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Wii U Community Thread

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Welcome to the next generation of gaming. Officially announced at Nintendo E3 2011 Press Conference, the Wii U is posed to take on two very different markets: the casual market and the core gamer market. This console is designed to cater to everyone. The addition of a tablet-like game pad will create a paradigm shift with asymmetric gameplay, just as its predecessor disrupted the traditional gaming market. Nintendo is positioning three pillars for Wii U: Gaming, Entertainment and Social Networking.

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Watch Nintendo's All-Access E3 2012 Press Conference here!
Visit Nintendo's E3 All-Access Website!
Watch a virtual tour of the Wii U Game Pad

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Release Date: Holiday 2012 Worldwide (Presumably Sunday, November 18, 2012 for NA)
Price: At Least ¥20000/$251/£163 (Confirmed by Iwata)
Size: Approximately 1.8 inches high, 10.5 inches deep and 6.8 inches long
CPU: IBM Power-based multi-core processor
GPU: AMD Radeon™-based High Definition GPU
Storage: Internal 8 GB NAND (Rumored) with support for SD Cards and External USB Connected Hard Drives
Networking: 802.11 b/g/n Wifi
Video Output: Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i
Video Cables Supported: Compatible cables include HDMI, Wii D-Terminal, Wii Component Video, Wii RGB, Wii S-Video Stereo AV and Wii AV.
USB: Four USB 2.0 Ports

Included Features:

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Nintendo Network is Nintendo's new online infrastructure, in the same vein as Playstation Network or XBOX Live.

It has been confirmed that the Wii U is account-based, and each player in the family will have their own account. One Wii U console can support up to 12 different accounts. Wii U will also have an eShop, that is rumored to include applications and books, in addition to the confirmed ability to download full retail games on launch day.



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miiverse-2.jpg


MiiVerse is Nintendo's proposed social network for the Wii U, that will gradually become available on Nintendo 3DS, Internet Browsers, and Smart Phones. It is also future compatible, so all future Nintendo consoles will support MiiVerse. MiiVerse is the first screen you see when you turn on the Wii U console, and it displays your household's Miis, your friends' Miis and Miis from all around the world gathering around tiles which represent the titles that you play and the titles trending globally for Wii U. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata confirmed it will take 30 minutes for your messages to be sent due to moderating, but it is unknown if this will affect messages send to people on your friends list.

Information, announced and unannounced, can be found from trademark filings here!

More Images:
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3


Controls

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Two game pads can be supported at once.
A game pad and four Wii U Pro Controllers or four Wii Remotes can also be supported.

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Wii U Game Pad:
The name and shape are inspired by the NES Game Pad, and the controller includes:
  • 6.2 Inch LCD Resistive Touch Screen
  • Low Megapixel Camera
  • Stereo Speakers
  • Sensor Bar (on the controller itself)
  • Microphone
  • Power/Home/Start/Select Buttons
  • Two Clickable Analogue Sticks
  • + Control Pad
  • ABXY Buttons
  • Digital L/R/ZL/ZR Triggers
  • TV Control Button
  • Gyroscope
  • Accelerometer
  • Geomagnetic Sensor
  • Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology
  • Rumble
  • Stylus
  • Charging Port

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Wii U Pro Controller:
This controller was made for gaming enthusiasts, designed specifically for long gameplay sessions, and includes:
  • Power/Home/Start/Select Buttons
  • Two Clickable Analogue Sticks
  • + Control Pad
  • ABXY Buttons
  • Digital L/R/ZL/ZR Triggers
  • LED Play Indicator
  • Charging Port
  • Further information had yet to be confirmed, on capability such as rumble or a gyroscope

wii-1.png


Wii Accessories
Virtually all Wii Accessories are backwards compatible, and this includes:
  • Wii Remote and Wii Remote Plus
  • Wii Nunchuk Controller
  • Wii Classic Controller
  • Wii Classic Controller Pro
  • Wii Balance Board
  • Wii Wheel
  • Wii Zapper
  • etc.

Wii Software
Wii retail software is fully backwards compatible with the Wii U, but as of this current moment, they do not upscale to HD resolution. All Wii Virtual Console and WiiWare titles will also be able to be transfered to your Wii U console (and presumably to your new eShop account as well).

Countdown
Nintendo of America has announced a Wii U Conference for Thursday, September 13, 2012, which is analogous with the Wii's prelaunch conference on September 14, 2006.
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Bumhead

Banned
Thank god.

My biggest hope about the Wii U right now is that people can discuss it in this thread without shitting themselves about the technical specs or how it compares to PS360.
 

Fantastical

Death Prophet
My attitude on the system certainly has changed post-E3. Never thought this would happen, especially after all those hours spent in the Spec thread. :/
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
Not interested in buying the system at launch but I can be swayed down the road, which leaves pretty much just TGS or some big announcements in a Nintendo Direct to change my mind.

I haven't really been paying much attention but after reading the nice OP, the Pro Controller doesn't have rumble confirmed? What logical reason would there for that to be the case if the Gamepad has rumble?
 

Portugeezer

Member
And Nintendo has to fix the is it a Wii, is it a controller problem. My brothers girlfriend said it was a handheld system, I was going to bother and correct her, but then I just lol'd and did nothing.
 
My attitude on the system certainly has changed post-E3. Never thought this would happen, especially after all those hours spent in the Spec thread. :/

Yeah, still pissed about the conference. Can't believe it literally was last years E3 all over again. Just what have they been doing in the last 12 months?
Apart from the lack of real games, the concept finally seemed to make some sense during the Nintendo Direct, but then it felt completely crude during the conference.

The few games I want certainly don't feel like next gen to me (Mario, Pikmin, Rayman), since they don't look drastically different, while I plan to keep playing them with the Wiimote. Wii on the other hand really felt like the next step from the get-go.

So, can we expect anything next week, I remember Iwata saying he'd do a special show for the Japanese audience or something?
 

Portugeezer

Member
Yeah, still pissed about the conference. Can't believe it literally was last years E3 all over again. Just what have they been doing in the last 12 months?
Apart from the lack of real games, the concept finally seemed to make some sense during the Nintendo Direct, but then it felt completely crude during the conference.

The few games I want certainly don't feel like next gen to me (Mario, Pikmin, Rayman), since they don't look drastically different, while I plan to keep playing them with the Wiimote. Wii on the other hand really felt like the next step from the get-go.

So, can we expect anything next week, I remember Iwata saying he'd do a special show for the Japanese audience or something?

Maybe we should have been more suspicious after the Nintendo Direct. "Browser becomes entertainment", that part killed me inside, but I was hoping they were just making space for the good shit for the real conference.
 

EDarkness

Member
After actually playing with one, I'll be there day one. My only requirement is that it be $350 or less. The Wiipad is cool, and something I look forward to using in the future.
 

adroit

Member
Apart from the lack of real games, the concept finally seemed to make some sense during the Nintendo Direct, but then it felt completely crude during the conference.
Yeah, the contrast between the Nintendo Direct and E3 presentation was shocking and baffling. The Nintendo Direct was slick (even the cheesy concept video turned out to be a big hit thanks to Nonspecific Action Figure and OCTOG123). The E3 presentation was just embarrassing. What went wrong???
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
Feel free to link to my Miiverse thread, jonny_boi. It provides a bit more insight in what Nintendo is planning for that service: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=477447

Nice thread you've created, though it just as New Super Mario Bros. U feels like a retreat back to something that has been very popular but fails to bring something new to the table. That's of course not your fault, jonny_boi, but Nintendo's for explaining so little about the system and making the confusion surrounding it even more complete. More news will inevitably come, but will it be at the right time or will people have moved their interest to the respective next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony by then?

Well, it's no use crying over unspilled milk, so I assume we've got x more months of speculation to do. Perhaps someone will come and leak something here, a legit spec sheet would be nice to have. Not that it would advance discussion, but to finally be able to tell what kind of games in relation to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well as Durango and Orbis we are to expect (if there will be a greater amount of ports at all).

Next stop is Nintendo's 72nd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, June 28, at 10:00 AM Japan time. Eleven directors, including Mr. Iwata, are up for election and there will be a Q&A session.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2012/convocation_notice1206e.pdf

There's also the AMD Fusion Developer Summit 2012 next week, from where AMD could provide details about Wii U's GPU. There are opportunities for questions anyway.
 
Maybe we should have been more suspicious after the Nintendo Direct. "Browser becomes entertainment", that part killed me inside, but I was hoping they were just making space for the good shit for the real conference.

Gotta love how Reggie took time to repeat the information about Miiverse anyway... Meanwhile, no talk about Nintendo Network.
 

Redford

aka Cabbie
Was this thread sanctioned?

Anyways, I believe you swiped this OP opportunity from Conor419 but eh... Welcome home everyone?

Hopefully I'll still post in here but fuck, this E3 really gutted me.
 
Also:


I thought I'd chime in with a few of the things we know about the Wii U's hardware from the speculation threads (and by "know" I mean info which has been confirmed by multiple reliable sources).

CPU

The Wii U's CPU is a three-core, dual-threaded, out-of-order IBM Power ISA processor with 3MB of eDRAM L2 cache. Superficially it looks pretty similar to the Xenon CPU in the XBox 360, but it's a completely new CPU, and there are a number of important differences from Xenon:

- Firstly, it supports out-of-order execution. Roughly speaking, this means that the processor can alter the order it executes instructions to operate more efficiently. The benefit of this depends on the kind of code being run. Physics code, for example, wouldn't see much benefit from an out-of-order processor, whereas AI code should run significantly better. Out-of-order execution also generally improves the processor's ability to run poorly optimized code.

- Secondly, we have the larger cache (3MB vs 1MB). The Xenon's cache was actually pretty small for a processor running 6 threads at 3.2.GHz, causing a lot of wasted cycles as threads wait for data to be fetched from main memory. The Wii U CPU's larger cache should mean code runs much more efficiently in comparison, particularly when combined with the out-of-order execution.

- The Xenon processor used the VMX128 AltiVec unit (or SIMD unit), which was a modified version of IBM's then-standard VMX unit, with more gaming-specific instructions. It appears that the Wii U's CPU will feature a highly customized AltiVec unit itself, possibly based off the newer VSX unit. This should substantially increase the efficiency of a lot of gaming-specific code, but the important thing is that, unlike the out-of-order execution and large cache, developers have to actively make use of the new AltiVec unit, and they have to really get to know how it operates to get the most out of it.

- The Wii U has a dedicated DSP for audio and a dedicated I/O processor. These relieve the CPU of a lot of work, for instance there are XBox 360 games which require an entire core to handle audio.

The CPU should have quite a bit less raw power than the PS3's Cell, although the same will most likely be true for both the PS4 and next XBox. It will, however, be significantly easier to program for, and should be more effective at running a lot of code, for instance AI.

There aren't any reliable sources on the CPU's clock speed, but it's expected to be around 3.2Ghz or so.

GPU

The GPU is likely to be VLIW-based, with a pretty modern feature-set and 32MB of eDRAM. We don't have any reliable numbers on either SPU count or clock speed, but in bullshit multiplier comparisons to the Xenos (XBox 360's CPU), most indications are that it's closer to 2 or 3 times the raw power of Xenos, as opposed to the 1.5 times quoted in the OP. There are a few things we do know about the GPU though:

- The 32MB of eDRAM is the only hard number we have about the GPU. This is more than three times the size of the eDRAM framebuffer on Xenos, and should allow games to achieve either 720p with 4x AA or 1080p with no AA, without having to do tiling (the need to tile AA'd HD images on the Xenos's framebuffer made its "free" AA a lot less free). It's also possible (although unconfirmed) that the eDRAM is on-die with the GPU, as opposed to on-chip (and hence on another die). If true, this means that the eDRAM will have much lower latency and possibly much higher bandwidth than the XBox 360's set-up. Developers will have to actively make use of the eDRAM to get the most out of it, though.

- The GPU features a tesselator. However, we have no idea whether it's a 4000-series tesselator (ie not very good) or perhaps a more modern 6000-series tesselator (a lot better). Again, developers would have to actively make use of this in their game engines.

- The GPU is heavily customized and features some unique functionality. Although we don't have any reliable indications of what sort of functionality Nintendo has focused on, it's been speculated that it's related to lighting. Apparently games which make good use of this functionality should see substantial improvements in performance. More than any other feature of the console, though, developers really need to put in the effort to optimize their engines for the GPU's customizations to get the most out of them.

- The GPU has a customized API, based on OpenGL. Regular OpenGL code should run, but won't run very well and won't make any use of the GPU's custom features. Developers will need a good understanding of the GPU's API to get the most out of it.

RAM

It seems the console will have either 1.5GB or 2GB of unified RAM, with indications that Nintendo were targeting 1.5GB with earlier dev-kits and later increased that to 2GB. We don't know the kind of RAM being used, but most expect DDR3, probably with a 128-bit interface and clock speed somewhere in the 750MHz to 1Ghz range, resulting in a bandwidth somewhat, but not significantly, higher than the XBox360 and PS3. It's worth noting that the large CPU cache and GPU eDRAM somewhat mitigate the need for very high bandwidths. It's possible, but quite unlikely, that they're using GDDR5, which would mean a much higher bandwidth.


Going by what we know about the console's hardware, it should be able to produce games which noticeably out-perform what's available on XBox 360 and PS3, so long as everything's properly optimized. Of course, performance will still be far behind the PS4 and next XBox. What we're seeing at E3 is unlikely to be well optimized for a number of reasons:

- "Final" dev-kits, with actual production hardware, only started to arrive to developers a few weeks ago. This would be too late for the E3 demos to make any real use of any improvements this final hardware may have brought. We know that these dev-kits brought a slight improvement in performance, but we don't know if there were any changes in functionality (eg to the eDRAM, which could indicate why we're seeing so little AA).

- Nintendo don't seem to have locked down the clock speeds yet, which makes it difficult for developers to properly optimize games for the hardware. As Nintendo now has final production hardware to do thermal testing on, final clock speeds should come pretty soon.

- For third party multi-plats, the XBox360 and PS3 versions are going to sell the most (due to higher install-bases), so developers are going to put more resources towards those versions, and are likely to put the more talented team-members on XBox360 and PS3 development as well. Because they can get PS360-grade performance out of the Wii U with a quick, poorly optimized port, most aren't going to bother putting the time and money into substantially improving the Wii U version.

- We've only seen launch-window titles, and launch-window titles that are about five months from completion, at that. I can only think of a single case where a game for new hardware was actually well optimized at this point before the launch of the console (Rogue Leader for Gamecube).

- While third parties are unlikely to make good use of the hardware, Nintendo haven't shown any games from the first party studios most likely to really push the hardware (eg Retro, Monolith, EAD Tokyo, EAD Kyoto Group 3). These studios are the ones to watch for technically impressive games in the first couple of years of the Wii U's life.


Interestingly, the best-looking game that's been shown off thus far is probably Platinum's Project P-100. While people haven't been focusing on it from a technical perspective that much because of the art style, it's got great textures, good polygon detail, very nice lighting, good effects, a nice DoF effect, the IQ seems good and the framerate seems smooth. In some parts it also does nice 3D visuals on both the TV and controller screen. I wouldn't go so far as saying it looks substantially better than anything we've seen on PS360 (certainly not without seeing it in person), but it's definitely a nice looking game.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
Cool. And yes, this was sanctioned by Nirolak.

After the E3 press conference disaster, feeling a lot better about the launch lineup, especially with P-100 and ZombiU looking good.

Still wondering what the hell is up with EA/Activision and really hoping we get a Japanese event soon that unveils more 3rd party stuff.
 

Instro

Member
Thraktor's post a pretty great summary of what we know thus far, plus it provides some nice insights as well. Good stuff there. I also agree with him about P-100, very underrated visually I think.
 
Awesome OP! Is it confirmed that they're only releasing the white Wii U?

Doesn't say might. If they weren't sure, the rep wouldn't have said anything.

I'd wait until they officially confirmation from the higher ups. I'm hoping they change their minds after hearing that many love both colors.
 
Still wondering what the hell is up with EA/Activision and really hoping we get a Japanese event soon that unveils more 3rd party stuff.

I'm trying to find the quote about Iwata planing a Japan-specific show one week later or so, but I fail :(
Hoping it is a little more than just a E3 recap. Can't believe I really don't want this thing at this point, I was ready. Now I must wonder if they can even handle HD development, I mean how could there not be a single new thing ready for launch. After announcing two Smash Bros. games that weren't even in development and the 3DS blowout in 2010, I also find it curious that we didn't get anything for the near future.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
I'm trying to find the quote about Iwata planing a Japan-specific show one week later or so, but I fail :(
Hoping it is a little more than just a E3 recap. Can't believe I really don't want this thing at this point, I was ready. Now I must wonder if they can even handle HD development, I mean how could there not be a single new thing ready for launch. After announcing two Smash Bros. games that weren't even in development and the 3DS blowout in 2010, I also find it curious that we didn't get anything for the near future.

Yeah I remember a mention that Nintendo would be having a Japanese event the week after E3 as well, but cannot find a link.

He definitely tweeted that Japanese third party software would be unveiled later, so maybe that will be soon.
 

Sadist

Member
Cool, this I like.

It all depends on pricing now. And when the black one arrives. Because that one looks pretty sexy. And if Project P-100 will be there at launch. With all the noise around the game being a Pikmin-Viewtiful Joe hybrid I need it badly. I've been waiting since VJ 2 for a follow-up. P-100 will fill that need.

The E3 showing was pretty lackluster, but I'm still more interested in a new Nintendo console than whatever MS and Sony have cooking. I can't help it, I just need to play my Nintendo games.

And oh, games I'm interested in:

- Pikmin 3
- New Super Mario Bros. U
- Project P-100
- Rayman Legends
- Batman AC AE
- Darksiders II

Maybe:

- Assassin's Creed III (Hated AC (2) with a passion, but III looks a lot better. I'd bite for 10 bucks)
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Haven't liked Tekken since 3 on PSone, but TT 2 looks pretty rad)
- Zombi U
 
Well I preordered New Super Mario Bros. U for $49.99, but I could've also gotten Pikmin 3 for $39.99 but I didn't, and it's too late now so I'm kicking myself. Did you guys preorder any games yet to take advantage of Best Buy's E3 deals?
 

Penguin

Member
Cool. And yes, this was sanctioned by Nirolak.

After the E3 press conference disaster, feeling a lot better about the launch lineup, especially with P-100 and ZombiU looking good.

Still wondering what the hell is up with EA/Activision and really hoping we get a Japanese event soon that unveils more 3rd party stuff.

Foolish hopes perhaps, but I feel like EA/ATVI stuff will come with a show focused on their online.

I mean there was no discussion of online outside of the Miiverse stuff, and even the leaked Rayman Legends trailer mentioned there would be some online aspect to the game.
 
I'm there at $300.

-Pikmin 3
-Darksiders 2
-Arkham City
-Rayman Legends
-Mayyyyybe Lego City Stories
-Trine 2

Is what I'll be picking up near-launch. (Arkham City from the bomba-bin probably)

Cautiously optimistic. I'm a sucker for console launches, so I'll be there. (Er. If it's a Nintendo or Microsoft console that it.)
 

Anth0ny

Member
So.

How many of those can we get until launch?

Somehow, some way, Nintendo has managed to completely kill the astronomical hype we had during the 6 speculation threads.

We won't even finish this thread unless they give us something to talk about. Which, as we all know, isn't happening.

360 days til E3 2013!
 
I'm there at $300.

My conditions on buying are unchanged:

≤$250 || ( TimeSplitters 4 && ≤$300 ) || ( Electrostatic Haptics && ≤$350 )

Zombi U comes a lot closer to classic first person shooter dynamics than I expected, but it's still not TimeSplitters. The above formula could always be changed by some crazy upset surprise on Nintendo's part, but E3 would have been the most likely place to unveil this.

Of course, the >$250 conditions are not realistic at this point. So it is unlikely that I will be buying this year.


…also Rayman looks pretty ultragreat. But this changes nothing.


Iwata said a year ago that it would cost more than $250.

I might budge at $250.01
 
So far, I'm only interested in:

NSMB U
Rayman Legends
Project P-100
Pikmin 3
Trine 2

I'll be there day one if the price is right. I'm hoping they end up launching with multiple colors.
 
Am I foolish for hoping for a new 1080 Snowboarding? (More like Avalanche, less like an SSX-like games.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmFb1DNEDdU

My 14-year-old self loved everything about this game. (Yes, soundtrack included.)
Nintendo should free NST to make a sequel. Or have Monster Games handle development. I remember some not so positive impressions at the time. Usually calling out the trick system, saying it felt stiff or something. I felt it to be more realistic in terms of what you could do on a snowboard.
 
It all depends on pricing now. And when the black one arrives. Because that one looks pretty sexy. And if Project P-100 will be there at launch. With all the noise around the game being a Pikmin-Viewtiful Joe hybrid I need it badly. I've been waiting since VJ 2 for a follow-up. P-100 will fill that need.

This is Platinum Games, game looking niche as ever. If you get the console a couple of months later, the game will already be at 10 bucks or so :D
:'(

The E3 showing was pretty lackluster, but I'm still more interested in a new Nintendo console than whatever MS and Sony have cooking. I can't help it, I just need to play my Nintendo games.

I agree. Too bad they hardly showed any games :[ One bomb at the launch, another on the horizon and I'd get it. All these smaller games should support these, not stem the whole system. There needs to be one thing that feels truly big to get the console into my home first.
 

Sadist

Member
This is Platinum Games, game looking niche as ever. If you get the console a couple of months later, the game will already be at 10 bucks or so :D
:'(
Eh, it's launchyear and it's being published by Nintendo. I'd say it will take a year to pricedrop.
 

Instro

Member
That was before the 3DS was officially a debacle.

Well I think what changed in their strategy after the 3DS launch was making sure they actually had software for the WiiU launch. Lack of software hurt the 3DS as much or more than the price did. A lot of the games I'm seeing announced and Nintendo's involvement in them is fairly telling that their response to the 3DS launch was to make sure software was ready for WiiU launch. I would be willing to bet that Pikmin 3 being moved to the Wii U, DQX getting a WiiU port, the publishing deal on Sing, and the various major games like NSMBU and Wii Fit U were all part of this. Maybe even Nintendo partnering with Platinum as well.

Many people might not be happy with a lot of the casual games being pushed, or that they did not show something impressive for further out into the consoles life, but the launch window is chock full of software that will move units without a doubt. There are multiple games for the launch window that can sell millions, and some that can sell 10-20+ million LTD. It's definitely going to be a big success unless all of these casual games, both first and 3rd party, completely flop.

I do think they will keep the price as low as possible, but they will certainly not sell at a loss. I would highly doubt that the WiiU hardware can be sold at $250.

This is Platinum Games, game looking niche as ever. If you get the console a couple of months later, the game will already be at 10 bucks or so :D
:'(

With the buzz its getting and it being a launch title, I would be surprised if it doesn't beat out their previous games sales wise. Either way Nintendo is marketing and publishing, so its not going to be dropping in price quickly.
 

snesfreak

Banned
Nice, a thread where I can feel safe as long as I don't talk about Sony.
And Thraktor's post should be quoted at the top of every page, seriously.
 

watershed

Banned
I hope Nintendo uses their remaining events between now and release to really sell the console to dedicated gamers like most of us on gaf. Their E3 showing was targeted towards the general mass audience and if you look at the reception the Wii U got outside the gaming media/gaming community that seems to have worked. But now I want stuff for me, not parents and kids.
 
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