Well, I think it's finally official. I hate to admit it, but if I had the chance to do it all over again, I probably would not have dropped $600+ on the Wii U and 6 games over the last month.
I bought into the hype. First HD Nintendo console. Asymmetric gameplay. Off-TV play. First next-gen system. Online intensive. The list goes on. But I can't help but feel like the whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth.
Perhaps I was expecting too much. But the following realities and frustrations are starting to set in for me:
Shitty ports. Initially I bought into all the excuses, mostly along the lines of developers not dedicating enough time and effort into a system without an established userbase to justify the costs of a true (or dare I say superior?) port. We were led to believe, or perhaps assumed (and rightly so), that seeing as how the system is 6-7 years (6-7 YEARS) newer than PS360, at the least devs would be able to just up the res to 1080p AT LEAST and do nothing else, and the power of a brand new $350 system would be enough to handle it no problem. But that's not the case. Not only that, but the exact opposite is true as we've seen countless comparison articles (Digital Foundry, etc.) proving otherwise.
It especially stings when you got Fils Aime on TV talking about how superior Wii U's ports are and how stellar the graphics are. He is either a liar or he is delusional. There are a few exceptions (Trine 2 for example). I don't know whose fault it is, whether it's Nintendo's or developers/publishers, and I don't care. The bottom line is regardless of any excuse, we are left with just that - excuses and shitty ports.
Slow UI / Lockups. WTF is going on here. 30+ seconds to go into settings? To go into the Eshop? To do anything? This is totally unacceptable and leaves an extremely poor first impression for your shiny new system. It's 2012 for god's sake. I want streamlined, quick shit with fancy fade-ins and outs when I click on a menu item. With no delay other than whatever graphic you use to transition to my selection. I don't want to look at a wrench for 30 seconds when I go to change my wifi settings because the system doesn't like my wifi for some reason. And fix the lockups. This isn't a port issue either. My lockup happened when I clicked to go into MiiVerse. I had to unplug it overnight for it to start up again. It pains me to admit that now looking back I almost wish it bricked so I could have taken the god damn thing back.
Barren 2013 releases. Nintendo really dropped the ball here. They'd better have some serious heavyweights come fall or they are fucked. Look at the competition: God of War, Gears of War, Watch Dogs, Metal Gear, Tomb Raider, Bioshock, Dead Space, the Last of Us. I mean, those are some heavy hitters. And what does Nintendo have? There is one game I know I want to get in 2013 for the Wii U so far: Pikmin 3. And even that game was supposed to be a 'launch window' title. I thought when I preordered my system I'd be picking it up along with the system. Now who knows when it will come out. 2Q13? They better hope so. Sure we got Wonderful 101 which looks sweet but but come on. That game is going to sell zero systems. I will give them Bayonetta 2. That is a step in the right direction. But that's barely scratching the surface of what needs to happen.
Why did Nintendo release their system early if they aren't even going to take advantage of this critical window they have? This is crunch time right now. If they can't come out swinging now they are doomed. RIGHT NOW is when they should be busting out the Metroids, the Zeldas, the Smash Bros. or at least within the next year with confirmed release dates and footage and details. They needed to release all their major franchises in year one and give themselves a fighting chance, establish a strong userbase, and get other pubs on board with some real ports and established franchises. Nintendoids are falling over themselves to see the next Nintendo Direct praying for some amazing reveal and it's some bullshit like NSMB2 DLC. Come on man, seriously.
This goes back to the first point as well. I was wrong initially, because I assumed that because of the 2nd screen most ports would be better by default because it enables new experiences, UI improvements, etc. But when I read that Kotaku (I think) article with the 20ish devs commenting on Wii U ports, one of the devs commented on why some game wasn't coming to Wii U, and made me realize: Because of the 2nd screen functionality, ports are more difficult, take more time, and cost more money. They have to change how the game works. Not like it is with PC/PS360. And that is not a good recipe to get a lot of ports of big games.
Anyway there's more stuff to nitpick but I'm sick of shitting on the Wii U. There are good things about the system as well. MiiVerse is awesome. The gamepad is awesome. Etc. But that's not what this thread is about.
I love Nintendo. But it's because of my love that I feel compelled to express my disappointment up to this point. I feel like I'm watching them from afar in slow motion, and to me it seems so clear that they are taking misstep after misstep. We as fans have an obligation to make clear that things are not going well for them. Pikmin 3 the only major Nintendo release in 1st half 2013 is NOT ACCEPTABLE. That's not going to get the job done, period. They want to sell 6 million consoles by then. Honestly I will be extremely surprised if that happens.
Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully devs figure the system out and can bring some truly amazing games out. Maybe we'll get a ton badass games and we'll all be happy campers. Maybe when Nintendo releases the WiiTV update it will fix all the UI problems. I just hope these things happen sooner than later. Anything after fall 2013 and it's too late.
