Nintendo Wii U

[DarkeSword]

Which is one of the few games that supports the Wii Speak peripheral! Though I don't think it's known whether or not Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate 3 Super HD Wii U Edition will have some kind of voice chat, yet.

Monster Hunter Tri is for Wii, and yes, it supports Wii Speak, but Wii Speak is not very good. It's a room mic, rather than a headset.

Monster Hunter 3 is the new game for Wii U.

Anyway, my point was that a cooperative game like Monster Hunter is exactly the kind of game where voice chat is necessary. Cooperative games without efficient communication are difficult. You see it all the time with PC games; it's so much easier to just say "let's go around the side" or "I'm going to CC the guy on the left" than it is to take your hands off your mouse/controller and type it. Add to that the fact that the Wii U doesn't have a keyboard, and communication becomes even harder.

People are saying stuff like "just use Skype!" Well, Skype is great, but what if I'm playing a game and I don't have some of the people I'm playing with on my contacts list? It's nicer to to just have integrated voice chat. The people I'm playing with are all automatically on the call. It's effortless. This kind of thing is great for co-op games and fighting game lobbies where there's a lot of spectating.

I get that people have bad experiences with voice chat in games like CoD, but that's not really the point. Integrated voice chat is a thing that 360 and PS3 have had for years, and 3rd-party developers simply should not be required to roll their own solution after all this time. The console should provide a standardized voice chat infrastructure that all developers can utilize. It's just extra work that the developer shouldn't have to do.

Does Wii U suck for not having it? No, definitely not. But it's just one of those things that the console really should have, and just another thing that Nintendo is behind on.

[Overflow]

And all I'm thinking is "Fudge Nintendo Land! It's all about the long-awaited 3rd season of Pikmin!"

If you wanted to play Call of Duty, why not just play it on a gaming-quality PC? Then again, they need to put the Call of Duty series on the cooling plate after more than 7 consecutive years with a new installment.

Haha Pikmin would be number 1 on my list if it was at launch.

I don't have a PC, let alone a gaming PC. Consoles all the way for me. I do enjoy the Humble Indie Bundles, though, and I'm grateful they run on Mac. But yeah, CoD needs some serious time off.

I like how people acted all shocked and horrified that there were two new NSMB games this year and accused the series of 'milking' and such. It's been 3 years since the last NSMB game, and it was 3 years before that that the first one came out. New Super Mario Bros is not the series to accuse of 'milking'.

[Brushfire]

Haha Pikmin would be number 1 on my list if it was at launch.

I don't have a PC, let alone a gaming PC. Consoles all the way for me. I do enjoy the Humble Indie Bundles, though, and I'm grateful they run on Mac. But yeah, CoD needs some serious time off.

CoD wont take time off cause Activision knows that people are stupid. The Madden of FPS's is their best selling IP, so they dont give a damn.

[ocre]

@Overflow: Isn't it clear by now that Nintendo is the company that people can point to when they feel like exaggerating and blowing things way out of proportion to satisfy their irrational hatred?

Copying and pasting Kotaku's stupid voice chat article that ASSUMES for some reason that Wiii U won't support bluetooth headset devices, which seem like the easiest way to chat online with the system, and then everyone believes for a fact that the system doesn't and get in their head that it will be 'complicated' to voice chat on the system. I don't see how it's any more complicated than what Sony has in place on the PS3. And don't even tell me you wouldn't have minded hearing everyone's button-presses and the noises of fumbling around with their controller if Nintendo had allowed online voice chat with the GamePad microphone.

People are acting like Wii U won't support voice chat of any kind and games that support online multiplayer won't have that feature. Give me a break. How exactly are Nintendo "falling behind" in offering online chat if they actually do support the option (and at the same level of their competitor?) I'll remind you that PlayStation 3 doesn't support cross-game chat nor does it have a microphone in their controller. How is Nintendo the disgrace?

Edited October 22, 2012 by ocre

[The Derrit]

Monster Hunter 3.

can't even front that is a game you want chat for. but it's also a game you don't play with random people who will screech your ears off, which is what i was saying before; making it a process to enable voice chat makes it something you only do when it's a worthwhile endeavor, such as monster hunter where you want to be able to truly cooperate and communicate with your friends, instead of randoms.

which is the reasonable conversation we should have been having. sadly crowbar is dumb as bricks so we haven't been.

Edited October 22, 2012 by The Derrit

[Overflow]

@OCRE

Yes, that certainly does seem to be the state of the internet and gook culture in general. It's making me want to resign from being a member of geek culture.

can't even front that is a game you want chat for. but it's also a game you don't play with random people who will screech your ears off, which is what i was saying before; making it a process to enable voice chat makes it something you only do when it's a worthwhile endeavor, such as monster hunter where you want to be able to truly cooperate and communicate with your friends, instead of randoms.

That is a good point, which I think was raised earlier: making it a little more complicated to use voice chat will weed out much of the flotsam and screaming 12-year olds. With that said however, I don't really understand how it will be that much more difficult anyway: Game-by-game basis sounds fine to me, and the interconnectivity of Miiverse makes up for the lack of cross game chat. Everyone who owns a Wii U will by default have a gamepad, so just set it next to you and plug it your headset, or use a bluetooth set (if it is possible). Personally I still enjoyed using Wii Speak and found it to be very easy and hassle-free. It would be nice if Nintendo supported it outside of one game, since the tech is actually pretty good.

[ocre]

For those of us worried about Nintendo opting for Friend Codes with Wii U, EA seems to have let out a little info when detailing their OnLive data collection for each console, mentioning that your "Nintendo Network ID, friends list and Mii information" would be shared with the service from Wii U.

Very interesting. I for one definitely don't think we will see anything as unintuitive as the DS game-specific friend code system (which practically ruined the term) for Wii U. I think Nintendo made a great improvement in the system for 3DS, which raised intuitiveness by requiring only one friend code for your system- the only thing missing is friend requests. I really think they will utilize a PSN-esque account system. We'll see.

Edited October 22, 2012 by ocre

[Bleck]

I like how people acted all shocked and horrified that there were two new NSMB games this year and accused the series of 'milking' and such.

I'm an enormous Mario fan, and I think that they're milking that series - not because of how often the releases are, but because the games all look, play, and (musically) sound the goddamn same. All four of the NSMB share the exact same aesthetic designs, which can't be said of SMB, SMB2A, SMB3 and SMW. All of those games look, sound, and play immensely differently. They're milking the series because they're making numerous sequels that obviously required the bare minimum of creative effort.

[SuperBrother]

@Overflow: Isn't it clear by now that Nintendo is the company that people can point to when they feel like exaggerating and blowing things way out of proportion to satisfy their irrational hatred?

Copying and pasting Kotaku's stupid voice chat article that ASSUMES for some reason that Wiii U won't support bluetooth headset devices, which seem like the easiest way to chat online with the system, and then everyone believes for a fact that the system doesn't and get in their head that it will be 'complicated' to voice chat on the system. I don't see how it's any more complicated than what Sony has in place on the PS3. And don't even tell me you wouldn't have minded hearing everyone's button-presses and the noises of fumbling around with their controller if Nintendo had allowed online voice chat with the GamePad microphone.

People are acting like Wii U won't support voice chat of any kind and games that support online multiplayer won't have that feature. Give me a break. How exactly are Nintendo "falling behind" in offering online chat if they actually do support the option (and at the same level of their competitor?) I'll remind you that PlayStation 3 doesn't support cross-game chat nor does it have a microphone in their controller. How is Nintendo the disgrace?

Well that article also says that cross game chat is not currently universal, which is, frankly, silly. Additionally, why are the different outputs for game chat audio? Some will use the jack on the game pad, some will allow audio via USB. I don't understand why they wouldn't tell devs that it has to go through both. Suppose you want to play with the wii u pro controller and the game only supports audio through the game pad? And finally, in the midst of all this talk about game hat why wouldn't they just go ahead and say whether or not the console would support Bluetooth headsets? Lots of questions and not enough direct answers. We're a little less than a month from release details would be nice.

[jnWake]

I'm an enormous Mario fan, and I think that they're milking that series - not because of how often the releases are, but because the games all look, play, and (musically) sound the goddamn same. All four of the NSMB share the exact same aesthetic designs, which can't be said of SMB, SMB2A, SMB3 and SMW. All of those games look, sound, and play immensely differently. They're milking the series because they're making numerous sequels that obviously required the bare minimum of creative effort.

Well, NSMBU isn't out yet, so we don't know if it has at least some gameplay tweaks or stuff. I doubt it though.

I do agree that the graphics in Mario games are too similar, and that is sad. I mean, both Mario Galaxies, all NSMB games AND Super Mario 3D Land all use like the same 3D models for Mario, Peach, Bowser and most enemies. NSMB would be better with a different art direction (like the Zelda handheld games).

Despite that, I found all the hate against NSMB2 pretty exaggerated. Even Assassin's Creed has released looooooooots of games since it started, so it seems to be pretty normal to milk franchises now.

[DarkeSword]

Mario Galaxies, all NSMB games AND Super Mario 3D Land all use like the same 3D models for Mario, Peach, Bowser and most enemies. NSMB would be better with a different art direction (like the Zelda handheld games)

That's not really the same.

You can easily tell the difference between Mario Galaxy and NSMB. They look completely different. Super Mario 3D Land also looks distinct; you can tell it's a different game.

With the NSMB games, they all look the same. You really can't tell them apart aesthetically unless you look for specifics like power-ups or screenshot resolution. They don't look different, they don't feel different; they are essentially interchangeable.

sadly crowbar is dumb as bricks so we haven't been.

Cut this kind of shit out right now or you're banned.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Anorax:

Skype Support: That would be pretty cool!

That would be a freakin TERRIBLE idea.

Please, keep that trash off of the console.

[Bleck]

neb you crazy skype is 2 cool

[jnWake]

That's not really the same.

You can easily tell the difference between Mario Galaxy and NSMB. They look completely different. Super Mario 3D Land also looks distinct; you can tell it's a different game.

With the NSMB games, they all look the same. You really can't tell them apart aesthetically unless you look for specifics like power-ups or screenshot resolution. They don't look different, they don't feel different; they are essentially interchangeable.

I know the games don't look the same, but that is mainly because Mario Galaxy is completely 3D and in space I was only making reference to the models of the characters, which are very similar.

EDIT: And what makes it sadder is that the Galaxy games where more creative than NSMB with the Toad designs, even when Toad is playable in the latter. Oh well, NSMB is still fun.

Edited October 22, 2012 by jnWake

[Mirby]

With the NSMB games, they all look the same. You really can't tell them apart aesthetically unless you look for specifics like power-ups or screenshot resolution. They don't look different, they don't feel different; they are essentially interchangeable.

perhaps that might have something to do with how miyamoto is in charge of the 3D installments and not the 2D ones (that's up to takashi tezuka, though shiggy still supervises to ensure it's okay) and how the NSMB series is a 'safe' investment. they know it'll sell, so they don't really see the need to completely mix it up; they leave that up to the 3d games and miyamoto.

btw i can't wait to see the next 3d mario game that premieres on wii u; that should be awesome.

[Anorax]

Quick question,

Do you guys think we've reached a graphics threshold, where it's no longer about updating a console's graphic card without having an upgrade in the display hardware itself?

In other words, are we at the point where we can't do much more graphics-wise without upgrading our TVs and other gaming displays to be able to display it?

Man I suck at effectively wording a question...

[ocre]

Well for consoles, the manufacturers have to cater to the widespread adoption of displays that cap at 1080p resolution; since people don't tend to upgrade their home televisions that often. They've barely taken advantage of that resolution(it certainly isn't standard for console games) yet Sony are reportedly going to support "4K resolution" on the next PlayStation (to possibly go hand in hand with new 4K TVs and recreate their success with Bluray).

There is always more you can do to improve in the visuals department, such as making "an interactive Toy Story 3" but that kind of vision is held back mostly due to development costs (a 'AAA' game typically costs tens of millions of dollars and requires the work of hundreds of employees to create; millions of copies must therefore be sold just to break even, which is the reason many developers have shut down in this generation).

Couple these things with the trend of the general public to not care so much about graphics, so long as there is perceived entertainment value, as with the Just Dance games or even the recently discussed NSMB series.

Back to Wii U supposedly using Nintendo Network IDs, if they are going to allow Usernames, what are you guys gonna pick?

Edited October 22, 2012 by ocre

[Nabeel Ansari]

Quick question,

Do you guys think we've reached a graphics threshold, where it's no longer about updating a console's graphic card without having an upgrade in the display hardware itself?

In other words, are we at the point where we can't do much more graphics-wise without upgrading our TVs and other gaming displays to be able to display it?

Good graphic engines have absolutely zero correlation with screen resolution.

That is, you can't be at a point where your shadows can't look any more real without getting a bigger TV. That doesn't make any sense.

[Mirby]

Back to Wii U supposedly using Nintendo Network IDs, if they are going to allow Usernames, what are you guys gonna pick?

What do you think I'm going to pick?

Mirby.

and if some rube steals that, MirbyStudios.

[EC2151]

Considering how most of the NSMB series are just plain mediocre platforming to begin with, it's hard to get myself excited for another one. That and the music and sound-design for the series has sucked really hard. It's like they base their entire soundtrack around a stupid little choral stab that sounds like someone saying "FUCK FUCK"

Of course, Nintendo made their best Mario game a good long while back, and it

!

[Anorax]

Good graphic engines have absolutely zero correlation with screen resolution.

That is, you can't be at a point where your shadows can't look any more real without getting a bigger TV. That doesn't make any sense.

I'm thinking more along the lines of what if the graphics drive improves to a point you'd need a resolution higher than 1080p for peak performance?

Back to Wii U supposedly using Nintendo Network IDs, if they are going to allow Usernames, what are you guys gonna pick?

*glances at username*

no idea

[Cerrax]

No one should be worried about TV resolution yet. Very, very few console games as of now run in 1080p. Most display either entirely in 720p with anti-aliasing, or run 720p and below on polygons and 1080p on billboard such as HUDs. It will be a while before consoles will bump their graphics beyond 1080p, between the cost of the hardware and that fact that no TV displays over 1080p.

Final Fantasy XIII runs in 720p on PS3 and runs in 576p on Xbox 360 with the HUD displayed at 720p. Both use anti-aliasing and unless you have a really (42+ inch) big TV, you can't really tell the difference.

[Nabeel Ansari]

I'm thinking more along the lines of what if the graphics drive improves to a point you'd need a resolution higher than 1080p for peak performance?

That doesn't really make sense. Explain?

[Anorax]

That doesn't really make sense. Explain?

yeah, I never make any sense. Cerrax basically answered my question.

[EC2151]

This entire generation has been sold on the illusion of [fake] "HD" so it might come as a shock when games are actually presented in real "HD."

I already expressed my hopes and fears about the graphical upgrades of the WiiU pages ago. Basically, I hope this will mean less anti-aliasing, better textures, etc.