Wii U: The Good News And Bad News After More Quality Time With Nintendo's New Console At Gamescom

Gamesradar, Justin Towell- "The Wii U is supposed to be out this year. It's never going to launch post-Christmas, so that means we're four months at most from launch. But having played it at Gamescom, I'm not convinced it's all coming together as coherently and convincingly as you would hope for a console so close to being released into the wider world. So let's look at a few key areas and the good and bad examples seen at Gamescom."

[Silver-Hawk]

I can't wait for the ball today because there is going to be some spinning.

To summarize:

The graphics in assassins creed 3 look worse than the ps3 version when the developers said that the Wii u is powerful and will be the best looking version.

The system is crashing and overheating.

The system is lagging.

Zombie u looks better and close to a modern day Xbox360 game.

I think Nintendo should delay this system til next year summer soo they can launch with more games and polish the games that are lacking a bit. Nintendo seems like they are trying to rush the Wii u to the market like the 3ds.

Nintendo fans often speaks through both sides of their mouth because they'll talk about how the console is powerful and when something proves its not they'll say graphics doesn't matter. Graphics aren't the only thing that matters in modern games because an improvement in ai, sound, physics and all sorts matters as well. Nintendo fans don't talk about what they'd rather to have and that's why Nintendo keeps doing the things they do like releasing weak hardware and hold out on information that the consumers want to hear

[Abash]

Honestly, I'll be waiting on buying a Wii U since Im fine with just my PS3/360 for now. I see no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on another console this year

[DivineAssault]

i disagreed on accident. Im waiting it out too.. Maybe after they redesign the guts & improve performance ill buy it for zelda... Nintendo sells alot and all but look at the next year or so.. There really isnt anything in sight for it or 3ds by 3rd party that im interested in or havent played already

[Eyeco]

i usually wait a year or 2 before buying a new console, just so i can see the direction its going. Reasons for that is because i bought a dreamcast day 1 and well..you know the rest. I could have bought a ps3 on launch but at the time it didn't seem like that great of an investment. I'll do the same with the Wii U.

[Getowned]

I only wish they'd change the name of the console.. "Wii U" is such a stupid name >_<!

How did they go from coolish names for their console like Super Nintendo, N64, Game Cube to Wii U, damn it Nintendo what where you thinking. I remember there was this gaming reviewer on tv on a show called "Electric Playground" (before it went serious and main stream) where the reviewer Tommy Tallarico possibly one of the coolest game nerds you'd ever meet, would refuse to say the Wii's name and called it the Nintendo console, oh the good old days I look at one of their old reviews its hilarious, also a big look at what we use to think were graphicly stunning games.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

hope the new Nintendo console will be good, who the hell named it the Wii u -_-!

[LOL_WUT]

@ Silver-Hawk Helpful +bub ;)

Edit: The crashing and overheating is my main concern.

[HammadTheBeast]

RROD and (somewhat) YLOD now have competition. LET THE GAME'S BEGIN! or should I say END?

[kma2k]

You would hope that overheating prototypes would lead to better finished products better heat sink &/or fan....you would hope at least! My question is which was overheating the controller or the system?

[CrimsonessCross]

Exactly what you don't want to worry about from a newly released system...or any system in general. Of course after being ages old it might kick the bucket, but it should not show any signs for concern before it's released and during the life of the system.

If anything I hope everything gets smoothed out and sounds like something that needs to get another once over look at what's going on.

Instead of RROD and YLOD are we going to get WOOF (Wii-U Overheating & On Fire?) as in the sound it makes from doing so?

[rdgneoz3]

I would love to see WOOF videos.

Though I do hope all the problems are fixed out. Would be sad/funny for the system to die at release.

[TheDivine]

I really cant see Nintendo shipping a faulty system though. I still have a working nes and gameboy somewhere. The gamecube was unbreakable (watch the xplay episode testing them lol) and the wii is durable as the gamecube. All their handhelds are solid too. They are the most reliable game maker/system maker period. Their games are never buggy or glitchy. I just cant see it except maybe a demo unti pushing a graphically intense demo of an unfinished game. Time will tell though.

[Lucretia]

the console is rushed, its 6 years late, has barely any good exclusives coming out and is weaker than other consoles so far since not one game looks better than ps3 or 360, and some of the games even look worse than their multiplat counter parts.

the system is over heating and lagging? crashing? its a piece of crap.

sorry nintendo, i fell for your gimmick with the wii, not again with the wii-u.

[ABizzel1]

Not here to defend it, but as far as games go that's generally how it is when a console launches. The games aren't a complete indicator of what the console can do. No one would say that Resistance: Fall of Man or Perfect Dark Zero are a good representation of what the PS3 and Xbox 360 can produce graphically when you have games like Uncharted 3, Killzone 3, God of War 3, Halo 4, Gears of War 3, Alan Wake, Crysis 2 / 3, Battlefield, Rage, and others running on those consoles.

There have been 4 Assassin's Creed games and AC3 makes 5. So the fact that the Wii U a NEW CONSOLE is launching with a game that's on par with some of the best PS360 games graphically and manages to look almost as good shows that further in it's lifecycle the Wii U will leap ahead of anything the PS360 have displayed this generation.

Ubisoft knows how to work the Xbox 360 and the PS3, but the Wii U is a brand new console, and while it's rumored to use similar hardware to the Xbox 360, that doesn't mean making a game run on it will be a simple 1 month port. Being a launch title they're trying to make the game take advantage of all the features of the Wii U.

Resistance FOM
http://download.gamezone.co...

Killzone 3
http://gameonly.pl/wp-conte...

Now all that being said, the Wii-U will face problem when third party devs. move on from the PS360 to their next gen consoles. And problems like crashing and overheating are a nightmare this close to launch. I won't be getting a Wii U Day 1 or Year 1 for that matter (especially if these problem persist), but I can see the potential it has, and only haters / fanboy's won't bother trying to see it.

[Lucretia]

what your saying is completely correct. but there in lies the problem. why is thee wii-u being toted as a true next gen when there is no difference? or nothing thats noticable?

tony hawk 3 on ps1 and ps2 look way different, Halo wwe vs raw from ps2 and ps3 both look way different, but AC3 from 360 to wii-u the newer one looks worse? thats just odd.

what i believe is that the wii-u may be a bit more powerful than current consoles, but i am 100% sure that ps4 and 720 will be the real next gen, they will make wii-u seem dated. why? because wii-u is what should have been released 6 years ago instead of the wii, thats why.

and while graphics dont make a console at all, seeing the newer stronger console be out preformed by the old consoles is sad.

as long as wii-u has games i dont care, thats what matters, but if its gonna be the same old mario zelda and metroid i dont want any part of it.

[ABizzel1]

"what your saying is completely correct. but there in lies the problem. why is thee wii-u being toted as a true next gen when there is no difference? or nothing thats noticable?"

Because the Wii-U isn't a generation ahead of the PS360. It's a step. Something like PS2 vs. Xbox, or Gamcube vs. Wii. One is more powerful and thus will produce better looking games (using graphics, because it's a visual change), but they're still in the same ballpark.

[phantomexe]

You really buy this article???? Why didn't this come up earlier in the year? at E3 even? People have been playing with it. Just saying seems alittle strange and news is slow on the weekend.

[torchic]

why would he just make up all this crap though?

[phantomexe]

Hits, nothing gets people going like and article that pits one consul against the other. If the title read proof xbox is better then the ps3 that site would see traffic go way up. Like i said tho why is this just comeing up people have been playing with it since E3. Use some common sense people.

[ChickeyCantor]

"Nintendo fans often speaks through both sides of their mouth because they'll talk about how the console is powerful and when something proves its not they'll say graphics doesn't matter. "

Ubi said that AC3 isn't on par yet because they are still figuring out the hardware. The ignorance coming from you is astounding. This is no proof of it being weaker. "Crashing and overheating" Cause Ps3 and 360 never did that right?

Wii-u uses recent hardware. It's practically impossible to be "weaker" than the Ps3/360. Even if they tried to.

" Nintendo keeps doing the things they do like releasing weak hardware and hold out on information that the consumers want to hear
"

Just because consumers want to hear it, and just because they don't want to share it yet doesn't mean they don't have a marketing plan.

Also the only "weak" hardware so far was the Wii. You're talking nonsense that wannabe hardcore gamers made up ever since Nintendo showed the Wii.

[PopRocks359]

So the next time a positive hands-on preview gets approved for this site, exactly where are you guys going to be?

Oh right, ignoring it as usual.

[ProjectVulcan]

I hope whatever hardware he was using is old, very old stuff dished out to devs a few months ago to work with.

Cos if this thing it to come out in just 2-3 months it is already in FULL production. It has to be. How else can you build a couple of million of them?

Even Xbox 360 which was immensely rushed into production (to well known problems) started 69 days before launch. After this 360 suffered severe shortages right through until the spring in many territories, yet it was hardly the fastest selling console ever.

So one would presume Wii U is already in production, it must be if there is to be a decent amount of launch units...

Not only that launch games will have to be completed and at the factories too within at minimum 3 weeks of their launch. Crunch time for Nintendo.

[Emilio_Estevez]

Hmmm....The black Wii U really looks sharp.

sounds like they have a good amount of work to do, hopefully they can square it all away and get this thing to the peoples soon

[Darukain]

This seems pretty bad considering it will release in less than 3 month but im pretty sure they can handle the overheating issues in no time at all.
For the graphics issue I bet the games are in their final stages of being finished because better graphics card = better performance.

[bothebo]

Ouch, this doesn't paint a good image for the Wii U

[SpiralTear]

I understand that this is a discouraging article, especially since it's pretty close to primetime for the Wii U, but I don't think Nintendo will just let the console go without some serious quality control on the hardware.

[zebramocha]

Yeah,the hardware problems could be attributed to those being older models.

[Summons75]

Yeah, just look at the Wii, it didn't have as many major ones as the 360/ps3 and when it didn't it didn't effect as many people.

[thezeldadoth]

ports do not count especially a console not even released vs a console ready to be replaced.

look at Dark Souls pc. My pc is way more powerful than my 360/ps3, yet the game looks exactly the same. It is a port. Pure Wii-U games will look nicer and i'd say the console will produce beautiful visuals once devs get more time with it.

It has brand new hardware and brand new iterations of its tech, use common sense.

[ozzywazzy]

Maybe you should have let Nintendo know because their current "Pure Wii-U games" are severely lacking. An HD Pikmin and 2D mario are far from "beautiful visuals."

[thezeldadoth]

and it was about a year or more before we saw anything great looking for ps3. Uncharted and MGS4 looked great, everything prior to that was ok. Resistance FOM looked like a late cycle xbox 1 title. and i'm sorry that 2d mario isn't beautiful to you. I'm guessing you consider battlefield 3 beautiful and don't think much of okami or wind waker.

Look at God of War 2 for ps2 and compare it to a launch ps2 title.

[mamotte]

Pikmin? really, pikin? Go play the GC games, those graphics are beautiful, even by today's standards.

[TruthbeTold]

For the record, Pikmin 3 is a Wii game that Nintendo decided to port to Wii U rather than release on Wii. As for 2D Mario, I'm sorry if you feel that you need to see the textures on the individual lines of Mario's jeans, but they are just never going to go that far... That's what Smash Bros and perhaps Super Mario Galaxy HD are for.

[AO1JMM]

I will reserve my opinion until I actually get to play on it and play on a final version of it. Also I am not buying a WiiU for the multiplats I am buying one for the exclusives just like I did with the PS3/360 and will eventually do for the 720/PS4.

that being said, I am liking everything I have seen about ZombiU and plan on getting a copy.

[phantomexe]

i'm not buying this article. Why now nintendo has been showing it off since E3 and no one reported anything about it. I think it's safe to say this was all for hits. I'm not picking the wii u up anyway i'll hold out for the ps4. That being said i still have a great deal of faith in nintendo to win some of that core back. These articles are wrote by fanboys who think what they say will win over support for there consul.

[Thepcz]

...

[SAE]

when i compare ps3 to xbox360 i see only bright differences ..

in wii u its only color , nothing else , it's a good thing , i only need to see more great exclusives , platforms isnt important ...

[Qrphe]

Not the PC version, you just can't compete against 1080p 60fps sorry pal.

[SAE]

agree , but all i want from pc are exclusives , if it doesnt give that to me then why spending huge money if i don't get special things , i want games that use these powers , i want them to impress me , graphically and gameplay , or at least a game without bugs or anything special ....

Edit : just imagine gt5/uncharted/killzone/alan wake/gow..etc uses pc powers , that would be amazing , but i dont even see these kind of games in pc , so that's my problem with the pc , the keyboard and mouse are great , it gives challenge because it's something new to me and more accurate , so i hoping it happens ...

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

There just not enough reason for me to buy a wiiU this year ill w8 maybe a year to see what it has then.

[Hanuman]

I'm really wondering how Nintendo is going to work out the marketing part of the WiiU. Somehow during past releases it were the games that made the Consoles knowing to the major public. I think they will be pointing their arrows this christmas at the younger generation. Nice for the older genration, because those little ##$%% will want a WiiU as soon as the word gets out on the playground. And believe me; I don't think that generation will care about if AC3 looks a bit better or not. When the major public does pick up on this product They want Mario! I'm assured Sony will again come up with a special training method (maybe even atachments on their console or controllers.) My girfriends daughter wanted a Wii because of Mario en she wanted one because of the balanceboard. Even as an adult I can't help it but "steal" my daughters 3DS to play mario-land and Bros 2. And please don't tell anyone but I've got a dog named Sony in Nintendog and Cats. (My DS version is named Microsoft ha, ha..) But anyways. In the end I think WiiU will become a major success, though it will take a little bit longer for the major public to really get warmed up for this (IMO Nice SKU) and it will probably never become a console for hardcore gamers. But who cares? Without Nintento the world of console gaming probably probably never would have been in the Great shape it is in today and it brings in millions of revenue from "kid and family games" to producers and developers. The world is balanced and the abunduns of the Force. Sorry, I've been have been powdering my nose to much, so I get a little talkative,..but...I'm done.. GRZ

[Hanuman]

Edit: Even though I called Eva an ##@#$%^%, I love her to death. * Just avoided an argument with the misses..

(4th line,2nd generation is missing an e)

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

The problem is what versions of Software/Hardware is this guy playing?

Is he certain that the he is playing the most up-to-date pieces ?

I would imagine that Nintendo and the 3rd parties just gave over the most recent/decent versions they had at the time, while they continued to work on the hardware behind the scenes.

And probably the input from the attendees, will be noted for the final release or, Miyamoto forbid, Patches.

[TruthbeTold]

By the way, I've seen ZombiU, and I disagree very much that it 'only looks as good as a 360 game'. That game looks very crisp, smooth and excellent in ways that even games like Gears haven't quite attained.

Regarding how good AC3 looks, opinions are all over the place. I'd have to say that it's likely due to certain parts of the game being polished, and some not yet. But when someone like the EIC of GameTrailers says that the Wii U version looks the best, I choose to believe that until I have a better source. Namely my own experience with the game.

[Freakazoid2012]

Some valid points have been brought up about the article. If Wii U is really crashing, how come nobody else in the last 6 months of playing it has reported this issue?

They explained to the guy the Pro controller he was using was an unfinished prototype yet he still harps on about it not working correctly and having limited reach. They did explain that to him so I do not understand why he kept trying to make a point about it.

I have a question for Lucretia, Silver-hawk, LOL_Wut, and bothebo. Are your lives really that pathetic? WE all know none of you will ever support the Wii U and have probably never supported Nintendo, so why bother coming and trolling every Wii article? Are you that unhappy with your PS3 that you'd rather spend your time pretending to care about something that is obvious to anyone but a complete idiot that you want nothing to do with?

Having an opinion that isnt positive is one thing but you kids are ALWAYS hating on Nintendo every chance you get.AS a PS3 owner myself, it honestly bothers me that you are all acting like 12 year old kids. It's embarrassing to me as a Sony owner that people will see your stupidity and childishness and think you represent the rest of us who support Sony.

If this were a Sony article each one of you would be questioning the validity of the author right now, but since its Nintendo you just run with it with blind ignorance.

Stop coming to Wii U articles just to make yourselves look stupid and Sony gamers look like morons please. You are not only embarrassing yourself but every Sony supporter.

I dont mind losing a bubble over this as I am sure you will get your friends to attack me and try to get me banned. It's worth it to let you know how embarrassing you are to gaming.

[mike1up]

O is for on topic.
W is for well said.
N is for necessary.
E is for exactly.
D is for damn right.

Bubble + Intelligent

[AO1JMM]

Well said and Bubble

[ConstipatedGorilla]

Ah what the hell... Bubbles for everybody!!!

[phantomexe]

i agree freak, i love my ps3 and will be picking up a ps4 day one. I've said this before sony fanboy are worst kind. Play games not consuls.

[r21]

Obviously the ps3 version is going to look better, seeing as Ubisoft devs finally got around with tinkering the ps3. They must have like a few months of experience with wii u compared to the 6 years with ps3.

3 more months folks till we can lay rest to all this speculation.

[DivineAssault]

I hope it gets delayed so they can iron out whatever issues ppl seem to be experiencing & it launches solid.. Once its in mass production, it may become alot worse.. Most nintendo systems can be kicked like a football across the field & still work like new but idk about these system crashes & graphical inferiority to current gen systems

[MultiConsoleGamer]

This article really misses the mark. I also have to question how much quality time the author actually spent with the system. He is definitely exaggerating the reports if crashing, as we did not have the same experience at e3, Gamescom or at any of the WiiU experience events.

We've had solid hands on experience with the system and we do not agree at all with the statements of this author. Dare I say agenda and possible trolling for hits? Ahhh, the wonders of game "journalism." I definitely recognize a few of the usual "running themes" put forth on various message boards, etc.

[joeorc]

The prototype could very well be one from last year!
What many who are not looking at this with a huge pile of freaking salt , this is not unheard of to happen' depending on how long the prototype has been running during the week. For the most part its fault tollerences have to be tested anyway what better way to test the d@MN thing as much as you can to find its heat and clock cycle power leakage than to test it in real world environments. Can people stop an really think about it before jumping to worse case results. Let the designers and engineers do that,that is what they do and get paid for.

[DaPrintz]

Year old prototype? Really? That's what you think Nintendo is allowing the public to play?

[joeorc]

"Year old prototype? Really? That's what you think Nintendo is allowing the public to play?"

OMG, you really do not get R&D DO YOU?

What many it seem's on here do not understand, and it shows with my disagree above, changes to the hardware core design is only done with testing it's fault tollerances, I mean How else are you going to know how a design is going to perform in situation's, just because the prototye is a freaking year old does not really mean anything at all except for testing anyway. the ground work for what component's that go into the system are going to be near or the same as what's in the proto type minus some tweaks here and there. the Idea goes from paper to concept to prototype to testing to tweaking to production.

just because it's a year old does not mean the final product spawning off the prototype will have the same problems, and it sure as hell does not mean the change from prototype to to full production template is going to be that different, like i said until they go to full production we would not know anything other than that anyway. The fact that they have unit's to test out in the field is pretty d@mn good sign anyway. I would be more worried for Wii U making it's release time line if there was no prototypes for fault testing out there, but since there is, I do not think this Claim of worry about the stability of the Wii U has any real merit at this point, if it releases and it is shown to have problems in it's stability ,than that's on a whole other issue than, but until then it's pretty moot at this point to bring into Question about the "Wii U's ability to be a reliable system" at this point because their still testing the system prototypes and it could be testing right before full production.

[Holeran]

It's going to be pretty sad for Nintendo if thier initial outting of cross-platform games can't keep up visually with the aged consoles we already have. From what we've been told it is easy to code for this machine and with the hardware being newer and supposedly better you would think at this point it would at least be on par with the PS3 version of Assasins Creed.

[TheRacingX]

I'm really beginning to believe this is going to be delayed. For one, Nintendo STILL has not given a release date, and they always had a date for their consoles at least 6 months before launch, no price, and really no games, very little is shown of anything, the only 3rd party titles to speak of is a batman port, an Aliens port (of a game not even released) Rayman? No EA sports, 2K sports, Call of Duty, even budget publishers dont have anything for a quick cash grab. You can say they will blow out at TGS, but they dont even attend anymore.... I don't think they're ready by a long shot.....

[Freakazoid2012]

You seem to be extremely misinformed about the Wii U line up.
Announced Retail Games

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Sega)
Assassin's Creed III (Ubisoft)
Avengers: Battle for Earth (Ubisoft)
Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition (Warner Bros.)
Devil's Third(THQ)
Dirt for Wii U
Dragon Quest X
FIFA '13 (EA)
Game & Wario (working title)
Ghost Recon Online
Homefront 2 (THQ)
LEGO City Stories
Madden Football 13
Mass Effect 3
Medal of Honor: Warfighter(Electronic Arts)
NBA 2K13
NBA Live 13(Electronc Arts)
New Super Mario Bros. U
Pikmin 3
Project Cars (Source Developer)
Project P-100 (Platinum Games)
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Rayman Legends (source)
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs (Source Developer)
Scribblenauts Unlimited
SiNG (working title)
Super Smash Bros. "Next"
TANK! TANK! TANK!
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Wii Fit U
Wii U Panorama View (working title)
I believe it has everything you asked for except COD.

Also Nintendo did the same thing last gen with the Wii. This is nothing new.

[Gr81]

The impression CoD was announced for the Wii U. Or at least hinted at being in development.

[TheRacingX]

I'm talking LAUNCH games..... not all of those are launching with the system, Project P-100 ? the game doesn't even have a name yet... Homefront 2? Really? There isn't even a release date for the consoles that are out now.... you're missing my point, I'm not saying the are NO Wii U games, I'm saying it appears nothing is really ready for it, and if they launch it this year, there will be 1 maybe 2 titles released, hardly exciting. Not to mention the fact of reports coming out of system issues with overheating, freezing and lockups. I feel Nintendo is pushing out a half baked system to get sales before new announcements are made and they lose some of those sales. Not to mention it appears Sony is trying to steal their thunder by making the Vita a tablet like controller/attachment with additional features and true game portability, something that cant be done on Wii U's tablet controller.

[TheRacingX]

Wow, talk about fanboy..... DEFEND DEFEND!!

(from freakazoid: PM'ing me)
Stop making excuses. The games you asked for are there
You said nothing in your original post about launch games.

What you said is there were no sports games, No 2k games, no COD, Well everything you asked for is on that list. Why talk about P-100 when the 2k games you asked for are on that list? Madden is there and launching this year. Why is it suddenly not good enough.

Just admit you got busted trolling and move on with life. Sad part is your first post is there in black and white so to completely change your story in your next post shows you are only trolling.

Thats okay kid, keep asking for games and I'll post the list in every article to you realize nobody is buying your BS and give up..

EA sports games confirmed
2KSports games confirmed
COD all but confirmed
and all coming this year.

Troll on kid troll on
(end msg)

I'm not a kid and not hating on Nintendo, I own every console they made, probably own more games than you do....look in the mirror, you're the troll defending a yet to be released console, I was just commenting on the article...