I played this on 3DO on Vaders advice
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| 3DO | 9.00 |
| Overall | 9.00 |
|
I've had Wii U for about 2 weeks now and feel like I've got a handle on it. PHYSICAL HARDWARE Nice weight, easy to move which is handy if you want to extend the wireless range. Looks nice and glossy, has a high quality feel to it. Very cool to the touch. Has a handy disc light which tells you if a disc is in the system. Fairly useful as the damned thing spins constantly if you leave a disc in there, even if you are using other features and not playing a disc based game. CONTROLLER Really good, maybe the best traditional controller ever. Not hyperbole, it's comfortable, large, has a good weight to it, great components. The sticks feel right, the buttons feel right and the massive ass touchscreen is infinitely useful. The controller's backside has a nice shape, which melts into your hands. It also has a very useful lip to crook your fingers under to hold it. D-pad is a suprise too, large and great, best d-pad I have seen in.... well forever? The speakers are decent, they do the job but have a slight tinny sound to them on some games, I think it varies with game use. But they are nowhere near the rounded, rich quality of the 3DS speakers. They get the job done though and introduce you to one of the systems best features - dual audio tracks. Music that is different to the main tv which syncs up, making an interesting effect. Also it is used in Zombi U for instance to give you an intimate feeling of talking to someone on a walkie talkie. The screen however gets a mixed response, it's not HD, but I might even say that the quality is worse than what you would expect from 480p too. The main problem is the colour loss, when viewed side by side with the HDTV - it comes off badly. There are notable jaggies close up too. However if you are playing off screen and not constantly comparing it with a giant HDTV then it does look decent for off tv play. I hear that the wireless Miracast streaming tech may have more to do with the picture quality than the actual screen itself. I recently discovered that Mighty Switch Force looks as good if not better on the U pad screen which is strange. I have a feeling that as developers get more used to the way the system works they will up the colour saturation to the u pad screen rather than just mirroring the HDTV action with the same colour palette. Battery life, seems okay to me, I charge it once a day. However I do not like the thought of it recharging so much the charge capacity goes down. So I have already got someone to gift me the Nyko battery. SYSTEM GRAPHICS Hard to tell as I don't own any blockbuster games. Zombi U is murky and covered with soft filters. It's also a relatively low budget launch game where they didn't prioritise graphics. It doesn't look bad though in any way, it just doesn't excel. Nintendoland can look quite good in places. Unlock a giant Pikmin Bulborb statue and stare at it close up, the shaders, lighting, crispness all look great. The best graphics are probably Mario Chase with great shader use, eye searing colour, nice shadows and lighting. The Animal Crossing game and Pikmin have some nice stuff too but the fixed camera stops you from appreciating it up close. Trine 2 is glorious sometimes, a great combination of art and technology. THE OS Some is good, some slow. Reaching the settings takes too long, you would think it would be simple, but no. Sometimes loading back to the main menu is slow. However when you are playing in game and loading other apps, then swapping back it's great. You can dive in and out of the internet, Miiverse, friend lists, messaging and the eshop without taking you out of the game. One thing that is weird is that you cannot control the menu on the HDTV unless you use a wii remote. MIIVERSE Much better than I expected, it incorporates friends, messaging and is basically one large message board for gaming. It has your mii up there, you can hand write or type messages. It's all very friendly and easy to use. It handily tracks all activity from your friends and notifies you when someone replies to something you say. The best feature is using it like online expert help. You can be stuck in a game, go into miiverse and ask for help then jump back into the game. Then the blue light flashes on the wii u pad, you hit it and are back into miiverse with a reply - jump straight back into your game and use the advice to get past said obstacle. It all happens fairly seamlessly and is super, super useful for that. I also use it to dish out solutions to people who are stuck in bits I have done too. NET BROWSER This thing is godly, its smooth, fast, has tabs, touch screen and button support, is easy to zoom and scroll. It even works with a lot of videos even though it's not supposed to work with flash. It's a fantastic browser actually and I use it in lieu of the laptop unless I want to heavily type. ESHOP Another well made app, much better than the disorganised mess the 3DS shop has become. It's one front page, easy to scroll, great controls, high quality videos, demos etc. It needs more demos of course but that will come. One of the best things about it is the great selection of games on it. I already have Trine 2 and Mighty Switch Force but I could have got Puddle, Little Inferno or Nano Assault Neo too. YOUTUBE APP This is ASS. It's easier and better using the internet browser to use youtube. This app has no touch screen support, it's horrible to use, horrible! UPLAY Simple and easy but again no touch screen support. LOVEFILM APP Initially feels cumbersome and yes it could be better, but the streaming is great, and you can swap out for the touch screen and use it where the interface becomes better. The selection is pretty.... average if you have already seen Prison Break, 24, Lost etc. The volume is too low for u pad only use, both on the speakers and with headphones. Good overall though. FRIENDS We have usernames and you can search someone up on miiverse and send them a friend request. Or follow them like on twitter. Sony boss Yoshida is on Wii U and you can follow him ShuYoshia I think is his handle. OVERALL I really like this system. Regardless of games the actual functionality of the system is great. It is really, really useful having a second screen and I'm not even talking gaming. You are getting a powerful console (HD level) and getting this tablet for free bundled in with all these other features. Everything works fairly well, mostly it's the third party apps that are lacking in some form. Paired with games, all this functionality - diving in and out - its just very easy, intuitive and satisfying to use. So basically the only thing I can really complain about is the u pad screen quality - which is okay, just not great. Bring on the games. |
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Posted by gamingeek Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:05:40
Recently Spotted:
robio (7m)
1. Turn down the u pad screen brightness when playing games that do not require intensive second screen use. It will save the battery.
2. When playing off screen you do not need an HDMI cable or sensor bar. So if you want the wireless pad range extended, just pop out those cables and carry the console and power cord to a nearer room. Thus easily extending your wireless range.
Nice review GG. But I would be much harder on the OS, ass backwards friend system and battery.
On the battery how long do you guys play each day? I don't usually play more than 3 hours a day so I don't ever need to charge it more than once a day. If I am using netflix or something I leave it on low brightness plugged in.
Do you guys do anything to mitigate the battery drain like turning down the brightness or sound or anything if you are mainly using the tv?
I ordered this Nyko battery so I will let you know how it is. It looks bulky and cumbersome though.