An awful product that should simply be avoided. You'll be sorry.
81
A poor product with more faults than redeeming qualities.
81
Below average. May be passable in a pinch, but you should probably stay away.
81
A bit below average, with some serious issues to watch out for.
81
An average product, with issues that keep it from being genuinely exciting.
81
Slightly better than most similar products, but you can likely still do better.
81
Better than average, but some issues still hold it back from being truly excellent.
81
Among the top products in its category, and a solid choice for most people.
81
A category-leading product and an overall pretty safe bet.
81
An industry-leading product, definitely worth owning. An instant classic.
81
Completely flawless. You'd be crazy not to have it.
100
The gdgt score is our unique ranking of products based on a combination of critic and user review data, and extensive independent analysis by our highly experienced team of researchers and editors. Learn more about the gdgt score here.
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In December Nintendo released the Wii mini, a pared-down version of the Wii. It retails for $99 CDN, just below that $100 threshold that turns it from a purchase you might have to think about into an impulse (just as $0.99 is a sweet spot for song and game downloads). Unfortunately, to get that price point, they eliminated a lot of features. GameCube backwards compatibility was removed, but it had been missing since the 2011 redesign, which also took out the controller ports. Only composite...
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This morning Nintendo held another "Nintendo Direct" presentation, and unveiled a slate of new game and feature announcements at a number unseen since the launch lineup at E3. The big announcements included:
An HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Zelda for the Wii U in development
A new Mario game
A new Mario Kart game
A new Yoshi game
Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
Bayonetta 2
A new game from Monolith Soft (possibly a new Xeno[blade] game)
After spending most of the Thanksgiving holiday/weekend with the Wii U Black Edition, I can honestly say I was impressed and disappointed at the same time. I was impressed with the capability of the console and especially with the controller. With a great "handheld" experience out of the box, the Wii U offers a stylus, touch capable screen, and button/directional controls which pretty much covers today's interactive technology all in one handheld device. The ability to play games on the TV, the...
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According to a new Nielsen survey, the iPad is the most-wanted gift among kids aged 6-12, followed by the Wii U. Kids also want the iPod touch, iPhone, Kinect, and computers. What don't kids want? Non-smartphones, Surface tablets, and the Apple TV. Teens and adults also want iPads, though computers, smart TVs and non-iPad tablets are also high on their lists. What gear are you considering for the kids (and adults) on your gift list this holiday season?...
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Last week, everyone was agape that Thanksgiving was coming up so soon (fourth Thursday in November here in the USA) but what was more surprising to me is that November 18 finally marked the release of the Wii U. The Wii U was originally announced at E3 2011 (so it's been a long wait), and while there have been some changes, it remains mostly unchanged from the original concept: this one is mainly about the controller. So, how is it? The early reviews are in (and you can access them by going to...
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At a press conference this morning Nintendo of America announced the release date and the price for the Wii U. The system launches November 18, which is perfect for catching the holiday shopping season (and in line with the release schedule for the original Wii), and two bundles were announced with two price points:
Basic: A white console, white gamepad, 8GB of memory for $299.99
Deluxe: A black console, black gamepad, 32GB of memory, charging cradle, gamepad and console stands, the Nintendo Land...
I found it curious that Nintendo didn't reveal the price of the Wii U at this year's E3. I'm hoping Nintendo doesn't make the same mistake Sony did with the launch of the PS3 by pricing it way out of range of most people. I personally would have to re-think my possible purchase it the Wii U turns out to be more than $299, especially seeing as many launch titles will just be games that will already be available on the Xbox 360 & PS3, but with "Wii U" specific controls.
Even though Nintendo sold over 70 million consoles to kids, your parents, your grandparents, and probably a million other people you wouldn't ever have imagined buying a console before, they still seemed to crave acceptance from the hardcore gaming community, who largely dismissed the Wii as being for kids, with weak graphics and a poor games library. Last year's E3 for the Wii U presentation definitely emphasized their commitment to high-quality HD graphics and a strong, diverse games library....
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According to Engadget [1], Nintendo is planning an app store for the Wii U. Am I alone in believing that this is BS, given their previous history of disliking "garage" developers [2]? I really hope it's true and that they've seen the light, but I really doubt it.
An investor Q&A revealed that Nintendo does not plan to include DVD or Blu-ray playback in the Wii U, as they feel that people already have devices that can play those formats and it wouldn't warrant the additional cost. http://gamepolitics.com/2011/06/15/no-disc-based-m... While I understand where they're coming from, I also feel this is a mistake. One of the appeals of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 have been their ability to function as entertainment centers that do more...
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While the Wii U is compatible with up to 4 existing Wii Remotes, Shigeru Miyamoto tells GamePro that the system is designed to be used with only one of the next-generation controllers. He explains that if they wanted to support several touchscreen controllers, they would have probably let people use their Nintendo 3DS systems as input devices. Since the content on the touchscreen is simply streamed to the controller from the console, perhaps the system doesn't have the horsepower to drive...
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http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/08/technolo... Ouch. Looks like gamers aren't the only ones expressing doubts. Do you think this is the correct course for investors to take? Is it worth waiting for launch to see if it has at least a strong start, or is it smarter to bail now before more details are revealed about the system?
It seems like a lot of people online are complaining about the lack of information surrounding the system itself, and how we're only hearing about the controller. But Nintendo has never been one to talk up specs, and we've seen that the new console can handle fancy graphics. So with the 360, PS3, and Wii U roughly on par in terms of horsepower, the controller is really the key differentiator.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/07/w... "After the demo was over Nintendo, bless it, treated us to a final element of cloak-and-daggerishness. We were told more facts about Wii U, which had to be read out and transcribed only onto paper. So here they are: the console itself will run in full HD, via HDMI, but the touchscreen isn't HD. The console has internal Flash memory which can be augmented with "SD Card or USB solutions". It will play optical disks and...
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Yes, details are very scant right now, but from what was shown, this could be quite a system. Innovative controller? HD graphics? Backwards compatible? Big name games? it definitely sounds good on paper. Another missing puzzle piece is online gaming. Nintendo has never been strong here, which makes me wonder how they'll make the experience better with the Wii U. Will they make it better? It's no longer just about online competition and game downloads, but home entertainment and social solutions...
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Is this just another gimmick to get people excited about like the original Wii with motion gaming? Will Sony and Microsoft have to put touchscreens on their controllers now too? I do think the concept of the Wii U is really cool and somewhat futuristic but the whole thing also seems rather gimmicky to me.
