Nintendo's Wii U and what it means to..um..U

So we all know Nintendo has a new console coming out, right?  Right.  Let's get down to it then?

The black console is pretty nice looking.

Since Nintendo hasn't said this screen will be HD...it won't.

I remember hearing about the Wii U.  I was actually at Six Flags Great America with my girlfriend, and we were checking our phones between lines and such just wanting to see what we could find out before getting back to my house to watch the big reveal on the DVR.  Originally..I didn't get it.  I mean, I know what Nintendo wants to do, and I covered that in my Wii post.  They managed to piss off around 80% of the hardcore gamers out there for the last 4 years or so.  Every year, Nintendo would promise the moon with the Wii..and release one or two games that lacked in every possibly way when compared to the virtual monsoon of content on their two higher powered units.  So, with the Wii U (I didn't think it was possible to get a stupider name that Wii, but congrats, they managed to find one...), Nintendo was attempting to start a great big, "We are really sorry" card to the gaming public, while at the same time attempting to bolster the "base" they formed with the Wii.  

Wii U Pro controller or a X-Box 360 remote? 

When you look at the controller, it's like an iPad with buttons and directional pads on it.  Meaning, quite simply, if the developers (listen to me here developers and publishers) want to make a game with a traditional control set, they can do it with little problem.   The controller on the screen does offer some additional capabilities, but the important thing is that there are options here, and options are a good thing.  The console had my attention, thinking that Nintendo might have learned from their Wii mistake.  To be quite honest, I still have this hope for the Big N.  

I was on X-Box and Playstation a year ago.

Then, Nintendo kinda crapped the bed.  By focusing so much on the controller, they managed to miss the point on what else the system could do.  Now this could very well be because it was so early in the development cycle for the console, they themselves had no idea what potential it ultimately had, but if that was really the case, then they didn't need to show off a damn thing.  Especially when you consider the rough start the 3DS had, they could have used all that E3 coverage to talk about their new handheld console that desperately needed some love.  However, instead put about 20 minutes time into the Wii U, and showed us some interesting tech demos.  Then they did one of the strangest things I've ever seen, they showed a montage of games coming out for the Wii you...already running on the competition's hardware.  A fact that Nintendo openly admitted, by the way.  So imagine if I'm trying to sell you brand new car, and while I'm showing you all the cool  features, I come out and say, "You know, your old car can do all this shit too."  Kinda takes the edge off of how awesome my vehicle is.  So, in a nutshell, Nintendo said, "Batman is coming out for the Wii U...you can totally play it on your X-Box in a few months, but wait a year and we'll have it too!"  So the Wii U announcement went over about as well as a fart in church, and Nintendo said they would work harder in order to make the public better understand their new console.  They then went underground for a year to perfect their craft.  Would Nintendo do better at E3 2012?

I speak English..barely.

Wii Sports for the Wii U?

Ehhhh...not really.  Which honestly surprises me, because they did have a year of planning and development, and Nintendo is the senior at the table of console companies.  You would think they would know what they are doing, right?   It all started on Sunday night before E3, where Nintendo had a hour long video where President Iwata walked us through some of the features that Wii you would have.  The most important thing that they showed, to me anyway, was the online component.  Nintendo is really the last in the pool when it comes to introducing the internet to gaming consoles.  What I saw looked interesting, but not entirely practical.  The good (or bad) news is that Nintendo does plan on their online service being free.  Given the difference in performance between X-Box Live and the Playstation Network, I'll let you fight it out over which is "better."  At their big E3 Press event, though, they continued to confuse the gaming public.  Their game reveals were not impressive, and they failed to give us any indication of a price point or release date.  So, in reality, Nintendo had three attempts to show everyone what their new console was all about, with two E3 press events, and managed to strike out all three times.

It prints money, literally!

Nintendo isn't stupid though.  I believe the reason why they don't really have a direction in mind yet.  Truth is that this console is going to sell out this Christmas.  Yeah, I know, big prediction there, right?  Seriously, though, Nintendo could say anything, and sell it for just about anything, and you won't be able to find them on the shelves at Christmas.  However, the big picture is that is going to happen to the console after it doesn't have the glow of new or Christmas.  I doubt that the hardcore will be fooled into purchasing the system because they see it on the morning TV shows.  What they have to do is convince the gaming public that their console is the one to have. 

Coming this holiday to the PS3

They are really in a tight spot.  Remember how I was saying it wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft's "leaks" about their next console might not be accidental?  This is the reason why.  While the glow of new hardware will always draw the attention of gamers, it really is hard to say that Nintendo will be able to get people to drop their X-Box 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, especially when all Nintendo has shown is a bunch of "catch up " games that you can, or will, be able to purchase on those two consoles.  I really hope Nintendo is able to do something amazing to draw attention to their console, but only time will tell if they can actually do that.