I've really grown to like my Wii U over the past few days, after a very shaky start.
The gf seems to really like it, the killer feature is definitely being able to continue playing games on the GamePad. But amazingly, she's also started using MiiVerse, something I never thought I'd see.
The console certainly holds a lot of potential and I think people are being overly unfair by focusing purely on the under-the-hood power of the console. The GamePad is also a good piece of kit, being able to watch Netflix on it and plug headphones in whilst someone else watches the TV is quite something. But for general gaming, I think the real benefit is playing off the screen occasionally rather than added functionality.
So, my few remaining gripes and things I'd like to see...
- Not enough released or announced exclusives. Nintendo needs more, they need to show some real commitment to this console - it's unique and therefore deserves unique games. I need more to tear me away from the 360/PS3.
- Virtual Console. Why oh why was this not at launch, it really would have given me more to play on this thing outside of NSMBU. Playing all those old SNES games on the GamePad is an awesome no-brainer. And hopefully Gamecube too, if they can find a workaround for the analogue triggers.
- Why no disc spin-down? I love the Wii U web-browser and it's so easy and quick to use straight from the GamePad without turning the TV on etc. But... it's a bloody noisy way to surf the web because I've got NSMBU spinning loud 360-style in the drive. But I'm not playing it - so why not spin the disc down!? Come on Nintendo, simple stuff.
- Still not happy that I can't turn the display off whilst using the GamePad on games where I want to play on the TV. It's so distracting for me. I've now got a Wiimote to get around this issue on NSMBU but it shouldn't have had to come to that.
OK, so a few gripes still remaining but it's definitely growing on me every day - to the point that I was incredibly disappointed when hearing about the poor sales of the console in the UK. I really do hope this is a success - nobody makes games like Nintendo and NSMBU is a real joy to play. It's so simple and yet so deep at the same time - like every Nintendo game. So many secrets, so much to discover, it never gets old.
Ultimately though, I feel this was rushed to release. There's so much potential here that the console could be something extremely special by the end of next year, but Nintendo needs to act fast and realise that potential sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed everythign works out.