• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Nintendo: Wii U's GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle

T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
According to Scott Moffitt, The Executive VP of Sales at Nintendo of America:

“That’s our real secret sauce is [the Gamepad], it is the only real innovation in this console cycle, it’s the only real new idea or game experience and with Super Mario Maker it shows you how magical it is to create levels with that Gamepad. It’s so easy and intuitive.”
Click to expand...

Wat? Either he's completely delusional...or this generation has just really been lackluster on an originality basis and it's a meaninglessness statement. Super Mario Maker undoubtedly looks fantastic--and it really is a great use for the GamePad. But it's not a particulariy imaginative or daring use of it, and it came 3-years into the console's life. His other example is Star Fox Zero, which just made me sigh heavily.

Source: http://mynintendonews.com/2015/08/1...-the-only-real-innovation-this-console-cycle/
 
H

Hades Hotgun

Banned
Share Button seems to be a pretty big deal, so I would say that is at least one objectively impactful innovation of this console cycle.
 
T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
Hades Hotgun said:
Share Button seems to be a pretty big deal, so I would say that is at least one objectively impactful innovation of this console cycle.
Click to expand...

That's a good one. I think that'd be a far better candidate for most innovative.

WhiskerFrisker said:
Well, it's an employee of Nintendo saying this. It's not like he can say remote play is the most innovative thing of this generation.
Click to expand...

He could praise it without having to make comparative statements
 
Tathanen

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Come on, it's just Moffitt, who cares. It's kind of important to include the "who" with statements like these.
 
A

aygomyownroad

Member
Suspend/resume on Xbox one is amazing... Think PS4 has it as well.

Nothing better than going straight to where you left off the day before
 
L

Lights and Waves

Member
Why would Scott Moffitt, The Executive VP of Sales at Nintendo of America, NOT say this? Do you have any idea of how the world works, OP?

They're just video games. It's not that serious. Lighten up.
 
B

Bumhead

Banned
It feels like a bit of a stretch to regard their headline new hardware feature of the whole system as a "secret sauce".

I would say the rise and implementation of share, social and streaming is objectively this generations biggest new feature, even if it's not something I use all that much. Nintendo are woefully short of Sony, Microsoft and PC in those areas.
 
B

BRocknRolla

Member
Hades Hotgun said:
Share Button seems to be a pretty big deal, so I would say that is at least one objectively impactful innovation of this console cycle.
Click to expand...

This is true. I don't ever use it, but it's true. And Nintendo did provide something innovative here, even if, once again, I don't use it. So I guess I think your reaction is pretty wrong OP. This gen hasn't brought a lot of innovation, and offscreen play is definitely one of them whether you like it or not.
 
T

TFRazorsaw

Banned
The share button isn't really an innovation that affects gameplay though. It's an important, cool new idea, but it doesn't really change his games themselves are played, just how people connect with one another. There's nothing in the games themselves that have changed as a result of the share button.
 
L

Lucifelle

Banned
I'm not sure why this would cause anger, in terms of hardware the PS4 and XBONE are both ultra conservative systems. The XBONE perhaps less so as it'll go on to make use of the cloud in ways never seen before.

The game pad has allowed for legitimate benefits to be added to games. Off screen gameplay, inventory management via ZombiU, Miiverse, Splatoon Gyro controls.
 
K

Kurt

Member
I agree.

Nintendo did already innovate from 8bit days.

hqdefault.jpg


And they still do.
I'll hope that the world keeps on innovating. That's the only way to keep things alive.
 
B

batbeg

Member
I like the share button but I'm not about to act like it is some kind of gameplay defining feature that defined this generation lol.
 
E

Eggbok

Member
batbeg said:
I like the share button but I'm not about to act like it is some kind of gameplay defining feature that defined this generation lol.
Click to expand...

Share Play is pretty dope though.
Taking control of someone elses controller and playing their game from a completely different location is really awesome.

eH1UGQ7.jpg
 
T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
Lights and Waves said:
Why would Scott Moffitt, The Executive VP of Sales at Nintendo of America, NOT say this? Do you have any idea of how the world works, OP?
Click to expand...

Apparently not, because I wouldn't have expected anyone to ask such a ridiculous question in response.

At any rate, it's entirely possible to praise the GamePad without making silly declarations that invite ridicule.
 
C

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Off TV play is a great feature... Especially for Virtual Console titles.
 
Papacheeks

Papacheeks

Banned
Murder said:
I'm sorry but Morpheus shits on a gamepad in terms of innovation.
Click to expand...

Morpheus isn't even out to market? SO....... I guess why not compare, Microsoft's Hololens while were at it I guess since we can predict the future of what is considered great innovation.

971.gif
 
J

jooey

The Motorcycle That Wouldn't Slow Down
Kurt said:
I agree.

Nintendo did already innovate from 8bit days.

hqdefault.jpg


And they still do.
I'll hope that the world keeps on innovating. That's the only way to keep things alive.
Click to expand...

Bandai innovated, then Nintendo put their name on it.
 
B

BRocknRolla

Member
Murder said:
I'm sorry but Morpheus shits on a gamepad in terms of innovation.
Click to expand...

We have yet to see that in a consumer sense this gen. It's a bit early to be calling it meaningful innovation when most haven't even seen it.

In all likelihood though, it could well be the biggest. We just don't know yet.
 
V

Vena

Member
Share Button is about as relevant as Miiverse to actual gameplay... except that Miiverse actually has some transient affect on games.
 
R

Rezae

Member
I would have agreed a month ago (although it was poorly implemented.. but off screen play is nice), but I recently grabbed a PS4 and the share button wasn't anything that was even on my radar when I bought it, but it really is an amazing and simple thing.

Still, this generation has been rather dull overall in the innovation department IMO.
 
Zomba13

Zomba13

Member
I dunno I kinda agree.

I mean, as cool s the share button is and sharing video and pictures, it's just a print screen button. And the Wii U has Miiverse where you can share pictures (screen caps and hand drawn).

I mean, the whole sharing suite on both PS4 and Xbone with streaming and capturing video and pictures are super cool and need to be in every system going forward it is just essentially rolling in what people have been doing for years with capture cards and on PC basic print screen and recording functions.

While Tablets have been around for a while and have been used to play games they hadn't really been used to play with a game on a TV screen. There weren't really many "second screen experiences". Now whether devs have actually taken advantage of this is another question. Zombi U did an excellent job (in both it's single and local multiplayer) and Nintendo Land also used it to great effect for its games but really outside of that I'm struggling to think of games that used it well and not just as a screen for the map or inventory or just mirrored what was on the TV.
 
A

abstract alien

Member
I suppose so. I like the share button, but it does nothing for the actual game. Still a cool feature for capturing moments. As far as actual mechanical innovation, the touch pad(on the DS4) does more than the share button.
 
dickroach

dickroach

Member
Wii U game development's been going on for what like 5-6 years now, and Nintendo still never made one game to show that the game pad was necessary; to expand on the ideas they put into NintendoLand.

oh, and this "innovation" is essentially just a rehash of their 11 year old innovation, the DS.
 
T

Tom Nook Sawyer

Member
dickroach said:
Wii U game development's been going on for what like 5-6 years now, and Nintendo still never made one game to show that the game pad was necessary.
Click to expand...

Well to be fair, they did make *one* game. And it came with the console.

That's pretty much it.

(although I will say that Wind Waker HD also used it fantastically--even if it obviously wasn't necessary).
 
Majmun

Majmun

Member
Zomba13 said:
I dunno I kinda agree.

I mean, as cool s the share button is and sharing video and pictures, it's just a print screen button. And the Wii U has Miiverse where you can share pictures (screen caps and hand drawn).
Click to expand...

Someone doesn't understand what the share button actually does...

It's not just a "print screen button"

There's nothing comparable on other consoles.
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
I know he's not going to say that something else is a bigger innovation, but he also volunteered the "biggest innovation of the generation" part of his quote. No need to speak with that kind of bravado when the feature you're calling "innovative" hasn't been used in any innovative ways.

The thing with gaming is that the games will always be the innovations. There are things in the past that we think of as innovations such as the addition of joysticks, shoulder buttons, and more face buttons...but at the end of the day, it's the software that utilized those features that really brought about innovation in the space. The joystick on the N64 controller means nothing without Super Mario 64. The dual joysticks on PSone mean nothing without the right-stick camera control in games that came later.

I hope that Super Mario Maker is the piece of software that finally shows off how innovative it can be to have a tablet built into the controller. Until now, though, the gamepad has been the costly required add-on that's keeping the Wii U from reaching an ideal price point.

As said in other posts...Share Button and "XBOX Record That" are the true biggest innovations.
 
L

Lucifelle

Banned
I suspect the new Legend of Zelda will be the magnum opus of the game-pad. If it makes for a great Zelda game then I'm more than pleased.

Someone doesn't understand what the share button actually does...
Click to expand...

Do elaborate?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Nintendo 3DS And Wii U Online Servers Are Taken Down For Good
Hardware Platform
7
777
RagnarokIV replied
Would you agree that Nintendo has always been better as a portable platform holder vs. a home console one?
Opinion Platform 2
52
2K
SirTerry-T replied
As Microsoft and Sony target PC and mobile to grow their audiences, what does that mean for the future of the console? - GIBiz Opinion By Chris Dring
Opinion Astroturfing 2 3
139
7K
Topher replied
GVMERS: Lies, Confusion and The Tragedy of Wii U
Drama
44
3K
Alan Wake replied
Mario Is Moving Away From Mobile Games, Reveals Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto
News
14
2K
Golgo 13 replied
Top Bottom