Wii U Worries: Five Concerns For Nintendo's Next System

Despite the claims of Wii U detractors who wish to play revisionist history on what the term "next gen" actually means, Nintendo really is the first of the main three system manufacturers to kick off the next generation of consoles with its Wii U. Regardless, I'm still not totally digging Nintendo's newest platform 100%. There are still many unanswered questions that concern me and boxes that haven't yet been checked. Now, this article isn't some Michael Pachter-esque armchair analysis on how the Wii U is doomed (and after Nintendo's less-than-stellar E3, this is the easy road to take) or if it will sell terrifically. No, this article merely touches upon five potential problem areas for the system in the near future.

The actual name of the console

With the name of the Wii U, Nintendo seems committed to falling into the same trap that it did with the 3DS. With the release of the 3DS, there was (and arguably still is) a lot of brand confusion between Nintendo's new handheld and its old one, the Nintendo DS. Many assumed that the 3DS was just yet another redesign of the DS. It appears that the Wii U is destined to become victim of being considered just an add-on controller for the original Wii. It doesn't help that at this past E3 that Nintendo was showcasing the Wii U GamePad exclusively and not hammering the point home that the GamePad was only a part of a new console. I await many bewildered consumers this holiday season wondering why their shiny new GamePad won't work with their O.G. Wii unless Nintendo does something to enlighten people. 

Will consumers confuse the Wii U for a mere revision
to the original Wii? Only time will tell.

Now, Nintendo has stated that all launch period games for the Wii U will only be able to support one GamePad. Does that mean that Nintendo will be smart enough to not sell extra GamePads during the launch period? That would force people to buy the Wii U console as that would be the only means of getting the new controller. Then again, will Nintendo's marketing push for the system actually clarify that the Wii U is a new system, or will their marketing department mess it up again like it did horribly with the 3DS? Would calling the system the Wii 2 have helped alleviate possible consumer confusion? Would that make some idiots call the Wii 2 half the console of the PlayStation 4? Never underestimate people's stupidity. Nonetheless, the Wii U is already facing an uphill battle as some very vocal gamers love to hate on the console already (well, they were already doing so before the thing was even revealed...), so it needs all the help and positive word-of-mouth to succeed that it can get.

The Wii U's tablet is harder to market than the Wii's motion controls. 

Let's face it. Showing off that the Wii looks fun in a commercial is relatively easy. You just show a gesture that is relate-able like a child initiating their backswing to hit a virtual golf ball on a green or a grandpa performing the motion of tossing a bowling ball down the alley. It isn't as easy, however, to portray how the Wii U GamePad will greatly affect gameplay and be as a rewarding experience, or as close to, as the Wii through a commercial. The concept of explaining how a game or system is fun isn't as simple as showing how a game or system is fun. We saw this with Nintendo Land. To say that the announcement and subsequent gameplay videos of the title were met with tepid reactions would be an understatement. However, when E3 show-goers got their hands on the game and were able to try it out, many conveyed positive impressions and were delighted with how entertaining the game truly was. That is a problem for Nintendo. It will need to go on a full retail assault this holiday season, putting up numerous demo stations at stores, malls, and special events, perhaps -- like Nintendo has said it might do-- send representatives to help players understand the games and console it is demoing, and just spread the word that the Wii U is a brand-new and worthwhile gaming console and experience.

Can Nintendo successfully convey 
fun through images/video?

Where are the third-parties?

It could have probably been surmised to begin with that Western third-parties would once again underestimate Nintendo. It seems to be their M.O. these days no matter how well the big N does. Even with the Wii's success, stubborn third-parties still treated the HD twins like royalty and cast the Wii aside like a redheaded stepchild. When they actually would develop something for the platform, the games would usually be litmus tests for future support. These were no-win situations for Wii owners as the quality of the games were generally awful. If they sold, Wii owners would obviously be appeased by badly made games so little resources and effort would have to be used. If they didn't sell, Wii owners obviously didn't want third-party games at all. Eventually when a serious effort was created for the system, it was too late -- Wii owners had moved on, having had already given up on quality support from third-parties. It was either that or the games were sent out to die so third-parties would have an excuse to say, "See? No one wants our games on Wii, so we are sound in not supporting the system."

Will a year-old port be compelling to Wii U owners?

It seems this self-fulfilling prophecy, at least by Western third-parties, will once again occur with the Wii U. Most of the West is treating the Wii U like they did with the Wii -- giving it a wait-and-see approach. This clearly shows that they haven't learned their lesson. To have a user base on a system, especially at launch, you have to build one from the ground up. Launch is the perfect time to do this, but most third-parties are letting the opportunity slip through their fingers. As someone who wants the Wii U to do well because competition is a tremendous thing, this is maddening. What do we have to look forward to? Year-old ports? Multi-platform games that look marginally better (though streaming the game to the GamePad to play it is definitely cool)? Sure, Ubisoft seems to be making a worthwhile effort with appealing games like ZombiU, Rayman Legends, and Assassin's Creed III (which some are calling the best-looking version), but where is everyone else?

One of the more interesting Wii U projects, Rayman Legends.

Even though I don't care much for Western games (there, I said it), I do care about the Wii U getting an admirable amount of support. It has the power (more so than the PS3 and Xbox 360), and it has most, if not all, the things the West was clamoring for. Hopefully we get word of Japanese support from publishers like Capcom, Konami, and Square Enix. Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, stated that an event showcasing the Japanese side of support would be held after E3. I excitedly await such an event as I'm sure it will help alleviate some of my issues with the current third-party Wii U lineup.

Where are the so-called "core" games?

Leading up to the re-reveal of the Wii U, Nintendo was proudly marching around proclaiming that it was once again going after the "core" gamer (for sanity's sake, I will only be putting that word in quotations when grammatically necessary). However, at E3 the company's presentation had ports available on console consumers most likely already own, and had games like Nintendo Land, Wii Fit U, Sing, and Just Dance 4. Perhaps Nintendo's definition of the word "core" has changed. Then again, the terms "casual" and "core" have had their definitions shifted so much over the past generation that they really serve no purpose or have any semblance of a meaning anymore. Regardless, I think we can agree that Wii Fit U, Sing, and Just Dance 4 aren't for the dedicated gamer, though they can obviously be played and enjoyed by this group.

Though it may appeal to most, I very much doubt
Nintendo Land will appeal to the Call of Duty crowd.

The problem I see is that if Nintendo wants to even attempt to coax a group that has long since abandoned it, the house of Mario will have to do better. I don't think the cute and whimsical world of Pikmin 3, the colorful New Super Mario Bros. U, or the super niche but incredibly awesome Project P-100 will lure these disenfranchised gamers back to Nintendo's side. I think only those open to try new and interesting things as well as fans of the company's games will enjoy what Nintendo offered this past E3. These aforementioned games won't appeal to the type of gamer who frequently plays Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto, and Madden, and turns their nose up to anything that even looks colorful or god-forbid the always annoying "kiddie" insult.

There is hardly any news at all regarding the online system.

I imagine this will be touched upon at a future Nintendo event leading up to Wii U's launch. After all, Nintendo has held a September conference for the GameCube, Wii, and 3DS to generate hype and reveal information for their respective launches. However, I find it troubling that Nintendo has not mentioned much regarding its online system outside of Miiverse.. It certainly cannot be as bad as the Wii, right? Nintendo gets a lot of criticism for its prehistoric online policies and sometimes rightfully so. (Seriously, downloaded games are still not tied to an account?)

The main menu of Miiverse

I want to know if I have to type in a friend code for every person I want to add to my list of online acquaintances like I stupidly (but not as stupidly as the DS and Wii where you have to add a different FC for every online-enabled game) have to with the 3DS. I want to know if I can add people without needing them to add me first (aka send friend requests). I want to know if I get a universal account. I want to know with 100% certainty that all my Wii Virtual Console games will transfer over to my Wii U. I want to know all of the features revolving around the Wii U. I want to know if the Wii U's eShop is organized well. I want to know if I can voice chat with opponents (though I probably wouldn't use it as there's a lot of bigots and annoying kids out there as Xbox Live shows). I want to know how dedicated Nintendo is to online and if it has entered the year 2012 yet. With Nintendo I expect the least from the company when it comes to online, yet I still feel like I will somehow be disappointed. History says I should question how well Nintendo will pull off its online system, and I cannot help but follow its advice.

Yeah, how DO you take out that scary zombie?

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Do you agree with some of my qualm regarding the Wii U? Do you have any concerns that I left out? Let your respectful opinions be heard in the comments section.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) North American Advertisement

While it can be greatly argued that Nintendo is in desperation mode as they release two new New Super Mario Bros. games in one year, it is yet to be seen whether this will affect the Mario series's stellar standing in the gaming. New Super Mario Bros. 2 is all about gathering coins, but unfortunately this commercial doesn't quite reveal how lame the 1 million coin reward really is. Do you have interest in New Super Mario Bros. 2 or the Wii U game?

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - An Eclectic Mix Edition

We're already in the dog days of summer now as the mercury rises and the sun beats down hot. On this week's edition of the favorite VGMs, we have music from Mistwalker's second Xbox 360 outing, Lost Odyssey, Square Enix's Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, and the defunct Clover Studios' bad ass brawler God Hand. Like the title of this edition says, this is quite an eclectic mix of music for your listening pleasure this week.

v166. Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure (3DS) - Theme of Rhythm Thief

Europe has had this game for a while, but North Americans have just gotten their mitts on this game, Sega's Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure. Sporting a hugely diverse repertoire of music, this handheld rhythm game unfortunately had the misfortune of releasing right around the time period of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, a much more hyped game of the same genre. Though Rhythm Thief has much more variety in its gameplay (including odes to past Sega franchises like Samba de Amigo and Space Channel 5), a new IP just can't compete with the Final Fantasy brand. Regardless, Rhythm Thief's main theme is a jaunty jazzy ditty that infects the mind and urges listeners to dance along with its remarkable (for lack of a better term) rhythm.

v167. Lost Odyssey (360) - Neverending Journey

Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy, left Square Enix to create his own development studio. The creation was Mistwalker. Their latest game, The Last Story on Nintendo Wii, is due out later this month. One of their earliest projects was Lost Odyssey, a much more mature take on the RPG franchise than their first effort, Blue Dragon. Nobuo Uematsu's Neverending Journey starts off with flutes and guitar, very unobtrusive, and perfect for a slow ride across the plains. At 1:39 the theme surrenders its soft approach and takes a wild turn with a hard rock focus. This combination of the styles of folk and rock is masterfully done, and it is pure Uematsu magic.

v168. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2) - To a Vast World

I must admit that I have not played much of the Dragon Quest series, despite owning IV, V, VI, VIII, and IX. Much like the Western world, Final Fantasy was the RPG series that dominated much of my playing time. However, with the grander marketing push being displayed at least in North America by Nintendo, I could not help but give Dragon Quest some attention. A lot of people bought Dragon Quest VIII merely because it came packaged with the demo for Final Fantasy XII. I got it because I dug the cel-shaded art style and fell in love with the soundtrack. This piece, To a Vast World, sets the soul tingling with its soft soothing strings, wonderful woodwinds, and bold brass.

v169. Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals (DS) - Battle #2 (Arranged)

The remake of 1995's Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals for the Super Nintendo, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals forgoes its turn-based RPG roots and goes totally action-RPG. The game reminded me of the Ys series in the combat was real-time, there were puzzles to solve, and there was leveling up stats, abilities, and learning new moves. The piece I have chosen from the game is actually from the arranged soundtrack. This version of Battle #2 starts off with a trumpet melody and rocking beat and accompaniment. If I ever do another installment of Most Overlooked Nintendo DS Games, Curse of Sinistrals will definitely make the list.

v170. God Hand (PS2) - Credits

What can you say about lyrics that read, "Dragon kick your ass into the Milky Way?" Oh, and you can't use the words "awesome", "kickass", or any synonyms of those two words. On lyrics alone, God Hand's ending credits make it to my favorite VGMs. God Hand was a PS2 exclusive with the goal of brawling baddies in a 3D space through martial arts and fisticuffs. There were over 100 individual moves to unleash on your foes. Sadly, God Hand was the final game developed by Clover Studios. Word of their disbandment came literally days after the game's release in North America. Talk about a ball-busta'. However, the company's spirit lives on somewhat in Platinum Games, the folks behind Bayonetta and the upcoming Metal Gear Rising.

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That is this week's fill of video game music. Next week the tune-age continues with themes from Uncharted 3, Dead Rising, and much more! If you still can't get enough VGMs, check out my VGM Database. It has every VGM I have ever highlighted here on SuperPhillip Central.

The Buzz - August 4th, 2012

With the change of domain names SuperPhillip Central lost a lot of regular traffic from search engines. This problem will remedy itself as old entries of SPC are re-indexed by sites like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Let's see what changes that created with the most popular posts on the site.

August 4th, 2012 Buzz results.

My list of my 13 Most Anticipated Games For the Rest of 2012 received a lot of traffic here and on various other sites such as N4G. It gave my blog the most traffic in one day ever. This was followed by the Top Five Spider-Man Games, a list that needs retooling as my opinion has changed, an episode of SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs, the first installment of Killer Soundtracks, and the list of Pushmo QR Codes. We don't normally see an edition of the Review Round-Up on The Buzz, but I'm not complaining. What trails that are two Rank Up! installments, one of which was the former traffic king of SuperPhillip Central before the url change. Finally, we have Top Ten Greatest Gaming Spinoffs and New-stalgia, my newest segment on SPC. It is interesting how the new domain name shook the popular post lineup up quite a bit.  

Rank Up! - Mega Man Franchises

This year marks the anniversary celebrations of a number of famous video game franchises: Ratchet & Clank is ten years young, Kingdom Hearts is the same age, Final Fantasy parties for its 25th, and so does a little-known blue bomber known as Mega Man. Rank Up! is where I take a popular series or line of products and list them from least liked to most liked (by me personally, of course). Our subject today is the various spinoffs and series of Mega Man. Before we can get to what spinoffs I like the best, we must see which ones will be ranked:

Mega Man (Classic)
Mega Man X
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Battle Network
Mega Man Zero
Mega Man ZX
Mega Man Star Force

Mega Man celebrates his 25th anniversary this year. While Capcom commemorates the occasion with a whimper and not a bang, Mega's fans are there to pick up the slack, despite their deep depression when they finally came to the realization that Capcom no longer really cares about the blue bomber. As of the end of 2012, the Mega Man series (and its various spinoffs) have sold over 29 million copies worldwide. Now, to be fair, it is pretty hard not to sell that many copies when only a few years ago you couldn't turn around without seeing a new Mega Man game on store shelves.

7) Mega Man Star Force 

Mega Man Star Force as a series isn't necessarily bad, but the reason I don't really care for it is because it's essentially just Mega Man Battle Network with an over-the-shoulder point of view and dumbed down mechanics. I mean, didn't we just already have six similar titles already with Mega Man Battle Networks 1-6? Did we really need more of the same just on a new handheld platform? The same gameplay with less complexity, the same exploration with few changes, and the same battle mechanics but using Battle Cards instead of Battle Chips? Apparently not as sales spoke loudly. The series was put on hiatus after three successive middling titles in a row on the Nintendo DS (and various versions like a mainline Pokemon game). Regardless, like I said, the Mega Man Star Force series is not particularly awful. It is just uninspired compared to past Mega Man series.

6) Mega Man ZX

Taking place two hundred years after the finish of the Mega Man Zero series, Mega Man ZX brings for the first time the ability to choose between a male or a female hero. Through acquiring Biometals, players can change forms. Model H allows for the ability to air dash up, down, left or right, hover, and utilize two blades to assault enemies while Model L grants its wearer the powers of swift swimming and dashing underwater. Mega Man ZX has an open world map, though the first game in the series had an immensely confusing world map. Mega Man ZX Advent, the sequel, fixed this problem. It also added the ability to turn into defeated bosses and use the range of their powers to advance to new sections of the game, like greater eyesight in dark areas and increased underwater functionality. ZX Advent, unlike ZX, had a full English voice cast which added to the perceived value of the game. Both are capable Mega Man titles, but the backtracking and challenge might put some players off.

5) Mega Man Legends

Although there have been only three games in this spinoff series, two mainline games and a Tron Bonne side story, Mega Man Legends is one of Capcom's most requested games that fans clamor that they want a sequel from. Like pouring out a canteen of water in front of a man dying of thirst, Capcom shamelessly and cold-heartedly cancelled any further development of Mega Man Legends 3, a much-desired and anticipated game bound for the Nintendo 3DS, even after asking for fan input at multiple moments. This announcing from out of nowhere sent a ton of negative publicity and criticism to Capcom. There's even a (futile) Facebook campaign to resume development of the game. Regardless, unlike the majority of other Mega Man games, Legends was played in a fully three-dimensional world. Players assumed the role of a Digger named Mega Man Volnut in a world flooded by water. The Mega Man Legends series was originally made to show off the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation 1. It did that, but the game suffered by the lack of a second analog stick. I find going back to the game difficult as the combat is rather clunky, making it artificially challenging because of the controls.

4) Mega Man Battle Network

Ten years ago Mega Man Battle Network premiered on the Game Boy Advance in an attempt for Capcom to bring some role-playing game elements into the Mega Man series. Six games, an anime, and various spinoff titles later and you have a competent and addicting action-RPG full of collecting chips and defeating evil Net Navis, most of which based off Robot Masters from the Classic series. Players take on two roles during the game: while exploring the real world players control an elementary school student named Lan. When he connects to the Internet, players control his Net Navi, MegaMan.EXE. Lan's gameplay was mostly typical RPG fare -- moving around destinations and conversing with the locals. He could jack into numerous Internet-ready and electronic devices where MegaMan.EXE could explore, finding items and collectible chips, and battling computer viruses. Many times in the games MegaMan.EXE could help Lan advance. For example, if a floor was electrified in Lan's world, MegaMan.EXE could find a switch on the Internet to shut it down. Battles had the blue bomber moving across a 3X3 battlefield, having the player select from a random selection of attack chips, and using them on the various viruses Mega came across. I enjoyed mastering each game, but the spinoff series became a victim of sequelitis and many of these were too samey for my liking.

3) Mega Man Zero

What I would consider the hardest of the Mega Man line of games, Mega Man Zero is a series that quite obviously stars Zero. It is set many moons after the events of the Mega Man X franchise and begins with a girl named Ciel awakening a hibernating Zero. The story involves a resistance putting up a fight against a xenophobic Neo Arcadia. Throughout the plot and the Mega Man series as a whole, the common thread is if humans and robots can coexist. On an interesting note, Mega Man Zero marks the first time a Mega Man series has had a definitive conclusion. As for the gameplay, it isn't that much of a dramatic departure of the Classic and X series. It's your standard run and gun, but this time Zero's performance is critiqued at the end of each mission based on time completed, damage taken, and Cyber Elves used. Scoring excellent ranks gives Zero new abilities. Although the scoring system is pretty harsh (once you get a C, it's pretty hard to push it up to an A over the course of the game), the Mega Man Zero series actively rewards players for continuing to work hard and strive to be better. If you don't wish to track down all four original Game Boy Advance carts, you can grab the Mega Man Zero Collection on the Nintendo DS which has the series on one game card with extras, an easy mode, and the ability to play through all four games consecutively.

2) Mega Man X

Most definitely the Mega Man series that I like the gameplay most out of any other, Mega Man X continues the tale of the Classic franchise and gives it a darker theme and more complex story with Reploids raging war and lives being lost. Mega Man X was a character who had much more mobility than his predecessor. He could climb walls, charge his X-buster (as well as the weapons he picked up from defeated Maverick bosses), dash, and even equip upgrades from hidden away capsules by Dr. Light. Such helpful benefits from the good doctor could be a midair dash, the ability to headbutt blocks, armor that provided double the defensive capabilities, and charged shot upgrades. Instead of Robot Masters, animal and object-themed Mavericks took residence in each game's eight primary levels. The X games also possessed a lot of secret goodies to uncover such as the aforementioned Dr. Light capsules, health-increasing Heart Tanks, and Sub Tanks that allowed X, Zero or later Axl to restore their health in battle. Later Mega Man X games experimented with 2 1/2D and 3D gameplay to varying degrees of success.

1) Mega Man (Classic)

My mind was a battle zone between thoughts of Mega Man X prevailing and Classic Mega Man being listed as number one. While I do enjoy the gameplay of X over the Classic series, there really hasn't been a stinker in the mainline Classic Mega Man games while there has been with the Mega Man X games (notably Mega Man X6 and X7). The original Mega Man was an incredibly novel experience. Instead of playing through a linear order of levels, players are allowed to choose from one of six Robot Masters (all future installments would provide a choice of eight). Each Robot Master has its own weakness. By defeating the boss in a given stage, Mega Man would acquire their signature weapon to use in the other levels. For instance, Elec Man has a huge weakness against Cut Man's Rolling Cutter weapon. It would take much fewer Rolling Cutter attacks to defeat Elec Man than any other weapon. (In fact, the other Robot Master weapons would hardly put up much of a fight at all.) This rock-paper-scissors type gameplay makes the strategy of playing the levels in the correct order all the more important. Of course, expert players can opt to play through the game's levels in any order they want for added challenge. Even Mega Buster-only, Mega's primary weapon, runs are commonplace. The Mega Man series had a bit of a renaissance several years ago when Inti Creates developed a bit of a retro revival of the Classic games, releasing Mega Man 9 and later on Mega Man 10 on digital platforms. The games returned to the 8-bit style of the first six Mega Man titles (7 and 8 were more modern takes on the franchise).

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Are you a fan of Mega Man? What are you favorite Mega Man franchises/spinoffs? What do you think of Capcom's treatment of the franchise in recent years? Let the SPC community know in the comments section.