Wii U? More like...Pii U!!!

Sorry, but the title was so dumb I had to put it. It in no way speaks for my personal beliefs on the console as they are still up in the air until I see more about it. I just found it so stupid that it made me chuckle.

So that's it. The Wii U has come to light more now than ever before. What once was shrouded in mystery is now revealed, or at least, most of it is. After Nintendo's conference last Thursday, the console has now impressed or shunned the audience at hand with both great news and less than stellar news. Here is a quick roundup of both news and my personal thoughts.

 1. The Release Date: November 18th

It is coming. Less than a week before Black Friday, Nintendo will drop the Wii U into the hands of gamers who pre-ordered the system months ahead of time. Because that's probably the only chance of getting one come November 18th as it'll take a page out of the Wii book and sell out instantly. Best of luck folks.

2. The Price: $299.99 - $349.99

There you have it. The price of the new console that we have all been curious about since the announcement back at E3 2011. Nintendo decides to go with two different versions. The first is the $299.99 Basic set which includes the staples that you should expect. A white Wii U (8 GB internal storage) with GamePad, AC adapters, an HDMI cable and a Wii Sensor Bar.

The second set would be the Premium or Deluxe version which also has the items from the Basic Set, but the Wii U itself will be black and have 32 GB of internal storage, a copy of it's mini-game bundle Nintendo Land, a stand and charging cradle for the GamePad, a stand for the Wii U, and a "Deluxe Digital Promotion" that seems to act like similar to Nintendo Club rewards in a way. When you purchase content through the eShop, you receive points that can be used on other things later.

3. The Game Lineup

The Wii U will have an explosion of games coming out within it's launch window which features more than 50 titles. Now, that launch window is a tad wide, so expect these to launch anywhere from November 18th - March 2013. While some aren't that exciting as they have released on other consoles such as Darksiders 2, Madden 13, Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham City (Armored Edition); the Wii U does have more games that other consoles won't have such as the Premium/Deluxe set game Nintendo Land, Pikmin 3, Game & Wario, New Super Mario Bros. Wii U, and the most surprising, Bayonetta 2.

Also, whereas the Wii had games no higher than $49.99, the Wii U will continue the tradition set by other consoles and have them start at $59.99.

Backwards compatibility doesn't seem to be a worry as they have confirmed that both disc and digital versions of Wii games will be playable using the Wii U. However, Gamecube games will not be as fortunate, so don't expect to be able to pop in a disc of Super Mario Sunshine and play it come November 18th.

You can find the full list of launch games HERE at Joystiq.com

4. Controllers and Accessories

Other than the previously mentioned items such as the stands for the GamePad and console, the charging cradle for the GamePad, and sensor bar; the Wii U will also allow for gamers to use Nunchuks and Wii Remotes (w/Plus) as well. On top of that, they are also offering a new controller, that looks vaguely familiar to another controller from a different console, at a cost of $50 called the Pro Controller.

The GamePad themselves will not be sold separately at this time for reasons unknown. Some have speculated it's because of the potential cost (conversion from Japan price would have it at $170) and would turn away some consumers. Of all the rumors, that seems the most plausible.

The storage can also be expanded using SD memory cards or USB hard disk drives.

5. TVii

Shocking news. Wii U will support the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and more. The biggest difference is that it is a feature that allows the GamePad to be used to watch these programs, but it also allows for TiVo as long as you have the necessary box that allows TiVo. Regardless of what cable or dish company you may use, Nintendo has confirmed that all in the US will support TVii and that it will be available come launch.

My Thoughts

So all in all, quite a bit of news and reveals for this console. But...somewhat underwhelming. With the console itself barely better than the PS3 or 360, it's hard to say that this will have the stopping power to hold up to the next consoles when they release.

While many have praised the quality of the GamePad, only having one makes me wonder what kind of couch co-op games I can play where one person has more options than other players. And when Nintendo won't announce a specific price for the GamePad, and not having any extra available, it should raise a red flag as to how they are approaching it. They just recently announced that replacing them if broken will have a "fee", but didn't comment on that price even.

Having TVii isn't that big of a deal as using a controller is hardly a pain to get through different apps like Netflix or Hulu, but perhaps I would need on hand experience to understand that fascination some have with it.

The game list is as expected. Lots of games I either don't really care about or have already played on a different console. Expecting gamers to jump at the chance to play an older game again seems absurd, but they do turn it around by having some nice additions such as ZombiU, Rayman Legends, and again (the one I would look forward to the most) Bayonetta 2. It shows they are trying to reach out to the hardcore fans, but at the same time, keep it's own player base. Regardless, the problem is that there is no wallet-wrencher of a game that will have players foaming at the mouth to purchase a new console. While the game list doesn't look bad, it just isn't solid enough to justify a purchase, especially with a launch window as large as this one.

Lastly...the price. $300-$350 seems like quite a bit for a console that many developers have said is just barely more powerful than what is already out there. It appears a chunk of that may come from the GamePad itself, it's also a deterrent when the sweet spot for most gamers will be around $250. Nintendo may have a similar road ahead with the Wii U that they did with the 3DS, and a potential price drop may happen the following year. But seeing that this is their next big console, I have a feeling that they will make a stand at keep it at that price for a while. And considering how many pre-orders have been made through Gamestop, I think they won't have to worry about sales for quite some time.

REVIEW: Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

A few weeks ago, I sat down to this computer and started typing up a review for Brink and LA Noire. I ultimately realized...why would I want to review games that had received enough discussion when instead I could focus on lesser played games that SHOULD receive some sort of recognition. So I sat around playing some games recently, and after a purchase from Gamestop felt I came across one that I could finally write about.

Now, while I feel that those who did review this game seemed to be pretty praiseworthy about it, I think it felt more sideline-esque. Worthy of a mention, but easily overlooked and just briefly stated. After spending quite a few hours this week playing this game, I came to the realization that if you don't have Mario Kart at your disposal, or even if you do, this game could possibly become your favorite cart racer you have played in years.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing features twenty characters and around 30 playable tracks that all revolve around Sega games. While I haven't played a lot of Sega games (and had missed the Dreamcast altogether), a lot of what is in this game didn't seem like it would appeal to me. Half of the characters I didn't know anything about and the most knowledge I had about them is that I heard of the game they were in...but never played it myself. Fortunately for those of us with no experience with Shenmue, Space Channel 5, and ChuChu Rocket!, the majority of the characters in the game (7 of the 20 to be exact) come from the various Sonic games throughout Sega's history. Of course you will see Sonic and Tails, but Shadow the Hedghog makes an appearance along with the much hated Big the Cat.

Once you pick the character you would like to use, there are also 24 tracks to choose from all coming from the same games the characters are in. Here is where I think it starts to overshadow the popular Nintendo cart racing games. The levels in this game are nothing short of beautiful. Bright bold colors with lively music and some creative looks to the level left me in awe. One level in particular involved driving on a sort of "rainbow road" but in the distance is a large head of some characters that I'm unfamiliar with and streams of colors everywhere leading to one trippy experience. I have played many of the Mario Kart games, and none of the levels have really caught my interest the way these levels have.

The controls in this game are remarkably smooth. The movements are tight, drifting is very easy and also a large part of this game, and I have yet to have any issues with placing items. The one drawback I have with the controls are the stiffness and difficulty I have with the character All-Star moves. For example, Tails has the special move of calling down a tornado. Moving Tails and the tornado is quite a frustrating thing. Moving left and right feels almost non-existant while the character itself is automatically propelled forward in the track. As a whole however, the controls are responsive and crisp and easy to pick up and simply play.

All of the characters and tracks that are playable are not available right at the beginning. As the game is played, the player racks up Sega Miles which they can then use to unlock various other characters, tracks, and music to use. While I haven't quite figured out how the Sega Miles calculator works, I would think it safe to assume that it depends on how big the track is, how many laps you do, the difficulty, and what place you finish in. These are quite easy to attain and can be done in the various modes that the game offers from Single Race, Grand Prix, Time Trials, or the missions it offers.

The game modes offer a lot of replayability and a nice mix of ideas that make it push past a simple battle cart game. Like most games, you have the regular single race where you pick the level, the character, how many laps, etc. There are also six different Grand Prix events, each with four different levels to play with basically the same scoring method that Mario Kart has. Time Trials are just what they sound like. You race around tracks trying to reach the quickest time battling not only yourself, but also the staff racer and also the ability race against the ghosts of those on the leaderboard for the game. Finally, the Mission mode has 64 different...well...missions you play from that you need to try to AAA rank in. You can get by getting lower scores, but the AAA is what you should shoot for. While I haven't finished all 64 missions since more unlock as you play them, I have had missions where I roll around on a giant egg as Billy Hatcher, try to get all the chaos emeralds and as many coins I can as Dr. Robotnik, knockout races where a timer ticks down and once it reaches 0 the person in last place is out, and one where targets move on the track and you need to shoot them all with boxing glove items. Very nice addition to an already great game.

Speaking of items, expect a lot of similarities to the italian plumber version. Instead of hitting question mark boxes and running over brightly colored arrows to dash, expect to grab question mark bubbles and run over blue arrows to speed up. Missiles have replaced red turtle shells while green turtle shells have been replaced with green boxing gloves. Each character also comes with a special maneuver if they are racing rather badly, but fortunately the rubber-band gameplay is not as bad as it's Nintendo counterpart and while I'm in first, I've never been threatened by a character who went into their "All-Star" attack. Throw in some other items like a confusion star that turns the world upside down for a character or a horn that blasts characters too close to you, and despite the similarities, it comes out with a good number of likeable items.

Now, I have mentioned Mario Kart several times in this review and normally I'm not a big fan of reviewers throwing in other games to describe the one they are trying to review. However, once you play this game, you'll notice why I used it. This game does more than simple nods to Mario Kart, it flat out goes full Night at the Roxbury head bob for this game. Make no mistake, Sega made this game to try and capture the Mario Kart audience that wasn't quite being fulfilled enough on the Wii and DS, and for sure wasn't being satisfied on the Xbox or Playstation. And while games that try to cash in on other game successes usually come off pretty poor, I hope Sega comes out with more. This was an immensely satisfying game and the best cart racer I've played since the original Mario Kart.

Why Nintendo SHOULD have the edge in the console wars

This generation of console sales was pretty one sided with Nintendo dominating in the sales charts. They successfully pulled in the casual consumer with their motion controller, despite weak software sales due to lack of third party support. With Project Cafe on the horizon, that should all change. And if it does, Nintendo is truly a force to be reckoned with...IF...they learn from their mistakes and take advantage of everything they have.

1. Strong Back Catalogue:

Between the three companies, only Nintendo and Sony have the right to say they can pull out games from a vault and sell it to users. Sony is somewhat doing this well with their PS1 classics on the PSN store, the problem being that most of the games people want are being released in Japan, but not so much everywhere else. That seems to changing a bit with recent releases of Parasite Eve, Suikoden, and Chrono Trigger being an upcoming release.

Nintendo on the other hand have the Virtual Console. With almost 30 years of games under their belt, the VC should be packed full of games that nostalgia has us banging on the door for. The problem Nintendo faces is basically ignoring any and all online support they could have had for the Wii and forgetting to market these games that people could want. Nostalgia is a great way to bring in sales, especially if that nostalgia is relatively cheap to put on the system, easy to get to and a cheap enough price that gamers can't shrug off. Nintendo will need to use their back catalogue to the best of their ability to bring in side sales but they need to also market the products as well as Xbox Live instead of what they did with the Wii.


2. The Best First Party and Exclusive Support

Remember that nostalgia thing I just talked about? It's an even bigger component here. Because on no other console will you see Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Kirby, or Pokemon. People grew up with these games. And whether Nintendo decides to do another successful game to capitalize on that nostalgia in the same vein that Super Mario Brothers Wii did or do a fresh new game like Donkey Kong Country Returns; it's these games and characters that intrigue players. If Project Cafe does indeed bring back the hardcore gamer, these will be one reason why. None of these games require a deep knowledge of each respective world. It's jump in and play. Which is more than most first party/exclusive games can say on the 360 or PS3. And like I said, I don't see any of these franchises jumping ship to another console. But Nintendo has featured Sonic in Super Smash Brothers and the same with Solid Snake. Notice however that some games that were at one time exclusive, such as Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect, are now going multi-console. So again, to reiterate my point, Nintendo has first party exclusive games that will NOT be going to a different console. And if Project Cafe puts up the sales numbers that the Wii did, it will be even more incentive for various developers to jump onto the Nintendo console. Whether it big time companies like Activision or the low-on-the-totem-pole Indie developers, they all want money. And there is more chance for money where there is a bigger install base with people who will buy their product. Which again, Nintendo will have if they bring back the hardcore gamers.


3. Learn from Microsoft and Sony

Virtual Console. DSIware. Wiiware. Friend Code. If anyone knows what these are, they also know these are complete failures on Nintendo's part. Despite the Wii having the most sales, it's not motion controlling that has had the biggest impact on gaming this generation, it's the online component. Nintendo can not flounder in this department again with the upcoming console. They don't even need to do anything revolutionary, just get an online system going that WORKS. They need to know how to market games correctly that they are trying to sell online, they need to find an easier way to get some sort of online gaming network going, and they definitely need to keep the music they have for their various shops. Say what you want about their virtual stores, but their music beats out Sony and Microsoft's hands down.


4. Do not worry about the console specs

So rumor is that Project Cafe has more power than the Xbox and PS3. Fine. But as the 360 and PS3 have shown, specs aren't everything. Although the PS3 should be producing better looking games...it really doesn't. There is only a handful of games that I could use as examples for the PS3 being above the 360 in terms of power. So if Nintendo has the "better" console, fantastic. But in the long run it doesn't mean much, especially if you take a look at their track record. Nintendo is not about up-to-date tech. They use older tech for cheaper cost. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. For the good, it makes for cheaper consoles. I'm sure everyone remembers the "new" tech that Sony released that was the PS3. $700 I believe? Too much for an average gamer. It wouldn't be until years later that their price dropped enough for the consumer base to rise to be a contender for the 360. So even if Microsoft and Sony released a console in the next few years, it will probably be more expensive than the Nintendo console's release price, and definitely more expensive than the Nintendo console will be upon the new 360/PS3 console release. The bad would simply be an outdated system the minute the new Xbox or Playstation console is released. So with this almost Dreamcast approach to release a console between generations, Nintendo may actually be making a smart business decision with the release of this console.

5. Backwards Compatibility

More rumors about Project Cafe claims it will also be able to play Wii games and possibly Gamecube games. If this is true, this is something that should also be advertised. Despite the hardcore gamers Snively Whiplash way of thinking (a foolproof plan it is not) that they are the only consumer base Nintendo should worry about, the truth of the matter is that the casual base is quite important still. If they include backwards compatibility, they have a chance of bringing back casual gamers on top of hardcore ones bumping up their sales and keeping the casuals away from Sony and Microsoft. So I would expect the controllers that were purchased for the Wii to still work for some games which would also avoid the alienation of Wii owners.

Remember, Sony and Microsoft both received a bit of backlash when their compatibility was removed from consoles. Microsoft technically did not remove it I believe, but it only allows certain first gen Xbox games to be played. Sony did remove it fully in later PS3 hardware. If Nintendo keeps backwards compatibility, still releases games for the Wii, their Wii software sales will probably increase as well too. Especially if they release older games such as Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros Wii that the detracted hardcore gamers never got to play in the first place. So while the Wii may eventually die off, Nintendo could still squeeze out sales from the Wii software and even get more sales for it post-Wii than they did present-Wii.

6. Innovation

Nintendo has done quite a bit for gaming. There has been negative response such as the Virtual Boy and there has been lukewarm response such as motion controls, and there has been positive response like the Game Boy. Say what you will about some Nintendo products, but they can normally put SOMETHING different out there. Some are thinking that the controller may be this type of innovation with it's touch screen and what that could mean for potential games, and some are thinking they could take a step beyond what failed with the Gamecube and find a way to link games between the handheld systems and the console itself. With next to nothing known about the new console, these are the only two real possibilities. Remember, 3D was originally thought of on the Gamecube as well, and the same with motion gaming. Both fell through and showed up in later forms. The link between the GBA (I believe it was) and the Gamecube was also something that never quite worked out. However, with the number of handheld love growing since the release of the DS's all the way to the 3DS, there's a chance that these handhelds may not be required, but can give players more incentive to own both the handheld and console for exclusive gameplay.


7. Third party and indie developers

And the straw that broke the camels back for Nintendo. The only thing that worked for the Wii were first party games or acutal party games. The Wii was not the console for third party developers and very weak for independent devs as well. Any ports from consoles were done poorly and it got to the point where no developers other than first party were worth supporting on the Wii. Project Cafe is already said to be correcting that with Rockstar already being mentioned as a developer for the console. So with Nintendo being the company with the best selling first party games, the third party games now appearing on the new console, and the other consoles finding themselves with fewer and fewer exclusives, Nintendo may be riding high with games upon the release of Project Cafe.


Depending on who you ask, the console wars boil down to two things. The fans will say that the winner of the console wars is the one that gets played the most. The companies themselves would say the sales are what matter the most. If Nintendo takes the proper steps, they can win both sides of the argument and make the next generation of consoles for Sony and Microsoft to be embarrassments. I don't think this will be the case since Nintendo tends to hold back leaving room for the other companies to improve on what Nintendo should do. The possibility is there, however, and if Nintendo wants to put an end to these console wars they need to look past the boardroom and at the fans. We know what we want.