Last updated on July 27, 2014
After having owned the system for over a week, I figured I may as well talk about the system itself as a user experience. The games, of course, remain the primary focus, but I think the strange peripheral and design of Nintendo’s latest deserves some mention.
Probably my biggest disappointment from the whole “system buying” ordeal comes from the GamePad. Yes, the new controller/handheld hybrid contains all the usual Nintendo innovations you’d expect. Play a game while someone watches TV! Activate a game immediately with the Quick Start Menu! Take a picture of yourself and post it! Use the Stylus to draw things for some reason! Blow into the microphone, or tilt the GamePad around! I love all these little knickknacks, and I assumed developers would follow suit with Nintendo Land’s weird mechanics.
Unfortunately, we live in a far less innovative time, and I imagine Nintendo did not account for this. Most developers just want to stick with the dual analog setup, and aren’t willing to make risky, expensive concessions just for the small Wii U audience. As a result, software that actually takes advantage of all these cool features (including from Nintendo itself!) barely exists at all. What a shame, really! I think there’s still a lot of potential with the GamePad other than having it appear as a glorified map screen. Games like The Wonderful 101 demonstrate how cool it can be to integrate touch screen control with Bayonetta-like action-combat in a way that actually works. Again, I understand why no games exist in that vein; it just disappoints me a little.
Regardless, I still think the GamePad works fine for what it is. At times, it gives you wrist cramps from being so wide (probably that’s just due to the chair I’m sitting in), but the thing’s pretty heavy for any extended play sessions. The claw-like shape of your hand will hurt in sessions of Mario Kart 8, so Classic Controllers or Pro Controllers may turn into a necessity. On that note, I approve of the backwards compatibility of Wii devices and games; most games don’t restrict you to just the GamePad (of which you only need one for any Wii U system, thank God).
Unlike the other two console manufacturers who pretty much abandon their previous software, Nintendo knows how to make the new product worth the value. It also helps that most of the cables are exactly the same, meaning no new connections or anything complicated; it was pretty much plug and play for my very complicated home theater setup. I enjoyed the ease of use, and I’m sure my conversion to HDMI will make the process even easier.
Of course, no system purchases comes without its faults and unintentional set backs. First, I need an SD card to carry over my previously saved Wii games and purchased Virtual Console stuff. I’m honestly not sure if it’s worth the hassle to transfers everything over or simply to keep my Wii where it is. Since I’ve got a GameCube already, I may just do it, although I don’t understand why some sort of connecting cable doesn’t exist. Playing Wii software also incurs a strange load time between the Wii U and Wii menu that had me thinking the system stopped working; I wish there was some kind of indicator to tell you it’s loading or something.
The bigger problem came with the lack of an Ethernet port. Does Nintendo want people to play games online or not? Frankly, I find the lack of an inclusion for an Ethernet port utterly baffling, especially as Nintendo gears up to present their multiplayer experiences as an online experience instead of just on the couch. Isn’t that expected by now? Who plays games online with a wireless connection unless they love lag?
Furthermore, and I think this is the height of dumb choices Nintendo made, they don’t even manufacture an official Ethernet adapter. Thankfully, people make this stuff for all sorts of computers. Why leave this to a third party? Does it bring Nintendo great glee to lose money from me because they couldn’t bother to manufacture a standard connection for most, if not all, TV-related devices in the modern age? I’m simply dumbstruck by the lack of foresight here; I’m just grateful that the system contains two USB ports to fix this issue.
As a minor aesthetic grievance, and not a complain exclusive to Nintendo, do we always need to go with a glossy finish? I hated this when I bought the fat PS3 originally, and the fat PSP, and the gloss hasn’t grown on me. All I see are fingerprints and the sense of “dirty” controllers; that feeling never goes away, and it looks awful the longer you own the thing. The matte finish would fix this problem from the get-go (thanks PS3 Slim!), but people like shiny things I guess. It’s especially bad because of the GamePad’s touchscreen, which is a pretty brilliant touch screen except for the fingerprints.
I would also have hoped that the Wii U had a longer wireless range than twenty feet or so. My Wii U, coincidentally, lies very close to a bathroom, so this makes it convenient for dealing with the business, but it could definitely work like a WaveBird if they so desired. The battery life on the GamePad also feels like a giant oversight; I understand that 6-8 hours isn’t bad, but what if you weren’t close enough to a wall socket while playing something? What if the GamePad was your only controller? It’s just a strange design decision, all said.
All in all, I complain a lot, but the overall experience so far has been positive. Little design improvements could have made me even happier, but the games really do cover over all these problems once you’re actually playing. The number of exclusives just sweetened the deal for me, and the nice price on a refurbished system (around two hundred USD) even more so.
