I just spent 5 minute stammering an explanation to my nephew about what it is, why it's so cool, and still I wasn't able to explain the Wii U. Not really.

 

Check it out.  It's so cool and an evolutionary device, but man is it hard to describe.

 

Wii U Trailer E3 2011 Nintendo Press Conference [HQ]

 

 

It's an Xbox/PS3 with a iPad controller. I don't find it revolutionary at all...

Considering you can't actually use an iPad as a PS360 controller, it's innovative. Even if you could, I don't think they would easily synchronize in the same way. Price point is probably the variable in how successful it will be. If Nintendo subsidizes the console/controller in order to bank on the sale of games, the way Sony and MS do, they should be able to make it affordable.

 

Overall, very impressive. I think it will lend itself to easier third party innovation than the various current motion controllers have. The Wii's controller has still yet to be used to its full potential, which can be seen by games that actually do use it in creative and non-gimmicky ways.

 

I would also consider MS's focus on voice recognition in games as innovative, regardless of the technology not being new (and actually Nintendo did it with a Pikachu game for N64, years ago). It will be interesting to see where that goes, as it's the only thing with a legitimate chance to one-up Nintendo in creativity since XBox Live started (or I guess since Steam started, really).

Nice, but how innovative is that? Wii was an evolutionary and innovative step forward as well - simple, wireless controls that can detect movement. Project Natal - now Kinect from Microsoft, is evolutionary and innovative. Controlling movements with gestures and free flowing hand movements is a step forward to a new interaction, while the Wii U is merely advancing a controller that has been around since the Atari days.

If they could cross what is happening with U and Kinect we could move closer to what Tom Cruise was doing in Minority Report.

If they could cross what is happening with U and Kinect we could move closer to what Tom Cruise was doing in Minority Report.

 

Bad acting?

Nice, but how innovative is that? Wii was an evolutionary and innovative step forward as well - simple, wireless controls that can detect movement. Project Natal - now Kinect from Microsoft, is evolutionary and innovative. Controlling movements with gestures and free flowing hand movements is a step forward to a new interaction, while the Wii U is merely advancing a controller that has been around since the Atari days.

Why is a controller which senses motion innovative, but not one which displays game content?

 

The main thing I see about Natal which is innovative is the voice recognition; the gesture stuff seems like "wow, Nintendo is on to something...how do we do the same thing without doing the same thing?"

 

In reality, motion control has been done before:

 

Gesture control has been done before:

 

On-controller screens and dual screens have been done before:

 

Voice recognition has been done before:

 

Touch screens, too:

 

Even 3D:

 

You guys are just being picky and not giving Nintendo its due for doing something cool and new.

Nice, but how innovative is that? Wii was an evolutionary and innovative step forward as well - simple, wireless controls that can detect movement. Project Natal - now Kinect from Microsoft, is evolutionary and innovative. Controlling movements with gestures and free flowing hand movements is a step forward to a new interaction, while the Wii U is merely advancing a controller that has been around since the Atari days.

Why is a controller which senses motion innovative, but not one which displays game content?

 

The main thing I see about Natal which is innovative is the voice recognition; the gesture stuff seems like "wow, Nintendo is on to something...how do we do the same thing without doing the same thing?"

 

In reality, motion control has been done before:

 

Gesture control has been done before:

 

On-controller screens and dual screens have been done before:

 

Voice recognition has been done before:

 

Touch screens, too:

 

Even 3D:

 

You guys are just being picky and not giving Nintendo its due for doing something cool and new.

 

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic?

 

There may be predecessors to elements of the Wii U remote, but I don't think you can attack Nintendo for redesigning and refining these technologies. The Power Glove was notorious for not working whatsoever and having an extensive coding sequence to work for different games; the Virtual Boy is not remotely 3d, actually causes headaches, thereby requiring the user to take it off after 20 minutes or so, and only exists because Nintendo couldn't release the Nintendo 64 in time; no one cared about touch screens until the iphone/ipod touch as they had massive sensor problems; the Dreamcast minscreen was a cool idea but no one cared about it; and regarding dual screens, well, that's pretty cool too.

 

Heck, even the Wii is more or less a massive overhaul of the U-Force, so you can argue that it's not completely original either.

 

It's not about thinking up a concept; it's about making it work. And this remote looks like it'll do that.

 

 

 

If you call the Virtual Boy "3D" (it's not 3D) that made people vomit and get sick after playing just 10 minutes of it - and was a total failure on Nintendo's part "cool," then...

 

 

The headset pictured (VRU) for the N64 was a poor piece of shit - I own it and tested it with the Pikachu game, and my voice was not high pitched enough for it to detect. There is Wii Speak, but it is generally to communicate with other players.

 

As for the rest - I'm sure you are being silly - have you ever used a power glove? Or the pad? They were  all pieces of shit - I rarely got the power glove to work, and had more success with that than the "gun" that came with the Nintendo. With the "gun," you can just aim it anywhere on the screen and be remotely successful.

 

The Kinect - while using a similar idea to perhaps something conceived in an idea years ago, was not possible due to technological limitations. It has -never- been done before, and nor has it been imitated. I mean, did the Nintendo crap have a RGB camera with a depth sensor? Did it have a multi-array microphone with voice recognition capabilities (without having to have a high pitched voice)? Or full body 3D motion capture using range camera technology using IR light? Or acoustic source localization and ambient noise suppression? It cannot be compared because nothing has been developed like it before.

I will say one thing about Nintendo that was surprising: they definitely did not make it clear what the Wii U is. In fact, it's not the remote but rather a whole new system (which I didn't even realize at first). The video did not remotely make that clear or address other issues such as is the remote mobile (I don't believe it is, but it's hard to tell), does it have tablet-like functions, what does the new system (and not the remote) actually do that's different, specs, visual (they didn't even show what it looks like), and so on.

 

 

The beauty of the wii was its simplicity. It was something that anyone, grandparent, toddler, or anyone in between, could use and have fun with. Use of the controllers, and really, the simpler graphics made it very intuitive to use.  This....seems much more complicated. For gamers, I see it maybe being a plus, as you can have multiple POV's in a game, and based on the article, use it as a component (like a shield), a controller, or a menu.

 

But if I'm upgrading, it's for something I can use with my 3,4 and 6 yo, and that's not going to be this. I'm sure I'm a small component of the larger gamer market, but I think they're losing sight of what made the Wii so universally accepted.

Sherman, not really sure what is going on with the Nintendo hating? So what? Companies push technologies to the market before they are ready all of the time. I applaud Nintendo for the wii, where as at the time Sony and MS were involved in a bigger faster war, they decided to try to do something different with game play. Which has led to the Kinnect and such...

 

Nintendo's biggest flop, the NES Robot...R.O.B.

 

It certainly was a piece of crap and only two games came out for it, but I think R.O.B. was more a marketing ploy than an actual legitimate accessory. Not sure I'd call it a flop - it served its purpose: to introduce the NES to the United States.

Not Nintendo hating, as much as replying to the above post. I own all of the Nintendo systems and nearly all of the accessories, and hundreds of games. I own the Wii, but do not play it all that often anymore.

 

I can give some dumps to the Sega and Sony side as well, like the 32X attachment for the Genesis, which was nothing more than a giant crapload of ... crap. Ever wondered why it would take 3 power adapters, metal prongs and bulky attachments to run a system that was about to be replaced with the Sega CD?

I understand how a

I will say one thing about Nintendo that was surprising: they definitely did not make it clear what the Wii U is. In fact, it's not the remote but rather a whole new system (which I didn't even realize at first). The video did not remotely make that clear or address other issues such as is the remote mobile (I don't believe it is, but it's hard to tell), does it have tablet-like functions, what does the new system (and not the remote) actually do that's different, specs, visual (they didn't even show what it looks like), and so on.

 

It's funny because even industry analysts/commentators didn't understand it either. It's kinda absurd since they (and myself) had the benefit of also seeing the graphics capability demo video which would have told anyone that's spent 5min with the original Wii that it was a new system.

 

 

This is video from the E3 convention hall so turn your volume down to avoid annoying convention space audio.

Er, Sherman, the Sega CD was never intended to replace the 32X. Sega CD came out before 32x and there were even games that required both the CD and the 32X. You would only need three power cables when using the 32X and CD at the same time. 32X upgraded color and graphical abilities, whereas a Sega CD only gave games more room for CD quality sound, larger games and grainy full motion video.

Would the rumored Sega Neptune consolidate the genisis, 32x, and sega cd or just the genisis and 32x. I've heard conflicting reports.

I can't remember; that time was so chaotic in the hardware business.

I think Sherman meant the Saturn, not Sega CD.

My examples were meant to show how absurd the claim is that "the Wii U is merely advancing a controller that has been around since the Atari days." Of course Natal is a quantum leap over Hey You, Pikachu and the Sega Activator. Not merely advancing, but actually making something original. The Wii U is likewise original.

Er, Sherman, the Sega CD was never intended to replace the 32X. Sega CD came out before 32x and there were even games that required both the CD and the 32X. You would only need three power cables when using the 32X and CD at the same time. 32X upgraded color and graphical abilities, whereas a Sega CD only gave games more room for CD quality sound, larger games and grainy full motion video.

 

Sorry, had them confused. Sega is not one of the more history friendly companies - it was just a mess.

 

Sega Genesis 1989

Sega CD 1992

Sega 32X Nov. 1994

Sega CD 32X Nov. 1994

Sega Saturn Nov. 1994 in Japan, May 1995 in US

 

More confusing, is that the 32X had a metal bracket to have it work with the Genesis II system.

 

Sega Neptune was a Genesis and 32X combined that was to be released in 1994/1995 for $200, which was to solve the problems that the original 32X had. But by the time the prototype was released, the Saturn was almost ready for production...

 

Want a clusterfuck of a system? Combine the Sega Genesis with the 32X and the CD, and then see all of the resulting cable junk that you have. It was pathetic.

^ Don't forget the Nomad.

Plus the master system came out a few years before the genesis. Not sure if it was released in the US at first.

And now we know why Sega no longer exists as a console developer :P

Developing all that hardware in such a short time had to lead to serious debt problems.

Nintendo's biggest flop, the NES Robot...R.O.B.

 

 

Here you go: all of the gadgets, including ROB!

 

Why do Nintendo things always have to be so clunky.  I understand all ages of kids will beat the crap out of this thing, but it's got a hell of a lot of extra plastic. 

Video gaming systems aren't innovative at all to me. The best thing about Wii is netflix, thats all I use Wii for. You want proof that gaming hasn't advanced as much as it should? It was around 1995. I would have been about 9. 3D graphics had just recently come into the picture with 32 and 64 bit-based systems. There I am at Sun Tv fooling around on a computer. It had this skiing game on it. You put your index finger in this thing that looks like it's reading your pulse. You simply think of an action, like swerving left to avoid a tree and it executes your thought. As far as I know, they didn't do anything with the technology.

Kids have it so easy these days. My NES powerpack used to overheat after being plugged in only for a couple hours. The screen would always freeze and Id have to constantly blow into the cartridges until my lips were sore.

Yeah, but those load times sure were awesome back in the day.

^Ha! Try loading a game off a tape drive of an Atari 800!!! You had to wait for the whole thing to play into the computers tiny little memory.

^Ha! Try loading a game off a tape drive of an Atari 800!!! You had to wait for the whole thing to play into the computers tiny little memory.

 

Just think how long the load times would have been if the computer's memory wasn't so tiny!

Video gaming systems aren't innovative at all to me. The best thing about Wii is netflix, thats all I use Wii for. You want proof that gaming hasn't advanced as much as it should? It was around 1995. I would have been about 9. 3D graphics had just recently come into the picture with 32 and 64 bit-based systems. There I am at Sun Tv fooling around on a computer. It had this skiing game on it. You put your index finger in this thing that looks like it's reading your pulse. You simply think of an action, like swerving left to avoid a tree and it executes your thought. As far as I know, they didn't do anything with the technology.

 

There was a pinball machine in the early '90s which used sensors that attached to your skull. All you'd have to do was think about the flippers and they would move. I never got to play it. Regular arcades like Aladdin's Castle and Quarterflash didn't have it.

 

Maybe it didn't catch on because they were finding out things about people that they didn't like. Sort of like how that arcade game Polybius erased people's feelings.

^Ha! Try loading a game off a tape drive of an Atari 800!!! You had to wait for the whole thing to play into the computers tiny little memory.

 

Argh, I've got a 400 here with a tape drive and tapes but the belt is broken on the drive. I wanna play some Hangman or States & Capitals.

Most Android apps are so primitive they could work on Atari but it's "the latest thing". Yawn. Alchemy and Angry Birds kept me occupied for about ten minutes.

 

Certainly no more primitive than tetris, pacman, and bejewelled, yet new consoles keep printing these games, which are fundentally unchanged. Not sure app store games are just a fad--they're kind of a return to arcade games (play for a few minutes, infinite levels, play for points and rank, extremely cheap and simple, etc)...

People have been doing stuff with brain controls. I don't know of any videogames, though the so-called vitality sensor could have done something kinda like that.

 

Here's a video about a brain controlled game you can find on Amazon:

Certainly no more primitive than tetris, pacman, and bejewelled, yet new consoles keep printing these games, which are fundentally unchanged. Not sure app store games are just a fad--they're kind of a return to arcade games (play for a few minutes, infinite levels, play for points and rank, extremely cheap and simple, etc)...

 

I played Tetris (by EA) on my iphone.  They should ban this game.  By the end you are smashing the screen with your fingers to frantically rotate the pieces.  It kept me busy the whole way from Chicago to Cincinnati on the bus.