Wii U launched

The Wii U launched in the UK on 30th November. While Nintendo continue to innovate in many areas (motion controls say hello), the Wii U represents what a lot of Nintendo geeks wanted when the Wii was released - a high def console to play Nintendo games on.

There have even been reports of the machine being underpowered in some departments, especially the CPU - apparently not as nippy as the aging 360 and PS3, from some reports. Could definitely see that. Nintendo likes to make a profit on its hardware from day one; some companies will loss lead on it.

But, in the end, I'll probably end up getting one simply because it'll be the only thing that plays Nintendo games on a big screen. Try as they might, no-one has ever got close to replicating the magic of their in-house stuff.

Anyone else thinking of getting one?

Yep , got one on pre order for teh kids for xmas and they are already buzzing about it - looks really good.

It will never have the same impact as the wii in terms of opening whole generations to gaming and I have heard the pad battery life sucks.

Because it has come to market so slowly since its concept video some of the wow factor such as 'facetime' and drawing on screen has been lost due to already been done already by iPad etc.

Probably one of the best feature though is that it is backwards compatible so the wii games will still be played

We got one for the office t'other day (I work for a games company). I had a little play on that ZombiU game, it was pretty good.

I was impressed with the graphics, for a Nintendo Console.

The controller is a bit odd, and the switching of action from the TV to Controller screens takes a bit of getting used to.

There was enough to suggest that this one has a bit more than just the novelty factor of the Wii. Time will tell I guess.

I've been out of the loop on games consoles for quite some time now but I remember a hell of a lot of hype around the Wii, the PS3 and 360. The build up to the Wii U has been deafening in its silence if you ask me.

I'd like one solely to be able to do this....

Maybe next year when price comes down....and availability goes up.

Not sure about that controller yet. I like the idea of having a separate screen (Nintendo have got a lot of form in this area, Pacman vs, four swords, etc).

But those face buttons are underneath the right analog stick. Looks like it may be counter intuitive for FPS games.

A small update on this. We took possession of our Wii U today. After about 2 hours of downloading and installing stuff from the Internet, the little beast is running like a champ. Note to parents; set the bugger up before presenting it to kids at Christmas.

Bigger than a Wii, but smaller than any other home console. Much has been made of the gamepad; people have knocked it for not being multitouch, or only being 480p. Nintendo know exactly what they're doing. This isn't supposed to be an iPad replacement; it's just a vehicle for a sort of gameplay style that Nintendo have been toying with for years. The problem beforehand was that their efforts required a tremendous amount of organisation and hardware purchase on the part of the user. With the Wii U, they've just made that setup the standard.

When you look at Nintendo's back catalogue, and particularly when you read interviews with Shigeru Miyamoto, a lot of the inspiration for those games have been the games children play. Miyamoto claims that Zelda was inspired by his childhood exploration of caves. The Wii U is a vehicle for the "I know something that you don't" mechanic of gaming; not a new concept, not even in computer games. The Wii U has been designed to put this sort of gameplay front and centre, in your living room and something you can do with your family. Accessible.

Another very cool thing is the notion of sending a playable screen to the gamepad. Not only does this open up five players (1 on gamepad, 4 on wii-motes), but juvenile unit #2 and I were playing that new Sonic Karts game, and both got a full screen each in two player mode, her on the gamepad and me with the plasma all to myself. Both parties were happy; I offered to swap numerous times but she was having none of it.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/186741/At_57K_sold_Wii_Us_January_performance_is_historically_abysmal.php#.UR-quaVk1Lq

Not good!