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marc^o^ · Jun 17, 2012

Why the best thing about Wii U is not the thing you've been getting excited about for the last year - from Gamesradar
http://www.gamesradar.com/why-best-...uve-been-getting-excited-about-for-last-year/

Gamesradar said:
the real, brilliant, exciting, absolute tip-top best bit, and the thing that now has me really excited about the Wii U, is not its potential for proper, PS3 and 360 equaling epics[...]No, you see the thing is and this is actually something else that appeals to my long-standing Nintendo fan status - the Wii U gave me more clever, fresh, invigorating local multiplayer fun in one afternoon than the other HD machines of this generation have given me in five years. [...]Nintendo Lands Animal Crossing and Luigis Mansion-themed offerings, and Rayman Legends. And don't think it's just the novelty that these games even actually offer local multiplayer that excites me. No, its that they offer what feels like the next-generation of what friend-based couch play would have evolved into had this generation of consoles not squandered the medium almost entirely. This stuff might look simple, but its amazing how satisfying its hidden depths turn out to be when you really pay attention.

Maybe the lack of local multiplayer this generation caused us to forget what a vital part of gamings DNA it used to be. Maybe thats why weve been concentrating on the shiny AAA big-hitters all year. Maybe the Wiis proliferated stink of insipid party-game waggle-horror has given the concept a dirty name. But whatever the reason, weve been getting excited about the wrong thing with Wii U for over a year. And the thing that really is most worth getting excited over at the moment really is far more fun than you could imagine without trying it.

This article reflects what excites me the most about Wii U. Being able to play with 5 people in the same game. Using asymmetric gameplay for fresh and deep gameplay experiences.

And hopefully, removing the need to split the TV screen while playing with a 2nd player: one would play fullscreen looking at the TV, the other would play fullscreen looking at the GamePad. I'm surprised this feature has not been discussed yet, as it seems like a logic fit with this GamePad concept, and it would give local co-op games (such as RTS or FPS) perfect playing conditions.

Takao · Jun 17, 2012

marc^o^ said:
And hopefully, removing the need to split the TV screen while playing with a 2nd player: one would play fullscreen looking at the TV, the other would play fullscreen looking at the GamePad. I'm surprised this feature has not been discussed yet, as it seems like a logic fit with this GamePad concept, and it would give local co-op games (such as RTS or FPS) perfect playing conditions.

Instead you split the frame rate with a third player.

Having 2 Wii U tablets in a turn based game would be cool. You'd use the TV as the battle ground, and the tablets as the plan of attack. If Nintendo still remembers Advance Wars that could work.

YoYo Switch · Jun 17, 2012

Yep, the best thing about Wii U was the N64's main selling point.

GeneralManager · Jun 17, 2012

I was so disappointed when SSX and Hot Pursuit didn't have local multiplayer. That would've been unacceptable to release in the PS2/Xbox/GCN generation.

Zabuza · Jun 17, 2012

Local multiplayer is one of my favorite things about gaming. It's so much funner than online.

ksamedi · Jun 17, 2012

YoYo Switch said:
Yep, the best thing about Wii U was the N64's main selling point.

It takes local multiplayer to a new level though. The possibilities are endless.

Tobe · Jun 17, 2012

Takao said:
Instead you split the frame rate with a third player.

Having 2 Wii U tablets in a turn based game would be cool. You'd use the TV as the battle ground, and the tablets as the plan of attack. If Nintendo still remembers Advance Wars that could work.

if this was a launch title i would give all my money to nintendo.

VGChampion · Jun 17, 2012

The Wii U 2 will be better because it will support 4 tablets. And then I will finally be able to play a true sequel to 4 Swords.

Scalemail Ted · Jun 17, 2012

Takao said:
Instead you split the frame rate with a third player.

Having 2 Wii U tablets in a turn based game would be cool. You'd use the TV as the battle ground, and the tablets as the plan of attack. If Nintendo still remembers Advance Wars that could work.

Madden on Local play could be friggin awesome if it supported twin wii-u controllers

-Pyromaniac- · Jun 17, 2012

Local multiplayer is something I don't do anymore, haven't done since probably the gamecube days. Online is where it's at for me.

cacildo · Jun 17, 2012

Yes, the ability to play a full, real, tripleA game using two screens for multiplayer is amazing.

It was the first thing i saw as something truly revolutionary on WiiU

Unfortunally is something nobody ever talks about, so it probably wont work when the system is released.

Also, remote play using the gamepad: sounds great, myamoto says its the first thing he had in mind when creating the WiiU. Nobody talks about it, no developer confirms it, i just think it wont exist at all.

Boss Man · Jun 17, 2012

Hopefully this does create a trend for more local multiplayer in games. I could see this being a great aspect of the system. I'm not even talking about the functionality so much as the idea that it'll push more developers to consider that aspect of their games.

Bgamer90 · Jun 17, 2012

GeneralManager said:
I was so disappointed when SSX and Hot Pursuit didn't have local multiplayer. That would've been unacceptable to release in the PS2/Xbox/GCN generation.

True but at the same time, online play wasn't as big back then.

Will be interesting to see if this will cause an increase in local multiplayer next gen.

hatchx · Jun 17, 2012

I'm still waiting for confirmation that I can play co-op with a friend while they have the second screen to themselves.

....and not some lame kid-mode co-op. Real, two player co-op. An FPS where I can use the full screen and my friend can use the gamepad....now that's awesome local multiplayer!

I hope Pikmin 3 includes this in the story mode. Would really make the game for me.

Übermatik · Jun 17, 2012

Zabuza said:
Local multiplayer is one of my favorite things about gaming. It's so much funner than online.

So true - get a few friends round your house and play a shooter/racer/party game and there's so much fun to be had - let alone playing the game normally, twatting around and/or trying to break the game together yields it's laughs too.

marc^o^ · Jun 17, 2012

hatchx said:
I'm still waiting for confirmation that I can play co-op with a friend while they have the second screen to themselves.

....and not some lame kid-mode co-op. Real, two player co-op. An FPS where I can use the full screen and my friend can use the gamepad....now that's awesome local multiplayer!

I hope Pikmin 3 includes this in the story mode. Would really make the game for me.

That's exactly what I meant, sorry if I was not clear. Also sorry for the missing letter in the thread title

Salsa · Jun 17, 2012

yeah it's probably really thin

grandjedi6 · Jun 17, 2012

Yeah, the trend against local multiplayer has been stupid, shortsighted and antisocial. Hopefully it turns around.

Huff · Jun 17, 2012

Welcome to the 80s

cacildo · Jun 17, 2012

hatchx said:
I'm still waiting for confirmation that I can play co-op with a friend while they have the second screen to themselves.

....and not some lame kid-mode co-op. Real, two player co-op. An FPS where I can use the full screen and my friend can use the gamepad....now that's awesome local multiplayer!

I hope Pikmin 3 includes this in the story mode. Would really make the game for me.

Yep! That´s what i wanted!!!

But really, things dosent look good. Nobody even talks about it! I dont think we will see any big games with REAL multiplayer using both the Tv and the game pad.

Probably just lame stuff like the "Let me put a zombie here" mode on ZombiU

Davey Cakes · Jun 17, 2012

As someone who's gotten well over my money's worth on the Wii with local multiplayer games, I'm excited that the Wii U promises to continue the trend of strong same-room multiplayer experiences. And the idea of having 5-player support is a huge plus; no more "someone has to sit out" situations when I'm hanging out with four other people.

Social gaming is a significant aspect of the hobby for me these days, and the Wii itself fit the bill quite nicely, so the Wii U sounds quite promising. I guess I shouldn't bank too much on potential, though, since I doubt everyone's going to take full advantage of the Wii U's unique features.

Glass Rebel · Jun 17, 2012

If the Wii U had some really good and innovative uses of the pad for local multi I'd actually buy one.

batbeg · Jun 17, 2012

Local co-op is why in a social environment my friends and I ignore our hd consoles and stick to the Wii. Mario Party, Mario Kart, Smash, Boom Blox, Dokapon Kingdom, etc etc

One of my friends and I discussed the potential for local and assymetric gameplay for hours yesterday, and why as predominantly social gamers the Wii U excites us more than apparently GAFs dead in the water reaction.

Vinci · Jun 17, 2012

Huff said:
Welcome to the 80s

Thank god. The 80s were awesome for gaming.

qq more · Jun 17, 2012

Glass Rebel said:
If the Wii U had some really good and innovative uses of the pad for local multi I'd actually buy one.

I think it has tons of potential for asymetric multiplayer. I hope Nintendo pulls it off very well.

BrLvgThrChmstry · Jun 17, 2012

-Pyromaniac- said:
Local multiplayer is something I don't do anymore, haven't done since probably the gamecube days. Online is where it's at for me.

It's not like you have much of a choice. Most games force multiplayer through online.

Penguin · Jun 17, 2012

Glass Rebel said:
If the Wii U had some really good and innovative uses of the pad for local multi I'd actually buy one.

I hope we see the return of a lot of.. counter-ops like modes.

I know ZombiU has something like that, but would love to have it extended beyond 1 vs 1. Like 1 person plays "Director" and 4 others have objectives and stuff to overcome.

Nibel · Jun 17, 2012

We need more local multiplayer games

It's still the best thing

marc^o^ · Jun 17, 2012

Most hilarious gaming sessions I've had these last years were on Wii with 3 friends, playing World of Goo and Let's Tap. I want more of this!

theBishop · Jun 17, 2012

I don't like the user with the GamePad doing separate things from everyone else. The joy of split-screen multiplayer is being able to see what everyone is doing. Having one (or two?) privileged players, and 2-3 other scrubs using less capable controls doesn't sound like an improvement to me.

In short, I don't see why WiiU is any more credible for local multiplayer than PS3 or 360. Except that we're generally expecting it to suck at online multiplayer.

DashReindeer · Jun 17, 2012

Penguin said:
I hope we see the return of a lot of.. counter-ops like modes.

I know ZombiU has something like that, but would love to have it extended beyond 1 vs 1. Like 1 person plays "Director" and 4 others have objectives and stuff to overcome.

Yes! I have wanted something like this for so long! There are so many possibilities that this controller setup offers; I just wanted someone to show off something at E3 that proved some of these possibilities as solid game design choices.

Davey Cakes · Jun 17, 2012

theBishop said:
In short, I don't see why WiiU is any more credible for local multiplayer than PS3 or 360.

For the same reason that the Wii was as credible or more so for local multiplayer than the PS3 or 360, even if the Gamepad doesn't deliver.

The other systems improved in this respect, no doubt, but for me the Wii is still the king of local multiplayer (while the others are the kings of online multiplayer). I see this continuing with Wii U, again regardless of how often and how well the Gamepad is actually utilized. Nintendo knows how to kick as at same-room entertainment.

hatchx · Jun 17, 2012

cacildo said:
Yep! That´s what i wanted!!!

But really, things dosent look good. Nobody even talks about it! I dont think we will see any big games with REAL multiplayer using both the Tv and the game pad.

Probably just lame stuff like the "Let me put a zombie here" mode on ZombiU

I don't see why it isn't possible. It might be hard with a game that has amazing graphic fidelity to double up on the gamepad, but for a lot of game it should work.

Javier · Jun 17, 2012

New Super Mario Bros. Wii with three friends.

Man what fun.

Glass Rebel · Jun 17, 2012

qq more said:
I think it has tons of potential for asymetric multiplayer. I hope Nintendo pulls it off very well.

Penguin said:
I hope we see the return of a lot of.. counter-ops like modes.

I know ZombiU has something like that, but would love to have it extended beyond 1 vs 1. Like 1 person plays "Director" and 4 others have objectives and stuff to overcome.

Yeah, using 2 pads I can come up with a few games that'd work better, mostly strategic stuff, but it's the asymetric MP I'm most interested in. I'd love to see someone make a Dungeons & Dragons like game for Wii U where the DM uses the pad.

BlueTsunami · Jun 17, 2012

Local Multiplayer, truly a wonderful feature to capture the middle school market

test_account · Jun 17, 2012

Local multiplayer can be really fun. I'm looking forward to see what will be offered of games.

Dion Blaster · Jun 17, 2012

Takao said:
Having 2 Wii U tablets in a turn based game would be cool. You'd use the TV as the battle ground, and the tablets as the plan of attack.

This would be a good idea to make Pokémon relevant for the first time since GSC. Bring it to the home consoles! I know it won't sell as much but it will actually allow the series to evolve.

Davey Cakes · Jun 17, 2012

BlueTsunami said:
Local Multiplayer, truly a wonderful feature to capture the middle school market

The market for local multiplayer is the same as the market for Nintendo's products in general: Everyone.

Vinci · Jun 17, 2012

theBishop said:
I don't like the user with the GamePad doing separate things from everyone else. The joy of split-screen multiplayer is being able to see what everyone is doing. Having one (or two?) privileged players, and 2-3 other scrubs using less capable controls doesn't sound like an improvement to me.

This is a perspective on asymmetrical gameplay that I will never understand. Imperfect information plays a big role in many aspects of life - it has nothing to do with some sort of imaginary class system designated by someone using the uPad while others use Wiimotes. It's actually quite common in board games, for example.

BlueTsunami said:
Local Multiplayer, truly a wonderful feature to capture the middle school market

I'm sorry, but what the hell??

zoukka · Jun 17, 2012

I'd kill for a new good local multiplayer console. This generation offered none.

Dion Blaster · Jun 17, 2012

Rash said:
The market for local multiplayer is the same as the market for Nintendo's products in general: Everyone.

I know that local multiplayer is harder to coordinate than when we were kids. But it still stomps all over online.

theBishop · Jun 17, 2012

Rash said:
For the same reason that the Wii was as credible or more so for local multiplayer than the PS3 or 360, even if the Gamepad doesn't deliver.

The other systems improved in this respect, no doubt, but for me the Wii is still the king of local multiplayer (while the others are the kings of online multiplayer). I see this continuing with Wii U, again regardless of how often and how well the Gamepad is actually utilized. Nintendo knows how to kick as at same-room entertainment.

I'm not going to argue with you over what games you personally find fun. But the sheer number of split screen games from 3rd parties (both retail and digital) make it a pretty tough sell. You're letting a small number of games carry a lot of weight.

I will admit that Wii Sports was a singularly great event in gaming. That counts for a lot. But we're now 6 years removed from that game.

Dion Blaster · Jun 17, 2012

theBishop said:
I don't like the user with the GamePad doing separate things from everyone else. The joy of split-screen multiplayer is being able to see what everyone is doing. Having one (or two?) privileged players, and 2-3 other scrubs using less capable controls doesn't sound like an improvement to me.

In short, I don't see why WiiU is any more credible for local multiplayer than PS3 or 360. Except that we're generally expecting it to suck at online multiplayer.

Wouldn't it be the other way around? The "loser" gets the smaller screen while the other players get Pro controllers and the TV screen. And if it's 2 players you won't have to worry about screen peeking as much.

Vinci · Jun 17, 2012

linkratos said:
Wouldn't it be the other way around? The "loser" gets the smaller screen while the other players get Pro controllers. And if it's 2 players you won't have to worry about screen peeking as much.

And heaven forbid people actually take turns using the uPad for a game like Luigi's Mansion in NintendoLand for the sake of everyone having a good time.

Aostia · Jun 17, 2012

marc^o^ said:
Why the best thing about Wii U is not the thing you've been getting excited about for the last year - from Gamesradar
http://www.gamesradar.com/why-best-...uve-been-getting-excited-about-for-last-year/

This article reflects what excites me the most about Wii U. Being able to play with 5 people in the same game. Using asymmetric gameplay for fresh and deep gameplay experiences.

And hopefully, removing the need to split the TV screen while playing with a 2nd player: one would play fullscreen looking at the TV, the other would play fullscreen looking at the GamePad. I'm surprised this feature has not been discussed yet, as it seems like a logic fit with this GamePad concept, and it would give local co-op games (such as RTS or FPS) perfect playing conditions.

I agree, the local multiplayer was one of the key aspects of the wii, and the wii u is created to offer even more under this point of view

asimmetric local multiplayer: an absolute novelty, and could be really intriguing both for casual entertainment and more traditional solution (think about a rpg, dungeon maker and so on)

up to 5 players: an improvement, that could be interesting also because of the backward compatibility of all the wii's peripheral: I already have 3 remotes, so I'll be ready to play with friends from day 1 without any additional purchase (just one if I'll be able to find other 4 guys ready to rumble!)

splitscreen without splitscreen: this could be interesting for game as RE6, for example, or Dead Space, where I'd love to be allowed to play on the pad while my friend plays on the tv screen

I hope a lot of developers will think creatively around this aspect of the console (as in the Rayman footage, for example)

DrWong · Jun 17, 2012

theBishop said:
I'm not going to argue with you over what games you personally find fun. But the sheer number of split screen games from 3rd parties (both retail and digital) make it a pretty tough sell. You're letting a small number of games carry a lot of weight.

I will admit that Wii Sports was a singularly great event in gaming. That counts for a lot. But we're now 6 years removed from that game.

Mario Party 9, Rhythm Heaven Fever, Go Vacation say hello.

MadOdorMachine · Jun 17, 2012

This shouldn't come as a surprise. It was pretty clear early on local multiplayer would be a big focus. Nintendo's really carving out their own segment for it too. They've always been the go to system for local multiplayer, but it's been interesting watching them mature and expand upon it.

Holy Order Sol · Jun 17, 2012

Not actually interested in this aspect, for the last few years I've basically played nothing but fighting games in local multiplayer.

marc^o^ · Jun 17, 2012

Rash said:
The market for local multiplayer is the same as the market for Nintendo's products in general: Everyone.

There are at least 4 games at launch that will offer 5 player local multiplayer: Mario, Rayman, Nintendo Land and Just Dance 4. These titles allow lesser skilled players to use the GamePad and perform more casual actions, while still being integrant parts of the game. This is a genius possibility, as it can involve people from 3 years old to soccer moms and grandmas (the 80 millions of them who bought a wii, from the other thread).

If Wii U can succeed at being the party system, it will win the mass market, and next gen.

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