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Cross Play for Wii U: More than a feature a necessity?

I dont really care for the idea of cross play between the Wii U and 3DS but what i would like is some sort of Super Gameboy like device that allows me to play my DS and 3DS games on the big screen, via the Wii U. Of course, importing/exporting saves would probably be a big pain in the ass.
Why the need for extra hardware when the Wii U is vastly more powerful and can give you the added bonus to enhance the games?
 

Drakeon

Member
I wouldn't be as annoying as to make a thread about it, but I keep thinking that *if* Nintendo had an extremely poor time with the Wii U - if it were an actual money-suck failure two years from now - that they could shut it down, and prepare for one platform future, and concentrate on their handheld in the mean time.

Let's timeline this out.

December 2014 - the Wii U has it's third christmas, and continues to fail to do much with he market. Iwata has already resigned, and the system is obviously a dead end for them.

April 2015 - In a Nintendo Direct, Yoko Arakawa announces that they will be immediately ceasing production on the Wii U in order to concentrate on their handheld business. GAF's servers fall over and die a horrible death.

E3 2016 - On stage at E3 - Nintendo announces their next generation portable. It is clearly part of the DS line, but has 720p upper and lower screens. It runs a 64 bit arm chip, and a modern mobile GPU. In an interesting move for them. In an interesting move, Nintendo keeps no secrets about the hardware platform. It releases in 2017.

2018 - Nintendo reveals and releases the Nintendo 8. It has a 720p screen in the controller, runs a 64 bit ARM processor, and a high-end mobile GPU. No secrecy.

2022 - Release of the next member of the DS Line. It is literally a Nintendo 8 in handheld form.

2023 - Release of the Nintendo 9......

2028 - Release of the Next DS - It's a Nintendo 9 in handheld form.

You failed to explain why Nintendo would go down the road of having a screen in the controller again when it has failed in the most spectacular fashion for the Wii U.
 

Somnid

Member
I don't think it makes sense for all but a few cross-platform DD titles. I think it would be an excellent feature to share games like MSF and Mutant Mudds but for the vast majority of games it wouldn't work very well in either direction. That's one of Nintendo's strengths is that their hardware does fit its purpose very well as do games designed for them.

But as for third parties it doesn't matter, large western publishers do not support handhelds and it does nothing to entice them. And while it might be of small interest to Japanese pubs I think they'd rather resell the game.
 
I don't l what to think of the idea. I have both a 3DS and WiiU, as well a a PSVita (no PS3, soon a PS4). For the cross play initiative to work, they'd need a cross buy initiative or bundle pack to incentivize the same game (different platform).

Although GAF mocks Vita games (snubs the system) for getting PS3 ports - I don't know how many would feel, if it were Nintendo, using the same formulas.

I actually think its cool that a handheld (Vita) is so comparable in many ways to the current generation sibling (PS3). That's a first, handhelds have usually been behind. I won't look the gift horse in the mouth (current games, in my hand).

So with a 3DS/U initiative - I'd support it, but Nintendo would find a way to make it not as consumer friendly as I'd hope.
 
A neat idea, but it would require just too many resources they don't have and wouldn't really help.
Certainly isn't helping the Vita.
Extra resources, in what way? The only effort for them would be to create a dev enviroment and set of tools to make the 3DS assets and programing easy to migrate. After that's incorporated in the 3DS devkits everyone reaps benefits from it.
This is how Nintendo's future should be. I think they know this as well.
But hopefuly is not for the long term. Nintendo needs to offer this as soon as posible. It would make lot's of sense to use the 3DS relative succes to help the Wii U gain some traction, since the console is becoming irrelevant with each passing day and with each low performing 3rd party game.
 
This thought might surprise you but Nintendo designs their games around the hardware. Delivering the same games to all your platforms only hurt your sales. Keep it individual, keep it good. Don´t make it a Vita.
DKCR was the obvious exception to the rule.
 

RGVNOE

Member
To people fully against this - it would make Wii U Smash Bros more fun online if you actually had people to play against.

You honestly think that a console will sell 0, I'm not saying it will sell 50 million, but we're a while away from Smash Bros release by then I can expect maybe at least 10 million more consoles with all the games coming out this year to help it sell, the price drop, the holiday season, and Mario Kart and Bayo2 next year before Smash release. Even if the install base is low I'm sure there will be more people Online playing Smash than most other games (except Mario Kart)
 

brainpann

Member
Why the need for extra hardware when the Wii U is vastly more powerful and can give you the added bonus to enhance the games?

But that woukd require extra developement time and money. Nintendo is already notorious for delaying release dates.

Given the success of the Super Gameboy and Gamecube GBA Player, id think it more likely Nintendo go with a hardware based setup anyway.

Also, a hardware solution would allow me to play my entire lphysical library abd not just the games Nintebdo sees fit to cross develop.
 
This thought might surprise you but Nintendo designs their games around the hardware. Delivering the same games to all your platforms only hurt your sales. Keep it individual, keep it good. Don´t make it a Vita.
DKCR was the obvious exception to the rule.
So this reinforces my point. The Wii U is almost a 3DS for the living room. Even more so than a DS could ever be, since the latest handheld sports 2 screens with different aspect ratios and capabilities. These variations between display caused the 3D one to became the main and screen and relegated the touch one to a secondary support role. Exactly, like the Wii U 2 screen configuration works.

Also the Wii U is an exact equivalent (and then some) to the 3DS input methods and interface.

In term of sales, no it wouldn't hurt sales. On the contrary these would cause owners of the 2 devices to expend an extra amount to unlock the game in the 2nd device, to experience the advantages. Plus, it would automatically increase 3rd party presence in the Wii U and boost its catalogue.

So you'll need to come up with a better argument i think to debunk the idea.
 
To people fully against this - it would make Wii U Smash Bros more fun online if you actually had people to play against.

I understand the OP didn't mention it but instead sp 3ds games on wii u which doesn't make as much sense to me either but for online it would be awesome. Even for local play.

If third parties were going to uprez 3DS ports they may try to go PS360 instead of Wii U for your reason (1). Like capcom did....although I doubt most games will be too well received since they're not really console on the go experiences.

I have no idea why you think it makes more sense on WiiU/3DS than Vita/PS3 when the games tend to be more similar.

I understand what you are saying about multiplayer. However, this would lead to people choosing one platform over the other instead of getting both. Even with crossbuy, people choose games on PS3 over buying a new Vita, so I don't think this is what Nintendo wants.

Western developers don't care about handhelds enough to do this, and Japanese developers would go for handhelds given Japan's situation right now. This makes sense for Vita/PS3 since they are close in power somewhat, and games are 1:1 releases. However, Nintendo treats their handhelds with higher standards than most, so you see them release games in the same franchises but more fit for their systems. Otherwise, MK7 would've been released for both at the same time.
 
You'd essentially be asking developers to create two versions of games, and spend resources creating an "HD" version of their 3DS game for a platform that isn't selling. What incentive is there for them?
 

Alfredo

Member
Nintendo won't even do cross play with the game that makes the most sense to have it: Smash Bros, where there's a 3DS and Wii U version and they're actively seeking feature parity between them to the point that they're limiting the roster so that both can have the same number of characters.

Pretty dumb, IMO.
 
But that woukd require extra developement time and money. Nintendo is already notorious for delaying release dates.

Given the success of the Super Gameboy and Gamecube GBA Player, id think it more likely Nintendo go with a hardware based setup anyway.

Also, a hardware solution would allow me to play my entire lphysical library abd not just the games Nintebdo sees fit to cross develop.
The staff that will be required is a technical one, IE: no visual artists, sound designers, driectors or producers. It is exactly the hardware/software staff that would be needed to create that Super 3DS boy. Of course this idea would require an extra effort but the rewards are way bigger at the prospect of adding hundreds of games in a single blow to the Wii U catalogue.

Also you get benefits that a dedicated player won't allow like better visuals in general, from better resolution and filtering quality up to better frame rates for example.
You'd essentially be asking developers to create two versions of games, and spend resources creating an "HD" version of their 3DS game for a platform that isn't selling. What incentive is there for them?
There won't be two versions.

Nintendo creates the enviroment and tool sets for 3DS developers to quickly export assets and programing to the Wii U. Just like something as the Crytek engine or Unreal engine help multiplatform development even when targeting the higher spected PC's to mobile platforms. But this is a lot easier in this case because you'll be up porting.

Most developers create high quality assets for their games anyway because it makes a lot more sense for multiplatform development.

The idea here is that the 3DS game sale can happen either on the Wii U or the 3DS itself. Then the user registers the sold game and has the option to access it in the other platform by paying an extra fee. So the developer has the advantage of:

1) Getting acces to a bigger user base.
2)Have the chance to get extra money entrance for the same game.
3)The user benefits from the strengts of each platform.
4)Nintendo has test bed to see how a future hanhel/home console with equivalent architecture behaves.
 
That does make more sense, but Nintendo is the last company I could see embrace the ideas of "creating tools for developers" and "buy one get both" types of mentalities. I mean, as it stands now, you can buy a VC game on 3DS and it won't work on Wii, and those are just roms. It would certainly help their situation though. It really though is just further pushing this idea that Nintendo needs to consider a hybrid console as they don't seem to have the resources to support two platforms anymore.
 
That does make more sense, but Nintendo is the last company I could see embrace the ideas of "creating tools for developers" and "buy one get both" types of mentalities. I mean, as it stands now, you can buy a VC game on 3DS and it won't work on Wii, and those are just roms. It would certainly help their situation though. It really though is just further pushing this idea that Nintendo needs to consider a hybrid console as they don't seem to have the resources to support two platforms anymore.
Well yes, Nintendo is a bit...
GREEDY AS FUCK XD
.

But we have to consider is not exactly buy one/get both. Is buy one pay something extra and get both with compeiling advanatges for all (devs and users). As well, Nintendo does create "tools" for developers, that's exaactly what dev kits are. Im not downright proposing an offical 3DS emulator for Wii U because i don't know if the machine's CPU could handle that.

As for if they wouldn't go for it. Well these are not optimal times for Nintendo and certainly not even close to a Wii/DS situation. The Wii U is going downhill quick, 3rd parties are jumping ship so anything that could help in the slightest should be tried by them.

The Hybrid is a cool idea for the consumer but not for Nintendo. The closest to an hybrid console is the Wii U if Nintendo opts to do what is been proposed in this thread. After this, in the future, the only simialr thing to an hybrid is Nintendo doing the 2 devices with the exact same chipsets with differnt power envelops.

Indies will love something like this because they are basically
 
It's a good idea but the problem is the comparatively weak 3DS would install a very low technical ceiling for these cross-buy games.
 
It's a good idea but the problem is the comparatively weak 3DS would install a very low technical ceiling for these cross-buy games.
How exactly will these present as a problem feint?

3DS games rendered at 1080P with improved image quality will look quite good, specially the ones with strong visual directions like Nintendo's own. As an example i think Monster Hunter Tri looks very nice on the Wii U for what it is.
 
I don't think it makes sense for all but a few cross-platform DD titles. I think it would be an excellent feature to share games like MSF and Mutant Mudds but for the vast majority of games it wouldn't work very well in either direction. That's one of Nintendo's strengths is that their hardware does fit its purpose very well as do games designed for them.

But as for third parties it doesn't matter, large western publishers do not support handhelds and it does nothing to entice them. And while it might be of small interest to Japanese pubs I think they'd rather resell the game.
Like i've explained in a more detailed fation in previous posts, save for the processing capabilities both consoles (Wii U and DS) are almost exact feature wise, both basically share the same inputs and interface.
 
In my dream world, I had hoped that once Nintendo got the account system in order, they could potentially have the ability for you to choose what platform you want to play a game on.

For instance, you have something like Animal Crossing. It works amazing on the handhelds. Obviously we're getting a Wii U AC at some point, but until then, I'd like some alternate way to play. In this case, I play a lot at home as well, so it'd be amazing if I could say..put the system in sleep mode, and stream the game to the console. Then, pick up right where I left off. Playing on the big screen would be awesome, and if someone is also streaming the game to the console, you could have an optional camera/mic mode and have them appear up in the corner of your screen or something. It's annoying trying to talk to friends in the game, so I end up just texting mine when we're playing together.

Alternatively, some games on the Wii U would be relatively easy I'd imagine to allow for cross platform play. Particularly stuff like eshop games. Why can't I take Earthbound or Donkey Kong with me when I leave?
Obviously not every single game would be able to work, but I mean..shit i own Kirby's Adventure on like 5 different platforms. How hard could it really be? (I'm sure someone will answer this and say it's very hard.
 
I've been wondering also since the Wii U problematic situation has been fueled by the forecast revisions, wouldn't it make sense for Nintendo to also offer a Wii emulator besides a 3DS ones?

It might sound contradictory since obviously the Wii U has 1:1 compatibility but here me out. Imagine having the hability to play Wii games at 1080p native resolution and have Nintendo bring up the best 1st and 3rd party titles to the eShop. The best designed games runing on Dolphin looked good enough in comparison to the 7th gen consoles due to the increased image quality.

The advantage of this over remastering is that it would take a lot less time to have the software available and time is something the Wii U doesn't have.

Edited.
 

gundalf

Member
No, its a horrible idea imo. Why the fuck would Nintendo cannibalize the 3DS' sales just so you can play non-3d, enhanced 3DS games on the Wii U instead of, I don't know, Wii U games.

There is no real cannibalization because either way Nintendo gets the Licenses Fee from the sold game.
 

Weilthain

Banned
just think of it like super gameboy was for the Snes. I'd be amazed if Nintendo did this, it would be a great feature.
 
just think of it like super gameboy was for the Snes. I'd be amazed if Nintendo did this, it would be a great feature.
Would be better than Super Gameboy or GBA player because games could be enhanced with the Wii U's extra processing power over the 3DS. Just re rendering the assets at higher resolutions would be quite an eye catcher.

Also apart from the coolness factor, this is a short term solution i can think off for Wii U's situation and lack of software, even if it could end up helping just in a small part. Other thinks like a redesign, Nintendo re structuring would take much longer and price dropping the device would only complicate its finantial situation.
 
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