Nintendo recently released its newest console the Wii U; the successor to the massively popular Nintendo Wii. The system is famous for its emphasis on motion-based gameplay and for making
Nintendo relevant in the console market again.
The Wii U’s two biggest draws are its improved graphical capabilities, which are equivalent to the Xbox 360 and PS3, and its game pad, a large light-weight controller that features a six-inch touch pad similar to those found on tablets and smartphones.
The Wii U currently comes in two versions: A white colored basic model available for $300 and a deluxe black edition for $350. The deluxe model comes with several additional items and extra features that include, among other things, a rewards program for buying online content, a charge cradle for the Wii U’s game pad instead of just a charge cord like the basic model, 32 gigabytes of internal memory instead of the basic models 8 GB and “Nintendo Land,” a video game available at retail separately for $60. I acquired a deluxe model for this review, and would recommend that model to anyone that considers buying the system.
The first thing the Wii U asked me to do when I powered it on for the first time, hours after buying it on the day it came out, was to download a massive firmware update. This update took around two hours on a high-speed Internet connection. I realize that firmware updates are a part of modern video game consoles, but having to get one immediately feels absurd to me, especially one that takes so long with a moderately fast Internet connection.
In addition to the consoles own firmware download, many of the games I tried out required their own software updates which each took around 30 to 40 minutes, meaning that I couldn’t even try out anything new on my system for several hours. Gone are the days of buying the hot new game or system, rushing home, and being able to play it as soon as you hooked it up, pushing your old and now unloved one out of the way.
This leads me to my next point. The Wii U’s interface is an improvement over its predecessor, but it still lags behind in several areas to the Xbox 360 and PS3, both systems that have been out for more than five years.
The Wii U, like the Wii and unlike its competition, does not say how large the firmware update is or how long it will take to finish downloading. This is a very basic mistake that should not have made it into the completed product.
Switching between various system menus on the Wii U, such as the main menu, system settings and user settings each take more than two minutes to load.
Users must create a Nintendo Network Account or use a pre-existing one to access the system’s various online services. My personal experience with attempting to do so was cumbersome and difficult, taking more than an hour to complete, although much of this can likely be attributed to Nintendo’s servers being overwhelmed in its first few hours.
The Wii U also currently has no trophy or achievement system like its competition does. This isn’t likely to be a major issue for most people, but it could prove to be a deciding factor to some players when they are considering which version to buy of a multi-platform release, such as the newest “Tekken” or “Batman” game.
Many of the problems I mention could be fixed sometime in the future with additional updates to the system’s firmware, but because this review is based off of what is available now and not what someday might be, they are still currently strikes against the Wii U.
These problems are irritating, but none of them are bad enough to dissuade someone really interested in playing with the Wii U, and the system does have potential. Its new game pad in particular had some neat abilities.
The game pad has built in speakers with its own volume control and a very nice screen that can be used to display other information separate from what is being seen on the TV, which can come in handy for multi-player games. Some games can be played using just the game pad’s screen, which is a very nice feature if you’re in the middle of a game and your family or a roommate wants to use the TV.
The controller can also be used to control your TV, like a remote. It can be used to turn it on or off, adjust the channel input and control the volume. This ability is based off your TV’s brand and model, but it appeared to have a large number of TV brands to select from and it worked with my old off-brand TV made in 2005.
The system also has settings to turn itself off if it is left inactive long enough, and is backwards compatible with Wii games.
The Wii U has the potential to be a great system, but it isn’t quite there yet. Do yourself a favor this holiday season and instead of standing in long lines, traveling to half a dozen stores to try to find one or paying exorbitant prices from a scalper, just stick with the current generation of video game systems a little longer. Who knows—in a few months Nintendo might have some of these problems fixed by then.
