Wii U Reviews and Experience Part 2

Nintendo Land: Whilst it makes a great test bed for Nintendo's ideas, Nintendo Land isn't quite the offering I had hoped it would be. There are some stand-out multiplayer moments in it but it is not as easy to convince people to play them as it was with Wii Sports. There isn't a whole lot to the single player experience as the game is more of an instructional tool. Although each of the games makes a good diversion, if you have any other launch title you have probably got something better to play. All of the games are just a bit too limited in scope and it just makes me dream of what could be if they made a full title out of these great franchises. I still think the premium pack is the way to go but just not because of Nintendo Land 6.5/10.

Scribblenauts Unlimited: Scribblenauts is somewhat of a misnomer as you aren't scribbling but touch typing your way through the world. The game is primarily aimed at kids and doesn't allow you to write in some of the naughtier things you might like but with a bit of imagination even adults can have an obscene amount of fun with this game.

Scribblenauts is perfectly suited to the Wii U controller, you type away on the touch screen and you can move about the world using the touch screen or analogue sticks, it all flows pretty easily. The first thing you will probably do is just be silly and create a lot of nonsense and that is what's great about this game. Solving puzzles in silly ways is a lot of fun. Just dreaming up new things and ways to solve a puzzle is a great challenge.

It's not all perfect though. It can be a bit stale at times and it doesn't always understand your logic, seemingly craving the same objects you've been giving it over and over. Some of this can be put down to to the player's imagination or lack thereof but some of it is just bad gameplay. The story component is a little short but there are plenty of things to find and unlock once you have finished that. I also encountered a few bugs, with quests failing for no reason and objects not interacting with each other. Over all these are pretty mild things and a quick reset of the quest usually fixes it.

Scribblenauts Unlimited is definitely worth a play and whilst it does suffer from some minor setbacks it is well worth it's admission price 8/10.

Wii U Experience: Again one of the things I'm loving about the Wii U is that the controller gives you lots of options and Scribblenauts was another example of this. You could use the touch screen to walk or the stylus; walk over stars to collect them, or click on them with the stylus and select pick up. It's especially great if you are trying to eat, let's say chips, with one hand whilst playing with the other.

Online functionality does add some interesting twists to your games. Seeing what people have drawn is my favourite, or even reading their complete nonsense. Nintendo do have a way to go to catch up with their competitors in this regard but I don't think they are as far behind as some pundits claim. The online store is easy to use and offers a lot of free demo content, plus it has become one of the easiest places for indie developers to launch their games, so we may see some killer titles coming through due to that.

Finally, the worldwide sales figures. Whilst I can't get an exact number IGN estimate the worldwide sales figures at about 2.5 million, perhaps pushing a little closer to 3 million. Overall not a bad start but not a huge launch. However given the lull in the global economy at the moment these figures are probably quite good and certainly something Nintendo can build off.

Wii U Reviews and Experience Part 1

So I got my first real hands on with the Wii U since having a quick bash at a store. Here are my impressions of the games I played and the experience in general.

ZombiU: I really wanted to play this game as the reviews have been so mixed. Safe to say I can understand why. The game is a mixture of play-styles and ideas, it has shining moments and ugly bugs.

The control scheme itself feels clunky. You move and strike with your cricket bat at a relatively low speed, which is meant to give the game it's scary feel but comes across as tedious at times. You just can't see enough of the world around you, meaning if you try and run you will get stuck on objects, some objects are jump-able but others, though at the right height, are inexplicably impassable. It can also be frustratingly hard at times, with zombies able to kill you in one hit if they get close enough. Load times appeared to be the longest out of any of the games I played on the Wii U and it had some bugs like, characters speaking too softly whilst others spoke loudly and framerates dropping too low at times.

However, there are redeeming moments, sneakily placed zombies will grab you and scare the crap out of you. You get to use some cool weapons and if you survive long enough you level up your skill with them. Sometimes everything goes right and those moments are quite satisfying. It's a real survival horror type game with the emphasis on survival. There are some more modern FPS like moments where you are given a mounted heavy machine gun and you mow down zombies but in general it is about slow and careful planning. If it sounds appealing to you it is well worth getting but it is not the kind of title that breaks it's genre's boundaries and it won't please everyone 7/10.

New Super Mario Bros. U: Surprisingly I had a lot of fun with this game. I was immensely disappointed with the first one on the Wii but somehow this version captures the entire essence of all the Mario games and wraps it all into one neat package. It's just about the little things. I love the return of the baby yoshis, each with unique powers. The game looks incredible in high definition, especially the lighting. The difficulty level is quite rewarding and there are so many extras with the likes of Challenges to play through. Admittedly I didn't once touch multiplayer and perhaps that is the key but Mario was never about simultaneous multiplayer it is about the life-by-life, level-by-level kind. This is one of the few games in which shake controls actually work, all it does is give you a little extra length in your jump but it is so intuitive when you are in a panic. Well worth it for those new to Mario and Mario fans alike 8/10.

Wii U Experience: I really liked the controller, it was comfortable to hold and it had a good weight about it. Not too heavy that it would be taxing over a long time yet weighty enough that it felt solid, like it would last a long time. The screen really requires a screen protector though as the stylus had left a lot of scratch marks on it. I also really liked that games allowed you to use either tilt controls or the analog sticks for some things. The scanner in ZombiU is a good example of this. The game showed me how to scan things using tilt but then I realised the right analog achieved the same results. This is great for people like me who hate inaccurate tilt controls and I think this was done as a result of Nintendo's design. It is a sort of everything in one controller.

The load times were mixed, when playing a game like Mario it wasn't really noticeable once you had started the game up for the first time. ZombiU on the other hand had plenty of annoying loading. Starting up games was about the equivalent of what most people are used to for loading up a PC release. Obviously Nintendo have it down pat but it will take awhile for those 3rd party developers to really get the hang of it.

There has yet to be any official world wide sales figures for the Wii U but from what I have gathered so far they have sold 765,000 units in Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.A., total. One can't help but think Nintendo would be a little disappointed with these results given that their target is 5.5 million units by the end of March. However finalised Christmas figures aren't out yet and neither is an accurate world wide result. Personally I enjoyed my experience with it overall and I think it is well worth getting, I am just waiting for that killer title that will really make me want it.