Wii U

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments

One aspect of the Wii U controller that has been a concern for some fans is its analog nubs. It almost seemed as though Nintendo took a step backward by implementing sticks that are more comparable to the 3DS rather than what we’ve seen on the GameCube and Wii.

However, Shigeru Miyamoto is confident that consumers will get used to the circle pads. He says that they “are of a more advanced state than the one we created for Nintendo 3DS” and that they might be slightly more precise.

“The circle pads that we’re using for the Wii U controllers are of a more advanced state than the one we created for Nintendo 3DS. They will perhaps have a bit more precision. The mechanism that allows those circle pads to work is still very different from, for example, the mechanism we used for the control stick on the Gamecube controller. In that sense it’s very tough to compare the precision or how the circle pads will work in that sense, but personally I feel that we’ve gotten them to a point that when you sit down and play with them you get used to them very quickly and they feel very nice.”

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

The Wii launched at a fairly reasonable price. Users received a new console, Wii Sports, and a Wii Remote controller. The price did seem right for the company, as the system sold remarkably well in its first few years on the market.

Nintendo is hoping to see a repeat success story with the Wii U. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that the company is looking to sell the console at a price point where they can sell a significant amount of units while maintaining the price for “an extended period of time.”

Fils-Aime said in a recent interview:

“So, I’ll use real numbers from this current generation with Wii. We sold over 25 million units at a price point at $200 or above. Never been done before in our industry. Typically, systems might launch at $300 and then very quickly start falling off. Our philosophy is to launch a system at a price point that we want to maintain for an extended period of time. And so when we launch Wii U, what we’ll do is we’ll identity a price point that we think we can get 25, 30 million units sold. And ideally look to stay at that for quite some time. We think that gives the consumer the best value, that helps consumers understand that ‘Boy, I outta buy in today’ versus wait for the future when the price might drop. And from our perspective, it really helps us manage our production, manage our inventory situation, manage our suppliers.”

Also, when asked if price is one of the most critical decisions Nintendo can make with the introduction of the console, Fils-Aime said:

“Well again, I would modify your statement to say it’s critical that we set the right value. When we look back at the Wii, yes, a $250 price point was key. But also the pack-in of Wii Sports was a critical decision. It gave the consumer something to play right out of the box. It gave the consumer a fantastic range of experiences. So for the launch of Wii U, similarly, yes, we’ll look at price, but we’ll also look at what are the experiences, what is it that the consumer will get when they buy, and make sure that’s really compelling.”

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 0 comments

Just a couple of months ago, Sony was forced to deal with a significant intrusion on the PlayStation Network. The network was shut off for many weeks before services gradually returned. But despite the attack on PSN, Nintendo’s future plans for online gaming will not be affected.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime reiterated to the Wall Street Journal that the company plans on offering a “flexible” and “robust” online system for the Wii U and will be working with third-parties to bring their interests to the platform.

Regarding the PSN intrusion specifically, Fils-Aime said that they will not change their approach as a result of Sony’s security breach. Nintendo will continue to stress testing and monitoring while still trying to offer a robust experience.

“It hasn’t [changed our approach] in that from a Nintendo perspective, we greatly value the trust that consumers give us in sharing their personal information. We hold that very dear. We constantly test ourselves, we are always looking to make sure that the information is safe. The experience by our competitors really just highlights that we have to be ever vigilant. And we have to be constantly thinking about how do we make our systems as robust as possible from a security standpoint… We don’t see it as a tradeoff. We will continue to push the envelope in terms of features, but what we’ll also do is invest heavily in testing ourselves, monitoring ourselves, making sure that our systems are secure as possible.”

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Sega Europe MD of development Gary Dunn…

“It’s still a little early. There’s another generation of prototype hardware coming out in June or July that’s going to give us more information.”

Dunn also noted that he “better not say” how old SEGA’s current Wii U hardware is. What does the company think of the console right now? SEGA’s “very early doors” reaction to Wii U is that “we’re finding it to be quite powerful”. However, Dunn isn’t sure how Wii U compares to the PS3/360, explaining that “It’s too early to call. It’s different.” But it is encouraging that Dunn said that the Wii U will be “a good platform to develop for”.

Dunn on developing for Wii U:

“We’ve certainly found it easier to get prototypes up and running on next-gen definition visuals, so we’re quite pleased with it. Given the fact that one of our graphics engineers ported something across very quickly I would say the answer to [having easily understandable architecture] has got to be yes.”

Dunn repeated that bringing Aliens: Colonial Marines to Wii U is the company’s “intent”, so it sounds like it’s not 100% confirmed that we’ll eventually see the title on Nintendo’s console. It is very likely, however.

Dunn on bringing PS3/360 games to Wii U as well…

“We would certainly consider Wii U in the mix, but every single game is green lit on an individual platform by platform consideration. No, no we wouldn’t [do that] (release a standard, basic port). Clearly the new control mechanic allows some asymmetrical gameplay which we’re quite excited about – to leverage that when we’re looking to put any game on that system.”

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 0 comments

During E3 week, GameSpot Australia sat down with Nintendo’s Yoshiaki Koizumi to discuss Super Mario 3D. Koizumi commented on a number of topics, including hint systems, fan input, mobile games, and even the Wii U briefly. Read on below for all of the details.

Yoshiaki Koizumi on Super Mario 3D playing a lot with perspective/3D…

“The effect of things coming from the background to the foreground was definitely something we wanted to use specifically because we could present it in 3D. When you’re presenting someone with a fictional world, and you’re trying to help him grasp how to move objects around inside of it, it was always very difficult, particularly on 2D displays, to show something coming from the background toward you. But now, we’ve gotten away from that taboo in development, and we now feel like we can use that effect more easily.

“As for other effects, we’re thinking of how objects will move in a 3D game and how they will move within a 3D display. We’re thinking about several of them, but I’m afraid I can’t reveal anything at this time.”

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Shigeru Miyamoto…

“Based on my background as an industrial designer and Nintendo and my background in creating entertainment, I’ve always wanted to make greater use of color in our hardware. If you look back on things like the Famicom and the original Super Nintendo, they were a lot more colorful from a hardware perspective. What we found over the years when we included a lot of different colors in our hardware is people would kind of point to that and use it to paint us as more kid-oriented. So really what we looked at is what are some ways from a design perspective that can make the system appeal to all ages. One of the ways that we found to best do that is to minimize the use of color. In that process we asked if we’re going to do that, what’s the best way to go? We found that rather than going all black – all white seems to have a broader appeal to people.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I really don’t care about the color of home consoles. I’m fine with black or white… I don’t think I’d be interested in anything other than that. The color of my handhelds are a bit more important, but in recent years I’ve still gone either black or white, depending on what’s available.

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Satoru Iwata…

“There’s a cost issue. Technically, it is possible for the Wii U to support multiple Wii U Controllers. We’re not planning on asking our customers to buy multiple Wii U Controllers.”

I’m starting to really wonder how much these controllers could cost. Obviously they’re expensive based on all of the parts inside… but how much?

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Posted on 13 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

This information comes from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot…

“We will announce one game that we want to launch day one that is a new type of game, which should be interesting. It is still very important, just because you can test a market and also see through the eyes of the first consumers. They are the people that actually have the word of mouth factor. The trendsetters. It doesn’t increase [costs] very much because the advantage is in being close to the other machines, you can do the game for all the formats at the same time. [Ubisoft is evaluating the Wii U for] both new content and a third location [for existing franchises].”

This information comes from EA Games label president Frank Gibeau…

“It served us well on PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Getting in early is partly about being a successful transition company and figuring out where the hardware is going to go. With the Wii U it’s important for us to get there on day one so we can get in and build as big an audience as possible. We’ve been doing this for 25 years and trying to pick platforms and more often than not we get it right. I hope we have this one right. That’s the gamble.”

This information comes from Sega West president Mike Hayes…

“At some point we were the biggest, certainly top three third-party publisher on Wii, so for us it was a great platform… we’ve got absolutely no qualms about [Wii U]. I just think we’re all a bit premature in being a bit glass half full on 3DS. Everyone was clamouring ‘oh please bring it out in March, you must bring it out’ and then it’s like you get to June and it’s all ‘sales aren’t very good…’ Well, they haven’t got the software yet… That controller is absolutely brilliant and we have to think of innovative ways to use it. We’re doing high definition Sonics, we’re doing obviously Aliens: Colonial Marines, so you can bring them across, and that’s relatively low cost, which is good news. Then you spend your money on how do you use that controller effectively to make it unique and differentiate it.”

This information comes from Karl Slatoff, chief operating officer at Take-Two…

“For us it’s really about understanding what the hardware capabilities are and understand how it’s going to fit into what our goals are from a franchise creation perspective. Really understanding what that platform can deliver and developing for that platform. So that’s our philosophy, not just with the new Nintendo console but across the board. Whether we’re looking at the 3DS or the PlayStation Vita or any of the new formats that are coming out. We can’t look at them all the same way. We’re not just going to port over.”

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