Support NeoGAF

[rpmurphy]

Well there's 2 issues there:

1) Nintendo's strength is social multiplayer in the same room. So it's worrying when the only way to share the same experience of the Wii U with someone else is through online which is something Nintendo have never got right.
2) The main benefits of a private screen is so you can see things other players can't, which is only a benefit with local multiplayer. As soon as you remove that possibility, most of the benefits of a controller with a display go out the window.

It all leaves the concept seeming very confusing.

That's the reason though why Nintendo pushed the idea of asynchronous multiplayer at E3 by demoing Chase Mii and Battle Mii (and Killer Freaks). Even with one Wii U controller, new local multiplayer designs are opened up.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

I dont get why people want multiple (more than two) wii U controllers on a console. Doesn't online multiplayer guarantee the same exact (minus the local aspect) experience?

Nintendo doesn't get online, they also doesn't push the use of online modes and features like Microsoft does.

Nintendo likes to promote the good local multi-player, but now they are limiting the experience with just one controller, two or three is also not acceptable, four is the basic and that's what they should aim for.

 

[Lufiaddict]

I dont get why people want multiple (more than two) wii U controllers on a console. Doesn't online multiplayer guarantee the same exact (minus the local aspect) experience?

That's why people want multiple controllers.

 

[DECK'ARD]

With this current setup, Nintendo can't even bring Four Swords Adventure/Crystal Chronicles (which both highlights the strength of having a local screen + big screen) to the Wii U. When you can't support the best ideas that you've established before, then there's a problem.

Yeah, it's frustrating to see from someone like Nintendo. They usually take proven technology and apply it well, in this case they're running with technology that has clear limitations and are trying to spin their way around it. Despite the fact most of the benefits of an extra display are killed by the limitations of the wireless streaming to just one of them.

Hardware wise the system looks nice, Pikmin alone will ensure I want one, but it's going to be so annoying all the instances where the controller could have been put to better use by having more than one of them.

 

[DECK'ARD]

That's the reason though why Nintendo pushed the idea of asynchronous multiplayer at E3 by demoing Chase Mii and Battle Mii. Even with one Wii U controller, new local multiplayer designs are opened up.

It's all spin though.

All those demonstrations would have worked better with more than one controller, as you'd have been able to switch master/slave players on the fly. And they would have been joined with far better demonstrations of the concept as well.

No amount of spinning by Nintendo will get round the fact that as it stands the technology isn't able to deliver the concept. Which personally puts a downer on my interest in the system, the new possibilities it does open up are dwarfed by all the things that it could have done with the whole concept intact.

If you can't do it right, it's arguably better to wait until you can.

 

[J-Rock]

 

[Ebenezer]

It's all spin though.

Agreed. Nintendo isn't pushing asynchronous gaming because they WANT to, they're pushing it because they HAVE to. They don't have any other choice because that's all the console can currently do.

What I want to know is with these "We're looking into it" articles and I believe another clip of Reggie somewhere saying that things are almost finalized, If this WiiU is launching let's say in November'12, how long do they have between now and when everything must be finalized so they can go into mass production? That takes like at least 3 months before release, right? So if they're shooting for November then they've got until August-ish so 13 months. Others say they're looking at an April release. That would give them until about January which would be about 6 months.

If they only have between 6 and 13 months left, and they've been working on WiiU in Miyamotos words for at least 2 years, and they found what they have so far acceptable enough to show off in their world debut, then I don't see things getting significantly better in terms of supporting more than one WiiUPad. They might cave in and add analog sticks and triggers, but I think it's gonna wind up only supporting the one new pad.

 

[rpmurphy]

It's all spin though.

All those demonstrations would have worked better with more than one controller, as you'd have been able to switch master/slave players on the fly. And they would have been joined with far better demonstrations of the concept as well.

No amount of spinning by Nintendo will get round the fact that as it stands the technology isn't able to deliver the concept. Which personally puts a downer on my interest in the system, the new possibilities it does open up are dwarfed by all the things that it could have done with the whole concept intact.

If you can't do it right, it's arguably better to wait until you can.

Yeah I suppose. Everybody who expected that the controller would be expensive which would hamper the possibility of multiple controller use turned out to be right on the mark, and that's going to be a big hurdle that would have to be tackled if Nintendo decided to support multiple Wii U controller use from the start. The last thing Nintendo or others need again is a PS3 situation where cost becomes a devastating disincentive.

The console is still a year from launch, and again, they could always go for gradual adoption of additional controllers by bundling it in with software (like they did with Wii Play) so that later generation games can take advantage of the kinds of multiple Wii U controller gameplay that people here have been envisioning.

 

[TunaLover]

"There's a cost issue," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Japanese business site Diamond Online. According to Iwata, Nintendo aims to have the console and games support one Wii U Controller.

"Technically, it is possible for the Wii U to support multiple Wii U Controllers," Iwata said. However, this will result in a "considerable" price increase.

According to Iwata, "We're not planning on asking our customers to buy multiple Wii U Controllers."

Sorry if old
I wonder how many people will buy more controllers, with luck I can afford for Wii U and some games =P

 

[DECK'ARD]

Agreed. Nintendo isn't pushing asynchronous gaming because they WANT to, they're pushing it because they HAVE to. They don't have any other choice because that's all the console can currently do.

What I want to know is with these "We're looking into it" articles and I believe another clip of Reggie somewhere saying that things are almost finalized, If this WiiU is launching let's say in November'12, how long do they have between now and when everything must be finalized so they can go into mass production? That takes like at least 3 months before release, right? So if they're shooting for November then they've got until August-ish so 13 months. Others say they're looking at an April release. That would give them until about January which would be about 6 months.

If they only have between 6 and 13 months left, and they've been working on WiiU in Miyamotos words for at least 2 years, and they found what they have so far acceptable enough to show off in their world debut, then I don't see things getting significantly better in terms of supporting more than one WiiUPad. They might cave in and add analog sticks and triggers, but I think it's gonna wind up only supporting the one new pad.

Yeah, I'm not expecting a change in the one-controller focus either for various reasons. The main one being that if the limiting factor for just one is the wireless streaming, then the customised GPU is likely to have been fixed at a small second buffer for just one screen for cost/powers reasons.

All the talk that came out after E3 about looking into extra controllers etc. as a response to the negative feedback just came across as incredibly disingenuous. Multiple controllers would have been one of the very first things they looked at with regard to streaming, as well as keeping the latency down. They would have experimented with this already, and the system we see now is a result of those experiments. It will have been designed around the limitations.

I mean since E3 we've gone from all you need is one controller for the benefits of asymmetrical gaming, to they are looking into supporting more than one, to now it can do it but they want to spare people the cost. Well, it never stopped them encouraging people to take their Wiimote to other people's houses before did it? They even let you put your Mii's on it.

All the spinning is very annoying, and I think that explains the overall lack of confidence in the concept that came across at the E3 reveal. For once Nintendo are pushing ahead with a concept that goes against a lot of their philosophy and their strengths. I'm sure there are as many doubts and different views in Nintendo about it, as there are here. Ever since the NES they've pushed a minimum of 2 controllers, people sharing that experience.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

 

[J-Rock]

You win.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Sorry if old
I wonder how many people will buy more controllers, with luck I can afford for Wii U and some games =P

Well there was talk that it wouldn't even be possible to buy more controllers.

 

[ciD_Vain]

wow, what have i started

 

[Nessus]

If Nintendo are forsaking traditional local multiplayer in favor of asymmetrical multiplayer (which is fine) they had better include a Wiimote+ and nunchuck in the box.

Developers have to know that every person who buys their game will have access to both control types before they bother spending time to support such a feature.

That would go a long way to making up for the apparent glaring oversight of not being able to support more than 1 Wii U controller.

If they did this it'd also be like the first system since the SNES to come with 2 player capability out of the box.

 

[jump_button]

why not add it if they can do it,and i hope it will come with a wii mote as well