The Trouble with Nintendo. A TL;DR topic.

[McCoy]

But why sell it on iOS where they'll struggle to get any more than 1.50 for it, when they could sell it on 3DS and easily get at least a tenner for it?

Either way would be better than the current decision to do nothing. Plus a million app sales for £1.50 is better than 100,000 sales at £10. Not saying that's what would happen but you need to look at the install base of devices when deciding how to price.

[mdn2]

I genuinely think a Nintendo version on PS+ based on their back catalogue would do wonders for them. Every month there could be one GB and GBA game on the 3DS and one SNES and one N64 game on the WiiU which you could keep while you have your subscription. I would happily pay for that. The only stumbling block would be storage.

[rgraves]

whilst having a proper 'normal' gamepad too

That's the second time you've brought this up in this thread - what is your big issue with the GamePad? Have you actually used one? It's generally accepted, by those who have actually used one to play games with, to be a very good, comfortable pad. It's missing analogue triggers which was a massive mis-step IMO, but other than that it has everything needed. What's so wrong with it IYO?

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

My main issue with the gamepad is that it drives up the cost of the unit while adding nothing I'm particularly interested in. I would have preferred either the console to be cheaper or the extra money the gamepad costs to be invested in better specs instead. So far its inclusion seems to be more of a hindrance than a selling point.

[Stolly]

That's the second time you've brought this up in this thread - what is your big issue with the GamePad? Have you actually used one? It's generally accepted, by those who have actually used one to play games with, to be a very good, comfortable pad. It's missing analogue triggers which was a massive mis-step IMO, but other than that it has everything needed. What's so wrong with it IYO?

I've never used one but imagine it works brilliantly.

Its just that its basically solving a non-existant problem, it makes the gamepad too expensive (relative to the console), makes two player games exceedingly difficult (you can't use two full on gamepads yet can you?) and puts off third parties. You could argue that a conventional gamepad would have freed up fundsto make the console more powerful for example?

[ras el hanout]

The gamepad's fucking awesome.

[utopastac]

Lots of people use the screen for off TV play. It's not a non existent problem just because it doesn't apply to you. How does it make multiplayer difficult? It's the only console I ever play in local multiplayer full stop.

[Super Craig]

I don't see why the GamePad would put off third parties. You can port a standard PS3/PS4/360/XB1 control scheme to it and just use the screen for Off TV play. And I think that's by design.

[mdn2]

The best thing about the gamepad is off screen play. Given most of my gaming these days is on handhelds, the ability to play console games on it while our one TV is in use is great. This week I've been playing Mario and Wind Waker while the other half was playing on the 360.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

But imagine the Wii U was designed around the controller Pro and cost £100 less as a result. Nintendo would have cleaned up. And apart from the offscreen play niche, nobody would have missed out on anything.

[mdn2]

You could say the same for anything though. If the PS3 never came with a Blu Ray drive, it could have been cheaper abd no one would have missed it. If the original Xbox never came with a hard drive, no one would have cared and the console would have been cheaper. Would the Wii U have been cheaper? Definitely. But it would also be identical to the 360 and PS3 so why would anyone bother?

[rgraves]

But imagine the Wii U was designed around the controller Pro and cost £100 less as a result. Nintendo would have cleaned up.

Why would they have cleaned up - what would they have been offering that was either new or exciting?

The gamepad is awesome. I challenge anyone to play stuff like Mario Chase, or Deus Ex, or ZombiU and come back saying it doesn't add to the experience. Even at the very base level of just being used for off-tv play it's a unique, new thing that's not available on any other machine.

I can't understand why people just want Nintendo to add another generic console to the market - MS and Sony are already there for that 'standard' approach and they do it [pure hardware grunt] better than Nintendo.

[El Spatula]

. Even at the very base level of just being used for off-tv play it's a unique, new thing that's not available on any other machine.

Uh handhelds.

[Liquid Myth]

You could say the same for anything though. If the PS3 never came with a Blu Ray drive, it could have been cheaper abd no one would have missed it. If the original Xbox never came with a hard drive, no one would have cared and the console would have been cheaper. Would the Wii U have been cheaper? Definitely. But it would also be identical to the 360 and PS3 so why would anyone bother?

No one seems to be bothering right now anyway.

[rgraves]

Uh handhelds.

You have a handheld that you can easily and simply choose to play either on your home TV or just on it's own if needed - which one?

[El Spatula]

They play games without the need for a TV,

[rgraves]

They play games without the need for a TV,

But I want to use the TV a lot of the time. It's right there on the wall, all big and ready. It's when Don't Tell the Bride or Ben and bloody Holly interfere that I need to switch it up at a moments notice.

[scottcr]

The gamepad makes a significant difference to Wind Waker

[squirtle]

They play games without the need for a TV,

[ras el hanout]

The fact there are people on a dedicated videogame site without the brains to see why the gamepad is a big deal kind of explains the struggle Nintendo are having explaining it to the masses.

[NEG]

The gamepad makes a significant difference to Wind Waker

No it doesn't.

[El Spatula]

The gamepad is awesome. I challenge anyone to play stuff like Mario Chase, or Deus Ex, or ZombiU and come back saying it doesn't add to the experience.]

But if you play the game on the gamepad, none of this can be done. Again confusing it's need for existing.

[ras el hanout]

But if you play the game on the gamepad, none of this can be done. Again confusing it's need for existing.

It doesn't need to exist, it's just a bit of fun!

[squirtle]

Bar Deus Ex, the others don't work on just the gamepad.

Aside from that, Deus Ex has the best gamepad moment I've ever seen.

After the initial incursion by the terrorists, you get the credits where Jensen is being augmented. Up to now, the pad has been showing nothing but the Deus Ex logo. As the credits finish and Jensen's augmentations come on line, the screen on the pad flickers into life showing all your enhancements and options. It's a brilliantly simple thing that just added hugely to my experience of the game.

[rgraves]

But if you play the game on the gamepad, none of this can be done. Again confusing it's need for existing.

What's confusing about the fact that different games use it in different ways? The gamepad offers options for developers, it's up to them how and where they implement those - if they want to just ape the other consoles they pretty much can, with the added benefit of off-tv play. If they don't, they can use the gamepad in different ways to further enhance their titles.

Deus Ex is a great example - the gamepad offers some real extra immersion, it genuinely improves the game over the original. Or you can just play it 'as normal' off-tv like you would elsewhere.

[squirtle]

Rayman Legends is another great example. A friend had played it on the PS3 (she works at Game). So I showed her the Wii U version and she was amazed at how much difference the pad made to the playing the game.

[rgraves]

Another great thing about the pad - it allows stuff like drawing in MiiVerse (there are some seriously talented people out there, and some even on this forum), and the Art Academy app. Impossible with standard controllers.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

You could say the same for anything though. If the PS3 never came with a Blu Ray drive, it could have been cheaper abd no one would have missed it. If the original Xbox never came with a hard drive, no one would have cared and the console would have been cheaper. Would the Wii U have been cheaper? Definitely. But it would also be identical to the 360 and PS3 so why would anyone bother?

The BluRay player in the PS3 (and the DVD player in the PS2 before it) were a big factor for me in deciding to buy these machines at the time actually. The Xbox harddrive added to the powarhouse image of the console and definitely had its use - especially when Xbox Live came around. However, the Wii U gamepad doesn't excite me at all and after more than a year on the market there still hasn't been a killer app for it so I doubt it'll ever take off.

I can't understand why people just want Nintendo to add another generic console to the market - MS and Sony are already there for that 'standard' approach and they do it [pure hardware grunt] better than Nintendo.

As I said before, Nintendo games are great but the systems they run on far less so from the GameCube onwards. I don't see much added value in Nintendo bothering with home console hardware at all, I'd rather play Super Mario 3D World on the Playstation or Xbox I already have rather than buying a new console which will do little more than be a dedicated host to a handful of Nintendo games, half of which I probably won't even like that much.

[tommygun]

Wii U + 3DS vs PS4 + Vita vs XBone

Who wins the sales war?

Who makes most profit?

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

Who cares?

I don't own stock in any of the companies so I really don't give a damn who "wins" what.