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Nintendo: Wii U's GamePad Is The Only Real Innovation This Console Cycle
- Thread starter Tom Nook Sawyer
- Start date
Zomba13
Member
Well, if you don't have it configured so one press is "take picture" then yeah, it doesn't just print screen. It taks you to a little menu where you can choose to upload/save a video which you can edit, upload/save a picture or stream. The Xbone also has something similar with the record and picture features doesn't it? And can also stream? Yeah, it's not located on a button but does have a button combination or a Kinect command (and with the chat pad and it's two programmable buttons will have those features on a button like the PS4).
Plus, like others have said, it doesn't offer much in the way of innovation for gameplay experiences. It is great seeing more games with photomodes allowing you to get great looking shots and share them and that wouldn't really happen without the share button but I still think the game pad offers more gameplay innovation than a system level feature.
That would be great if we didn't already see tons of games last generation with replay functionality and the simple ability to hit the print screen button on PC, or hit the home button and access Miiverse to post a screenshot.
Calling Shareplay innovative is strange to say the least
TheSlySoul
Member
I would say the innovation lies in that everything you do is recorded so when something cool happens you can instantly grab it. Unlike Miiverse where you need to share exactly when it happens (and in Splatoon's case you cannot share your results), you are given a time window to let it process.
That is why MK8 is cool to me because it will capture your moments. Smash replays could have been big but they screwed it up. Splatoon match replays would also be neat. Nintendo needs to focus on what kids like aka sharing their stuff.
Share play is available on PC?! Can I play on another person's PC far away by the press of a button?
WhiskerFrisker
Member
Zombie James
Banned
A tablet with a resistive screen released in 2012 is an innovation.... uh huh...
This is already a feature on Steam that provides that functionality and there has been Skype screen sharing for years in which someone can take control of your screen.
Yeah it's great that Sony streamlined it but the concept is not innovative.
friskykillface
Banned
share button x dvr is pretty amazing, like i love that i can double tap and record something on xbox one
and with the share button i can insta stream x take pics and post on twitter/facebook with ease
wii u gamepad is great for off tv play but thats not really new new, i still love it though
and with the share button i can insta stream x take pics and post on twitter/facebook with ease
wii u gamepad is great for off tv play but thats not really new new, i still love it though
FlashbladeGAF
Member
PS4 is better, because it has remote play.
Because you have to spend more money on another sony device in order to do it.
Tripolygon
Banned
My bad, misread.
Thanks for the advice. I was about to lose a braincell or two.
Lights and Waves
Member
I wrote "not that serious" is response to the anger some of the posters here express at his comments. People on GAF take everything so personally, like his fluff PR statement is some kind of war waged against everything they stand for.
I mean, yes. Though it's through the use of an external applet. Most emulators have it, GGPO allows for it, it's how people played mame games with each other online for years.
The "one button" aspect of it is splitting hairs as you still have to hit more than one button to share play on a PS4. But yes, the functionality has existed before it was on the PS4, it just wasn't in a closed garden system where connections were dictated by one infrastructure.
GustyGardens
Banned
Those games don't give the user access to the feature beyond that game. A lot of so-called innovations can be shut down using an argument similar to yours. Miiverse is part of the Share Button category, to be honest. What Miiverse doesn't allow me to do, is to broadcast my gameplay to the world without the need for extra hardware.
FlashbladeGAF
Member
Handheld gaming isn't new, but console gaming without a tv is.
The question is... is it innovative enough?
I guess if remote play is, then off-tv play is, regardless of the strengths and weaknesses of both.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
New method = innovation
Good to see you coming around to the innovation of share play.
TheSlySoul
Member
That is what I don't get. People downplaying sharing means they are also downplaying Miiverse. Honestly I find Miiverse awesome and made me want to replay games on 3DS/Wii U more often than not.
R_thanatos
Member
You know that some games are affected by thebroadcast mode of share, right ?
Wii U launch - November 18, 2012
PS4 to PS Vita Remote play - June 2013
There was a hack that allowed it but was terrible.
Wii u is the first console that can be played without a tv. It is also native.
protomouse
Member
I pretty much play all my Wii U games (bar Splatoon) exclusively on the Gamepad. I think I can count the games that require a TV on one hand (Zombi U, Affordable Space Adventures, Splatoon, Nintendo Land and Lego City Undercover).
Zomba13
Member
Eh, if you wanted you could have it streamlined on PC. Like,scripts or macros or whatever.
Share Play is cool I guess (never used it, never felt the want to) in that it works across all the games on the platform and there isn't any configuring or whatever to do.
Tripolygon
Banned
I think he means PS3 and PSP.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
So what you're saying is that Sony streamlined a process into a different, unseen one. You know. A new method. You know. An innovation.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
Sure it is possible. But Sony streamlined the method and made it accessible to the masses which is the actual definition of innovation.
Rodney McKay
Member
So what's new and innovative about the Wii U then? I was doing all the same stuff it does (outside of off-TV play) with the DS years before, and even off-tv play is possible with a PC and a phone (or tablet, or Nvidia Shield) and was even possible (but I don't think it was good or widely supported) years earlier with the PS3 and PSP.
Wii U hasn't made nearly as many innovative or inventive uses with the gamepad compared to the DS either, just menus and maps for the most part.
Don't get me wrong, having a screen on my controller is great and it has made it difficult to go back to playing Zelda games any other way (digging into menus constantly to re-equip items sucks, especially on the GB Zeldas) and off-tv play is nice to have, but thinking it's innovative in any way doesn't seem correct at all.
openrob
Member
I am inclined to agree. Gamepad offscreen play is amazing.
Have you played a DS?
Lol.
Zomba13
Member
PS3/PSP remote play was unplayable. It was terrible, slow, clunky and really only even halfway decent at navigating menus (so it's make a turn based game half playable).
It wasn't until the PS4/Vita that it worked right. I mean, I guess they get points for doing it first but then Nintendo should also get points for doing sharing of pictures first.
test_account
XP-39C²
I dont understand why people cant recognize several of things as innovative. Why does it have to be one thing up against another? Innovative just means new or different. Even the touch pad on the PS4 controller and the rumble triggers on Xbox One controller are innovative things.
The share button doesnt have to do anything with marketing. Thats like saying that NeoGAF is a big viral marketing for games because we talk and share information about gaming related things here. I've used the share button many times, but i've hardly shared it with anyone. I capture it mostly for my own sake, and maybe to show to close friends.
I'm not even arguing that the Wii U is innovative, but if you want me to there are gameplay concepts like the multiplayer in ZombiU and Splatoon that could've NEVER been done without it.
It doesn't matter, the functionality is still there. Widespread recording of your games have been available on PC since the invention of FRAPS and before that. As I already stated the concept itself is not innovative to gaming.
Innovation requires disruption, the share button is about as much new as the ability to ask your Xbox to record a TV show.
Gotta love the difference between NoE and NoA.
I mean NoE announce bundles and games, NoA snark all day long while their customers are waiting for announcements.
Disruptive innovation requires disruption.
Disruption doesn't really requires innovation either, it just requires change of value between providers and customers.
You can have disruptive innovation and sustaining innovation.
The 3DS screen is a sustaining innovation while something like Streetpass is more on the disruptive side.
I mean NoE announce bundles and games, NoA snark all day long while their customers are waiting for announcements.
No it doesn't.
Disruptive innovation requires disruption.
Disruption doesn't really requires innovation either, it just requires change of value between providers and customers.
You can have disruptive innovation and sustaining innovation.
The 3DS screen is a sustaining innovation while something like Streetpass is more on the disruptive side.
It could also be a subjective statement, but honestly I agree. I do plan to get a PS4, but I have no need for a Share function and I've removed people from my facebook and twitter feed who abuse the ability to do so. It's not as though I've seen people rave about how a touch pad makes the gaming experience more intuitive, but then again I'm not even sure what games use it.
Xbox's cloud processing now seen in action in Crackdown 3 could prove a serious contender, assuming other games will take advantage of it. But until then...yeah, even if underutilized by most games on the platform the tablet is the only new innovation I've seen with asymmetric gameplay and lowest latency over a modified wireless connection (~2 frame lag, at a 854x480 resolution would require 72 MB/s of data transfer which is too much for WiFi protocols without their compression technology)
Sure they don't do raw power systems, but I like to think Iwata had a hand in ensuring the software tech inside was skilled in handling the power it contained.
Xbox's cloud processing now seen in action in Crackdown 3 could prove a serious contender, assuming other games will take advantage of it. But until then...yeah, even if underutilized by most games on the platform the tablet is the only new innovation I've seen with asymmetric gameplay and lowest latency over a modified wireless connection (~2 frame lag, at a 854x480 resolution would require 72 MB/s of data transfer which is too much for WiFi protocols without their compression technology)
Sure they don't do raw power systems, but I like to think Iwata had a hand in ensuring the software tech inside was skilled in handling the power it contained.
TheSlySoul
Member
Because you can't have PR without putting down other people.
Honestly I think the wording "real innovation" is a bit condescending.
I like the idea of the Gamepad but it has terrible battery life and cannot be turned off when not in use. On DKC it can make the screen black sure but it is still on.
It is too flawed to be real innovation to me.
NoA seems to be all about the smack talk rather than doing anything. They haven't even announced Yoshi's Wooly World CE is on Amazon yet.
theechrisfox
Member
I used the Select button a heck of a lot more than the Share button, so I'm gonna go with the Gamepad on this one. Its still pretty amazing to me that the battery on it lasts longer than a DS4.
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
I will chalk this up to you not quite understanding the English language.
Again the definition of innovation:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation
Doesn't mention disruption anywhere. Disruption is not a required element of innovation.
While disruptive innovation is a concept, it isn't a defined word in our language and is more of an idea.
Off-screen play on the Wii U is great. The 30fps cap and lack of button parity on Vita remote play is the main reason why I never use it (EDIT: I've been corrected on the fps point). Haven't used the Share functionality either, although it does sound pretty cool. I'm oldschool I guess and just capture everything on my PC for editing later.
Drawing on the Gamepad for Miiverse/Art Academy stuff is awesome too, although I do miss pressure/angle sensitivity with dedicated drawing tablets.
As for the Gamepad being the only real innovation this gen? Hell, I think Microsoft not having screw holes on the controller housing is sweet, as is the ability to use it as a wired controller without any batteries. Those are innovations I can get behind.
Drawing on the Gamepad for Miiverse/Art Academy stuff is awesome too, although I do miss pressure/angle sensitivity with dedicated drawing tablets.
As for the Gamepad being the only real innovation this gen? Hell, I think Microsoft not having screw holes on the controller housing is sweet, as is the ability to use it as a wired controller without any batteries. Those are innovations I can get behind.
This lol. No one is saying the Wii U gamepad doesn't have its uses, but some people in here are trying to make it seem like Nintendo is the only company capable of creating something innovative. They would have a point if the gamepad truly was innovative instead of just a console version of a DS. That's just my opinion though.
OG_Original Gamer
Member
I can't say he's wrong or right, Super Mario Maker may turn out to be amazing because of the functionality that the Gamepad may bring.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
Only device that allows artists to create things like this out of the box:
so how is this innovative?
people have been doing this for ages?
piece of paper and some pens seems allot cheaper...
No it's not part of the base definition of innovation, disruptive innovation actually changes a market like the Wii or the process in which games can be made by the invention of new hardware. If we are discussing which is more important disruptive innovation has to come into play of the conversation.
Majmun
Member
orthodoxy1095
Banned
No it doesn't require disruption. You should check a dictionary sometime.
And as far as I know, that wasn't a new ability...but because the Wii U tried it first with TVii?
Guess I need to start using it again. LOL The button thing still annoys me though.