Only One Wii U Controller Works With Wii U
First off a huge shout out to Stephane Fortier for letting me know about this. I did a little digging and Miyamoto himself has confirmed the Wii U will only sport one screen controller per system. Apparently it’s not a technical issue why this is, but rather a personal one. For multiplayer games everyone else is expected to use a Wii Motion Plus controller. Computer and Videogames has also confirmed this story. While plans could change moving forward the comments Miyamoto-san say are interesting.
“Our basic premise is that you can use one with a system. If we got to an idea of having multiple (controllers) it might be just more convenient for people to use their Nintendo 3DS and have a way to connect that. That being said, we are doing research about if someone brings their controller to their friends house and they want to play together on Wii U to whether or not something like that would be possible.”
I’ll admit that’s quite interesting because the Wiimote doesn’t feature enough buttons to support the games available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So how would local multiplayer work on those titles? Would it be limited to online multiplayer? I know for Nintendo games it’s not a big deal because players could simply use their Wiimotes, but for everything else…
What do you think about this? If you don’t have the ability to buy more than one controller and are forced to use Wiimotes instead that will obviously mix things up considerably.
-
#4 written by Marc-Andre Lacroix 11 months ago
“Investors are not giving the Wii U a vote of confidence. Two days after the new console was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo’s stock continued a two-day slide on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Today, the company’s share price shed another 4.6 percent of its value, ending trading at ¥16,160 ($201.21), a five-year low.”
lol
-
It appears there are a few reasons why the TSE isn’t being very kind to Nintendo right now and they’re logical. Essentially it comes down to this. Investors are worried that Nintendo will treat their new market as a tablet in which case it will be going head to head against the iPad, which already has an installed userbase in the millions. If Nintendo markets this as an HD console, then the 360 and PS3 already have tens of millions of users already. If they treat this as a standalone release, then will there be no third party support or at least limited because it will cost more money to make a Wii U game than a PS3/360 game. Remember that developers have to program for the additional screen. All of these outcomes don’t look positive in their eyes.
Now let’s not forget what happened with the Wii. Everyone and their mother bought one even though everyone was saying it wasn’t comparable to the PS3 and 360. The only difference I can see happening this time around is that the Wii U doesn’t look as though it will be able to capture the same casual crowd as the Wii did. Stranger things have happened though. I showed the concept to the people I know who own a Wii and they were extremely confused, which wasn’t the case when I originally showed them the Wii. Does that mean anything, honestly who knows. I just know that Nintendo wants another Wii and not another Gamecube. That boils down to this, if you guys dislike it, that doesn’t mean the casual market will…but right now I’m not sure who this is going to be marketed towards.
-
1
I think Nintendo put too much stock in assuming that they could simply repeat how they marketed the Wii with WiiU. We saw a prototype black plastic box of the ‘Revolution’ with a blue light at E3, and the controllers at TGS. They were completely going after the casuals with it because of what the DS had accomplished with Brain Age, Nintendogs and whatever other clutter crap was selling. But since prior to this E3 and WiiU’s unveiling, Nintendo made it very clear that they wanted to recapture the hardcore market, I don’t think it was the wisest thing to do to bank on the controller all over again.
I personally think it’s a very neat concept and a lot can be done with it…but when your hardcore game showing is from 360/PS3 footage and nothing of your own software, there problems begin. Telling us about Smash Bros. is nothing surprising. We know nothing about their online infrastructure, nothing about their key franchises’ involvement, just that WiiU is an HD console with a never-before-seen controller. Well, Nintendo seems to forget that that hardcore is all about its graphics, online competition and shooting things. To me it almost seems like they’re trying to continue to appeal to the casual market with the a touch pad, accelerometer and gyroscope, while putting the sticks, pad and buttons back onboard for the hardcore. Well the question is, what direction are they taking?
They can spout wanting to appeal to a wider audience all they want with this platform, but the fact of the matter is that isn’t happening. Nintendo has simply rephrased their previous strategy of ‘blue ocean’ this, and ‘all-inclusive’ that. Why do they think that by taking the supposed best of both worlds of control and marrying them that it will increase the size of their money rake? Plus it’s ridiculous that only one controller would be paired with the system. To me that reeks of uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the concept, or in that the hardcore will actually return. I mean, why should Miyamoto have to say, “We’re researching people taking their controller to a friend’s house.” That just screams that they want their Wii-motes back in full force.
I don’t know my friends. If Nintendo was really serious about reclaiming their core fans, I think it would have been much wiser to show more of their cards. Being secretive now, especially after what the Wii did to the hardcore, is not winning them any pre-orders. I frankly don’t think Sony or Microsoft cared about what they brought, because they’re owning their markets. Absolutely it’s great that we’re getting HD and account-driven online from Nintendo finally, but everything is too ho-hum to motivate fuzzy feelings about this next console. If anything, WiiU seems to be proving that it’s business as usual with Nintendo. Too stubborn to embrace technology, and still too stiff-necked to win publishers back. Don’t forget that you hear publisher testimonies about every new machine, but that doesn’t mean things will stay that way after launch. It doesn’t mean squat that EA, UbiSoft, Irrational and whoever else has said the things said so far. Talk is cheap. We got the same deal with Vita, and there’s no promising that it won’t be another PSP either.
And seriously, am I the only one that thinks ‘a wonderful partnership’ with UbiSoft is a bit pathetic? Yeah, Ubi has some great franchises under its name, but it’s EA’s and Activision’s software that’s selling like hotcakes right now. And plus, there’s nothing convincing 360 or PS3 owners to switch from their Assassin’s Creed or Aliens or Battlefield 3 or Arkham City to WiiU’s. What it sounds like we’re headed for is more Just Dance, Imagine Babiez and more Rabbids crap. Only this time in HD. Woo.
I don’t mean to sound doom ‘n gloom here, I’m really not. Just not impressed now that the dust has settled. I still definitely enjoyed the conference and think it edged Sony’s just a bit for my favorite, but I’m not the least bit convince that Nintendo wants us back. I think that given the lucrative relationships Sony and Microsoft already have with publishers that our old friend just doesn’t have wait to takes to keep these folks on board anymore. If they want to prove themselves, get Modern Warfare 4 on the box exclusively, or something like that. Otherwise, we’ll enjoy HD Mario, Zelda and Metroid.
We’ll see I guess :)
-
I don’t think they’re hiding anything, Justin. It’s just that the general impression is that this new console is way to early in its development stages. No third-party games running. No true first party games running either. Almost nothing other than the concept and controller are finalized. Even the specs are still in the works. Even Jarrod’s news story about having only one controller paired with each console is vague at best because it seems that they’re still exploring the possibilities. I hope it’s not true either way.
This scenario almost reminds me of the Nintendo DS’s debut back in one of the E3s. Very conceptual and even Nintendo was skeptical about their own system. The difference between then and now is that Nintendo was desperate for more audiences back then because they were the losing team. Now, they’re in the winning team but they’re still desperate to gain ahead of their competitors hence they early reveal of Wii U. They had no choice but to show it this year even if it’s early since the Wii’s interest is dying. My big issue with Nintendo this year is if the console’s coming out sometime in 2012, then the Wii still has a year at most in its life. Other than Skyward Sword, they haven’t highlighted any of their post-E3 announcements such as Kirby, Mario Party 9, and Rhythm Heaven. Also, what’s up with not announcing Xenoblade or The Last Story?
-
-
#10 written by Marc-Andre Lacroix 11 months ago
This is a good read so far. We talk about Nintendo reclaiming there core fans and stuff but really. Who are they? Nintendo have been losing the hardcore ever since the release of the PS. Teenagers are growing up playing CoD, not Metroid any more. The people feeling nostalgic for the Nintendo of old are all above 25 now. Below that, forget it. So basically people have moved on and Nintendo has been making toys ever since the 64, where the decline in sales happened. They got lucky with the wii but lets see how far the casual crowd will bring them in the future… They make great games don’t get me wrong, but their consoles are more like toys… they don’t last.
-
The way I see it, maybe the system wasn’t completely ready to be shown but maybe Nintendo’s hand was being forced? The Wii is winding down, the DS is winding down the 3DS is off to something of a lagging start which is reasonably worrying their investors. Nintendo has completely dominated in the past six to seven years as a result of becoming more mass market, designing their devices around accessibility and expanding their products to appeal to more than just the avid gamer. This is in stark contrast to the GCN where Nintendo essentially towed the line of simply beefing up the power and letting the addition of greater internal technology speak for the platform. However, as we all know that didn’t go so well, at least not in comparison to Wii.
With Wii U, Nintendo’s intent is wanting to eliminate this perceived notion that with Wii they only had eyes for the casual consumer along with offering the technology necessary to allow third parties to create more games in league with the 360/PS3. While this is great for the purpose of wanting to alter that perception, the response thus far is that Nintendo is going at extremes to bring in the “core” gamer which their investors might see as being in contrast to the strategy they set forth in motion back in 2004.
Interestingly enough, the way these investors are responding now, is just about exactly how they were responding during the earlier days of Wii, back when it was still called “Revolution.” With that being said, I think it remains a perception issue. It’s one thing to sit and tell people what it’s all about, but when Nintendo keeps doing things that go against the grain, that are unique and unorthodox, simply telling may not be enough. It was like this when the Wii Remote was unveiled and much of the initial response was the knee jerk reaction of “how do I play games with this?” It wasn’t until the post play impressions and videos of journalists playing and relaying what it was like playing with the controller that things came into focus as to the potential of the device. And it has proven to be a success, enough to cause Sony and Microsoft to follow suit with their own methods.
But all the same, that is the situation we’re left with regarding Wii U now and mind you, Nintendo showed off and explained a whole lot more with Wii U’s first unveiling than Nintendo did with Wii’s first three unveilings including the Wii Remote showing at TGS 2005. If anything, maybe the message that Nintendo got across was confusing. I do remember reading on the net how many people were confused as to whether or not the Wii U was the controller or if there was a console. Despite the fact the first promo trailer had the system in it, I guess a lot of people missed it, but Nintendo also didn’t help things by placing so much emphasis on the controller and yet that too is a problem because the controller needs to be emphasized, it’s a key USP (unique selling point) for the platform. Nintendo simply pushing another console that only does what the competition is doing wouldn’t be enough, we saw that with the GCN so Nintendo has something of an obligation to point out why people should care about the platform.
Don’t get me wrong, yes, Nintendo could have shown more and answered more questions, but out of E3 impressions have been largely positive despite that. Makes sense, the system is a year away and according to developers and Nintendo the system’s final specifications are still “in flux”. In due time we’ll know more and there are plenty of events along the way where Nintendo can do just that to answer more questions. Interestingly enough, the questions that people want to know are not the questions that these investors are asking. They’re on a completely different plane of thinking here from the people who go to and watch the events that unfold at E3. The reasons they are concerned with what Nintendo is doing is not for the same reasons that say, Justin Joseph and Marc-Andre Lacroix, are concerned over.
I think Jarrod may have the most reasonable answer in that there may be concern over how effective Nintendo can be trying to find as much of a middle ground as possible between two extremes.
-
Nice to see you around, Marcus.
But yeah, I’m in agreement with the fact that Nintendo’s obviously forced to show its cards early. From their whole presentation, the fact is that the Wii U is still really early and I won’t be surprised if it’s projected release date is Holiday 2012. Around E3 of 2012 will be the perfect time for them to launch, but if there’s no in-game footage from developers and even their own showings were simply demos and not final products, then yeah they just had to show their cards early. But it was dumb of them not to have focus on the Wii because it still has one year left in its lifecycle, even if it’s outdated.
-
-
1
Investors are worried about the future guys, and perception. So long as the platform sells well, the numbers will go back up. I’m not sure why everyone is jumping on this story, it happens with most hardware reveals. Sony also lost points in the market when the Vita was announced, even though according to everyone on the net it looks like it will be everything the PSP wasn’t. So what does that mean? Nothing, that’s what it means.
On a more personal level, this unveiling was underwhelming. We didn’t get to see one game, not one single game. The tech demos shown were all focused on the new controller, but we didn’t even get to hear about the console itself. There was also no network reveal. Similar to the Wii, only certain information was released to the public, but this time around the message was more mixed. Nintendo has clearly stated that their intention is to bring back the hardcore crowd and continue with their newfound casual market. That’s fine, but they likely should have only discussed a few network features and maybe, just maybe have the controller reveal and left it at that. Then put the focus on the Wii’s exclusive titles like The Last Story, Xenoblades, etc. By doing what they did the hardcore are likely to skip past all this until more concrete info is released. The casuals also might be confused because this new interface is nowhere near as simplistic as the Wiimote was. Know what I mean? I think the bottom line is that Nintendo simply made a mistake with their unveiling and should have thought this through a little differently. Even the big gaming press is having mixed thoughts on what Nintendo is trying to achieve here.
A perfect Nintendo E3 would have focused on the 3DS, and a huge bow-out for the Wii. End the press conference with a quick explanation of the new Nintendo network being created and a quick controller reveal. Promise new information around the time of TGS. There you go, tease everyone and it buys time for some software to get the hardcore crowd onboard and eliminates any negative press because no one would have actually tried the controller yet. It also puts the focus on the Wii, which would have been smarter in my opinion. Right now I doubt anyone will be buying Wii software for the remainder of the year because according to Nintendo the machine is all but dead. That’s not the way you want to keep players waiting is it? There’s over a year and a half wait until the next console hits, more than enough time for players to skip on over to the PS3 and 360 camps.
-
Echoing my statements exactly, Jarrod. And yes, a strategy like what you described would’ve been more effective. Tease the public with the controller and a few tech demos, then promise a full unveiling later in the year (TGS, etc). Scoffing off the Wii’s final moments pissed me off so much. While I’m happy there was post conference Wii content in the form of Kirby and Mario Party 9, no talk of Xenoblade or The Last Story is simply insulting. Nintendo of Europe already confirmed Xenoblade and they’re teasing The Last Story, but the North American division continues to neglect publishing good Wii content. NOE even brought Disaster and Another Code R to their regions.
-
-
Yeah Ahmed, I’m not sure what NoA is trying to do. They must realize that based on what they showed at E3 their console is pretty well dead. There’s so much time between now and the Wii U launch that they could have really made this E3 all about the Wii’s final days. Very bizarre way of handling the final days of the platform, especially one that has been so successful for the company.
-
- Comment Feed for this Post
This isn’t very good news at all. Brings up a lot more questions for sure!