The Wii U

[BreakABone]

Nintendo kicked off their E3 coverage with a 30 minute feature on the Wii U, its controller and some features.

Here's a breakdown of what they shared

General

With Wii U, Nintendo tries to continu its life-long motto "Doku-so", or "creating something unique."
Wii U should re-unite people: both in the same room (no longer playing with a laptop while the other is busy using a phone, console, etc) and at long distances (over the Internet)
GamePad

The Wii U controller will be called "Wii U GamePad"
The GamePad no longer holds a thumbpad but a 360-degrees and clickable thumbstick.
There's an NFC reader/writer in the GamePad, similar to used in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Away with the TV-remote: there's a TV-button on the GamePad to simply replace it. Handy...
Both a Motion Sensor and a Gyro Sensor are implemented.
The high-res gameplay shown on your TV can be displayed on the Wii U gamePad as well, without delay.
Wii U Pro Controller

There will be a 'regular' controller, targetted for more longer and intense gaming sessions
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17oo6nape1cpbjpg/original.jpg

Communication

During a short movie, the fictive Wii U player uses the GamePad to post a game-related question online asking for help in the Wii U community and getting (near) real-time advice from other players.
During the same movie, the player uses the GamePad as a webcam and communicates directly with the helping fellow-gamer.
Miiverse
http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4233891/bandicam_2012-06-03_18-18-34-069_gallery_post.jpg

When the Wii U starts up, a Mii gathering (similar to the Mii Plaza) is shown also called Miiverse (Mii Universe). The Miiverse contains your Mii and your friends' Miis and every Mii enjoying the same games as you do (grouped around game-icons). Doodles and texts can be used for communication. SwapNote on Wii U anyone?
Screenshots and gamecontent can be posted among gamers.
Miiverse will be available for all Wii U games, but some developers will go even further by implementing Miiverse-elements in-game.
Miiverse will (or: might) become available on PC and mobile devices as well, to keep you connected in the community.
Internet browser

The GamePad includes a built-in webbrowser, allowing you to browse while others use the television. It also allows you to 'send' the content shown on the GamePad on the TV at any time.

https://p.twimg.com/Auf-dDNCMAEC1f3.png:large

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9AkPdAWfFjI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Angrist]

Sounds good so far. :) So many nifty options.

[Bond]

http://www.gametavern.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3359&stc=1&d=1338771595

LOLOL.

[Ginkasa]

I wouldn't necessarily disbelieve that statement. I mean, its a little grandiose, but the party games with motion controls were pretty groovy back in the day. They're still a crowd gatherer in some households.

[Jason1]

God that short film about the guy getting help online was soooo cringe worthy.

[Angrist]

Haha I actually liked it (except the final 10 seconds or so). It was way over the top which made it funny. :)

[Typhoid]

Tongue-in-cheek:

That's a very xbox looking remote. I'm sure Nintendo has a plethora of lists on how their controller differs from the Xbox controller, and how it is superior in every way because its thumb sticks are 2cm higher.

Listening to/Reading Nintendo explain all of its new tech and the reasons behind it is like watching someone milk a never-dying comedy-cow year after year.

"Stop using clunky two-handed controllers! Grab a wiimote and nunchuck! The future of gaming!"
"Put down your wiimote and nunchuck, and pick up the new black Nintendo pro-controller, sleekly designed to get away from pesky motion controls, and annoying gimmicky controllers for prolonged gaming!"
Nintendo: Shattering barriers they have created since 1996.


They should bring back the Virtual Boy, damnit. It's been long enough since they tried to legitimately "do something unique".
There is nothing really unique about a tablet-console that uses xbox controllers, and sounds to have an online component much like PS, and some of the apparent abilities of 'The Cloud'. Unique all the way!.

During the same movie, the player uses the GamePad as a webcam and communicates directly with the helping fellow-gamer.

Yeah, because a system aimed at children with a camera on the remote streaming live video/pictures online definitely won't be taken advantage of quickly by creepy people. :lol:

Wasn't that one of the main things against video-phones in the 80's and 90's? "People will expose themselves to our children."

[Neo]

http://www.regretsy.com/2012/06/02/ive-got-your-skyward-sword-right-here/

[Vampyr]

Tongue-in-cheek:

That's a very xbox looking remote. I'm sure Nintendo has a plethora of lists on how their controller differs from the Xbox controller, and how it is superior in every way because its thumb sticks are 2cm higher.

Listening to/Reading Nintendo explain all of its new tech and the reasons behind it is like watching someone milk a never-dying comedy-cow year after year.

"Stop using clunky two-handed controllers! Grab a wiimote and nunchuck! The future of gaming!"
"Put down your wiimote and nunchuck, and pick up the new black Nintendo pro-controller, sleekly designed to get away from pesky motion controls, and annoying gimmicky controllers for prolonged gaming!"
Nintendo: Shattering barriers they have created since 1996.


They should bring back the Virtual Boy, damnit. It's been long enough since they tried to legitimately "do something unique".
There is nothing really unique about a tablet-console that uses xbox controllers, and sounds to have an online component much like PS, and some of the apparent abilities of 'The Cloud'. Unique all the way!.



Yeah, because a system aimed at children with a camera on the remote streaming live video/pictures online definitely won't be taken advantage of quickly by creepy people. :lol:

Wasn't that one of the main things against video-phones in the 80's and 90's? "People will expose themselves to our children."

And the Xbox remote looked a lot like the GameCube remote. :lol:

You can't argue originality versus Nintendo controllers. They did pretty much every innovative thing first and other companies built upon that.

[Typhoid]

If there's one thing I'm good for on this site it's garnering responses from people who no longer post frequently. :lol:


And the Xbox remote looked a lot like the GameCube remote.


I never said otherwise.
But if we can constantly go back, you can say that the Xbox controllers look like the Sega Saturn Controllers. Which look like the Sega controllers. Which are a crescent moon of the original Nintendo controller, which was an original design, so oh my god, they're fucking ripping off Nintend-...wait a minute....


You can't argue originality versus Nintendo controllers. They did pretty much every innovative thing first and other companies built upon that.

So: Original concept of idea = constant exemptness from current market originality?
That seems dumb.
"You can't give Nintendo shit for not being original now, because they created video games!"
"You can't give Ford shit for making bad cars. They practically invented bad cars!"
"Who the fuck is Tissot, and why does that make any difference to my Timex?"

But hell, like the very first thing my post said:

Tongue-in-cheek:

[BreakABone]

I do find it funny that the Controller Pro is the news most people seem to latch onto (not just here), when Nintendo has pretty much positioned it as a back-up controller to get multi-platform titles. So still won't be the primary controller for the system.

[Angrist]

Yeah I don't know what the big deal is. Nintendo pretty much came up with 80% on today's controllers. The sticks, the shoulder buttons, start/pause buttons...
For the Xbox, Microsoft took the Dreamcast controller, added the GameCube's C-stick. For the 360 they streamlined it and changed some button.

Now Nintendo bases the streamline on the 360's and everybody's all over it.

[Typhoid]

*places tongue-in cheek:*

I do find it funny that the Controller Pro is the news most people seem to latch onto (not just here), when Nintendo has pretty much positioned it as a back-up controller to get multi-platform titles. So still won't be the primary controller for the system.

You're right.
It's not news.
Nintendo invented the video game controller back in the 80's. I'm not sure why anyone mentions them anymore.

All their system is, is a tablet that connects to a Wii via 'The Cloud', and allows perverts to stalk little kids with a build in controller-camera disguising it as "Easy Mario Help!!***"


If Nintendo wants to be different, be unique - at least go back to the ideas that made them unique in the first place. Trying NEW things. (Virtual boy, first handheld, etc. Re-grow some balls, stop playing it safe.) Nothing about this is unique. Nothing. (List me things that nothing else has. I'm not saying the next PS or MS will be unique. But for a company that sells it's products under 'uniqueness', and has the motto of 'being unique', they've just created processed square cheese in a world of processed cubed cheese, but defend themselves [and have others defend them] simply because they came up with the concept of processing cheese. )

It's a combination of successful ideas of other mediums put together in a way which other systems already have, but in a newer fashion with flashier buttons.

Tablets are popular. So they make a system that has a tablet involved. Motion controls are out. No new nunchuk. No new wiimote. Tablets. Wave of the future! If people (IE: Not children, single mothers, or Nintendo-hard-on-ers) LOVED the wiimote, you can fucking bet every ounce of shit you've ever pooped out that they'd release an improved version of that dumb TV controller.


Edit:
Yeah I don't know what the big deal is. Nintendo pretty much came up with 80% on today's controllers.


The fact they created the first video game controller, then 15+ years later stuck one horribly positioned thumbstick on one of them gives them the ability to claim constant praise/complete exemptness for every controller ever invented forever? Haaaaaaa.
"I did something good once. So let me off the hook for like...20 years, hey."

[Bond]

I wouldn't necessarily disbelieve that statement. I mean, its a little grandiose, but the party games with motion controls were pretty groovy back in the day. They're still a crowd gatherer in some households.
I was laughing at the pun, haha.

[Vampyr]

If there's one thing I'm good for on this site it's garnering responses from people who no longer post frequently. :lol:




I never said otherwise.
But if we can constantly go back, you can say that the Xbox controllers look like the Sega Saturn Controllers. Which look like the Sega controllers. Which are a crescent moon of the original Nintendo controller, which was an original design, so oh my god, they're fucking ripping off Nintend-...wait a minute....




So: Original concept of idea = constant exemptness from current market originality?
That seems dumb.
"You can't give Nintendo shit for not being original now, because they created video games!"
"You can't give Ford shit for making bad cars. They practically invented bad cars!"
"Who the fuck is Tissot, and why does that make any difference to my Timex?"

But hell, like the very first thing my post said:

You're right, the entire argument is pretty stupid. I'm not the one who brought it up though. :lol:

[Angrist]

Ok this is weird. Is someone deleting my posts, or is it a bug?


Anyway, I was expecting Sony to present something similar to Wii U, like tablet integration.

[Ginkasa]

I was laughing at the pun, haha.



It me a while to figure out what you were talking about. I guess its been an off week for me.

[Angrist]

I still don't get it...
Anyway, press conference in 1:40!!!!

[TheSlyMoogle]

Wii U looking like a giant gimmick again. ZombiU looked pretty cool until I realized they just took a lot of FPS stuff and put it onto a controller and made me hold it up to the tv instead of just putting it on the screen anyway.

[Vampyr]

Wii U looking like a giant gimmick again. ZombiU looked pretty cool until I realized they just took a lot of FPS stuff and put it onto a controller and made me hold it up to the tv instead of just putting it on the screen anyway.

Anything they show at E3 or at launch is going to basically be a gimmick. They're all really just tech demos to advertise the technology.

[Blix]

Anything they show at E3 or at launch is going to basically be a gimmick. They're all really just tech demos to advertise the technology.

Pretty much. Developers need time to really put some thought into their games and come up with incredible ideas. I'll keep my eyes on that game. Pikmin 3 looks nice. It seems to me they only showed what was ready and not all they could. Reggie said they couldn't show everything they had.

[BreakABone]

Anything they show at E3 or at launch is going to basically be a gimmick. They're all really just tech demos to advertise the technology.

I feel the opposite.. Nintendo almost shoved the controller aside.

Pikmin only uses it as an option. New Super Mario Bros Wii U only uses it to play on your lap.. or the odd 5-player mode.

This was a disappointing show.

[Typhoid]

Nintendo almost shoved the controller aside.

That's funny (Seriously, not condescendingly), because the only part of it I was watching as I flicked channels was ______ talking about how unique the controller is in Gameplay of Luigi's Mansion.

Which, by the way sounded dumb as hell to me. :lol:

"So wait, only one of us can see the ghost? Well, uhh....why don't we just all look at that tablet-controller then, or like...huddle around and just watch that screen instead."

Really though, I don't see the big deal with the tablet-controller-thing. The screen looked small as hell, almost frustratingly small. Maybe I'm just used to tablets now, so to be using the Etch-a-sketch equivalent of a tablet seems strange, when tablets now are practically all screen. I get it, they need protection so when kids drop it it doesn't break. I'm not saying I don't believe there isn't a reason for it.

[Angrist]

Nintendo needs to make Endless Ocean 3, it will be awesome. One player can play the game with the Wiimote+Nunchuck while a second player looks around using the Pad . So pretty!!

Another thing that should be really cool: Rogue Squadron 4. Same concept: 1st player on the TV, a second using the Upad to man the 2nd cannon and shoot all around the ship.

About ZombiU: I thought having to use the Pad for the inventory added a lot of fear to the game. And I doubt you have to hold up your Pad to the screen all the time, they just did that for the demo.

[BreakABone]

That's funny (Seriously, not condescendingly), because the only part of it I was watching as I flicked channels was ______ talking about how unique the controller is in Gameplay of Luigi's Mansion.

Which, by the way sounded dumb as hell to me. :lol:

"So wait, only one of us can see the ghost? Well, uhh....why don't we just all look at that tablet-controller then, or like...huddle around and just watch that screen instead."

Really though, I don't see the big deal with the tablet-controller-thing. The screen looked small as hell, almost frustratingly small. Maybe I'm just used to tablets now, so to be using the Etch-a-sketch equivalent of a tablet seems strange, when tablets now are practically all screen. I get it, they need protection so when kids drop it it doesn't break. I'm not saying I don't believe there isn't a reason for it.

Pikmin 3.. you can use the tablet controller.. or just your Wii-mote and Nunchuck

New Super Mario Bros U.. oh for multi you'll need your wiimote.

Wii Fit U.. you need the Balance Board.. and another accessory we aren't announcing now.. but could use your tablet at times...

Nintendo Land.. oh right we do have one game that requires it!

[Angrist]

Hm I am a bit disappointed and worried that we didn't see a sequel to any of the big Nintendo franchises. Imagine what a new Star Fox or F-Zero would have done... They could have showed their prettiest graphics and all the cool implementations of the Upad.

Where's the game that Retro Studios is working on??

[Blix]

I was looking forward to lots of things that weren't shown.

Nintendo Network
Retro's, Monolith's, and other in-house companies that are working on the wii and their projects.
The System's OS (more info than just the Miiverse)
More information on the hardware (Information on the hard drive plans and some specs).

If they had only showed small clips of these and not done demonstrations, it would have been fine by me. But they didn't even do that. The Pre-E3 show was more interesting than the actual E3.

[Angrist]

So what do you think of Nintendo Land? I think the general idea will work as a pack-in title, but at the moment it feels a bit like shovelware. The mini-games will be fun, but will it be as much fun as Wii Sports Tennis? I've played that game with multiple friends in the last months. Will I still be playing Luigi's Mansion or that fruit collection game in 6 years? I very much doubt it.

That said, some of the Wii Fit U games look like a lot of fun. The one when you play a waiter serving cake for example. Hold the Upad straight or your cake falls off. Or the watercannon game!

I personally feel Nintendo Land is the spiritual successor to Wii Play (Motion) and not to Sports. It's a bunch of mini games that show off the controller. And in Play, more than half of the games weren't worth your time.

[TheSlyMoogle]

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/06/09/e3-2012-one-on-one-with-nintendos-katsuya-eguchi/

TLDR:

Nintendo doesn't want to sell the Wii U at a loss like microsoft and sony did.

I'm thinking the Wii U will be at least 450 and up then assuming they just sell it to break even.

[Angrist]

I've heard €300 or so. Which I think makes sense for something not much stronger than PS3. I'm not too worried about the price... if it's too much, I expect it to drop like what happened with the 3DS.

[Vampyr]

Same here.

I may not get any of these next gen consoles at launch. I have such a backlog of games anyway, I think I'd rather wait for a price drop.

[BreakABone]

So what do you think of Nintendo Land? I think the general idea will work as a pack-in title, but at the moment it feels a bit like shovelware. The mini-games will be fun, but will it be as much fun as Wii Sports Tennis? I've played that game with multiple friends in the last months. Will I still be playing Luigi's Mansion or that fruit collection game in 6 years? I very much doubt it.

I think shovelware is the wrong term here.

NintendoLand seems to be a game that has been given time and resources to be a proper game.

Shovelware.. tends to refer to games that are just rushed out without any care for quality.

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/2012/06/09/e3-2012-one-on-one-with-nintendos-katsuya-eguchi/

TLDR:

Nintendo doesn't want to sell the Wii U at a loss like microsoft and sony did.

I'm thinking the Wii U will be at least 450 and up then assuming they just sell it to break even.

I don't see it being more than 300.

I mean its an updated console, but it is only 2-3x as strong as current gen, and we already see the Xbox and Ps3 being sold for 200-300 bucks and turning a profit.

So would be within reason for Nintendo.

[manasecret]

I was underwhelmed by Wii U's showing. I felt like this was their chance to blow the doors off on innovative software, and instead I found it lacking.

But this comment from a CNN article gave me hope. I basically wrote off the Luigi's Mansion mini-game in Nintendo Land after seeing the presentation. But because of that I didn't catch the finer details -- it takes verbal teamwork to play against the ghost player on Wii U Gamepad. CNN is actually a great source for the expected impact a game like this will have, since they are the audience for these kinds of party games.


Biggest surprise
With the announcement of the new Wii U console, Nintendo also revealed 23 games that would be available for the system. One of those titles, "Luigi's Haunted Mansion," turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected from the preview clip.

During a hands-on demonstration, four of my new friends and I took to the mansion to try and defeat a ghost who was sneaking up on us. While the Wii U Game Pad player acted as the ghost, the other four of us had to verbally communicate where we thought the ghost was from vibrations in our Wii controllers.

While the gameplay is simple and the graphics aren't overly done, the excitement generated from the hide-and-seek game was outstanding. By the end, we were all laughing and demanding rematches.http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/tech/gaming-gadgets/e3-highlights/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

[BreakABone]

I was underwhelmed by Wii U's showing. I felt like this was their chance to blow the doors off on innovative software, and instead I found it lacking.

But this comment from a CNN article gave me hope. I basically wrote off the Luigi's Mansion mini-game in Nintendo Land after seeing the presentation. But because of that I didn't catch the finer details -- it takes verbal teamwork to play against the ghost player on Wii U Gamepad. CNN is actually a great source for the expected impact a game like this will have, since they are the audience for these kinds of party games.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/tech/gaming-gadgets/e3-highlights/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

Oh mainstream press... they can't even get the game right.
Its NintendoLand!

But yes, I mentioned on other sites, that Nintendo did a piss poor job of relying their message, and I guess it isn't an easy message to sell.

But their notion of "Together. Better" is really them trying to re-ignite the couch co-op/play of video games. The Wii kind of started that with Wii Sports and Just Dance, but this seems to evolve the concept into getting everyone involved.

Looking at the games they've showcased
Pikmin, Mario U, Rayman Legends, ZombiU, NintendoLand, Project P-100, SiNG, Just Dance 4, all feature some element of co-op/couch play for up to 5 players.

But that wasn't the point they were trying to sell at their presser.. not sure why! >.<

[BreakABone]

Oh right, I forgot to share I actually got to test run this thing a few weeks ago!

Now for the games, I actually did get to check out. Starting with the game I first tested out… Just Dance 4. I’ve said it on the podcast before, but I’m a huge fan of the Just Dance series. I think its a bunch of silly fun with friends, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just Dance 4 doesn’t really re-invent the wheel. It is still the same dancing craziness that fans have come to expect. There are two additions now thanks to the Wii U GamePad. The first, is the ability to play the game off the controller. Granted, I don’t know how it makes sense or is a needed feature. Like who wants to see the dance moves on a smaller screen? The other thought was… if someone wants to use the TV… how is 4 people dancing in the living room not a distraction? The other addition seems a lot more cool, called the “Puppet Mode” this allows the person using the controller to pick the dance moves that the players will have to do. Also when Strike a Pose pops up, the player with the controller gets to vote on which dancer performed it best or most over the top or whatever. Minor additions, but cool nonetheless.

Next up was new Super Mario Bros U. This is new Super Mario Bros in HD. That’s not a bad thing, not a bad thing at all. The new Super Mario Bros games are really great 2D platformers. Perhaps some of the best of this gen. Yes, the art style is some of the laziest in the entire series, and this will be the 4th game using it in like 6 years or so. But that doesn’t take away the fact that it is a really solid experience. The only additions on display were the new suit, a baby Yoshi and the 5th player helper mode. The 5th player mode is cool, but really doesn’t seem like it would be the most engaging thing for the 5th player unless wants to be a total dick to people. The Squirrel suit was fun to see in motion, and kind of controls like the Propeller Suit in new Super Mario Bros U. in which you have to shake the controller to take off, and then you kind of glide down gently. Finally, the purple baby Yoshi acts pretty much like the Propeller Suit in the last game, in that it gives Mario and company a minor boost in the air and spins down slowly. I guess, it acts more like the propeller block in the last game. No matter what I say, I would have picked up this game anyhow, but good to see it keeps the tradition of awesome 2D Mario games alive.

On the other end of the spectrum is Rayman Legends, a sequel to the Rayman Origins, showed a lot more inventive uses of the Wii U GamePad in a traditional 2D platformer. The person on the TV (or I imagine persons as well) play a game very much in the vein of Rayman Origins with all the platforming goodness that it brings. The person on the tablet controller though has a slightly different experience. The demo starts you off slow enough with just tapping random things or pulling up objects to help out Rayman. Then you learn, you can also stun enemies which comes in handy. Then it starts to open up a lot, allowing you to interact with the world by raising/lowering platforms, and even giving you enemies that Rayman can’t defeat but the person on the controller can. Finally the coolest part of the entire experience is the musical segment that allows one player to play a rhythm -based game while Rayman is playing a stage very reminiscent of the treasure chest chases from the original. All in all came away very impressed from the game, if not a bit humble from dying countless times!


Finally up was NintendoLand, a game that had quite the reputation coming out of Nintendo’s E3 Press Conference. I think ending the show with the game after a VERY long explanation did this game no favor, but have no doubts this game is a blast to play and easily my favorite game on display. Much like at e3, the demo has 5 of the 12 attractions available. One modeled after the original Donkey Kong game, one inspired by Animal Crossing, another a Mii-fied version of The Legend of Zelda, a revival in Takamaru’s Ninja Castle and a haunting in Luigi’s Ghost Mansion. I got to test out 4 of the 5 games with the Legend of Zelda-based mini being the only one I didn’t get a go at.

Takamaru’s Ninja Castle was the least interesting and most frustrating of the games on display. The device staled on me twice, and the person working the booth wasn’t aware of how to re-calibrate it so I got to roughly the same spot twice before it all going to heck on me. I did observe other folks playing it, and they seemed to have a much better time with the game. It should also be noted that many of the hosts informed us that this wasn’t final hardware, even going as far as to say the games weren’t actually running off the Wii U so that’s to be expected.

Next up was Donkey Kong’s Crash Course. A game that takes it look from the original Donkey Kong arcade title even with a Pauline in the background somewhere. Not sure what element of the game inspired this mini-game though, but it was a joy to play. You control like a little yarn car on this obstacle course, and you use the GamePad’s built in gyros to navigate through the course. You want to make sure you aren’t going too fast or too slow as you can overturn your vehicle and lose a life. Though, you are free to crash into walls without dealing much damage to yourself. You must also clear entire platforms before moving forward, as it is possible, as I learned several times, to get part of your vehicle stuck on multiple levels which usually results in losing a life. After a while, you enter into more elaborate set-ups which you must navigate using the buttons on the controller. For the most part it was the triggers and eventually the analog stick. The game was nice enough to give you a head’s up each time though. If this is fleshed out with a LOT more puzzles, and hopefully online leaderboards this could be a huge selling point of the package.
Luigi’s Ghost Mansion is perhaps the game from NintendoLand, which most people know about since Nintendo spent 20 minutes explaining it at the end of the E3 Press Conference. The game really didn’t need the extended presentation, and probably would have benefited from being demoed on stage rather than explained to death. The concept of the game is fairly simple, it is a haunted house where 4 Miis are being pursued by a ghost. The ghost is of course the player on the Wii U GamePad, who is able to see where everyone is and follow them accordingly.

The players on the TV can see the entire map as well, but they can’t see the ghost except for some rare occasions. Instead, the players on the Wii-motes have to use the rumble on their controller to locate the ghost. The closer the ghost is, the stronger the rumble in the controller. This is where the real fun kicks in as players must communicate with each other in order to try and trap the ghost before he is able to take down all players. To me the constant shouting between players and the ghost playing tricks was one of the best experiences of the entire show.

The game also has a lot of ways to balance out the experience for both the ghosts and the Miis. Like mentioned above, the ghost is only visible at select times. The first is when lightning randomly flashes in the background. This lights up certain portions of the board, and if the ghost is in the zone will be visible to all players on the screen. The ghost also has the ability to spirit with the press of the A button, but it makes him visible while doing so. On the human side, their flashlights are used to attack the ghost, but runs on batteries. So the more you power it on, the more your power drains. There are batteries that randomly pop up on stage, and the humans can go and get it, but also must be wary of the ghost laying traps for them. The flashlights can also be used to revive downed Miis, of course leaving the Mii using it vulnerable for a sneak attack. When there is a single Mii left, a super flashlight attachment appears, which allows you to revive friends faster and do more damage to the ghost. Sadly, I wasn’t able to see it in action any time during my playthroughs.

Luig’s Ghost Mansion was a fantastic experience, and could be a real show-stealer in the package. Much like the other games though, it needs to be a much more meatier package. Either the game needs to house like 3-4 additional maps or some variations on the core concept or just randomly generate the stage layout. With one of these additions, it is a fun time with friends.
Finally there was Animal Crossing: Sweet Day. Much like Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, this was a 5 player affair with 4 Miis on the Wii-mote and a 5th player using the Wii U GamePad. Unlike Luigi’s Ghost Mansion, the Miis have an objective to complete while trying to avoid the character on the GamePad. The four Miis are tasked with collecting pieces of candy (50 in the demo). The candies are hidden in various trees and you need a select number of characters to shake them free (Ranged from 1 to 3). The trees that needed more people yielded more candy as well.

The character on the Wii U GamePad controls two guards trying to stop them. What’s cool about this is that the person actually controls both guards independently with one guard being mapped to the right analog stick and ZR and the other the left analog stick and ZL. As the guards move further apart, the view on the controller expands so that you can keep a focus on both characters. This offers up an interesting strategy, you can either keep both characters together for a limited view, but a better chance to trap players or you can go for a larger view and covering more grounds. Its a minor thing, but cool.

As for the folks on the big-screen, they actually have the same limitation as the player with the tablet controller in that they don’t get the entire picture as well. Instead, the game becomes a shouting match of players trying to communicate their location and the amount of people they need to shake down a tree. And yes, this also allows the guard to know just where to look.
Now to balance out the game, the Miis are given a 10 second headstart, but can’t do anything but make some space between themselves and the guards. Once the game gets started, a character is able to carry as many candies as they want, but the more you consume the slower you become. You can jettison some candies by pressing the 1 button if you are being pursued. The guard on the other hand, only has to catch the players 3 times, it doesn’t need to be the same player either, and once hit the Mii loses some of its candy.

It may sound simple, but Animal Crossing: Sweet Day was easily the best game I played at the show. It was charming and fresh, encouraged communication with the other players, and offered up an unique use of both the screen controller and dual analog. I could even see a potential where perhaps its a 6 player game where folks share guard duty on the Wii U GamePad (if anyone has played Mario Party 7 on the Gamecube have a rough idea of how this works). Like any other game in this package, I do think it would need extra levels or something to keep it fresh and entertaining. Maybe allow you to set up different amount of candies or time limit as well. But barring it isn’t completely barebones, this is a fantastic experience.

As a whole, I have to say NintendoLand surprised the hell out of me. Nintendo didn’t do the best job of representing the game on stage, but once you get your hands on it, you can understand why they were so keen on trying to get people excited about it. That doesn’t mean the game doesn’t have a ton of lingering questions over it. How will single player work for a lot of these games? Hell, how will a lot of these games scale for 2-3 players? Is there more meat to this package or is what you see, what you get? Will it have some type of online functionality? Nintendo has time to answer these questions, but really need to get the information out there!

http://nerdsontherocks.com/wii-impressions

[Angrist]

So NintendoLand isn't Wii Motion U? That's the impression I got: a bunch of minigames that show how you can use the Upad.