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Miyamoto on support for two GamePads: "Not in short-term"

Sendou

Member
"Certainly as we've been working on Wii U, I think we're at a point where we don't feel it's realistic to expect people to purchase two GamePads yet," Miyamoto said. "We're still trying to get as many people as possible to buy the system itself, and that's where our focus is right now. For the time being, two GamePad gameplay is not within our objectives in the short-term."

"From a technical standpoint, I think if we decided to pursue that, technically we would be able to and we can perform system updates that would allow for that," Miyamoto explained. "It's also very interesting from a gameplay perspective idea because there are a lot of possibilities with two GamePads. But, at the same time, taking that kind of approach would again be a drain on resources and require us to continue to utilize our development resources for that. So then it would become a question of where do we want to devote our resources: Is it to creating regular GamePad games, or creating games centered around two GamePads?"

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/18/miyamoto-on-the-potential-for-dual-gamepad-wii-u-games

Makes complete sense. They certainly aren't in a position where they can expect people to buy a Wii U and another GamePad on top off that.
 

Sendou

Member
I honestly doubt it'll ever happen.

I don't think it will happen on Wii U either but I hope it will happen with a future Nintendo console since I think there's many good gameplay ideas you could make happen with two GamePads. Mainly in local multiplayer.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
I see way more people asking for a gamepad-less sku than people asking about two gamepad support. Honestly, I was more excited about this before buying it.
 

LaneDS

Member
I don't think it will happen on Wii U either but I hope it will happen with a future Nintendo console since I think there's many good gameplay ideas you could make happen with two GamePads. Mainly in local multiplayer.

The only chance something like this happens on a future console is if you can use a Nintendo handheld in lieu of a tablet, because I think there's very little chance they double down and include a tablet controller in whatever console might come next.
 

Kelsey

Banned
More interested in a Wii U that supports no Gamepads. If I own games that don't require a Gamepad, they should at least let me have full control over the console without the Gamepad being connected. Let me love you, Nintendo.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I don't think it will happen on Wii U either but I hope it will happen with a future Nintendo console since I think there's many good gameplay ideas you could make happen with two GamePads. Mainly in local multiplayer.

Regardless of the actual functionality overlap between tablets and the GamePad, tablets have impacted the perceived value of the GamePad. Based on this, it's hard to imagine that with future hardware the impact would be any less severe. $100 tablets are increasingly available, $200 tablets are increasingly powerful. Now there's actually worry that tablets themselves are being cannibalized by large phones. So to me it seems somewhat unlikely that future hardware will come with an extremely expensive controller that contributes to a perception problem that it duplicates the functionality of something someone owns.
 
Oh lawd here come the sans-Game Pad whiners again.

It's a bummer given the local multi possibilities, but it wouldn't be worth the inconvenience of having to resync the Game Pad all the time.
 

rjc571

Banned
I can't believe Nintendo didn't realize what a bad idea it was to sell a system whose multiplayer games required an entirely different type of controller than the one that came with the system.
 
I still hold out hope they'll release Nintendo Land 2 with a second Gamepad someday. It's not the right time now due to confusion and creating the image of an even more expensive console. Considering they made it a point at their E3 2012 conference with the concession that games could only run at 30 fps it's possible.

Hopefully they'll be in 2016 and think we could probably sell some of these Gamepads to the Wii U owners who want two Gamepads.
 

Anteo

Member
Well, they don't even really support one gamepad...

You must have missed that this E3 is too little too late. What are you refering to anyways? Kirby? Would probably fit the 3ds better since while you need the gamepad you do not need a tv.

Err...

Also, If it was for the 3ds you wouldnt even need the top screen, so you may as well put it on the bigger hardware with the bigger screen

Admittedly, I don't own a WiiU, so I may not be up to date on this, but I could have sworn they announced that it would support two gamepads at E3 a few years ago, before the console launched. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they say that, but didn't follow through?

They did, and the WiiU theorically could support 2, but why even bother when they can barely justify 1 as of now (it's getting better though).
 
Admittedly, I don't own a WiiU, so I may not be up to date on this, but I could have sworn they announced that it would support two gamepads at E3 a few years ago, before the console launched. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they say that, but didn't follow through?
 
I can only see this happening when hardware costs go down, and that would mean a price cut and also games that support it. Both of which seem far down the road, if ever.
 

Kouichi

Member
You must have missed that this E3 is too little too late. What are you refering to anyways? Kirby? Would probably fit the 3ds better since while you need the gamepad you do not need a tv.

Kirby, Splatoon, Hyrule Warriors, Mario Party 10, Captain Toad, and Mario Maker all have a significant use for the Gamepad. There's also the three projects by Miyamoto and the whole new line of Amiibo figures using the NFC sensor with various games like Smash, Mario Kart, and Yoshi.

Nintendo's whole focus of E3 was on games that utilize the gamepad.
 

baphomet

Member
Lol, even he realizes that no one will buy a second gamepad when barely anyone is buying the system itself.
 

Copenap

Member
How is it too little too late?
Correct me if I'm wrong but the WiiU wasn't released this year and even now the added value of the gamepad to the system is minimum at best. I like my WiiU but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the failure that was the gamepad.
 
Admittedly, I don't own a WiiU, so I may not be up to date on this, but I could have sworn they announced that it would support two gamepads at E3 a few years ago, before the console launched. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they say that, but didn't follow through?

They said that it might be a possibility and that they would work on it but the feature was never explicitly promised.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
The gamepad would no doubt still retail over 100 dollars. The barrier for entry would be pretty high for people wanting two gamepads, so I'd expect to see even more limited developer and game support for dual gamepad functionality. Especially when you have multiplayer with the pro controller or wiimote, having that much added value would be sceptical.
 

Sendou

Member
Regardless of the actual functionality overlap between tablets and the GamePad, tablets have impacted the perceived value of the GamePad. Based on this, it's hard to imagine that with future hardware the impact would be any less severe. $100 tablets are increasingly available, $200 tablets are increasingly powerful. Now there's actually worry that tablets themselves are being cannibalized by large phones. So to me it seems somewhat unlikely that future hardware will come with an extremely expensive controller that contributes to a perception problem that it duplicates the functionality of something someone owns.

How expensive will a GamePad be in 2017~ though? We still don't have a good image of exactly how expensive it is right now. Developing a new controller from ground-up is not cheap either. Of course I recognize what you are saying and I also recognize the fact that seeing GamePad actually live any kind of life after Wii U is unlikely. I really hope this will end up being the case despite this. I truly believe that GamePad has lots to bring and it just simply allows the kind of gameplay that a normal controller doesn't allow. It's not that different from Wiimote in that sense (emphasizing the last three words here).

I'm still having hard time imaging what kind of console Nintendo will make next. Obviously they have to try something new after Wii U failed. If they didn't go for hattrick with trying to make a controller the maindraw of the new platform there would be a better chance of GamePad living on. What's the true drawback of continuing with Pro Controller, Wiimote+Nunchuk and GamePad as controller choices to the next generation? I'm not necessary seeing one here. Of course this all depends on Nintendo's ability to create a compelling platform where they innovate with something else than the controllers.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I don't think it will happen on Wii U either but I hope it will happen with a future Nintendo console since I think there's many good gameplay ideas you could make happen with two GamePads. Mainly in local multiplayer.
I have no idea why you can't use your 3DS as a controller

Hopefully the next handheld will interface somehow with their home console
 

Zalman

Member
Admittedly, I don't own a WiiU, so I may not be up to date on this, but I could have sworn they announced that it would support two gamepads at E3 a few years ago, before the console launched. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they say that, but didn't follow through?
I think they said it CAN support two, which might technically be true. It's just that they aren't planning any games that support that feature. It might have happened if the Wii U had been a success.
 

antibolo

Banned
I bet they planned on people bringing their pad over to friends, but turned out that so few people bought a Wii U that most Wii U owners don't actually know other people in person who also owns a Wii U. So the feature would end up being largely unused.

Kind of like how no western Vita game ever bothers including ad-hoc multiplayer (and how Japanese monhun clone games only get localized over once they get an online patch).
 
E3 was great this year and I was really hoping for Nintendo to announce a $75 gamepad at retail... I don't see this ever happening now honestly :(
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Oh lawd here come the sans-Game Pad whiners again.

It's a bummer given the local multi possibilities, but it wouldn't be worth the inconvenience of having to resync the Game Pad all the time.

Forgive my ignorance but what does resyncing a game pad mean?
 

Cuburt

Member
I thought Splatoon might be the game to use 2 since it was introduced in a LAN set up with the map only shown on the gamepad. I think they said it would have local multiplayer in the final version (I don't know if it's splitscreen) but if only one person gets the screen or the turn it off so no one does, it takes an element out of the game.

I doubt they do only single player/online multiplayer with the game so I don't know how they will solve that problem if only one Gamepad is used.

It makes sense that they'd want to wait until the are more people convinced of the value of the controller and system first and are willing to buy it before they start selling more, especially with the possibility of confusion.

GAF is so big on the idea that people would get confused and try to buy a gamepad for the Wii that I'm surprised people want to shit all over this idea too.
 

Dryk

Member
Admittedly, I don't own a WiiU, so I may not be up to date on this, but I could have sworn they announced that it would support two gamepads at E3 a few years ago, before the console launched. Am I just remembering that wrong, or did they say that, but didn't follow through?
They said that it was technically possible to do so, they didn't say that they were going to. They have to alternate frames between them to pull it off as well.
 

Roo

Member
I'm more worried about the fact that they're still not selling them separately.
I almost broke mine a few weeks ago and the thought of calling Nintendo, sending it for repair, waiting, blah, blah blah instead of going to Best Buy and grab one was just awful.

I know they don't do this because they don't want to confuse consumers "This thing works with my Wii, right?" but it is still annoying.
 

antibolo

Banned
I'm more worried about the fact that they're still not selling them separately.
I almost broke mine a few weeks ago and the thought of calling Nintendo, sending it for repair, waiting, blah, blah blah instead of going to Best Buy and grab one was just awful.

I know they don't do this because they don't want to confuse consumers "This thing works with my Wii, right?" but it is still annoying.

They should still sell them through their spare parts service.
 

Cuburt

Member
The irony seeing this next to the VR comment....

How is it ironic? How does this stop people playing games together when there are 0 games that use 2 gamepads and plenty of games where you can have up to 5 people playing in the same room.

If anything, it reinforces their thinking about VR prices not being low enough for them to get people to adopt. They aren't selling extra gamepads because they still need to convince people that one is a worthwhile investment. Once they do that, then it will make sense for them to have experiences with 2.
 
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