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At first I was a bit discouraged from detailing my impressions of this particular console given that it has obviously been available to standard consumers for around nine to ten months now, but ultimately I decided that the Wii U is certainly a member of the same generation of video game consoles as every other console I've concerned so far, regardless of what some may think. Just because most of Nintendo's competitors' consoles have yet to become the present generation, that does not mean that Nintendo should be discredited for releasing their console earlier than the others. With that established, regarding Nintendo console's as a whole, it seems that first-party titles are always developed thoughtfully and pridefully, and are adapted to console innovations in ways that are far beyond sufficient and satisfactory; in fact, unique, intriguing, entertaining and exciting exclusive first-party titles, series, and sequels are generally 90 percent of the reason to purchase Nintendo's consoles. While it seems that Nintendo always strives to accommodate creative and interesting new features and styles into every successive console, and while they always seem to produce games that not only cooperate well with these innovations, but benefit immensely and surprisingly from their presence and application. However, as many loyal Nintendo fans know very well, especially regarding the original Nintendo Wii console, third party developers on Nintendo consoles tend to exist only as producers of space fillers for empty shelves at video game retailers. Certainly it cannot be argued that certain third party developers have proven that Nintendo is not entirely alone or unique in their ability to adapt high quality games to features of Nintendo consoles in thoughtful ways, but all to often, lazy, profit-thirsty developers see unique opportunities offered by consoles and their features as methods of establishing cheap and shiny gimmicks that have potential to bring in easy money with as little monetary and intellectual expense as possible. Ultimately and quite unfortunately, the majority of third party developers tend to create low-quality, mediocre, or absolutely repulsive games, and they use Nintendo's creative twists to paint over the messes they make. Not surprisingly, when these creative twists are wasted on gimmicky features and styles, it becomes very apparent very quickly that the game in question is of fairly low quality, and that the developer(s)/ producers behind said low-quality game likely have no concern for creating games with pride and care, but rather, simply seek to rip as much money from the pocket's of consumers as possible with the lowest possible expense on their own account. From the looks of things as the game library of the Wii U currently stands, the Wii U has not been able to evade this devastating plague. In fact, given that most of Nintendo's long awaited and highly acclaimed titles have yet to be released, I personally see very little justification as to why I should purchase this console as of yet.
Positive Impressions/ Hopes:
-The Game-pad thing: although many of Nintendo's innovations are often argued to be exaggerated or unnecessary, and are indeed put to shame by many third party developers, having a controller with a screen on it (that's actually large enough to be useful for more than periodic glances) could prove to be extremely beneficial to all types of games if properly implemented. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first, but after actually having the chance to physically observe and use the controller myself, I was surprised at how light it was (at least compared to my initial judgement); Nintendo Land, and every first party game I played, for that matter, utilized the controller in away that was far more beneficial to the gaming experience (in regard to multi-player especially) than it was cumbersome; actually, in my experience, the tablet controller has yet to take the form of an obstruction to convenience or fun (excluding the ways in which Eljoeyo abused the powers of the controller to kill us in New Super Mario Bros U ). Handheld gaming tends to offer creative multi-player experiences that simply aren't realistically possible to achieve/ implement in home console games; just as the Gameboy Advance did for Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, the tablet controller allows for concepts that are uniquely applicable to handheld devices (where not every player uses the same display device) to be implemented in multiplayer games on home consoles. It is my hope that this tablet controller will allow for a mass of high quality games with variety and creative structural concepts that weren't possible in the absence of such a controller, regarding both single player and multiplayer games, for the controller is extremely convenient and beneficial to far more than group/ party games
-Nintendo First Party Games: it's late at night, so I was trying to figure out a way I could avoid typing a whole lot, and here it is: if you don't buy Nintendo consoles to play first party games, regardless of whether or not you intend to play third party games as well, there's simply something wrong with you. If you aren't sure how to approach Nintendo's library, look for the nearest "Super Smash Bros" game, and branch from there. For loyal fans and those who are already aware of Nintendo's golden stash of video game art and golden entertainment, you know that in some cases, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but in others, quite the opposite. Regardless of your stance, I respect Nintendo for the number of original series (even if not every idea was entirely original) that they've hosted persistently and successfully across almost every console to date. In strange ways, Nintendo manages to be innovative, creative and different while still maintaining respected, familiar and consistent values in almost all of their games, and I have no doubt that they will continue to bring us a variety great games before the end of the console's life span
Negative Impressions/ Fears:
- Multitude of 3rd Party Garbage: as mentioned above, many of the third party developers out there are good for nothing, ravenous pigs that would throw you in front of a bus as long as they got a dime out of it (even if the bus was parked), and when these developers are searching for a console to poison with their poor quality merchandise, Nintendo is evidently an appealing option; just as the Android Market place tends to be with frustratingly useless and outright irritating apps, Nintendo consoles are typically polluted with equally substandard and frustratingly unenjoyable games that waste the time, money and sanity of countless consumers of the video game market; I fear, especially with a the slimy gimmicks that were made possible by the tablet controller, that the Wii U will not be able to evade these detestable third party companies. And no, we aren't going to play Ant Bully or Perfect Dark 3. So there.
-Recycled Games: admittedly this is more of a concern for Nintendo as a whole rather than this console specifically, because it may affect the Wii U, and because I did a fair share of nagging Microsoft (and possibly Sony as well, I don't quite remember everything I said in my previous impressions posts), I decided to address this particular concern anyway: while Nintendo's first party games are generally achieve beauty and entertainment value that exceed what the English language can rightfully describe, many of these games have been recycled and milked until just about dry. While no series in particular comes immediately to mind, I fear that these beloved series and their respective characters will eventually reach the point where they are no longer attractive; powerful and attractive innovations are immensely difficult to produce understandably, especially considering the length of time in which Nintendo has thrived as a developer and producer of video games, and because of this observation (I can't quite call this a fact, excluding the part about Nintendo's time frame as a video game developer), I fear that Nintendo's creativity in regard to series that are currently standing will eventually run dry, or that many series which currently don't require an abundance of innovative introductions to make succeeding games worth purchasing will eventually become uninteresting or underwhelming. There are plenty of ways that these occurrences may be avoided of course, not even considering the possibility that Nintendo could simply drop every series that currently stands (not a good idea, but a possibility indeed) and start fresh, for in many ways, just as there is an overwhelmingly large amount of undiscovered music in each genre, there is plenty of unexplored territory in the realm of potential greatness to the extent that Mario, Link, Samus and the rest could easily carry on in their adventures without boring or disgusting gamers until the end of time; we can only hope that Nintendo is wise in their production strategies for all of our favorite games on their newest console (honestly, I don't fear that Nintendo games will become dull on their own so much as I am afraid that things will be overproduced or unevenly distributed in a way that forces said games to seem or become dull)
Overall, there was never any question as to whether I was hoping to purchase this console, so long as it was granted that Nintendo's first party games would be included with the package (in what torture chamber of an existence would Nintendo's games not be permitted on a Nintendo console, I know not). While it is possible that some of Nintendo's more iconic franchises will have a harder time impressing consumers than they have in the past, I don't think any true Nintendo fan (not to be mistaken with ignorantly loyal slaves of a company, often referred to using the slang term "fanboy/ fangirl") is searching for major infrastructural alterations so much as we are hoping for new and enjoyable adventures. I think it's safe to say that Nintendo is developing many of these Adventures as we speak (along with the minority of 3rd party developers who are almost as, if not equally respectable), and, while I don't currently own a Wii U, as soon as the game library is stocked, that fact will change. Once again, thanks for reading, and please do respond in the comments section with any relevant opinions or reflections. Thank you!
