Microsoft‘s Phil Spencer isn’t going to beat around the bush when it comes to the Wii U, a console that should be a direct competitor to the Xbox 360. He thinks that not only is the Wii U ostensibly an Xbox 360 with a different covering, but also that Nintendo plans to, in certain regards, market it as such.
While Nintendo is going to spend the next couple of months explaining to gamers why the Wii U is the must-have console of the next-gen, many gamers will be wondering what value there is in a console that doesn’t “feel” next-gen.
What can the Wii U do that the Xbox 360 can’t? Well, as it turns out, probably not that much, and that’s why Spencer thinks that the unveiling of the Pro Controller was simply the means for offloading a ton of 360 ports.
“I think their Pro Controller makes a lot of sense with the platform they’ve built. They are building a platform that is effectively a 360 when you think of graphical capability…Now they are really making an on-ramp for the back catalog of games that are on 360. It is easy for those games to move over to the Wii U. They’ve moved the buttons around, and they’ve made a controller that feels familiar for 360 gamers, so I get why they are putting those pieces together.”
Up until this point most gamers have been considering the Wii U’s ports to be of games with notoriety across all platforms, or future titles released as the last gasp of this current console generation. What we haven’t considered is whether or not Nintendo would go back through the back catalogue of the Xbox 360 and port over some of those titles as well.
While we’ve yet to receive any concrete details from Nintendo, it appears to be entirely likely that the tech operating under the hood of the Wii U is comparable in power and capabilities to the Xbox 360′s tech. Couple that in with a controller that bares a striking resemblance to Microsoft’s boomerang design, and you’ve got the perfect transitional console for Wii owners to get in on some current gen titles.
Unfortunately, for the rest of us this just sounds like more of the same problematic disposition Nintendo has been demonstrating since last year’s E3. They missed the mark in 2011 by not showing enough of the Wii U, and did it again by not unveiling any exciting launch content for the console.
If Nintendo’s goal with the pro controller is to give gamers the impression that the Xbox 360 and the Wii U are similar, that’s all well and good, but what happens when Durango releases. Maybe there are some of us out there that haven’t experienced the ending to Mass Effect 3, but there are even fewer who would interested in doing so on the Wii U.
Do you think that the Wii U is dead in the water and Nintendo will do anything to save it? Or is Phil Spencer completely off base and actually worried about the competition?
Source: Games Industry
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Phil Spencer is dead on. Most good third party games were created using UE3. The ports may sell well, that is until the next gen comes around and all the games are using UE4, which the Wii U won’t be able to run. What will Nintendo do then without their third party support?
Is there any PROOF that Wii U won’t run UE4 or is only as powerful as the 360? NO! You are basing your specualtion on rumours that 7-year-old Xbox fanboys on NeoGAF pulled out of their ***es to be trolls. There is quite literally NO proof as to whether the Wii U will be just as powerful as the 360 (judging by Digital Foundry’s analysis of the demos at E3, I’m guessing it’s more, but not by much (like 4-5X versus the 8-10X were likely going to get from Sony/Microsoft)due to the fact that a) Batman: Arkham City has much nicer textures and motion blur, b)Ninja Gaiden 3 has V-Sync on and c) Mass Effect 3 is running at 60FPS. We’re just going to have to wait until someone does a full teardown and X-ray on the system to get more detailed information.
Chill dude, its just a system. And a somewhat outdated one at that. Sure, its probably going to be more powerful than the 360, but that’s not saying much. The 360 really isn’t that powerful. I have no doubt that the Wii U will support UE4, but as more engines are created, I don’t think it will be able to support those, especially to the end of that next generations lifespan, which is expected to be longer than this ones was. But time will tell.
chill dude it’s just a system.
it will be better then 360, but not better then the next gen of xbox and playstation. they’re stupid in releasing a new console this late when the next gen is going to come out in a year or so. either they’re releasing ahead of everyone in a poor attempt at ‘winning’ the fans, or they’re stupid.
next gen starts this year, not next year.
Which Arkham City were you looking at? The Wii U version I saw looked horrid compared to PS3 & 360.
put your glasses on son!
You’re an idiot,Enjoy your Current Gen console while I game on PC and Next gen PS4.
You’re an idiot. True fact btw.
I’m basing it on the fact that Nintendo said that the Wii U will be a console to compete with the current generation of hardware (Xbox 360 and PS3) and the fact that Microsoft and Sony always go big with their new console. I don’t know for sure what processors they’ll be using, but I am 99% sure it will blow away the Wii U. Epic Games already knows the processing capabilities of the new Xbox and PS4, so they will design UE4 around those processors. With that, I am almost certain that UE4 will be too complex and powerful to run on the Wii U, because Epic said themselves that it will take six times as much power of the Xbox 360 to run UE4, and I highly doubt the Wii U is going to be six times as powerful as the 360. It’s not the “proof” you were looking for, but it’s an educated guess. Speculation? Sure, but it’s speculation based on sourced information and past events.
did you build the wiiu lol your ignorant
Just a thought, but since Microsoft has their issues with Motorola, would this be an easy sale of sorts for Nintendo in the US?
Now that’s a good selling point.
I’m no Ms hater but Xbox has little to no sales in Japan, after losing US, they’ll be screwed.
I actually think the WiiU is a nice concept and will be a good console. The fact is that Microsoft created something great, and people who play on consoles, will most likely stick where the most games are and the most popular console. I’m a PC gamer, I own a Wii and a Xbox360, I hardly play either of them. I like the Wii for my old fashioned Nintendo games. But overall I think that I will buy the WiiU and enjoy its better graphics and the sweet tablet controller.
Comments on wii u articles always confuse me. Are there seriously people out there that expect a nintendo console to have the best graphics or the best gpu? I’m exited for the Wiiu to launch, way exited, but I’ll be putting a 720 right next to it when it releases. They serve two different purposes in my mind. It’s like a toaster and an oven, they both do the same thing, but sometimes i want to cook something basic quickly, and sometimes i want to take my time and bake something intricate.
That may have been the greatest metaphor I’ve heard on this subject. (No sarcasm intended.)
lol that was pretty good.
seriously one awesome metaphor.
I see the controller as more of an evolution of the game cube controller then a copy of the xbox one . . How different can they really be anyways?
People are continually missing the point, Nintendo isn’t about the hardware spec’s or the availability of third party games. Nintendo is about their games. Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong are the reason I buy the system and always will. Their games are incredibly entertaining, I can play them with my young children or older relatives, and everyone has a blast.
Nintendo has nothing to prove to anyone anymore, their part of the market will always be secure.
Dude, it’s so blatantly a rebranded black 360 controller, even the people that made Darksiders are like “daaaaang”.
@Darkscifious
Agreed.
This.
Agreed on all fronts. I’ve always said over and over Nintendo hardware is ONLY a distribution method for it’s software. Period. Mario Kart Wii has sold over 32 million copies. Halo 3 has sold over 11 million. Ninty must be doing something right.
why is everyone obsessed with UE4? they ran the demo on a $2,500 computer, and you’d need something about as expensive for it to power a full game at that quality, so unless the next-gen is horribly expensive, there won’t be that big of a leap in graphical capabilities.
Oh how I love when people think of powerful engines like UE4, they immediately think of graphical capabilities. I don’t think that there will be a huge graphical leap from this gen to next gen, but the power of the engine does not only affect graphics. It affects animations, textures, content, load times, processing power, processing times, scale, physics, AI, particle systems, character models, and so much more. For instance, if Skyrim was running on a engine as powerful as UE4, load times/saving times would be significantly reduced, there would be way more character models on screen, there would be more realistic physics, more content as a whole, the entire land of Skyrim could be 3 or 4 times as big and all rendered at the same time, and so much more. Power of the engine does not only affect graphics, that’s actually the least important thing it affects, and I’m tired of ignorant people, such as yourself, associating engine power with graphical power.
@Unbuildthegame
Textures would fall into the graphics territory.
And everything else?
Oh that’s it.
There are so many Nintendo gamers out there. Those people who dont care about graphics or storylines and just want to hit stupid objects onscreen. The Wii blew both 360 and PS3 out of the water in terms of sales. I dont think it matters that the Wii U isnt gonna compare to the next gen consoles, they have a huge audience that love their games – gladly Im not one of them. Graphics and storylines do matter alot to me but I just think its very stupid of Spencer to rule Nintendo out already.
Even with 360 processing power I bet it wont have anything like the RROD!!!
Man I am tired of the storyline comments, not only with games but with movies. There is like half a dozen or so main formulas that everybody uses, but unless it has some groundbreaking originality to it then it sucks right? So what in your opinion has a better story line than the zelda franchise? Please don’t say halo or mass effect 3 . . .
What’s better than Zelda? Well, I can tell you that no Zelda game that I have ever played (all of them since Link To The Past) has ever triggered a genuine emotional response from me. At times, I would go “aww” or “oh s***” or “that’s interesting,” but I would never actually really genuinely CARE about anything that happened. Say what you want about shooters, but some of them have really heartfelt, deep stories. Gears of War, for instance. In Gears 2, there is a scene that would make anyone tear up, and in a certain scene in Gears 3, I, as well as everyone I know, was in tears. The entire last 2 or 3 missions of Halo 3 were really emotional and I was genuinely worried about the characters in the game. Same for Mass Effect. Assassin’s Creed is the same. The end of AC: Brotherhood made me tear up. And last, but not least, Bioshock…that game has the most compelling story than any other game this generation. Before you start to tear into me, know that I love every Zelda game (except Twilight Princess, not sure why), but they are more about the sense of adventure. Each Zelda game has the same theme: growing up. It’s interesting and well done, but it’s not original anymore. There are more than half a dozen formulas to story telling; Assassin’s Creed and Bioshock prove that by making their own formulas. And regardless of the formula used to tell a story, the formula doesn’t make a story good or bad, the way it’s presented does, and I think that a lot of the reason that I don’t care about Zelda stories is because there’s no voice acting. Everything is textual. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can’t hear the emotion in the character’s voice when it’s just read. It’s different than reading a book, because a lot of the time, I find myself just quickly reading through the text so I can get back to playing the game. If Zelda had cutscenes with legitimate voice acting, I think I would be more interested in the stories.
All you have done here is explain why first person shooters illicit more of an emotional response for you than fantasy games. That is fine, but it does not win the arguement so to speak.
There are only 6 or so “main” formulas, which was to mean that all stories start with these same basic story ideas.
My arguement with Pauly is that Nintendo is on par with any other game console when it comes to story telling. If you like realistic killing more so than fantasy violence then that is an opinion on the substance not the overall story.
Nintendo is not for mindless children who like to smash things. It is for people who like adventure with out the gratuitous gore.
Did you not finish reading what I said? I didn’t complain about the lack of realistic violence or about the need of a more mature story. I simply said that Nintendo games’ stories don’t pull any sense of emotion from me. I love playing Mario, Zelda, etc. as much as anyone with good taste, and they have decent stories, and some have phenomenal stories, but I don’t feel any real emotion from them, and I think that mostly because all the story is presented textually. That may be fine for some people, but if I wanted to read a story, I’d read a book. Any time I replay through any Zelda, the first two hours (and a significant amount of time throughout the game) is spent with me hitting the “A” button over and over just trying to skip the dialogue. It would be much simpler, more efficient, and more immersive if it was just a cutscene with regular voice acting. There is only one game I have ever played with textual storytelling that actually brought out a genuinely emotional response from me, and that’s Braid, a game not made by Nintendo (but clearly inspired by Mario). Agree with me or not, but voice acting makes for better storytelling. I’m not sure why Nintendo isn’t on board yet.
Also, Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed are NOT first person shooters.
Unbuild, you should stop typing so much and read some of the actual comments you are writing.
My original comment or any of the others had anything to do with what you like or don’t like. I am arguing that Nintendo has as great storylines as anyother console.
“and some have phenomenal stories”: your words. So case closed. This article has nothing to do with voice acting or the lack thereof, so lets try and stay on track.
By the way, show me where I said either of those two titles were first person shooters?
@darkscifious, you were talking about stories in games, and what’s more important about stories than the way they are conveyed? Also, in my previous comment, I mentioned Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect, but you said “All you have done here is explain why first person shooters illicit more of an emotional response for you than fantasy games.”
Nintendo games make me happy. I don’t think there is a more profound emotional response than joy. Try to play Kirby’s Epic Yarn without smiling. Plus, who didn’t tear up when Prince Fluff gave Kirby the magic sock and said goodbye…Ok, maybe not that last part.
And for the last time, read your own comments first Unbuild . .
You said Gears of War made you teary eyed and that the last 2 or 3 missions of halo were really emotional for you. Both first person shooters . . thus my comment.
Accept defeat and let this be the last word.
@darkscifious, Gears of War is NOT an fps. it’s a third person shooter, not first person shooter.
LOL gears of war and halo.
yep it won’t have rrod or ylod. I could comment about the rest of what you said, but you did a pretty good job at making yourself look like a fool,So I don’t have to do it for you. Good job and good work! Your a model for all gamers.
I am tired of this. I really am, I mean sooner or later we are going to hit a graphics wall. The main selling point for next gen consoles is their graphics, but when we hit that wall how are consoles going to survive? I for one Am not using a pc. So Nintendo is trying to make it less about graphics and more about innovation. That is the way I see it. And all ya do is whine. Oh and M$ who is full of bs, guess what? Who maid you standard controller formAt? Nintendo and SEga so go :;(?/& off.
the one major thing that the Wii-u has over the rest is great franchises that have stood the test of time. the rest include, good backwards compatibility and access to classic games from the company. Also, Innovation and fun are nice factors the others lack sometimes. Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, Kirby, SSB, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Pokemon, Wii Fit… all things no one else has, sure some have tried to rip-off the formula (Halo 4[metroid], Sony All-star Battle Royale[ssb]) Nintendo has a wide array of game types it creates. it will be ok.
Um, hey genius, Halo came out before Metroid Prime. So how exactly did Halo copy Metroid? Get your facts straight before you decide to criticize anyone. It’s called Google, my friend.
Bro, Metroid came out way, way, way, waaaaay, before Halo did. On that note though you can’t compare Metroid to Halo, their FPS’s the similarities end there.
….i believe hes commenting on how the world looks, the different visors mc uses, & the new threat he faces……at least thats what i thought when i saw halo 4 for the 1st time……
How exactly do those two things make Halo 4 “rip off the formula?” He was talking about strictly gameplay, which neither of the two things you stated cover. The new helmet MC wears was already an established piece of equipment in the Halo lore even before 343 took over. And the “new threat” can be attributed to most game series. Mass Effect had their Reapers, Gears had its Lambent, Skyrim had its dragons, hell, even Halo introduced a “new threat” to an already ongoing battle: the Flood. New helmets and new enemies hardly scream “IT’S A METROID RIP-OFF!!”
….wow…youre really overlooking this….by the visors yes theyre described in halo lore, but they’ve only been used in the game since halo 3: odst…..whereas prime had it in the 1st game……and the new threat and world look like something from the prime series aswell….their anatomy, the orange glow….
Hey dude, metroid has been around since the 80s. Get your facts straight, it’s called google.
You know good and well that when he said Metroid, he was talking about Metroid Prime, which came out in 2002. Halo doesn’t relate to previous metroids at all because they’re sidescrolling platformer shooters, much like mega man. If he was comparing Halo to the 1986 Metroid, then that’s like comparing apples to oranges. With that logic, I could go so far as to say that Metroid ripped off Star Wars. They really have nothing in common, but it’s a story and they’re in space, so they MUST’VE copied from them. Also, the stories in both games aren’t even remotely similar. So if in fact he was talking about the original Metroid, how exactly is Halo a ripoff of a 2D sidescrolling platformer/shooter when Halo is a 3D FPS?
I always thought Metroid was Nintendos answer to Alien. Star Fox is more their Star Wars.
off topic. Halo hasn’t been good since halo 2. every halo game after that was crap.
That’s opinionated, and isn’t based on anything other than your dislike for the games. I agree that Halo 2 was the best one in the series and that Halo Reach was the worst, but Halo 3 wasn’t too bad, and ODST and Halo Wars (which wasn’t dev’d by Bungie) were both really solid games that fit the universe well.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s based of my dislike or not, nor who developed the game. Fact is that after halo 2 it went down hill.
@Guest
That’s not a fact at all lol
@UnbuildTheGame
….the first metroid game was made in 1986…. and unless i am grossly mistaken the first xbox didn’t even come out until 2001…..so…..how is 2001 before 1986 again? do you need to go back to 3rd grade because big numbers confuse you? YOU should get YOUR facts straight before YOU criticize anyone….its called the internet….learn how to use it correctly….
You know good and well that when he said Metroid, he was talking about Metroid Prime, which came out in 2002. Halo doesn’t relate to previous metroids at all because they’re sidescrolling platformer shooters, much like mega man. If he was comparing Halo to the 1986 Metroid, then that’s like comparing apples to oranges. With that logic, I could go so far as to say that Metroid ripped off Star Wars. They really have nothing in common, but it’s a story and they’re in space, so they MUST’VE copied from them. Also, the stories in both games aren’t even remotely similar. So if in fact he was talking about the original Metroid, how exactly is Halo a ripoff of a 2D sidescrolling platformer/shooter when Halo is a 3D FPS?
(yea yea im 3 weeks late i dont care)
when he says metroid, he can mean just about ANY metroid game not just prime.
just saying~
my opinion is that the wiiu is kind of not next jen but has some new ways to play games but the graphics are not near as what the griphics should be mario should look likehuman now nintendo doe’s not have a good ceo his ideas are way to crappy and fisherprice looks it also feals like a cheep zellers toy you can buy for $10.99 the n64 was the best game console in my like like i say thats my opinion.
I don’t know why people don’t realize this, but the Wii U is not introducing a new way to play. People have been able to play games in the exact same way with an iPad and Apple TV, so this is in no way new at all.
Last time I looked iPad didn’t have buttons or sticks or triggers
True, but what the OP was talking about was the fact that the tablet controller interacts with the TV, and said it was a new way to play, when it most certainly is not new by any means. If the iPad had buttons, sticks, and triggers, it would be the exact same thing.
yeah but I playing actual games which it’s really all about it’ll be completely different and on another point in Australia where I am the apple combo would cost me the best part of $1000 to get
so the wiiu is not doing so well with coming up with new game hardware they need to get rid of the name first when they should of and get a better graphics card and cpu im not that imprest with nintendo at all thats my opinion
if you want a better graphics card and cpu, build a pc. problem solved.
Can’t we all just get along?
Why do peoples’ personal preferences matter?
Otherwise, carry on
if only, but no we cannot get along! like most here I feel that my personal preference is better than everyone elses. I feel I must tell everyone by leaving a comment on a system I’ll probably never buy or care for, so only logical thing to do is talk it down before it’s released. And also state that X system is better than your system or one franchise is better than another franchise. Now time to hit the comments section on systems and franchises I’ll never buy or care for, just cause it’s not my preference.
no i will buy ps4
pc will be better than ps4.
I just love listening to fanboys sound like idiots personaly I could really care less what the critics say about the WII U I will get one because I am a long time fan of nintendo and money is no real object for me until it is released I will enjoy my 360 WII and PS3 in closing I am really look forward to getting hands on with the WII U. BTW Gamerant PLZ for the love of god PULL Microsoft’s and Sony’s DICKS out of your mouth cause because the hostility toward Nintendo really is getting rather old. LATER ^_^ HAHAHAHA
It’s human nature to disagree and argue. And yes PC pwns all consoles and always will. That being said, the controller does look a lot like the 360 controller with some mapping placing differences. I’m excited for it, hopefully majority of games will use this controller over motion controls. besides Wii bowling, there motion control was just annoying imo.
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News.
Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Many thanks