Last night, when I was half asleep, my mind just wandered over the wii u. Remember on the preview video nintendo showed at E3 where some guy was playing NSMBW and switched it from the television to the new controller?
It's one of the new features of the thing ("Switch from TV to the New Controller"). Nice, isn't it?
But last night I started thinking how this feature will play out. Think about it: I don't know the technology behind it, but to keep the controller affordable, it's more than likely that the console still does all the processing and that it just streams it to the controller rather than the television screen. So it's not like you can use the controller outside the receiving range of the wiiu (what is the range of infrared and bluetooth, btw? will we be able to even leave the television room if we don't like baseball matches?).
Personally, I'd be glad if I can use the controller to do even as little as browse my pornography collection outside Wiiu range, but will it be the case? From wikipedia:
Yes, I know: I already have my 3DS to browse pornography on the go (in 3D, no less
). But still...what's the point of being able to play 'go' on it if it has to be in front of the television?
Another interesting thing to consider: do we need the wiiu to be connected to the television in the first place? This may sound like a stupid question, but cars and even trains often have power plugs. Would a wiiu + power plug + controller be enough to play games, or will it just do nothing because the television cable and the sensor bar aren't connected?
But more importantly...to what degree will games be crippled? A bit further ahead in the video, it shows the "New Views" you can get with the controller. Don't get me wrong: I'm sure there are nice ways to use the extra screen (non-gimmicky ones, that is...I doubt many gamers will go bananas over being able to SEE their golf ball being kicked away)...but doesn't that prevent playing games on the controller screen?
I mean...I can already see how things turn out.
dad: okay, son. Quit yer zelda'ing. The match's about to start.
son: oh, dad! Just lemme...I'm almost finished
dad: just switch to the controller screen. that's why we got you that thing, remember?
son: well...yes, but...
dad: *reaches over and switches channel*
son: *looks a bit disappointed at his controller, on which the screen shows nothing but the HUD*
son: *randomly presses buttons in the hope of hitting something*
controller: *makes sounds that make it pretty clear that a beetle is beating the crap out of Link*
dad: ...and turn off that damn music. *with that "I'm about to tell a rééééeally good joke" tone of voice* Wii are trying to watch television here, so u have to keep it down!
Hmm...I don't think this was really the idea nintendo had in mind with their concept of a family console.
So...the concept of "Switch from TV to the New Controller" has its flaws. But at least the thing is backward compatible, right? And the previous generation games don't rely on the extra screen, right?
That's true...except that the wiiu is backward compatible with a console that largely relied on motion sensoring mechanisms. NSMBW and some other games are rather straightforward. Shaking the wiimote or the wiiu controller isn't much of a difference, so Donkey Kong will be able to roll and SMG's Mario will be able to do his pilespinning move. Oh, and I guess it means that in those balancing platforms in NSMBW, you have to hold your controller at a certain angle.
...but how do railshooters work on that controller screen? House of the dead: overkill will be pretty tough if you have to press your finger (or stylus) on the screen over an enemy before hitting the 'fire' button. I don't even know how they're going to handle games that relied on shaking of both the wiimote and the nunchuck (like dead space extraction).
And wii fit (shown in the video) might be a good way to quickly weigh yourself...but I really doubt balance games will be very playable that way.
Perhaps the most painfull thing to realise is that gamecube games aren't supported. It's understandable...but those games don't bring up these sorts of questions. In fact, the wiiu controller could be almost the perfect "handheld gamecube" handler (the buttons are layed out in at least a reasonably comparable way).
So...all in all...I'm more than a bit sceptical about this little feature. Lots of questions, and a bit of speculation as well...but nothing about this is technical. Being able to play on that small screen looked like a "OMGZZZZ it bridgez teh gap between console and handheld!" feature to me. But the longer I think about it, the more I see it as "a nice extra for some games".
I'm a bit curious...what do you guys think about this feature? Does it bring something extra, or is it just some nice to have thingy on the console?
Oh, and to those who haven't seen it yet...here's the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg[/youtube]
It's one of the new features of the thing ("Switch from TV to the New Controller"). Nice, isn't it?
But last night I started thinking how this feature will play out. Think about it: I don't know the technology behind it, but to keep the controller affordable, it's more than likely that the console still does all the processing and that it just streams it to the controller rather than the television screen. So it's not like you can use the controller outside the receiving range of the wiiu (what is the range of infrared and bluetooth, btw? will we be able to even leave the television room if we don't like baseball matches?).
Personally, I'd be glad if I can use the controller to do even as little as browse my pornography collection outside Wiiu range, but will it be the case? From wikipedia:
QUOTE said:
Yes, I know: I already have my 3DS to browse pornography on the go (in 3D, no less
Another interesting thing to consider: do we need the wiiu to be connected to the television in the first place? This may sound like a stupid question, but cars and even trains often have power plugs. Would a wiiu + power plug + controller be enough to play games, or will it just do nothing because the television cable and the sensor bar aren't connected?
But more importantly...to what degree will games be crippled? A bit further ahead in the video, it shows the "New Views" you can get with the controller. Don't get me wrong: I'm sure there are nice ways to use the extra screen (non-gimmicky ones, that is...I doubt many gamers will go bananas over being able to SEE their golf ball being kicked away)...but doesn't that prevent playing games on the controller screen?
I mean...I can already see how things turn out.
dad: okay, son. Quit yer zelda'ing. The match's about to start.
son: oh, dad! Just lemme...I'm almost finished
dad: just switch to the controller screen. that's why we got you that thing, remember?
son: well...yes, but...
dad: *reaches over and switches channel*
son: *looks a bit disappointed at his controller, on which the screen shows nothing but the HUD*
son: *randomly presses buttons in the hope of hitting something*
controller: *makes sounds that make it pretty clear that a beetle is beating the crap out of Link*
dad: ...and turn off that damn music. *with that "I'm about to tell a rééééeally good joke" tone of voice* Wii are trying to watch television here, so u have to keep it down!
Hmm...I don't think this was really the idea nintendo had in mind with their concept of a family console.
So...the concept of "Switch from TV to the New Controller" has its flaws. But at least the thing is backward compatible, right? And the previous generation games don't rely on the extra screen, right?
That's true...except that the wiiu is backward compatible with a console that largely relied on motion sensoring mechanisms. NSMBW and some other games are rather straightforward. Shaking the wiimote or the wiiu controller isn't much of a difference, so Donkey Kong will be able to roll and SMG's Mario will be able to do his pilespinning move. Oh, and I guess it means that in those balancing platforms in NSMBW, you have to hold your controller at a certain angle.
...but how do railshooters work on that controller screen? House of the dead: overkill will be pretty tough if you have to press your finger (or stylus) on the screen over an enemy before hitting the 'fire' button. I don't even know how they're going to handle games that relied on shaking of both the wiimote and the nunchuck (like dead space extraction).
And wii fit (shown in the video) might be a good way to quickly weigh yourself...but I really doubt balance games will be very playable that way.
Perhaps the most painfull thing to realise is that gamecube games aren't supported. It's understandable...but those games don't bring up these sorts of questions. In fact, the wiiu controller could be almost the perfect "handheld gamecube" handler (the buttons are layed out in at least a reasonably comparable way).
So...all in all...I'm more than a bit sceptical about this little feature. Lots of questions, and a bit of speculation as well...but nothing about this is technical. Being able to play on that small screen looked like a "OMGZZZZ it bridgez teh gap between console and handheld!" feature to me. But the longer I think about it, the more I see it as "a nice extra for some games".
I'm a bit curious...what do you guys think about this feature? Does it bring something extra, or is it just some nice to have thingy on the console?
Oh, and to those who haven't seen it yet...here's the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e3qaPg_keg[/youtube]
