My brother and I went in the the cost of a Wii U and games yesterday. Haven't gotten to play with it a ton yet, but I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far... other than system load screens and updates; those are obnoxiously slow.
Currently have Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Avengers: Battle for Earth, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Played the most Mario so far. It's awesome. it's Mario, so that seems almost a given. Makes me think a lot of both Mario 3 and Mario World. That's a good thing. Gamepad support is interesting with the ability for another play to add temporary platforms, intervene with enemies, activate powerups, and so on. Not necessarily a game-changer, but it does open up new opportunities and create another way for drop-in multiplayer support.
Played a few rounds of Avengers. It reminds me of of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series. The game isn't as fast as I might like, but it is a fun take on gesture-based combat. The Gamepad is used well here, too, allowing two people to play on full screens rather than dealing with a vertical split. Use on the Gamepad switches from gesture-based to trackpad-based inputs, allowing play in more spatially-restrictive environments or for those not willing or able to go with the more involved motion-controls of a Remote and Nunchuck. Either control method works pretty well, and it's a decent game. Not a killer app, but a nice example of how the Gamepad can be used to offer more options, especially with respect to multiplayer.
Only played a little Nintendo Land, but, like Wii Sports/Resort before it, it looks like it's gonna show off the new hardware functionality in a great way. I played the shuriken-throwing game, and it reminds me a lot of the light-gun arcade games of old. Using the gamepad as a pointing device and sliding across the screen to throw the shurikens at the enemies is actually really fun. I'll report back once i play more of the games, but it looks solid so far for sure.
And I just booted up Blops, so I'll see how that goes. I'm super-excited about it, though. I actually prefer Remote+Nunchuck for FPS controls. I find it the most intuitive method, even preferring it over keyboard+mouse. Being able to play on the Gamepad (including local multiplayer without screen splitting) is exciting, too.
So far, I'm quite happy with the system and its games. I just hope the strong third-party support continues since that was what kept the Wii from getting more affection from me. With Mass Effect, Batman, Darksiders, Call of Duty, Tekken, and a bunch of other huge games already on the system, though, I think it's got a shot.
And with Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest X on the way, I know it'll have me content.
...now if only there would be a Pokemon Z game on Wii U. >.>
Okay. Played just a little Blops, but the use of the Gamepad was done well. Playing dual-analog still ain't my cup of tea, but having mission mission objectives on the Gamepad screen, along with instant access to control settings (on the fly adjustment to sensitivity? Sweet). The placement of the sticks is nice, too; I've wondered for years why this layout wasn't more readily available. I haven't played multiplayer yet, but it sounds like it uses the Gamepad quite well for added functionality. Sweet.
Currently have Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Avengers: Battle for Earth, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Played the most Mario so far. It's awesome. it's Mario, so that seems almost a given. Makes me think a lot of both Mario 3 and Mario World. That's a good thing. Gamepad support is interesting with the ability for another play to add temporary platforms, intervene with enemies, activate powerups, and so on. Not necessarily a game-changer, but it does open up new opportunities and create another way for drop-in multiplayer support.
Played a few rounds of Avengers. It reminds me of of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series. The game isn't as fast as I might like, but it is a fun take on gesture-based combat. The Gamepad is used well here, too, allowing two people to play on full screens rather than dealing with a vertical split. Use on the Gamepad switches from gesture-based to trackpad-based inputs, allowing play in more spatially-restrictive environments or for those not willing or able to go with the more involved motion-controls of a Remote and Nunchuck. Either control method works pretty well, and it's a decent game. Not a killer app, but a nice example of how the Gamepad can be used to offer more options, especially with respect to multiplayer.
Only played a little Nintendo Land, but, like Wii Sports/Resort before it, it looks like it's gonna show off the new hardware functionality in a great way. I played the shuriken-throwing game, and it reminds me a lot of the light-gun arcade games of old. Using the gamepad as a pointing device and sliding across the screen to throw the shurikens at the enemies is actually really fun. I'll report back once i play more of the games, but it looks solid so far for sure.
And I just booted up Blops, so I'll see how that goes. I'm super-excited about it, though. I actually prefer Remote+Nunchuck for FPS controls. I find it the most intuitive method, even preferring it over keyboard+mouse. Being able to play on the Gamepad (including local multiplayer without screen splitting) is exciting, too.
So far, I'm quite happy with the system and its games. I just hope the strong third-party support continues since that was what kept the Wii from getting more affection from me. With Mass Effect, Batman, Darksiders, Call of Duty, Tekken, and a bunch of other huge games already on the system, though, I think it's got a shot.
And with Monster Hunter and Dragon Quest X on the way, I know it'll have me content.
...now if only there would be a Pokemon Z game on Wii U. >.>
Okay. Played just a little Blops, but the use of the Gamepad was done well. Playing dual-analog still ain't my cup of tea, but having mission mission objectives on the Gamepad screen, along with instant access to control settings (on the fly adjustment to sensitivity? Sweet). The placement of the sticks is nice, too; I've wondered for years why this layout wasn't more readily available. I haven't played multiplayer yet, but it sounds like it uses the Gamepad quite well for added functionality. Sweet.
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