I was just talking about recent generations, so I probably should have specified that, but I've personally not encountered anything with the Wii U that i'd describe as being any worse than other launches. After the system update the Wii U has worked as intended right out of the box for me, and I'd argue some of the feature set is better here than it has been in previous launches, certainly in regards to the likes of Miiverse.
We've obviously had drastically different experiences with the general usability of the system on Day One. I connected to the internet straight away, flawlessley, left my controller to charge while I was updating the system (why wouldn't anyone else do this?) and have not experienced drastically slow loading times on anything other than the Settings menu, which peaked at maybe 10 seconds or so for me.
I think that's being generous to Nintendo. Already it's not working as intended because TVii is still MIA. Not that I personally care about TVii, it's a neat feature but I never imagined it owuld take over my htpc's duties so I'm essentially ignoring it.
I consider all the loading times drastically slow for what's being done. they're not dealbreakers though.
And I'd still say that the system needing a large 1GB or more patch and almost every game having a day one patch is indeed new. But I don't think that's worth griping about because I think that's where all three are going to be, this is the new norm. Yeah, Nintendo was first with it but I imagine Sony and MS will also do it. Hard to bash Nintendo for being first for what'll likely be the standard operating procedure for patches and firmware here on out. And if Sony or Microsoft launched first it wouldn't make me hate it any less but it's done.
I have only had one hardlock requiring me to unplug the machine since I got it. Which yeah, is more than any other console I've had in this short a span of ownership but not bad either, bout what I expect from devices these days sadly.
It's hard to justify the battery life of the gamepad. I'll be the first to admit that when we found out what the life would be, I didn't pay it too much bother. That's about the amount of time I would sit and play a game in a serious session, so I was ok with it. People made the same remarks about the 3DS, but not once did it ever out on me, and I play the hell out of my 3DS. I got the Wii U and tried it out...felt good, felt "nintendo", so I was all set. Little did I know I would actually come to love everything else outside of playing games. I literally use the thing for my tv remote, and Miiverse activity is fairly consistent. It actually makes me want to play it more than I normally would.
Then and there, the battery life falls apart as you say. The more drawn in I get, the bigger of a problem it becomes, and I'm pretty fucking drawn in right now...
It does suck, it's a catch 22 really. I actually scrambled to order my Pro Controller the third day I had the Wii U, I didn't even want one originally.
Since all I really want is a HD Nintendo console them just letting the Pro handle all the menus would sort shit out for me. I always imagined the Wii U being third this generation and just being the system for Nintendo games so I'm cool with that.
But, I don't see how this is really good for Nintendo. Strategically, since they're likely to be the weakest of the three once they're all out they need the hook. I also don't think it's fair to do a "bait and switch" to users either if it came down to developers not supporting the pad often or something silly like that. I just don't think the Wii U should have even been released as is. I think this was a good idea but if they couldn't get the battery life of the gamepad to around 9 hours or so they should have switched gears or better yet have already had a different design in the works concurrently that they could have made focus. As it is now I think this will actually damage Nintendo's idea. That said, it may not matter because maybe they'll just abandon the idea of a tablet controller next time around, you can never tell with Nintendo. But as it is I can't imagine too many people really excited about buying a Wii U 2.
And yeah, I know 9 hours is a lot and some are probably like "seriously" but it's not just for 9 hour marathons I'm talking about. Right now you can't even really host a Madden Tournament. If you had a large gathering and everyone wanted to play Nintendoland you probably won't get 4 hours out of it before the gamepad's dead. it's not just that it's now something you can't just pick up and sit down throughout the day, it's not just that you can't play a long hardcore gaming session with it, not just that you can't forget to charge it one night, it's also that you can't even use the thing in the party environment for too long either. It puts a time limit on a device that previously had no "relevant" time limit. Before your system was fine for a day if it was charged no matter what it was, PS3, Wii, 360, if it was charged and you brought people over it would last that day. Not now. I think that's sad.
I know I'm beating a dead horse but I'm kinda lucky in that most of my gripes are all UI issues that can be patched. And I actually have a huge list of gripes concerning the OS but at the end of the day that's all they are, stupid UI things. In reality I knew Nintendo wouldn't deliver a decent UI beforehand anyways. They already showed it with the 3DS, the DSi, the Wii, they just don't have the know how. I also not so secretly think whoever is in charge of the eShop is especially hardheaded and dumb. Little going into the gallery of a game in the eShop but then having to use the touchpad to choose the pictures, back out and choose the next instead of being able to cycle through them with the dpad or analog stick. Nintendo's not just lacking the expertise they lack things that are common knowledge, I have to question if they even have people working there that use their own products. I know I said that my gripes could be patched, they can, but at this point I honestly don't think they will be patched. But that's all minor shit.
The gamepad's the biggest problem. I know the ramifications of what'd happen if Nintendo were to have forced every title to be usable without the TV was brought up but I wonder if there will be ramifications for the design of games around the gamepad's battery life? Will we start to see more games designed almost like handheld games meant to be played in small spurts even though it's on a home console just because of the battery life of the gamepad?
Either way, there's really no wrong way to make something so I guess it's all a moot point if enough people find the battery life acceptable, then we'd just be outsiders, people the system isn't meant for, but I do wish it were longer.
