Well, the best I can think of is that Japan is having a harder time with the recession than America is.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/wi...about-337/
That's all I can think of to explain why this system appears to be so expensive yet have such low capabilities. Will I get it? Well Nintendo still makes amazing games and their system is the only way to play them... probably yes. But this cost is insane for what we get. The storage space is somewhat decent now as opposed to the downright offensive 2GB the Wii had, but far shy of the now-standard 250GB hard drives the 360 and PS3 now ship with (and USE, since they now have essentially removed the size limit on downloadable games and MS for their part has put EVERY 360 game on their network as a download).
2 GB RAM... Well it's 4 times the RAM in the 360, so it IS an upgrade, but my phone has the same amount of RAM and cost less. I don't know what the rest of the specs are, but developers have commented they're "competitive with the 360 and PS3", which is the polite way of saying they caught up, but don't intend to do any more than that.
The controller is ridiculously overpriced considering a fully featured Android tablet is in the same price range.
That's the reality. PCs are making a big comeback lately, and if consoles are going to be that expensive and barely compete with the top of the line 6 years ago, there's a problem. So long as MS can manage to keep systems launched with Windows 8 "clean" and make it a bit harder for anyone but power users to install background services and auto-starting applications (the single biggest threat to system stability and speed over the course of owning a PC), then the PC is poised to take over the role consoles have been in.
So here we sit. Android and iOS are threatening the portable market heavily, and in spite of lacking any physical buttons. The PC is in a position it hasn't been in almost a decade, with so many unique and innovative games coming out constantly and a variety of OSes, all with a good amount of stability.
The system is $300 in the US, November 18th. $350 for the deluxe model. The deluxe model in the US will also include NintendoLand; I guess the basic might not have a packin? Still though, at least one model does, and the price difference isn't that big.
But even so, yeah, it will be Nintendo's most expensive system ever. "So expensive" sounds a bit much, though, it's well below the starting prices for the PS3 or 360, and it IS more powerful than either of them. The PS4 and Xbox3 are certain to cost more than that as well. (As for those Japanese prices, Japanese systems always cost more, you know.)
Quote: The storage space is somewhat decent now as opposed to the downright offensive 2GB the Wii had, but far shy of the now-standard 250GB hard drives the 360 and PS3 now ship with (and USE, since they now have essentially removed the size limit on downloadable games and MS for their part has put EVERY 360 game on their network as a download).
It does support USB hard drives, as well as SD cards up to 32GB.
Quote: 2 GB RAM... Well it's 4 times the RAM in the 360, so it IS an upgrade, but my phone has the same amount of RAM and cost less. I don't know what the rest of the specs are, but developers have commented they're "competitive with the 360 and PS3", which is the polite way of saying they caught up, but don't intend to do any more than that.
The system is definitely more powerful than PS3 or 360. It may not be a full generational leap above them, but it does seem to be more powerful. Whether developers actually use that power is another story entirely, of course.
As for the controller, we've always known that it will be expensive. With all that stuff on it, that large of a screen, wireless streaming tech, etc, it's going to be expensive. Do we know the US price, though? I imagine it'll be less than it is in Japan.
As for Windows 8, I'm definitely disliking what I've heard of it... I really, REALLY hope that MS does not do what some fear they will with this and go towards and Apple-style system. That would be disastrous and should make Windows 8 a should-avoid for anyone... (Yes, you might be able to go into another mode which actually lets you use normal Windows, but still, that default tablet-style thing is the main thing people will see...) Yeah, we don't know this for sure, but still...
Quote:But even so, yeah, it will be Nintendo's most expensive system ever.
Adjusted for inflation, the NES was $426 at launch. The games, also adjusted, averaged about a hundred each.
Adjusting for inflation is fine, but the WiiU is $299-$349 while the Xbox360/PS3 are about $250 [and generally struggling to sell at that price].
They're both old consoles, seven and six years old respectively. Their market is probably pretty saturated.
The WiiU is basically a slightly more powerful Xbox360/PS3, though, not a true next generation console like the Xbox720 and PS4 will be. That's where the problem with the WiiU's pricing will come into play, particularly if those other new consoles or similarly priced are just slightly more expensive.
Uh, didn't the Wii prove that people care more about other things, and less about whether a system has full next-gen power or not? I would say so!
The Wii rode a wave of casual gamer irrational exuberance thanks largely to the Wiimote. Nintendo is obviously hoping to replicate this sales frenzy with the WiiU tablet, but that's a very tall order and I think they're setting themselves up for some major disappointment.
Well, I don't know if it'll be a massive explosive success like the Wii, but early signs seem to be good for the launch, at least. It's got some solid games, a unique controller that people who've used it often seem to like, etc.
The problem is that Nintendo is really pushing heavy to bring back hardcore gamers, and that's where the price is going to be an issue.
Honestly, I'd be happier without cheap gimmicks (or expensive gimmicks, in many cases). Motion sensitivity can be very unresponsive and therefore very frustrating during gameplay. I'd much rather just use buttons. Buttons have worked well for decades. There's a reason the Power Glove failed, and while the technology now is better than what we had in the 80's, it still makes for an overall inferior experience. Let me put it this way: it was so much easier to make Donkey Kong do a roll jump by pressing and holding the Y button and then pressing the B button rather than shaking the Wii remote and hoping that it registers properly. It was so much easier for Link to throw bombs when all you had to push was the corresponding C button rather than making sure the Wii remote is correctly calibrated to the motion sensor and then holding the remote in the air and swinging it downward in the hopes that he'll actually throw the bomb instead of slashing it with his sword and blowing himself up in the process. It's annoying to have the game respond and do something you didn't want it to do just because you reached up to scratch your nose.
HD is a plus, TVii sounds pretty cool, and I'm glad they're keeping WiiWare, Virtual Console, etc. as they have all been revolutionary advances in gaming technology that have thoroughly enriched the gaming experience. Motion sensitivity, though... highly flawed and completely unnecessary. I guess it's okay in games like Wii Sports or even Mario Kart Wii, and it wasn't even that bad in Twilight Princess (though I still prefer the Gamecube version), but they've tried to hard to incorporate it into games that don't need it (platformers, for example), and I honestly feel that the Motion Plus upgrade has made Skyward Sword a more aggravating experience than Twilight Princess, with the increased dependency on the accuracy of your swings and the absolute necessity of performing the correct swing on certain enemies such as the Deku Babas whose mouths change direction.
As for whether I'm interested in getting a Wii U... yes, eventually. I always buy Nintendo's new systems and I'm always at least somewhat satisfied. It's guaranteed to have good games from classic franchises. I think I'll wait until more of those games come out though. When it has a Zelda game, at the very least, I'll be interested.
Wait, downloadable games and emulated software are "revolutionary advances" now? I'm pretty sure the PC had both of those years before the Wii came along, and the 360 perfected it better than Nintendo ever did.
I get what you mean about poor use of controls. Ideally the motion controls should be used in those situations where they do a better job than buttons could, and not be forced on players in unwelcome situations.
Pikmin 2 on Wii is an example of where motion controls shine. Twilight Princess, as much as I was wow'd by it when it first came out, is an example of really awkward controls.
The thing is, I actually really like Skyward Sword's motion controls. Are they needed? Not strictly, but they do a much better job than Twilight Princess (though still not quite 1 to 1) and I really enjoyed sword battles in that game. That said, some things just are done better with buttons. The DS Zelda games probably should have had a button based control scheme, with the exception of map making and setting paths for Zelda. Along those lines, I really don't want to see forced tablet controls. New Super Mario Bros 2 used the touch screen to switch items with no option to use the select button (which was mapped the same as the start button). There was no reason for that. I hate smudging a screen when I don't need to. I also didn't like that game's implementation of 3D. Super Mario 3D Land hit it perfectly, but NSMB2, aside from not needing 3D (it's a purely 2D game) did something really annoying. The higher the 3D slider, the blurrier the background layers got, like an artificial "depth of field" effect. The backgrounds look amazing in that game, and there's a bit of "depth" with the layers there, but it's not at all worth the effort when the game blurs it out in 3D. Better to play it in 2D and keep everything crystal clear (right now).
The Wii's got plenty of amazing games at this point, and I loved Kirby's Return to Dreamland, so yes, I'll pick up the Wii U. I just think the Wii U is going to end up like the Gamecube in the next generation. Sales will still be decent enough for them to keep trucking along, but it'll mainly be a generation for the Nintendorks such as ourselves. I could be surprised though.
Perhaps "revolutionary" is too strong a word for Nintendo's technological advances. Compared to its competitors, Nintendo is not very technologically savvy; they're usually a generation or so behind the competition in that regard. Nevertheless, by Nintendo's standards, DLC and virtual gaming are new features for the Wii that no previous Nintendo system has ever had.
Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks did indeed try too hard to incorporate the stylus into absolutely every aspect of the game. I'm glad that the 3DS comes with an analog stick so that we can enjoy Ocarina of Time 3D in the traditional way. Using the touch screen as a place to store items is a neat idea. If I could make one minor criticism, it's that it can be very annoying having to hold your stylus while you're playing the game and not using the stylus, but if you set it down somewhere, you may need it in a flash at some point, or else smudge your screen. I often try to use the tip of my fingernail in those cases. This is a very minor gripe, but... yeah.