by 
 on: 06/14/11, 08:06
How were the speakers on the Wii U controller? Was it too loud to tell?

As far as the 'point' of certain demos, I think Reggie said that each demo was supposed to feature a different facet of Wii U. So, for instance, Mario was a remote play demo.

Is it weird that I think Measure Up sounds really fun? It's, like, the perfect game for anal retentive math weirdos. (Or maybe not, since we will never get a perfect score.) Big Brain Academy DS multiplayer satisfies a very similar(ly peculiar) itch.

How did the Miis feel in Mario? Exactly like Mario? Did it seem out of place?

And how did the Chase Mii controls feel? Also like Mario? The running and jumping separates this game a bit from Pac-Man Vs., which will probably show up as a (free) download down the line.

I like the aesthetics of Battle Mii. Vertical Split! And no more Wuhu Island. Woo hoo!! I wonder if all of the Mii games will have the option for Nintendo franchise skins from this point forward. Wouldn't hurt, right? I heard that almost nobody playing the UFO won. Some more balancing might be required.

Shield Pose looks fun. (And easy.) I like the sci-fi-ish lighting at the booth. The 3DS demo 'pods' were kind of futuristic, as well.

I hope the system is capable of a full-360 view, even if it would be impractical and annoying for most games to use it. Isn't there a Wii Play Motion mini-game that requires pointing all around in 360?

I see the 'window' thing coming into play in things like racing games or flying games. Like being able to tilt your head, kind of. Maybe not. I dunno.

Way to not see Zelda!! What were the longest lines for. Once you were in, were you allowed to cavort freely, or did each demo have its own line?

I think most of these minis will end up as bundled software. Or Wii U Play, maybe. I really hope third-parties actually take notes and don't shit the bed this time.

@PogueSquadron
Maybe they'll be pre-loaded. Or installable?

Posted by 
 on: 06/21/11, 20:15  - Edit:  06/21/11, 20:17
Anand said:
And no more Wuhu Island. Woo hoo!!
Whatever it is you're trying to do...I see it.

Posted by 
 on: 06/21/11, 20:54
Anand said:
Is it weird that I think Measure Up sounds really fun?

It should be a multiplayer game in WarioWare.

Posted by 
 on: 06/21/11, 20:59
Haha, with everyone fighting over the one tablet?



...



Posted by 
 on: 06/21/11, 21:46
@Anand

I definitely couldn't hear the controller's speakers. You could barely hear the TVs!

Measure Up was kind of fun, actually. Chris Kholer agrees! It's just a little underwhelming as a demo to show off your new, presumably powerful, console.

I played as Mario, so I wouldn't know. I bet they did. TriforceBun? Griptor? Casper?

Chase Mii didn't feel particularly like Mario. I don't think you could jump, either. Other than the Mii with the Mario hat running perhaps slightly slower than the rest, I didn't notice anything particular about the controls. Hell, I think I'm making the "running slower" thing up.

Playing as the UFO is winnable, I'm sure, it's just that you had the additional hurdle of having to learn new controls.

Shield Pose was indeed easy. I want to play a bigger version of it in RhWiithm Huven. Make it happen, Ninty!

Each demo had its own line. I was lucky in that I got in there towards the end of the day, basically once in I could stay for almost as long as I wanted (but eventually I felt bad for the few people still in line so I left). From the second day on, I believe, people could only check out 2 demo stations.

The lines were about equal for everything. Since we could take our time, as I said, people just moved over to the next demo if the one they wanted was busy.

Posted by 
 on: 06/21/11, 22:33  - Edit:  06/21/11, 22:38
 
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