Peter Molyneux says Wii U is good, but not great
Peter Molyneux has all of the respect in the world for Nintendo, but he isn’t sold on the company’s newest console. Speaking with GamesIndustry, the Fable creator said Wii U is “good, but it’s not great.”
Molyneux feels that the two screen approach is “slightly confusing as a consumer.” He also seemed a bit down on the technology powering the system.
“I think the Wii U is good, but I don’t feel it’s great. I’ve played the experience, I’ve played Nintendo Land, I’ve played ZombiU, and they’re good. I find holding the device in my hand–looking up at the screen and looking down at the device–slightly confusing as a consumer. It’s good, but it’s not great. And we really need these new pieces of hardware to be great in today’s world, because the competition is not just consoles anymore. The competition is everything, all the technology. When you’re holding a Kindle Fire or an iPad in your hand, it’s just amazing technology. It really is. It’s expensive, but it’s amazing technology. And people like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft need to match that. They need to match that in my mind, and exceed it. And I’m not sure the Wii U really did that.”
Molyneux may have his doubts when it comes to Wii U, but again, he has high praise for Nintendo in general.
“I’ve got unvelievable respect for Nintendo. They created our industry in a very real sense. I can remember everybody in the industry laughing and giggling about how stupid the Wii was, what a stupid name it was, and who would want motion control. And then it went on to sell what, 60, 70 million copies? It got people who never considered computer games to play them.”
Molyneux did make sure to point out his interest in Wii U’s asymmetric gameplay and attraction of its indie games. Because of the Wii’s huge success, Molyneux thinks it’s possible that his expectations could have been set too high. And in the end, Molyneux has “enduring faith” in Nintendo.
