The Wii U controller’s front-facing camera is a curious feature. The inclusion of a camera in a game controller is quite novel, but how practical can it be in actual games? Several weeks ago, long before we even knew what the Wii U was called, a few users at the forums came up with several great uses for it. All credit for these ideas goes to them, but I decided to write them up for the blog in the form of an editorial. Continue reading…

The Nintendo Wii isn’t exactly known for having a overflowing library of mature games. One of the major criticisms of Nintendo consoles as a whole is that their are too many ‘family friendly’ titles and not enough mature ones. At a shareholders meeting Satoru Iwata reiterated that Nintendo would carry on making games that everyone in the family could enjoy.

“Of course, it is natural that Nintendo will mainly offer games which can be enjoyed by many people in society, and some good examples of such games are ‘Super Mario Bros.’ or ‘Pokémon.’ If we do not develop such software, Nintendo will not be Nintendo anymore. But it is also true that if only such software is provided for Nintendo platforms, adult users may think it is “childish” or “something we cannot enjoy.”

So expect lots more games that can be enjoyed by everyone on the Wii U but hopefully some more maturer titles too.

Could Dead Space 3 be coming to the Wii U?

EA have recently posted job listings on their website in search of a senior art director and audio director to work on the ‘Dead Space’ franchise. The listing goes as follows.

“This is a major opportunity to greatly contribute to an exciting unique franchise. The ideal candidate will have a passion for video games, with an overwhelming drive to create a world class gaming experience for a AAA franchise.”

There is no mention of which platforms the game will be coming to, but the Wii U is just as likely to be one of them as it’s not. The Dead Space franchise is no stranger to Nintendo platforms and EA have been showering the Wii U and its new controller with positive comments. They even appeared on stage during Nintendo’s press conference at E3 2011.

I guess we will have to wait for official confirmation of a new ‘Dead Space’ game to find out. Would you like to see a Dead Space game come to the Wii U?

While researching some Wii U news I found this interesting but puzzling article on the gadget website T3. They polled their users by asking them ‘Which console they wanted the most?’ The choices being either the PS4, the Xbox 720 and the Wii U. Playstation 4 received 50% of the vote, Xbox 720 received 41% with the Wii U scoring just 9%.

The 900 people who have been polled so far are hardly representative of the entire gaming population but it was still interesting to see that the people who had voted were more interested in consoles that hadn’t even been announced yet.

Two conclusions that T3 came to about the lack of votes for the Wii U were that the PS4 and 720 were more appealing because we know nothing about them. For example, I could formulate in my mind the perfect console I want the PS4 to be and therefore the Wii U which I already know about will seem inferior.

The other conclusion they came to was that hardcore gamers were left disenchanted by the Wii and therefore have little interest and confidence in the Wii U.

Why do you think the Wii U received low votes?

In an interview with IGN, Gearbox Software’s, Brian Martel, shared his views on Nintendo’s next home console.

“Right now we’re still finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have,” said Martel. “But we like the system a lot; we think it’s going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it’s really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it’s a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming – for us that’s fantastic.”

He also went on to say how the console will benefit their upcoming title Aliens: Colonial Marines.

“We’ve got the [Aliens: Colonial Marines] engine running on the Wii U, and as far as the console goes, you’re going to see textures at a resolution that you haven’t seen on [the current] generation,” said Martel. “But the thing we’re most excited about is: what can we do with the controller? So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker [on the controller screen], or the sentry gun information – all that kind of stuff. That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably. That would be fantastic, right?”

Although I question the use of the word “stop-gap” it seems like Gearbox are taking the controller seriously and are thinking up some interesting ideas for it.

Darksiders 2 is one of the upcoming third party games coming to the Nintendo Wii U. In a recent interview, Vigil Games discussed the development of Darksiders 2 for the Wii U and a few titbits on how Darksiders 2 will interact with the controller.

They mentioned that it took them a week to get the game running on the Wii U and then another week and a half to get the graphics up and running. In total it took them roughly five weeks to get a fully functioning build of the game.

The team also added that it was easier to develop the game for the Wii U than it was to develop it for the PS3 and roughly the same difficulty as the Xbox 360. They did feel that there were a few hiccups along the way while learning about the system but apart from that it should be quite an easy platform to develop for.

In regards to the controller the programmers working on the game said that there was no need to pause the game to examine loot and other things as it displays on the controller. They are also confident that they can get the whole game to run on the controller. The team are also brainstorming more ways that they can use the Wii U’s controller.

CEO of EA, John Riccitiello

One of the Wii U’s biggest supporters are EA who were actually up on stage with Nintendo during their E3 2011 press conference. In an interview with Industry Gamers John Riccitiello shared why he was so taken with the Wii U.

“It’s a high definition platform and I love the controller. I just think it’s cool. You’re a gamer – so you’ve got the screen here [in your hands] and you’ve got the [TV] screen there and you’ve got full control. Personally, while there’s some great experiences on Move, and there’s some great experiences on Kinect, I’m not a motion control guy. It’s still too imprecise for me. I like shooting something and hitting it. I like turning a corner and feeling precision. So I still like my swizzle sticks and my shoulder buttons and my Xs and Os, etc. But there is something about having that second screen that transcends anything I’ve ever done before,” he enthused.

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Xseed are responsible for publishing Japanese-based games like this one

Recently I have wiling away the hours on my DS playing Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. What has that got to do with anything, you ask? Well, Xseed, the company responsible for publishing said game when it hits North American shelves this fall, have shared their views on the Wii U.

Xseed, for those who don’t know, are a company who’s goal is to translate and release Japanese-based games for North American markets. In a recent interview with Siliconera, they shared their thought’s on Nintendo’s upcoming home console.

With the right opportunity for us, with the right title, absolutely. Their showing and demonstration was very impressive. I think everyone was floored with what the unique new controller can do. If there’s a game creator out there that puts out something very compelling and we get a chance to publish that, then yeah we would like to seize that opportunity.

It would be great to see some more obscure Japanese titles making it to Wii U owners in North America. Iwata’s recent remarks about a “shooter” games only future and Operation Rainfall’s campaign are stark reminders that there are fans out there who like to see a diversity in video games and not just ten different titles from the same genre.

Will Resident Evil be coming to the Wii U?

While speaking to CVG, Masachika Kawata, mentioned that he would “love” to make a Resident Evil game for the Wii U. However, no decision has been made yet but he was excited about the new opportunities that the console gives.

While stressing that no actual decision has been made he did have this to say. “I’d love to do just that. It’s a very, very interesting piece of hardware. Whenever I see new game machines and their new possibilities get into my head, the ideas just start flowing. I’d absolutely love to make a Resident Evil on it. I really love the idea of being able to play the game even if my wife or my kids come and steal the TV. That’s great, brilliant.”

Kenji Matsuura, the designer of Resident Evil: Raccoon City added, “”As a game designer, when I see Wii U, my first thoughts are: ‘Oh wow, I could do this or that, or what would happen if I try to make a game like X,Y or Z.’ My motivation instantly goes through the roof and I want to try a lot of interesting new things. Nothing’s been decided specifically for Resident Evil but it certainly would be interesting.”

Though this is no definite confirmation of Resident Evil Wii U it’s good to see more development teams thinking of what they could do with Nintendo’s next home console.

The war shooter genre has been leaping in popularity recently. The success of first person shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield mean that the shooter industry has been getting millions of dollars worldwide. The success of these titles means that a lot more of these games are being made but not everyone is happy about this.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata mentioned that he would be saddened if all games ending up just being first person shooters but he did recognise that they do have a place in the gaming industry.

“It is a reality that some of these [wartime shooting] games sell 10 million units per year in [the West], and this is one valid type of video game genre. I would personally feel sad if all video games became something like that, but on the other hand, I do not think such games should disappear.”

The Nintendo president also told shareholders that third party software would be crucial to the Wii U’s success when it launches sometime next year. While Iwata did not go into details about Nintendo’s plans, he did say that the company has been in talks with “major overseas software publishers who are good at developing such games”, many of whom had positive things to say about the Wii U and its potential for the shooter genre.