patrickthehedgehog
Member
Last night I made the poor choice of picking up a Wii U despite knowing that a price drop was imminent. I didn't grab any Wii U games and instead opted to transfer over all my VC games from my Wii and upgrade a few to the Wii U versions. There are some games I must have down the line, but nothing currently. The idea of playing F-Zero on the pad while chilling in bed was exciting. Say of that what you will! This post isn't to talk shit on the Wii U. I've always loved Nintendo and I have no doubt that games will come out in the future that will justify this purchase.
Playing SNES games on the gamepad makes the console's flaws immediately obvious. I've played F-Zero and Super Mario World very frequently on original hardware all though my life. The tiny delay on the gamepad was instantly noticeable to me as the car feels slightly out of control in F-Zero. Mario's jumps are harder to adjust and land properly. If anyone has noticed how shitty F-Zero GX plays with a Wavebird then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
With the way VC works on Wii U this problem is even more obvious as the game plays on the television and on the gamepad simultaneously. I can control my car in F-Zero just like I have for the past....22 years (holy shit) while looking at what's displayed on the television, but the moment I start using the gamepad I notice that the controls are no longer the razor-sharp F-Zero I've always loved. You can eventually compensate, but it never feels quite right. I really do feel that with streaming video, even locally with the Wii U, precision controls go out the window. I'm not the type of gamer that is okay with that.
I was excited about the prospect of playing any Playstation game through Gaikai's streaming service. It's an interesting way to handle the backwards compatibility situation. Last night's Wii U experience has made me aware that I won't exactly be able to play platformers or racing games with any real precision if the local streaming to the Wii U gamepad isn't up to snuff. Dealing with the lag produced by flat screen televisions is problem enough.
I did think that maybe "modern" video games won't have much of an issue with this as many have lower framerates than 2D games from the 16 bit glory days and gameplay that isn't as reliant on controls being tight, but after this I won't be attempting to play an action game like Bayonetta 2 on the gamepad's screen.
If streaming games are the solution to backward compatibility, what will be the price we pay? I don't feel like this is something the general public will care that much about, but as a gamer who's been in the hobby for quite a while I have my doubts about streaming and games ever working well together in the near future. GAF, I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this topic!
Edit: It appears that the issue I'm having could be something other than the streaming of the game to the gamepad. Button lag, emulation of VC games, my TV, the new controller or the position of the gamepad's screen. Who knows for sure. Don't you miss the days of simple gaming? Hopefully GAF can help me figure this all out!
Playing SNES games on the gamepad makes the console's flaws immediately obvious. I've played F-Zero and Super Mario World very frequently on original hardware all though my life. The tiny delay on the gamepad was instantly noticeable to me as the car feels slightly out of control in F-Zero. Mario's jumps are harder to adjust and land properly. If anyone has noticed how shitty F-Zero GX plays with a Wavebird then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
With the way VC works on Wii U this problem is even more obvious as the game plays on the television and on the gamepad simultaneously. I can control my car in F-Zero just like I have for the past....22 years (holy shit) while looking at what's displayed on the television, but the moment I start using the gamepad I notice that the controls are no longer the razor-sharp F-Zero I've always loved. You can eventually compensate, but it never feels quite right. I really do feel that with streaming video, even locally with the Wii U, precision controls go out the window. I'm not the type of gamer that is okay with that.
I was excited about the prospect of playing any Playstation game through Gaikai's streaming service. It's an interesting way to handle the backwards compatibility situation. Last night's Wii U experience has made me aware that I won't exactly be able to play platformers or racing games with any real precision if the local streaming to the Wii U gamepad isn't up to snuff. Dealing with the lag produced by flat screen televisions is problem enough.
I did think that maybe "modern" video games won't have much of an issue with this as many have lower framerates than 2D games from the 16 bit glory days and gameplay that isn't as reliant on controls being tight, but after this I won't be attempting to play an action game like Bayonetta 2 on the gamepad's screen.
If streaming games are the solution to backward compatibility, what will be the price we pay? I don't feel like this is something the general public will care that much about, but as a gamer who's been in the hobby for quite a while I have my doubts about streaming and games ever working well together in the near future. GAF, I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this topic!
Edit: It appears that the issue I'm having could be something other than the streaming of the game to the gamepad. Button lag, emulation of VC games, my TV, the new controller or the position of the gamepad's screen. Who knows for sure. Don't you miss the days of simple gaming? Hopefully GAF can help me figure this all out!
