The Wii U...nimpressed

Okay so, I've had all day and some sleep to reflect on my impression on the Wii U...

First of all, I'm disappointed... not entirely with the false advertising that Nintendo was guilty of by displaying gameplay from the Xbox and PS versions of the third-party titles, but rather with the titles themselves.

Sooo boring and sooo predictable... since when did trying to appeal to hardcore gamers mean obtain more fps?... but I digress before risking getting off topic.

Know that I'm sure Mario, Zelda and other such staples will be as fun as they are expected. Know that I'm saddened by the value of Nintendo shares shrinking by 5% because of the aforementioned press release foible. Know that even though I am not a Nintendo fanboy, I still want Sony and Microsoft to suffer (as they have the past few years) for their devotion to the graphics race, and thus the intellectual and creative mediocrity of mainstream games... Know that I am aware that that makes me something of a prick.

You see, my early excitement (mild as it was) was inspired by the fact that the Wii U seemed to be the next evolution in the way we perceive and interact with games, and so too another evolutionary step of storytelling in general. But know that I'm worried this new system won't amount to much more than the second screen of many DS games, i.e. a glorified menu screen or some such. And I worry only because I see the potential in it, that is all.

Obviously I want creative games and inspiring games to be derived from this. As much as I love Nintendo staples, and as much as I'm sure that the various third-party games will still be fun, I want more.

"More? More like what?" You may be thinking...

Howabout this... You play as a blind individual with a seeing eye dog. The television screen could display a representation of the blind character's point of view, with blurry silhouette's, effects that represent sound waves, and even abstract things like trippy mental imagery. While the controller screen will be through the point of view of the seeing eye dog, with visual clarity and an added sense of smell. You could do things like instantly target enemies for the human to attack using the dog's keen senses. I mean, the story could write itself, and could be quite interesting in it's own right, but the real intriguing element would obviously be in the gameplay.

There, I shat that out in two minutes... but that's the kinda thing I'm talkin' about. If there is one company capable of taking the risks to see adventurous projects like that through, it would be Nintendo.

Typically I don't form opinions before games and consoles are actually released, but I want to believe in the progressive future of the industry. My allegiance to brand is thin these days, but know that I will get behind the banner that waves the colors I've been preaching, and right now... who else could come so close but Nintendo?

The Wii U...nexpected

I'm not really a console kind of guy, I never have been as I've always just been about the games. I don't care about the graphics arm race which has only caused games to cost more while the consoles become less dependable. However, I do believe in Nintendo products, as they are always fairly priced and reliable... in that they don't break unless you really want them to. My issue with the Wii, however, was that motion control just seemed awkward and gimmicky. From my personal experiences, that has been mostly true as I would still prefer to play with a traditional controller.

But there is something about the Wii U... I dunno why, but I have high hopes for it. If you know me and my opinions on the progression of consumer tech, you would definitely find my intrigue rather uncharacteristic. Hopefully Nintendo can continue what they do best, while also advancing the ergonomics of game/player interaction and simultaneously gaining increased third party support. As with all things, time will tell... but this is perhaps the first time in many years that I've been even remotely excited about a next gen console.

edit:
Perhaps I'm wrong for calling this next gen. There appears to be an updated console to match the controller, but then again, it doesn't appear to be a new system. Anyway, how much added functionality will there be besides that of the controller? My excitement has kind of waned as of this update after watching more of the few available videos, mainly because I've had more time to think it over; because to me it's not about the technology, but rather how the game developers utilize it.

I think when I first saw the controller, my imagination jumped to great lengths, but I hope designers will have the creativity to make the device more capable than just say, a glorified inventory screen and the like.