- Its Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, and YouTube players are really, really good. You can view content on your TV or the Wii U GamePad. Really handy when someone else is using the TV (you can plug headphones into the GamePad too, by the way).
- The TVii feature is also really interesting. You can search and view content on your TV network (cable, satellite, whatever), Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon backed by data from IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. You can also do interesting social network activities relating to the show you're watching on the GamePad while the show runs on your TV. It's a surprisingly immersive TV guide experience.
- USB storage expansion. The internal storage on the Wii U is tiny (8GB or 32GB) and laughably easy to fill with just a few games. In the 8GB console's case, you don't even have the option of downloading a game over 2.7GB since the system software itself eats up 5GB right off the bat. This issue is easily solved by attaching a cheap USB external hard drive available from Best Buy, Amazon, or Newegg.
- You can play most games right on the GamePad without using your TV. This is great when someone else is using the TV or just wants some peace and quiet. You can parallel play to your heart's content.
- The graphics are actually really good. Every game I've played, even the super-fast Mario Kart 8 outputs 1080p at a solid 60 frames per second, making it both beautiful and extremely playable even when the screen is clogged with action. Nintendo may not be pushing out games with more realistic graphics like other studios, but they make up for it with high-fidelity design and bold color. What first stands out about Mario Kart 8 are the colors: deep blues, striking reds, and vibrant greens that other games, even titles lauded for their impressive graphics (e.g. Destiny), just don't have.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Secrets of the Wii U
The Wii U has a number of unsung features I only recently discovered:
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Wii U Critical Mass
Nintendo released the Wii U in North America on November 18, 2012. Up until mid-2014, sales were about as lively as the Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer community.
But then Nintendo released Mario Kart 8 and, one month later, handily won E3 even with a phoned-in virtual performance. Nintendo announced enough upcoming Wii U titles that, in addition to their already-released library, opened the gates for the Wii U. Suddenly Wii U reached critical mass (finally) in terms of available software worth playing. Wii U took New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, The Wonderful 101, and their recent Mario Kart 8 victory and announced the addition of Super Smash Brothers, Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Yoshi's Wooly World, Hyrule Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Finally, the Wii U has enough established and upcoming titles to warrant buying in. Enough so that after E3, the Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundles immediately sold out online and in stores. For three months in my area it was nearly impossible to find a Wii U, and I was even looking at pre-owned inventory! Hardware prices haven't been dropping much, either.
Where is that invisible "worth it" line drawn? About five or six titles. Once a console has enough software that you can spend more on games than the actual hardware, it's worth buying. Say 5 games x $50 = $250 makes the basic 8GB set worth purchasing.
Sure, Wii U still lacks in "hardcore" games (though it does have Call of Duty: Ghosts!). However, I recently rediscovered Nintendo's fun factor. Having grown so jaded and bored with most games lately (such as the aforementioned Call of Duty: Ghosts), I recently plunked down $200 for a used 8GB Wii U, a spare controller, and Super Mario 3D World. I find myself having a surprisingly good time. Nintendo is still innovating gameplay here while the shooter franchises of the world continue to stagnate. I want to keep exploring this crazy, silly world Nintendo created. I've been smiling! I hardly ever smile. Further adding to the fun, the game attracted my wife's interest so we finally have something she's interested in playing together. There's another hidden win in Nintendo's pocket: so many of their games are co-op you can play with friends.
But then Nintendo released Mario Kart 8 and, one month later, handily won E3 even with a phoned-in virtual performance. Nintendo announced enough upcoming Wii U titles that, in addition to their already-released library, opened the gates for the Wii U. Suddenly Wii U reached critical mass (finally) in terms of available software worth playing. Wii U took New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, The Wonderful 101, and their recent Mario Kart 8 victory and announced the addition of Super Smash Brothers, Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Yoshi's Wooly World, Hyrule Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Finally, the Wii U has enough established and upcoming titles to warrant buying in. Enough so that after E3, the Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundles immediately sold out online and in stores. For three months in my area it was nearly impossible to find a Wii U, and I was even looking at pre-owned inventory! Hardware prices haven't been dropping much, either.
Where is that invisible "worth it" line drawn? About five or six titles. Once a console has enough software that you can spend more on games than the actual hardware, it's worth buying. Say 5 games x $50 = $250 makes the basic 8GB set worth purchasing.
Sure, Wii U still lacks in "hardcore" games (though it does have Call of Duty: Ghosts!). However, I recently rediscovered Nintendo's fun factor. Having grown so jaded and bored with most games lately (such as the aforementioned Call of Duty: Ghosts), I recently plunked down $200 for a used 8GB Wii U, a spare controller, and Super Mario 3D World. I find myself having a surprisingly good time. Nintendo is still innovating gameplay here while the shooter franchises of the world continue to stagnate. I want to keep exploring this crazy, silly world Nintendo created. I've been smiling! I hardly ever smile. Further adding to the fun, the game attracted my wife's interest so we finally have something she's interested in playing together. There's another hidden win in Nintendo's pocket: so many of their games are co-op you can play with friends.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Speech Therapy
Having recently finished Fallout: New Vegas it is now time to vent my frustrations. Typically I play this sort of game as a sneaky sniper-thief and try to talk my way out of rough situations (or apply my other wits: science, medicine, and lockpicking). New Vegas offers ample opportunities to talk, hack, repair, or lockpick your way through situations - but it seems to me the requirements are far higher than they ever were in Fallout 3.
I never passed a single speech check in the game. It seems they were all between 60-100 and speech has never been that useful as a skill so I did not invest in it. That turned out to be a mistake, as the game would have been much less fetch quest-heavy and grind-y with high speech given my character build (small guns, light armor).
I also never passed any science checks, which is abominable for me. Again, the requirements were always too high! I sometimes managed to use my mediocre repair skill, but really it's not that useful as a skill even to fix damaged gear. It's easier to just find a repair merchant and pay him. Caps are ridiculously easy to come by, even with low/no charisma and barter.
Worse, I was rarely able to attempt any of the lockpicking opportunities in the game. The locks worth picking to advance the story and make certain missions easier all seem to be Hard or Very Hard, meaning you need 75 or 100 in that skill.
This is a lot to invest in skills that don't make your character stronger or tougher. Sure, you can get the skills that high but your character will be really unbalanced. I've found that in Fallout it's really, really easy to let your character's level outpace her survivability. I beat the game at level 15 with a maxed out guns skill; normal human enemies were simple one-shot kills but armored enemies and deathclaws (even young ones) would simply murder me.
This is an issue I think Skyrim addresses really well: I never once found myself feeling outmatched as I progressed through the game, even though I went into it without a real game plan. I wasn't min/maxing or even planning my character; just upgrading what felt fun to play with allowed me to progress through the game without being overpowered by a basic insect enemy. Hopefully Fallout 4 will have learned from Skyrim's fantastic balance because otherwise I really do enjoy the post-apocalyptic scavenging and exploration.
I never passed a single speech check in the game. It seems they were all between 60-100 and speech has never been that useful as a skill so I did not invest in it. That turned out to be a mistake, as the game would have been much less fetch quest-heavy and grind-y with high speech given my character build (small guns, light armor).
I also never passed any science checks, which is abominable for me. Again, the requirements were always too high! I sometimes managed to use my mediocre repair skill, but really it's not that useful as a skill even to fix damaged gear. It's easier to just find a repair merchant and pay him. Caps are ridiculously easy to come by, even with low/no charisma and barter.
Worse, I was rarely able to attempt any of the lockpicking opportunities in the game. The locks worth picking to advance the story and make certain missions easier all seem to be Hard or Very Hard, meaning you need 75 or 100 in that skill.
This is a lot to invest in skills that don't make your character stronger or tougher. Sure, you can get the skills that high but your character will be really unbalanced. I've found that in Fallout it's really, really easy to let your character's level outpace her survivability. I beat the game at level 15 with a maxed out guns skill; normal human enemies were simple one-shot kills but armored enemies and deathclaws (even young ones) would simply murder me.
This is an issue I think Skyrim addresses really well: I never once found myself feeling outmatched as I progressed through the game, even though I went into it without a real game plan. I wasn't min/maxing or even planning my character; just upgrading what felt fun to play with allowed me to progress through the game without being overpowered by a basic insect enemy. Hopefully Fallout 4 will have learned from Skyrim's fantastic balance because otherwise I really do enjoy the post-apocalyptic scavenging and exploration.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Weekly Report - 12/13/2013
I finally fired up my desktop PC this week to play Hard Reset, a shooter I’ve had in the shrink wrap for almost a year now. It offers crisp graphics and audio, plus insanely fast-paced gameplay.
The presentation is nice. It’s a great game to look at and listen to, but that doesn’t make or break a title. The gameplay is fun but shallow. It’s even less compelling than Doom, a title which Hard Reset boldly claims to emulate. You don’t run around a maze-like Mars base searching for keys. Instead you run around an awesome, dystopic, cyberpunk city shooting robots. It’s unfortunately linear and decidedly un-maze-like. There are no puzzles to solve, here. Just go from obvious switch to obvious switch opening doors and periodically fighting clumps of enemies.
That said, the shooting is fun and your character’s equipment is customizable. You can upgrade shields, health, and weapons in a variety of ways. There’s no way to upgrade everything in a single playthrough, so you are forced to make some choices that make a major impact on how you play the game. Are you a straight-up gunner or do you prefer to utilize the (admittedly dangerous) explosive-filled environment? Will you focus on lobbing explosive grenades, or tactically disrupting enemy movements to force them into your traps? This is how it’s done, folks - look here for a decent example of emergent gameplay! It’s not overly deep, but at least it’s something.
Unfortunately, the story is noise in the background of an insultingly short game. It ends abruptly after about three and a half hours of gameplay. Again, I sigh.
Speaking of Doom, this week marks the game's 20th birthday. Holy crap. And you can play it in a web browser, now.
The presentation is nice. It’s a great game to look at and listen to, but that doesn’t make or break a title. The gameplay is fun but shallow. It’s even less compelling than Doom, a title which Hard Reset boldly claims to emulate. You don’t run around a maze-like Mars base searching for keys. Instead you run around an awesome, dystopic, cyberpunk city shooting robots. It’s unfortunately linear and decidedly un-maze-like. There are no puzzles to solve, here. Just go from obvious switch to obvious switch opening doors and periodically fighting clumps of enemies.
That said, the shooting is fun and your character’s equipment is customizable. You can upgrade shields, health, and weapons in a variety of ways. There’s no way to upgrade everything in a single playthrough, so you are forced to make some choices that make a major impact on how you play the game. Are you a straight-up gunner or do you prefer to utilize the (admittedly dangerous) explosive-filled environment? Will you focus on lobbing explosive grenades, or tactically disrupting enemy movements to force them into your traps? This is how it’s done, folks - look here for a decent example of emergent gameplay! It’s not overly deep, but at least it’s something.
Unfortunately, the story is noise in the background of an insultingly short game. It ends abruptly after about three and a half hours of gameplay. Again, I sigh.
Speaking of Doom, this week marks the game's 20th birthday. Holy crap. And you can play it in a web browser, now.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Weekly Report - 12/6/2013
So I finished The Last of Us (follow-up post forthcoming) and invested in a copy of Eternal Sonata to sate my JRPG hunger.
To start, the graphics demonstrate a beautiful, hand-crafted, cel-shading technique. Cel-shading has never been used this well in games.
The audio is solid, featuring acceptable voice actors and well-performed music originally composed by Chopin (who happens to be a main character in the game). My only complaint is the field music (as opposed to the cutscene music) is quiet, dull, and doesn’t remotely match the on-screen action. No, I have another complaint. The voices of many of the main characters, half of which are whiny children, are absolutely obnoxious. The adult characters are fine. I turned the audio volume down to where I could only hear battle sound effects and used subtitles through most of the game.
The gameplay, while much more active than most RPGs, is ultimately quite uncompelling. There is effectively no character customization. Weapons and equipment replacements are found all over the game world and in shops at various intervals. There really isn’t any give-and-take with the gear, though. It’s always just a straightforward “oh, this new suit is better than the last one” situation. Money, as usual, is obscenely easy to acquire. I sold a single photo I took during the first boss fight in the game which resulted in my wallet overflowing with cash throughout the entire game. Why do developers do this? It renders currency utterly pointless. Gear might as well be handed out free of charge. Even consumable items, which you could spend some dough on, are largely pointless to use.
The only time money matters in this game is during the massive, unimaginative, boring optional dungeon near the end. You have to gather 99,999,999 gold to buy one seventh of a soul, all of which you can combine to resurrect a character who died at the beginning of the game. She comes back at the same level she died (like 25 or so) when the rest of your party is upwards of level 80. This all happens after the final dungeon but immediately before the final boss. So you get a cool but uselessly weak character who is not worth leveling up, even though she’s awesome at high levels, because the remaining 3-minute final boss battle is both idiotic and laughably easy.
The story is the worst part. So one of your main characters is the real-world famous composer Chopin. He’s unconscious in the real world, but appears to be living in a dream world where he meets the rest of the cast of characters. He assures everyone that they are just in his dream, and they react in a totally outrageous way. They don’t care. They don’t call him crazy, nor do they believe him. They just ignore him.
In the absurd ending, Chopin dies - as is supposed to happen according to real history. But then another main character commits suicide for absolutely no reason, is immediately reborn as a four-year-old child at home with her mother, and suddenly teleports back to where she died and magically becomes a living, breathing, teenager again. Sigh.
To start, the graphics demonstrate a beautiful, hand-crafted, cel-shading technique. Cel-shading has never been used this well in games.
The audio is solid, featuring acceptable voice actors and well-performed music originally composed by Chopin (who happens to be a main character in the game). My only complaint is the field music (as opposed to the cutscene music) is quiet, dull, and doesn’t remotely match the on-screen action. No, I have another complaint. The voices of many of the main characters, half of which are whiny children, are absolutely obnoxious. The adult characters are fine. I turned the audio volume down to where I could only hear battle sound effects and used subtitles through most of the game.
The gameplay, while much more active than most RPGs, is ultimately quite uncompelling. There is effectively no character customization. Weapons and equipment replacements are found all over the game world and in shops at various intervals. There really isn’t any give-and-take with the gear, though. It’s always just a straightforward “oh, this new suit is better than the last one” situation. Money, as usual, is obscenely easy to acquire. I sold a single photo I took during the first boss fight in the game which resulted in my wallet overflowing with cash throughout the entire game. Why do developers do this? It renders currency utterly pointless. Gear might as well be handed out free of charge. Even consumable items, which you could spend some dough on, are largely pointless to use.
The only time money matters in this game is during the massive, unimaginative, boring optional dungeon near the end. You have to gather 99,999,999 gold to buy one seventh of a soul, all of which you can combine to resurrect a character who died at the beginning of the game. She comes back at the same level she died (like 25 or so) when the rest of your party is upwards of level 80. This all happens after the final dungeon but immediately before the final boss. So you get a cool but uselessly weak character who is not worth leveling up, even though she’s awesome at high levels, because the remaining 3-minute final boss battle is both idiotic and laughably easy.
The story is the worst part. So one of your main characters is the real-world famous composer Chopin. He’s unconscious in the real world, but appears to be living in a dream world where he meets the rest of the cast of characters. He assures everyone that they are just in his dream, and they react in a totally outrageous way. They don’t care. They don’t call him crazy, nor do they believe him. They just ignore him.
In the absurd ending, Chopin dies - as is supposed to happen according to real history. But then another main character commits suicide for absolutely no reason, is immediately reborn as a four-year-old child at home with her mother, and suddenly teleports back to where she died and magically becomes a living, breathing, teenager again. Sigh.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Created by Gamers Like You
It's vital that we consider community when comparing this generation of consoles. Are players permitted to record, stream, and otherwise share their gameplay? The culture built around Let's Plays and video walkthroughs on YouTube is absolutely vital in moving software.
Consider Dark Souls. Thanks to its strong cult following on YouTube and other online communities, Dark Souls developer From Software caved in and ported a special PC version just because gamers asked for it. I suspect the lion's share of Dark Souls sales were in large part thanks to YouTube. I, for one, would never have heard of the title if it had not been for the overwhelming amount of compelling Dark Souls content online. I bought the game twice: first a used copy for my Xbox 360, then a new copy from Steam with the DLC included. It's one of my favorite games of the generation, largely due to how much player-created content you can find in the community.
Community-created content, be it video walkthroughs or independent game development, is an incredibly powerful. YouTube and Twitch are going to become a major force in this generation of consoles. Additionally, consider independent game developers. Minecraft is one such obvious, phenomenal success.
The console that best fosters community support and allows for community-driven content will emerge victorious.
Consider Dark Souls. Thanks to its strong cult following on YouTube and other online communities, Dark Souls developer From Software caved in and ported a special PC version just because gamers asked for it. I suspect the lion's share of Dark Souls sales were in large part thanks to YouTube. I, for one, would never have heard of the title if it had not been for the overwhelming amount of compelling Dark Souls content online. I bought the game twice: first a used copy for my Xbox 360, then a new copy from Steam with the DLC included. It's one of my favorite games of the generation, largely due to how much player-created content you can find in the community.
Community-created content, be it video walkthroughs or independent game development, is an incredibly powerful. YouTube and Twitch are going to become a major force in this generation of consoles. Additionally, consider independent game developers. Minecraft is one such obvious, phenomenal success.
The console that best fosters community support and allows for community-driven content will emerge victorious.
Monday, November 18, 2013
The Next Generation
There are plenty of articles out there with insider information comparing Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One, but ever since Microsoft pulled a total reversal on its DRM policies this summer, I've been wanting to make a brief comparison of my own. I'm going to try looking into the business side of the console wars, keeping in mind some tenants that make a console a success in both business and with its fans.
First let's take a look at the market for last-generation consoles. According to VGChartz in Q2 of 2013, 77,313,472 PS3s had been sold during the console's lifetime. In the same quarter, the figure for Xbox 360 consoles sold is 77,311,669. It took nearly six years but it appears the PS3 finally did overtake the Xbox 360 - just in time for the next generation to come along and bury this battle in the past.
It's worth noting the Wii is still over 22 million units ahead of even the PS3, but Nintendo is really in a rather shaky position.Wii sales dropped off a cliff (let's not even discuss the Wii U) a few years ago after a rabid selling spree during its youth. Does that strike you as a hardware prolem? I think it's an indicator of failing to deliver a steady stream of quality software, which is ultimately what continues to sell consoles (and more of said software).
This is important. Let's face it: the PS3 had a slow start. Killzone doesn't quite hold up to Gears of War. It wasn't until, probably, the Uncharted series that PS3 really began to catch up to the 360. It's not going to come down to who has flashier hardware this generation. It's going to be a software battle. Who has a better user interface? Who has better games? Who offers better independent development and fosters a stronger community?
First let's take a look at the market for last-generation consoles. According to VGChartz in Q2 of 2013, 77,313,472 PS3s had been sold during the console's lifetime. In the same quarter, the figure for Xbox 360 consoles sold is 77,311,669. It took nearly six years but it appears the PS3 finally did overtake the Xbox 360 - just in time for the next generation to come along and bury this battle in the past.
It's worth noting the Wii is still over 22 million units ahead of even the PS3, but Nintendo is really in a rather shaky position.Wii sales dropped off a cliff (let's not even discuss the Wii U) a few years ago after a rabid selling spree during its youth. Does that strike you as a hardware prolem? I think it's an indicator of failing to deliver a steady stream of quality software, which is ultimately what continues to sell consoles (and more of said software).
This is important. Let's face it: the PS3 had a slow start. Killzone doesn't quite hold up to Gears of War. It wasn't until, probably, the Uncharted series that PS3 really began to catch up to the 360. It's not going to come down to who has flashier hardware this generation. It's going to be a software battle. Who has a better user interface? Who has better games? Who offers better independent development and fosters a stronger community?
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