Mark Rein: Parents Are “Probably Ready To Buy Their Kids” A Wii U

36 responses to “Mark Rein: Parents Are “Probably Ready To Buy Their Kids” A Wii U”

1. 

   Pixel the Ferret Viking

   March 13, 2012 at 3:06 pm

   giant rapey man in blue shirt is scary…

   his eyes follow me around the room!

   Reply
   1. 

      Braaains

      March 13, 2012 at 3:12 pm

      And you can’t see what he’s doing with his hands.

      I find this picture disturbing.

      Reply
2. 

   FatShady

   March 13, 2012 at 3:07 pm

   This part is what makes me think it’s still not going to be for me!

   “It’s a great brand that a lot of parents really trust and they’re probably ready to buy their kids an HD Wii ”

   Interested to see new tech, but so far i’m not expecting to buy one.

   Reply
3. 

   Chuloopa

   March 13, 2012 at 3:13 pm

   1. That photo makes him look like a poedaphile whom has gone back to primary school “incognito*”

   2. As fatshady said, the parents comment makes me want it all the less. I really have close to no interest in this console. I mean, sure, i’m interested to see if it can back up what is says with really great games, but if the Wii was anything to go by, then i’m just really not that interested, as this just looks like a Wii with even more gimick (if that’s possible)

   *Yes – that does sound more absurd than is possibly imaginable.

   Reply
   1. 

      Braaains

      March 13, 2012 at 3:25 pm

      Yeah. I’ve got a dust-covered Wii under the TV at home as a permanent reminder of why I’ll not buy another Nintendo home console.

      Every time I start to think that the Wii U might be interesting I just take a look under the TV and decide no, it’s really not.

      Reply
   2. 

      Jiff

      March 14, 2012 at 2:24 pm

      Point 1 made me laugh probably more than I should have

      Reply
4. 

   Adaniel

   March 13, 2012 at 3:14 pm

   From the exerts of the interview I read it did not sound like Epic will develope a game for Nintendo, though i never really belived they would.

   They seem very close to MS. Sounds like Epic are peptuating the old “the only developers that do well on Nintendo platforms are Nintendo” and “Kiddy Platform” story.

   Is epic owned by MS?

   Reply
   1. 

      NegativeZero

      March 13, 2012 at 3:21 pm

      Epic are independent. Microsoft has a publishing deal with them for Gears of War though, which is why you never saw that on PS3.

      There’s also a very large grain of truth to the complaints that third parties struggle on Nintendo consoles because they have to compete against Nintendo. Obviously not entirely fair (look at the DS) but it’s true that it’s hard to compete against Nintendo’s consistency, quality and brand loyalty.

      Reply
      1. 

         Adaniel

         March 13, 2012 at 4:15 pm

         Not sure about this struggling against Nintedo quality theory.
         Epic’s shooter games are not really competing with Nintendo’s Zelda and Mario. I would have thought that MS’s First party “Halo” would be more direct competition to the Gears series.
         Is the quality of Halo not as good as Zelda / Mario? Hmmm
         Or
         Because of the self perpetuating “Kiddy platform” myth, that everybody bar Nintendo circulates, it doesn’t give Epic an adult market to shoot at on a Nintendo platform.
         (I’ve just convinced myself of the latter).

         I guess the third party developers are still just too afraid to give Nindendo that much power to control the market and see a repeat of the NES era.

         Reply
         1. 

            Thom

            March 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm

            The problem as I see it, is that most of the people who would buy AAA games on the wii only own a wii to play Zelda, Mario and Metroid. They get their core fix on the HD consoles. I don’t see how Nintendo can shake this – though if they can catch the casual crowd again I doubt they’ll care.

            Reply
   2. 

      James

      March 13, 2012 at 3:24 pm

      Most games containing Epic’s technology are not developed by Epic. Having a decent port of their Unreal Engine running on the Wii U is probably a lot more important to both Nintendo and Epic than them working on an exclusive game.

      Reply
      1. 

         Adaniel

         March 13, 2012 at 4:16 pm

         Agree

         Reply
      2. 

         StuMan

         March 13, 2012 at 8:38 pm

         Very true.

         Reply
5. 

   Bob

   March 13, 2012 at 3:15 pm

   I think the picture of the man could’ve been bigger.

   Reply
   1. 

      Chuloopa

      March 13, 2012 at 3:18 pm

      and rapier?

      Reply
6. 

   masha2932

   March 13, 2012 at 3:18 pm

   I’m cautiously optimistic about the console. I’m mostly interested on how developers will use the controller to enhance the gameplay experience. The Idea of a HUD free gaming experience is very interesting,

   Reply
   1. 

      oggob

      March 13, 2012 at 3:50 pm

      Hypothetically, there is nothing stopping from anyone doing it now, alot of games allow you to turn off aspects if not all of the HUD.

      The only difference is that there is nothing in the controllers to display that info yet, for something like the DS it might work well, but not so sure with the home console, I don’t really want to be looking down at my controller to see if/when I need to reload, or something of that nature.

      Reply
      1. 

         Terrak

         March 13, 2012 at 5:46 pm

         The difference is that the Wii U the Controller the HUD will be on the controller itself and you can actually ‘Interact’ with HUD features through the touch screen (especially like an interactive Map, one touch inventory change, etc). No home console has been able to do that so far. Im excited to see where Nintendo and clever developers take it

         Reply
7. 

   Lone Wolf

   March 13, 2012 at 3:37 pm

   Here’s the thing.
   I purchased a Wii because of the Nintendo titles and Red Steel. While it doesn’t get as much play time as my computer or 360, I have never regretted buying it because it is a solid system.
   It doesn’t have the highest resolution, but it is easy to use and if you’re a thrifty buyer who avoids shovelware I thoink you could have done a lot worse than commit to the Wii this generation.
   And while yours may be gathering dust, you bought one. You probably played a couple of games on it, too.
   And there will be families where that console bridges the generational gap between techophobic 40-60 year old grand/parents and their grand/children. It’s really this generation’s pick-up-and-play console.
   Nintendo realises this and is now trying to maintain their new market, expand their welcoming, easy-to-use technology while appologising to the 20-30 year old bracket of core gamers who were left wanting.

   Reply
   1. 

      NegativeZero

      March 13, 2012 at 3:42 pm

      The Wii was a great system with some really good games. About the only issue it had was the overabundance of shovelware which created some bad signal-to-noise ratio issues.

      Reply
   2. 

      StuMan

      March 13, 2012 at 8:45 pm

      I don’t play my Wii too much these days, apart when I have friends/family over, but u don’t regret it at all. I have a dhit load of VC games on there that I still go back to from time to time. It may have a lot of crappy third party titles, but it’s still solid console, something that stands out a bit from other two. I will wait and see what that Wii U has to offer before passing judgement.

      Reply
8. 

   Kai

   March 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm

   I am going to buy one, if only for ‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’.

   MY CONTROLLER WILL BE A MOTION TRACKER SO COOOOOOOOOOOL

   Reply
9. 

   Stu

   March 13, 2012 at 3:54 pm

   The best games of this generation, in my opinion, were on Wii. And by that I mean Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, games which I was obsessed with until I hunted down every last star.
   The Wii-U will probably claim my money based on those titles alone. Whilst I’m not overly excited about the controller in itself – a PS3 and a Vita could theoretically do that – I’m excited about that controller paired with Mario.

   Reply
10. 

    Brendan

    March 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    The average non-game engaged parent will probably have no idea what it is until it goes on sale – unless their kids are actively nagging them about it. Even then they might not understand it.

    Reply
11. 

    Benny

    March 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    The Wii was one of the easiest systems I soft-modded to run games from a USB-HDD. Quite the bargain too, toward the end of its life.

    Reply
12. 

    Blueboots

    March 13, 2012 at 4:02 pm

    The only reason I bought a Wii was for Mario and Zelda. Thats it. But I did have some great times with Zack and Wiki, Donkey Kong, Epic Mickey, Metroid and all the great SNES games. It was great for Wii parties and getting my parents in on gaming.

    So I never regreted my purchase. I will get the WiiU as well (couldn’t say too).

    Reply
13. 

    Benny

    March 13, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    Am I the only one to say that I will most likely purchase a Wii-U just to enjoy the latest iteration of the Legend of Zelda? IN HIGH DEFINITION!

    Reply
    1. 

       Kai

       March 13, 2012 at 4:46 pm

       No, I’m sure you’re not…

       BECAUSE I AM ALSO GOING TO BUY ONE FOR A NEW ZELDA OH YEAAAAH BABY

       Reply
       1. 

          Martin

          March 13, 2012 at 5:10 pm

          No it seems you are buying a wii-U to pirate games next gen as well.

          Reply
          1. 

             Benny

             March 14, 2012 at 10:50 am

             Pirate games? Wrong. I just preferred not having to switch discs.

             Reply
14. 

    Chuloopa

    March 13, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    I’d like to add something, because i should really be more fair to the Wii.

    The Wii had some absolutely AWESOME games. Both for core gamers and for those who like to kick back and play with friends and family. There is no denying that.
    The fact that the great games were mired by untold amounts of shovelware also isn’t the main problem.

    For me the biggest draw back were the controls. Yeah, they were something new and somewhat revolutionary – but whn i play games, i play games to relax. I don’t play them to waggle my arms around and exhert myself, or to aim awkwardly at a screen hoping a sensor would pick it up.
    I was one of the many that bought big on launch day. I was even there at midnight.. but in the end… it just wan’t for me, i guess.
    Now this system looks to be much of the same, if not a little worse…

    It’s a real shame because nintendo consoles used to be my #1, but now my 360 has well and truly taken (and earned) that title…

    Reply
    1. 

       Martin

       March 13, 2012 at 5:12 pm

       Totally agree. My 360 rules over my dusty wii. Why??? ONLINE. I can talk to no one on my wii.

       Reply
    2. 

       Terrak

       March 13, 2012 at 6:00 pm

       Controls werent as accurate as i had hoped but they did a decent job. This console looks alot better because now they have included the standard dual analogue and motion control and a touch screen. That adds a whole new layer of interactivity to gaming. There are so many actions touch screens are more suited to do then a console controller and combining the two (make that 3 with motion control) simply opens up more interactive possibilities.

       The original Wii did have many drawbacks (Graphics, SHovelware, poor third party support), but it did its job for Nintendo, and now Nintendo can use its success to create a more core gamer centric console (well at least i hope so), having dual analogue means any game that was on the ps3 or 360 can now be easily ported (control wise that is, no need to change the control scheme to work with Wiimote and nunchuk) to the Wii U, the graphics will be better then what is available on current consoles, and should it sell well, and there is no real reason why it shouldnt Developers would be hard pressed to ignore it this time around.

       Obvioulsy its not as simple as it sounds but if Nintendo gets it right the Wii U will be an awesome console, something i wished the original Wii should have been but wasnt.

       PC has better online the 360, we dont have to pay per month for the privilege and we get most of our games in proper 1080p. PC will always be my #1 gaming platform, but Nintendo just makes games that a PC just cant do, and with the Wii U controller they have created another console that does just that, create a gaming experience that i cant get from the PC.

       Reply
15. 

    Mark’s Boots

    March 13, 2012 at 7:52 pm

    I think parents are ready to buy whatever will keep their kids quiet for a longer amount of time. If the Wii U benefits them then it is purely a bonus.

    Essentially, enthuse the kids, the parent will follow.

    Reply
16. 

    Merus

    March 13, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    The buzz at GDC is that few developers are really interested in the WiiU, which considering it’s developer interest that’s decided the winner of every console cycle to date, and the resurgence of the PC in recent years, spells trouble for the WiiU.

    Reply
    1. 

       Terrak

       March 13, 2012 at 11:16 pm

       Developer interest doesnt decide the winner of EVERY console cycle. The Wii had very little developers for it (compared to its competitors) yet it Won the console war. There is more developer buzz around the Wii U then the Wii so that is a good sign, and with only hints of a new xbox and nothing from sony it will have a good head start. HD gaming, Brand Recognition, Better third party support (then the Wii), and the combination on Touch screen gaming (can gain the players that love tablet gaming) I think the Wii U is better placed the the Wii ever was

       PC gaming has no bearing on console gaming whatsover (IMO)

       Reply