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[gafneo]

This is about u too. Well, first thing. I bought the system for the usual 1st party games. Some people say the system is hurting over 3rd party support. I don't know about that because I haven't bought 3rd party on Nintendo platforms much since the n64.

What I'm getting at is that the Wii U is even more confusing at this point than it was at launch. See, I thought the gamepad was to revolutionize mp. With the Wii remote every 1st party game took advantage of the million ways to use the periferal. The 1st party games on Wii U are basically using the gamepad as a handheld with not too many extra functions.

Nintendo Land started to show a ton of ways that seemed like good tech demos. After that, no game has used the gamepad to rotate the aspect ratio of games, few have givin player 2 a seperate screen to reduce split screen clutter on the TV. You know that Ninja star game that let you toss objects at the TV? Yep, no one has done crap with that concept. There is a mic and keypad on the gamepad itself, yet no games have much social aspects. I can only socialize in Miiverse.
The one brilliant thing I can say Its being used for right now is Mario Maker. Watch it lack online functionality though. User created content is booming. Nintendo has a device that gives them the upper hand in this space, yet it is gone to waste.

 

[Mesoian]

It was an interesting gimmick that no one was that interested in supporting.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

few have givin player 2 a seperate screen to reduce split screen clutter on the TV. You know that Ninja star game that let you toss objects at the TV? Yep, no one has done crap with that concept. There is a mic and keypad on the gamepad itself, yet no games have much social aspects..

Almost every game with local co-op (where it's not redundant) let you play on two separate screens though. Tossing throwing stars at the screen isn't as fun as you'd think. The keyboard is being used a lot in the OS, but what else do you want done with it? Lol at the microphone, come on man.

 

[Maggots]

pretty sure nintendo confirmed online miiverse level sharing for mario maker a long time ago. Wii U is great... congratulations on your Wii U

 

[Azuardo]

There will be online level sharing in Mario Maker - that's confirmed.

As for GamePad itself. Meh, it's just another gimmick really. Sure, there are the odd games that make innovative use of it, but I don't think you can get too much out of it other than a handy map screen, and the best use for it - playing games portably in bed or something.

 

[MrBadger]

I don't really have a problem with the Wii U gamepad being used for nothing more than off-TV play and a place to put maps and shit so they're not crowding up the TV screen. I'm all for them using it in creative ways but I wouldn't want them to force in features for the sake of it. Off-TV justifies the controller's existence for me.

 

[gigantor21]

Nintendo themselves have acknowledged that they've done a piss poor job of utilizing the Gamepad, and are working to fix that with upcoming titles like Star Fox U. I've been pretty disappointed with their use of the pad, myself, which is a big reason I haven't bought the system yet.

I don't need a WiiU AND a 3DS just for Nintendo games. It has far more potential usage beyond maps and offscreen play.

 

[AdanVC]

Yeah, and that's why it's hurting sales a lot. Not even Nintendo knows how to market the gamepad properly to truly give a convincing message of what the gamepad is capable of. It has tremendous potential but even some very Nintendo own games don't utilize the Gamepad at all (DKC: Tropical Freeze) Hope that changes with upcoming games such as Mario Maker, Starfox U (Wich Miyamoto has mentioned that the Gamepad will be used in pretty unique and cool ways) and of course Zelda U.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Pretty much every game that doesn't use it uniquely supports off-tv play which makes it great for my purposes.

Game & Wario is one of my favorite Wii U games and uses the Gamepad really well and uniquely.

I mean Kirby just came out that required it. Captain Toad required it and used all those features (pointlessly).

There's Bowser party in the new game.

Splatoon uses it to travel to teammates and to target for some special weapons.

Star Fox is also supposed to heavily use it.

I agree that it hasn't be used as well as it could. The non use of its potential for asymmetrical multiplayer will be the Wii U's biggest failing for me but Nintendo has still been working on using it in games.

 

[Beelzebufo]

I couldn't be happier. I always get a little annoyed when a game tries to heavily use the gamepad, it's just not that fun really.

However off TV play is awesome, so I'm glad it's there.

 

[Madao]

they probably don't want to depend too much on it to ditch it easily in the next console

(for anyone that goes "bu-but amiibos!", the next console's standard controller can have the NFC thing to read them)

 

[EatinOlives]

Nintendo has a history of not supporting their own crazier ideas. Even for the majority of the Wii they barely did anything with the motion controls.

 

[pinkurocket]

It ain't that simple to split gameplay between TV and gamepad, since it needs to render everything for both TV and Gamepad, and so graphics/framerate has to take a hit.

The problem is that off-tv play works so well, but if a game uses unique Gamepad features, it can't do off-tv streaming. Therefore the Gamepad gets used for typical stuff like maps, menus etc which simply hide in an option screen when playing off-tv (or with the Pro Controller).

That said, plz giv Nintendoland 2.

 

[Zennistrad]

The gamepad is still a brilliant innovation, IMO, since it lets you play while other people are using the television.

 

[Myriadis]

Yeah, that thing really is underutilized. I just hope though that you can use the pad for the next console simply for off-TV and truly optional stuff like a map or item selection. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[orborborb]

I would buy a $60 full game version of at least 6 of the Nintendoland games. Quite disappointed that there doesn't seem to be enough of a market to justify it. Even Nintendo knows that games they make that use the Wii U's unique features well will never be able to be rereleased on future platforms, and the Wii U market isn't large enough to justify the dev costs on its own, that's my guess why they don't make use of the unique features more.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Nintendo Land started to show a ton of ways that seemed like good tech demos. After that, no game has used the gamepad to rotate the aspect ratio of games, few have givin player 2 a seperate screen to reduce split screen clutter on the TV. You know that Ninja star game that let you toss objects at the TV? Yep, no one has done crap with that concept. There is a mic and keypad on the gamepad itself, yet no games have much social aspects. I can only socialize in Miiverse.
The one brilliant thing I can say Its being used for right now is Mario Maker. Watch it lack online functionality though. User created content is booming. Nintendo has a device that gives them the upper hand in this space, yet it is gone to waste.

The following games satisfy your demands one way or the other:

-Pikmin 3.
-Rayman Legends.
-Wii Party U
-Splinter Cell.
-Wii Fit U.
-ZombiU
-Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
-Need For Speed.
-Wind Waker HD.
-Hyrule Warriors. (2 player coop each with a screen)
-Wii Sports Club.
-CoD: Black Ops 2. (Two player each with a screen)
-Wario Ware
-Mario Party 10.
-FIFA 13.
-Fatal Frame (import)
-Pushmo.
-Sonic All Star's Racing (5th player uses sub screen)

There's also some indi games with assymetric multiplayer stuff. Like Stealth Inc. 2 for example.

 

[PreyingShark]

I can't play on an actual TV very often. Therefore, the Wii U is by far the best console for my needs due to off-screen play.

Yeah, it's not for everybody, but to me, the off-screen play is what makes the console great for me. I don't want gimmicks with the GamePad unless it's mirrored on both screens, really; I want my damn off-screen play and this is probably why I won't be buying Splatoon until my situation changes and I can hook the Wii U up to my TV or monitor.

 

[EDarkness]

Honestly, I don't care about the Wiipad at all. I don't hate it, but I don't need it to do anything to justify the cost of the system. I would have been happier if they would have just continued with the remote. If the end of the Wii U's life comes and Nintendo (or anyone else for that matter) never did anything with it, I wouldn't care at all.

 

[televator]

I just got one myself last month. I don't like the gamepad so far. In Pikmin, all it does is show me a map and menu... Shit that was already doable by hitting pause on a normal controller, without splitting my attention between 2 screens. It becomes more of a pain and wayyyyy more cumbersome if you prefer a pro controller or wiimote for Pikmin. If you give me options for control, why not give me the option to not used the gamepad at all? Just display the damn map on my big screen when I use a different control.

And then there's the fact that you can't navigate the system settings without the gamepad. Gets me every damn time. What a stupid limitation.

 

[ProfessorLobo]

The same thing happened with Motion+. Lots of good potential with no games to take advantage of it (except maybe Wii Sports Resort and Tiger Woods.)

 

[MilesTeg]

Almost every game with local co-op (where it's not redundant) let you play on two separate screens though. Tossing throwing stars at the screen isn't as fun as you'd think. The keyboard is being used a lot in the OS, but what else do you want done with it? Lol at the microphone, come on man.

I don't believe any first party games have had the split screen on two screens feature. Only games I've played on the U with this feature are CoD:Blops 2 and Nano Assault Neo. It's a shame because it's a great feature.

edit

Think maybe Pikmin 3 had it in multiplayer mode

 

[Dicer]

It was an interesting gimmick that no one was that interested in supporting.

This term needs to be nuked from orbit when discussing Nintendo...

So many ideas that came from the DS could have come over, but support is low because of hardware disparity and general lack of anything creative from anyone outside the Indie scene as of late, bug pubs/devs just don't want to bother, which is a shame...

 

[gogogow]

The one brilliant thing I can say Its being used for right now is Mario Maker. Watch it lack online functionality though. User created content is booming. Nintendo has a device that gives them the upper hand in this space, yet it is gone to waste.

Do some research first before hitting post.

 

[EDarkness]

The same thing happened with Motion+. Lots of good potential with no games to take advantage of it (except maybe Wii Sports Resort and Tiger Woods.)

I think it came at the wrong time in the Wii's life. Motion plus should have been there in the beginning. Which is why I was hoping they'd run with the remote with the Wii U. Give it another shot to do something cool. Maybe we would have finally gotten that lightsaber game we always wanted. But instead they release the Wii U, which was obviously not what anyone wanted. Damn, I would have paid good money to play Red Dead with the remote.

 

[impact]

I think it would have been really cool for Dark Souls

Inventory on the controller for on the fly equipment and weapon switches in PvP would be awesome. Too bad it would never happen and even if it did the online would be dead cause well, Wii U.

 

[UberTag]

Yeah, and that's why it's hurting sales a lot. Not even Nintendo knows how to market the gamepad properly to truly give a convincing message of what the gamepad is capable of. It has tremendous potential but even some very Nintendo own games don't utilize the Gamepad at all (DKC: Tropical Freeze) Hope that changes with upcoming games such as Mario Maker, Starfox U (Wich Miyamoto has mentioned that the Gamepad will be used in pretty unique and cool ways) and of course Zelda U.

The real discouraging part is that we were all raising these concerns about Nintendo's disjointed message on how to realize the potential of the Gamepad before the Wii U sold system one.

Way way back at E3 in 2011 we were asking why Nintendo wasn't showcasing their ideas for the Gamepad in a way that would resonate with casual fans and devout gamers. Sure, Nintendo Land had a lot of gimmicks but none of them seemed like they would have mass appeal or revolutionize the way we would play games the way the Wiimote did when it was shown off with Wii Sports. Almost 4 years later, we're still waiting.

Nintendo never led by example with the Wii U's defining peripheral, so how could they have ever expected outside developers to embrace it?

 

[PSqueak]

few have givin player 2 a seperate screen to reduce split screen clutter on the TV.

This isn't as bad as you make it sound as others have pointed out, I however want to make point that im disapointed at how little games allow 5 players local co-op, specially jarring with Mario Kart 8, Sonic all stars racing transformed allows 5 players per console and those 5 players can go online.

Mario Kart dropped the ball on not allowing this.

 

[gafneo]

The following games satisfy your demands one way or the other:

-Pikmin 3. Has split screen
-Rayman Legends. Sure
-Wii Party U casual
-Splinter Cell. Inventory management crap
-Wii Fit U. Great example
-ZombiU inventory
-Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Inventory
-Need For Speed. Idk
-Wind Waker HD. Limited
-Hyrule Warriors.2nd screen lags
-Wii Sports Club. Poor uses
-CoD: Black Ops 2. Awesome example
-Wario Ware great
-Mario Party 10. Looks great
-FIFA 13. Just touch crap
-Fatal Frame (import) yeah, import

There's also some indi games with assymetric multiplayer stuff. Like Stealth Inc. 2 for example.

Edit

 

[Kai Dracon]

Based on bits and pieces of stuff we have heard, it could be that Nintendo simply did not give themselves the 2 - 3 years of lead time they required to flesh out gamepad ideas and get those games into development. Everything about the Wii U seemed to run over deadlines: OS not finished, Miiverse barely ready, development tools in poor shape. Big launch games delayed by months to a year.

I do think the gamepad did enhance playing Wind Waker HD by a fair margin, and that bodes very well for Zelda U. The touch screen interface for the 3DS Zelda games is great, and I wouldn't want to play those games without it again.

Nintendo has a history of not supporting their own crazier ideas. Even for the majority of the Wii they barely did anything with the motion controls.

I feel the Wii remote was badly conceived by launching without the gyro sensor for motion+. It simply couldn't do a lot of things that seemed obvious for it. The most spectacular failure involving the unplayable Samba De Amigo for Wii. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo prototyped and abandoned a number of game concepts because the vanilla wiimote was too limited.

Skyward Sword was their attempt to live up to the Wii's promise with a complex adventure game which used the wiimote heavily. But the Wii should have had games like that at launch. On the other hand, the secret killer app for the Wii wasn't motion control per se, but effortless pointer controls which did work well. Plenty of games used IR aiming and air mouse mechanics.

 

[Seth Enosh]

Almost every game with local co-op (where it's not redundant) let you play on two separate screens though. Tossing throwing stars at the screen isn't as fun as you'd think. The keyboard is being used a lot in the OS, but what else do you want done with it? Lol at the microphone, come on man.

Nintendo's studios have failed to support this. Mario Kart, for instance, is split-screen on the main TV only. Even in two player mode you have to play split-screen on the TV.

Weirdly, it's only third party developers who have brought this seemingly obvious feature (Koei Tecmo in Hyrule Warriors, SEGA in sonic racing and sonic lost world, and Activision in CoD Black Ops and Ghosts).

It was surprising to me that outside of Nintendo Land and Wario, most of Nintendo's internally developed games were safe sequels that didn't take advantage of the GamePad. I was expecting something more like the DS-era output where they would make games that took advantage of the stylus, gamepad motion controls, and stuff.

I think with games like Rainbow Curse coming out we're finally seeing some titles designed to take advantage of the GamePad's control mechanisms though. But it seems like the internal teams at Nintendo weren't really on board with the GamePad at first.

Think maybe Pikmin 3 had it in multiplayer mode

Nope, Pikmin 3 is also split-screen on the TV only.

 

[Mesoian]

This term needs to be nuked from orbit when discussing Nintendo...

So many ideas that came from the DS could have come over, but support is low because of hardware disparity and general lack of anything creative from anyone outside the Indie scene as of late, bug pubs/devs just don't want to bother, which is a shame...

Which makes it a...


Don't get me wrong, I love my WiiU, it gets more play in this house than any other console. But the Gamepad is a whole lot of interesting one offs that no one wants to exploit.

 

[KiefbladeMaster]

Being able to reduce UI clutter/Off TV play are all I really need to justify the gamepad but I see what you're saying.

I've heard Deus Ex uses it well, though. You can draw routes for patrols, manage inventory, etc. Not entirely sure as I haven't tried it.

 

[EDarkness]

Oh, Batman Armored Edition used it well. I gotta admit that I enjoyed it a lot. It's a shame that Origins didn't follow that example.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Oddly enough, it seems there are a number of games that could benefit from the gamepad but just aren't on the Wii U, or in sufficient numbers. The Dark Souls suggestion is a good example. Adventure games, RPGs, strategy, etc - all stuff where a DS-like screen arrangement provides beneficial interface and usability features.

Zelda games are like that, and have benefited from it already on Wii U and 3DS. Zombi U, even Deus Ex did. But a lot of the games for Wii U are sequels in franchises which don't give the gamepad a lot to work with. What's funny is Nintendo's UK marketing for Wii U at one point alluded to Skyrim-style RPGs with improved inventory management and clean interface - and of course no such game existed on the Wii U at the time the commercials were running.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Edit

You better keep watching the list. XD

Remember you mentioned other things besides the dedicated screen for each player. You marked Splinter Cell as "inventory crap" but it uses the microphone for constant comunication with players and controlling gadgets like the tri rotor and the cam.

Pikmin 3 makes amazing use of the touch screen as a trackpad. The controls are more precise than a thumbstick to aim.

Human Revolution uses a lot of the features. To aim scoped weapons, the mic to leave messages, touch screen for hacking, etc.

ZombiU uses beyond inventory. For inmersion purposes with the keypad or lock pick minigames, to aim scoped weapons, for the 2 player local assymetric multi.

WW: HD is one of the better examples in how the Gamepad transformed a very traditional game experience. The instant access to map and inventory. The Gyro aiming, the tingle bottle. All small additions that made up for a better experience.

Even NSMB U had a really fun local multiplayer for 5 players only possible with the Gameapad.

 

[gafneo]

Do some research first before hitting post.

Even if thats true, Nintendo should be instilling the important news to the common people. You expect me to dig deep for news? What, am I trying to sell myself or something?

 

[Jacqli]

I have a dilemma, as others have already said the off TV play is such a great feature. For example, I want to buy Resident Evil Revelations on Wii u just for this reason or some games that did not draw my attention now they are on my "one-day list" because I can play them before going to sleep. But, at the same time, I would love to see a proper Wario game using the gamepad as the main characteristic. They did a great job with the wiimote, so I do not understand how they let slip this opportunity…

 

[gafneo]

You better keep watching the list. XD

Remember you mentioned other things besides the dedicated screen for each player. You marked Splinter Cell as "inventory crap" but it uses the microphone for constant comunication with players and controlling gadgets like the tri rotor and the cam.

Pikmin 3 makes amazong use of the touch screen as a trackpad. The controls are more precise than a thumbstick to aim.

Human Revolution uses a lot of the features. To aim scoped weapons, the mic to leave messages, for hacking, etc.

ZombiU uses beyond inventory. For inmersion purposes with the keypad or lock pick minigames, to aim scoped weapons, for the 2 player local assymetric multi.

WW: HD is one of the better examples in how the Gamepad transformed a very traditional game experience. The instant access to map and inventory. The Gyro aiming, the tingle bottle. All small additions that made up for a better experience.

Even NSMB U had a really fun local multiplayer for 5 players only possible with the Gameapad.

That's cool if SC has those features. I only saw trailers on the screen for gadgets. That nsmb thing causes more trouble than help. That was such a tack on. You see how some games have features and some don't. It's in consistant and hard to tell if the games are worth buying for them. They haven't been used enough.

 

[Refreshment.01]

That's cool if SC has those features. I only saw trailers on the screen for gadgets. That nsmb thing causes more trouble than help. That was such a tack on. You see how some games have features and some don't. It's in consistant and hard to tell if the games are worth buying for them. They haven't been used enough.

The NSMB U is not a tack on. It uses the "dungeon master" concept that the Gamepad allows for local multiplayer. Part of the charm is that the player holding the pad can mess or help as he pleases. It's really fun if you can gather enough people.

ANd that's the thing. The Gamepad is not such a throw away ginmick like many people made it out to be. The biggest impact the Gamepad has for gaming involves local multiplayer, even more than remote play. So the Gamepad has a transformative feature after all, but it didn't catch on. Maybe because people that invest in consoles are investing more time in online multi than on local one.

In the end you gained something, there's a substantial list of games that used the Gamepad worth a damn XD

 

[Cipherr]

The screen is a half decent possible idea, but its to big, and it came to early (the expense it adds is bad). That being said, a controller's capabilities don't have to be used to the fullest extent in every game on the platform, 1st party or otherwise.

I would have impaled myself last gen if every Sony game forced me to use Sixaxis in some way

 

[SonyToo!™]

Aliens Isolation would have made a great WiiU game, a missed opportunity considering the game is available on everything else.

I really hope Nintendo keep the Touch pad (as an addon) in their next console

 

[th4tguy]

It's my least favorite Nintendo system by far. If it weren't for the fact that I bought it for my wife at launch I would have traded it in for a 2nd ps4 already. At least Splatoon and xenoblade chronicles x look good.

 

[gafneo]

The NSMB U is not a tack on. It uses the "dungeon master" concept that the Gamepad allows for local multiplayer. Part of the charm is that the player holding the pad can mess or help as he pleases. It's really fun if you can gather enough people.

ANd that's the thing. The Gamepad is not such a throw away ginmick like many people made it out to be. The biggest impact the Gamepad has for gaming involves local multiplayer, even more than remote play. So the Gamepad has a transformative feature after all, but it didn't catch on. Maybe because people that invest in consoles are investing more time in online multi than on local one.

In the end you gained something, there's a substantial list of games that used the Gamepad worth a damn XD

I don't think it's a gimmick. I was saying mp seemed like it was the major push to the system and that the controller's dodads are inconsistent. Like seriously. Is Wii U about mp? Is it about off screen, is it about ds gaming? Wii U as a tittle suggests its a mp specific system. That's why I'm confused. The pad is not doing enough unique mp specific social things. Maybe I'm just missing the point.

 

[blame space]

how is pictionary not on this thing

 

[BocoDragon]

It's just odd how Nintendo themselves don't really support it. You'd think they of all people....

It's like their internal culture feels what we all feel... the jump to HD is far more interesting for Nintendo than the gimmick.

 

[nintendork666]

I just wanna play local two player Mario Kart without split-screen.

Also OP, play Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Pikmin 3.

 

[Coffee Dog]

The gamepad was just a standard controller with a screen in it. it was a poor idea from the outset as it wasn't crazy enough to be something revolutionary or standard enough to not require any attention.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Why aren't niche Japanese game publishers taking advantage of the Game Pad, is what I'm wondering.

Think of all those embarrassing console RPGs you hate having on your television screen for whoever walks in to see, when you can play it more discretely on the pad while watching football so your dad is proud of you.

Seriously, though, I agree that I wish we saw more multiplayer usage of the Game Pad. Think of all the platformers where one issue has always been that both players need to be on screen...I was hoping with the Game Pad we could get around that, and have the second player explore on their own.

 

[Shaanyboi]

It's sad how few developers used the Gamepad in a truly beneficial way, Nintendo included.

Some games absolutely improved the experience, but others really didn't bother. Deus Ex and Wind Waker were both great examples of how it can benefit standard games, not to mention potential multiplayer ideas the gamepad could lend itself to in the case of Nintendoland