Wii U: Games

Assassin's Creed III

I got this game about a month ago and have been playing it increasingly more ever since then. I've never played an Assassin's Creed game before, but took a chance on this, as it did look good, and was reasonably priced (£26 from Amazon). My first impressions weren't that great, as the early parts of the game are like one long, drawn-out tutorial, and weren't very exciting, and were either too straight-forward in the missions (i.e. 'walk with this person'), or too vague (i.e. 'take this person to the docks', when the docks cover about half of the map). Fortunately, at about Sequence 6 (of 12) of the main story, the game becomes much more open, and there is a lot more freedom and side missions to undertake, and it becomes a lot more interesting and fun. If you are someone only interested in doing the main story rather than grinding away on the side missions/trading/etc, then I wouldn't bother getting this game. If you're willing to explore the rather massive world of this game, it's worth sticking with. My only other criticism of the game is that the combat system seems kind of clunky after having played Batman (see below) first; I don't know if I would feel the same if I had never played Batman, but it can get frustrating, especially when you're fighting a group of people, that your character doesn't always seem to be respond to what you're pressing, and the randomness of whether a sword attack is successful or not.

Batman: Arkham City (Armored Edition)

An enhanced port of the game already available on other platforms, featuring improved graphics and combat AND with all the dlc built-in, this is considered something of a modern classic, and having played it, I would have to agree as this is a consistently excellent and very deep game. The story is great, the combat system is quite possibly better than in any game I've ever played before… pretty much everything about this game is brilliant. And with all the side missions, dlc, Riddler trophies, challenges and campaigns etc, there is a lot to do here. I've done over 50 hours on this game and am only 74% complete (though to be fair, it has said 74% complete for quite a while now, despite me having done a lot more stuff since; I think its calculations may be stuck/incorrect). This is perhaps my favourite Wii U game so far, and possibly even one of my favourite games ever, it really is that good, and I am planning on going back over the summer and completing the more difficult story+ mode.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Like all Call of Duty games, this has a rather straightforward (and boring) single player campaign and much more exciting online multiplayer game. I haven't even bothered finishing the campaign mode yet, four months after I got the game, and don't know if I ever will. The multiplayer is pretty good though, hampered by the small Wii U community size; the most players I've seen online at any time is around 4,500, around a hundredth of what you can expect on the PS3 and Xbox 360. This leads to many game modes (such as the fun Capture The Flag and Headquarters games) rarely having any players on them as most bozos who play CoD just play the monotonous Team Deathmatch mode. To be fair to Treyarch though, they have tried to remedy this by having Wii U exclusive double xp game mode weekends, where they choose a mode such as Headquarters to give double xp to get players playing the rarely played modes. Unfortunately, this never lasts and people go back to TDM as soon as this is over. The only times in 4 months I have been able to get into a game of Hardpoint or Headquarters is during these double xp weekends where they are the chosen game mode, which is kind of sad. When I can get into one of the games modes I like (mainly Demolition), this is as fun as previous CoD games, i.e. the same.

Darksiders 2

I bought this game because it was £10 (new) in HMV. I have yet to play it. It does look good though, kind of like a Zelda game where you play as Death.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

This is perhaps the biggest and longest game ever made. Or not, I dunno. I've done 30 hours already and have probably only done 10% (if that) of what I will need to do in offline play alone. In case you don't know, this is a hack 'n' slash game where you play a hunter hired by a village to fight off increasingly large and difficult monsters across various maps. What makes this game different is the sheer amount of work you need to do within the game: to level up weapons and armour (which you NEED to do to progress in the game) and to collect all the resources needed for all the different types of potions, bombs etc, you will need to spend literally hours gathering, farming, mining or beating the same monsters over and over again to get what you need; for example, every large monster has an armour set associated with it, which will later prove useful against larger monsters or in different environments. To make this armour, you will need to beat/trap the monster on multiple occasions to get the resources you need, often with a specific weapon type to get particular body parts or rare drops. This is a "monster" of a game, and an essential purchase for all Wii U owners, though I would recommend people download the game; it's only around 6.2GB and the sheer amount of time you will spend on this game if you plan on completing it offline, and going online, will probably destroy your disc drive, and the in-game loading times are frequent and move MUCH quicker if you have the download of the game like I do. It may cost slightly more to download, but for this game, I would recommend it. And, it's a Wii U exclusive!

New Super Mario Bros U

What more can you say about a Mario game? Well, this game attempts to get back to the Super Mario World approach of having one large world and hidden level exits, Yoshi is back, though not nearly enough (you can never have enough Yoshi), there's some new power ups/suits, and so on. Overall, this is probably the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World (the best game ever, btw), though not as good as any of the 3D Mario games (including Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS).

Tank! Tank! Tank!

This game has an interesting business model, at least for a games console: the basic game itself is free, then you pay for additional games modes and content. This is obviously fairly common for PC and smartphone games but doesn't really happen on consoles. To support this brave "new" idea, I downloaded the free (multiplayer) game and paid for an additional game mode (which just happened to be on sale for £1.59), even though the game looked kind of rubbish. Essentially, you drive a tank around and shoot at (a) other tanks, or (b) big, often-metallic, monsters. There's no real finesse to the game, the right analogue stick isn't needed to aim, your tank just shoots straight ahead of you. Also, the "multiplayer" mode does not have online play, so I ended up playing against computer controlled tanks, given that I have no friends or whatever.

Zen Pinball 2

Similar to Tank! Tank! Tank!, (a portion of) this game is free to download, then you pay for extras. Essentially, you get around 4 free tables, which you can play on for a limited time (about 2 minutes if I remember correctly), and can download any of the other tables for free also, but again with a time constraint. You then pay to "unlock" the table allowing unlimited play. The tables are around £1.69 each, though there are also packages where you get 3 or 4 at once and it works out slightly less. Again, similar to Tank! Tank! Tank!, I downloaded the game and paid for 1 table to support the game model, even though I have no real interest in pinball games. To be fair, I've played a few games on the Plants vs Zombies table I downloaded and it was pretty good fun, though I doubt I'll download any more. Or ever play the game again.

ZombiU

Even though I got the ZombiU edition Wii U, I did this more for the free pro controller than for the game itself, though I did like the look of it, a permadeath survival horror game set in London. As I focused on Batman for offline play and Blops 2 for online play when I fist got my Wii U, I decided to put this game back, meaning I've only played around 2-3 hours on it. What I played seemed very good though, and cleverly constructed, though I can't comment on it too much until I've played it more.

Virtual Console

In case you didn't know, Nintendo have been running a special promotion on Wii U to celebrate 30 years since the NES came out: they will release one retro game every month, for seven months, for just 30 pence! So far, those games have been Balloon Fight, F-Zero, Punch Out!! and Kirby's Adventure. Still to come are Super Metroid, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. Of the four so far, each of which I paid a hard-earned 30 pence for, F-Zero and Kirby's Adventure are the best, Balloon Fight the worst, and I haven't played Punch Out!! yet, even though I downloaded it, because I already have it on 3DS and can't be bothered. On top of this, I bought Super Mario World yesterday (when the "full" Virtual Console launched) for just £1.49, as I already bought it on Wii meaning I got it at a reduced price (it's normally £5.49). I've already mentioned that it's the best game ever and nothing will ever change my mind on that. Except maybe an even better game.

Wii U: Gamepad (And Other Controllers)

If the Wii U has got attention for one thing, it's the gamepad; a controller and tablet computer all-in-one.

How does it handle? Pretty good actually. It's lighter than it looks and there is a shelf at the back so it rests in place nicely on your middle fingers (or whichever fingers you choose to use). This works nicely whether you're using the left analogue stick or d-pad as your main control. The Start and Select buttons also work better on the right side so they're easier to use than in the normal position at the bottom.

Having a second game screen is something I'm used to anyway owning a DS Lite and 3DS XL, so that's nothing new to me. So far, the gamepad screen has been mainly used as either an enlarged map screen (as opposed to the onscreen HUD radar), which is pretty handy in some games, especially Assassin's Creed III, or as a quick use inventory, like in Batman: Arkham City, where you can quickly choose a gadget without having to pause the game and go through the relevant menus. In ZombiU, the gamepad is also used as a scanner; you hold up the pad and use it to look for hidden items. In some games (like Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate), the gamepad screen can be configured to however you want it.

The gamepad really comes into its own for off-TV game play; most games allow you to transfer play to the gamepad screen so that you can still play your game while you watch something else on TV. It sounds slightly bizarre  but is really good, and it was something I did quite a bit while playing New Super Mario Bros U while I had a football match on TV. The definition on the gamepad screen is obviously not as good as on the TV but it's still pretty good.

The gamepad is also really good on the web browser too, where it's tablet-like abilities come to the fore.

The battery life on the gamepad is not that great though, I reckon about 4 hours. Also, the gamepad remains on even if you're using another controller in the game you're playing meaning that the battery drains anyway. That said, it's no problem to have it plugged in and I don't use it too often without it being plugged in anyway.

Alternatively, there is the Wii U Pro Controller, which is like a more regular console controller but with both the analogue sticks up high and the d-pad and buttons below, as opposed the the Xbox 360 which has a high left analogue stick and low right analogue stick and PS3 which has both analogue sticks below.

The pro controller handles wonderfully, especially on Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which is the game I use it on most. Having both analogue sticks higher makes playing a first person shooter better (and more comfortable) than ever. The button layout takes some getting used to at first; when first playing Blops II I kept pressing X when I meant to press Y, but it didn't take to long to get used to. I haven't really used it too much on the other games I have, though I look forward to using it more.

The battery life on the pro controller is pretty impressive though. It only takes a couple of hours to charge up (via a USB lead to the Wii U) and lasts for tens of hours. And you can charge it up while you're using it if you're desperate.

Additionally, the Wii's controllers also work on the Wii U, though not on all games. If people on the Miiverse are to be believed, then many Blops 2 players still use the Wiimote and nunchuck, and the classic controller (pro) also work on some of the games I have. After yesterday's system update, the Wiimote can now also be used for other non-game actions such as on the web browser too.

Wii U: Features

Like everything nowadays, the Wii U comes bundled with a bunch of features. The main menu is very similar to the Wii's (see picture below), with everything laid out simply for quick access, and the option to arrange everything as you want it. (Incidentally, you scroll across to the right for more screens for the more items you have.)

That's not my Mii at the top-left, I stole this picture 

Miiverse

If there's two things that are the Wii U's USP, it's THAT gamepad and Miiverse. I'll get to the gamepad later, but the Miiverse is Wii U's inbuilt social network, kind of like Twitter (or, to a lesser extent, Facebook). You are allowed upto 100 friends (for now), can follow upto 1,000 people and can have as many followers as you can get. As with other social networks, your news feed shows the posts of your friends and people you are following; the difference on Miiverse is that every game has its own community and you make your posts to a community's feed rather than on your own page (though they do show up there) or use hashtags etc. This means that any posts you make will show up on the news feed of that game's community as well as that of your friends and followers.

There are some special communities as well, such as Year of Luigi and Legend of Zelda, which relate to those characters/series rather than just one specific game. Obviously, people use some of the communities for non-game related posts; the FIFA 13 community has turned into a general football community, the YouTube community seems to cater for anything and everything in popular culture, and some of the smaller communities for unpopular games get hijacked occasionally by people using the community's emptiness and lack of action as a chance to just post with friends and other random people about whatever they want.

The Miiverse itself is separated into 3 geographical boundaries: Asia, Europe and Oceania, Americas. As a default, I get the community for my area (though I can go on the Americas or Asia communities if I want), and can filter posts within a community further by language or by showing posts only by people who've played the game on their system (posts have a tickbox on them to show if they have played/used a game/feature on their Wii U); this helps sort out some of the occasional trolls on there because everyone can see they've not actually played a game that they are criticising. Posts are limited to 100 characters when typing, though you can comment on your post to expand further and you can also draw on the gamepad's screen and post pictures (or writing) you've done on there.

Perhaps the best feature of Miiverse is the ability to post pictures directly from games; while playing a game, simply press the "Home" button, enter the Miiverse and it allows you to post a screen grab of either what's on your main screen or gamepad screen at the time. This is a pretty cool feature, especially if you find something especially interesting/glitchy or, if you're stuck at a particular point in a game, you can post the picture on Miiverse and ask for help.

The Miiverse, in case it's not abundantly clear, is absolutely brilliant, and will perhaps turn out to be the greatest feature or innovation of the "next generation" of consoles. The Wii U's ability to let you enter it without closing down the game you're playing makes it even better, meaning you can post screen grabs as I've said, or dip in and out without having to load up/out of your game in full every time. Being able to see other people's thoughts or approaches to games, in a much friendlier way that you will ever get in other online message boards is a lot of fun, and being able to get involved in discussions on elements of games is such a simple and genius idea you have to wonder why none of the console companies thought of doing this before.

Nintendo eShop

The eShop's layout is pretty simple, newer releases at the top, features for indie games, sections for "sports", "online" games etc. That said, there aren't too many games available just yet so it's probably pretty easy to set out. The one problem I've had so far with the eShop is the sluggish download times: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate took about 6 hours to download; it initially said 4.5 hours, though I did slow it down by going on Miiverse and the web browser while it was downloading. Considering I have 300mbps broadband and MH3U is 6.2GB in size, that is pretty slow, even at 4.5 hours. That said, you can make downloads happen in the background while you play games or do other stuff, which takes longer but is less boring. As I write this, the Virtual Console is not yet properly available, but this is due in the next few days starting with about 8-10 games.

TVii

This feature isn't available yet in Europe so I can't really comment, but from what I've read online, it seems especially good for sporting events. It seems to be a feature which adds a kind of Twitter (Miiverse?) feed to the programmes/networks supported, and has extra information (such as formations, tactics etc for sporting teams) on the gamepad while you watch the programme.

Web Browser

The Wii U's web browser is actually pretty damn good, it's super quick and allows tabs (which the Wii's didn't) so you can have several pages open at once. It doesn't play flash videos (don't really know what that means, though this is to stop people playing flash-based games apparently) but YouTube works great on it, as does Tumblr, Twitter and pretty much everything else I've tried. Even Blogger works fine on it, though editing text (i.e. justifying, adding links etc) seems to be a problem as the text box you type in opens up as a separate box rather than being edited on the main web page if that makes sense. I have a laptop for doing this though so I'm not that bothered.

Wii Mode

What's that? You've still got your old Wii games? Or there's some Wii games you'd like to play but never had a Wii? Well, don't worry, the Wii U's Wii Mode replicates almost exactly the Wii (some features like the BBC iPlayer and web browser aren't on there), including the Wii's excellent Wii Shop where you can get classics such as Super Mario World. The only drawback is that you'll need a Wii remote/nunchuck etc to use it, which won't be a problem if you have a Wii (I have 2), but if you don't have a Wii, you will need to buy these, though they can be picked up second hand in game shops for less than a tenner second hand. Two consoles for the price of one!

Wii U Chat

I've not used this feature but one of my Wii U "friends" messaged me to say they tried to get me on here and I should check my "missed calls". I didn't do that. This is just Skype for Wii U.

Wii Street U (Google)

This is basically just Google Street View. It's pretty cool, you can zoom down to the road outside your house and look around! You could stand in that same place in real life too and actually do it for real, but it's not the same.

Others

Lovefilm, Netflix and YouTube channels came installed on the console. I deleted Lovefilm and Netflix as I have no desire to use them (I can always download them again later if I change my mind) and have found that YouTube runs a lot better via the web browser than on its own channel, much like it did on the Wii. I should probably delete that too. There is also UPlay, a Ubisoft app that gives you points for in-game achievements (for Ubisoft games only) which you can trade in for items such as extra in-game outfits etc. It's ok.

Wii U

I haven't written about the fact that I got a Wii U at the end of last year (I was too embroiled in my Britpop retrospective at the time to mention it), and it has pretty much overtaken my life ever since. I haven't been an early adopter of a console since the SNES (which I got on week of release, having got a paper round months in advance purely to save up money to buy one), normally choosing to wait a good year or more before diving into a major purchase, often waiting for the first update (like with the 3DS: I waited for the 3DS XL to come out before getting one) or until the prices of (second hand) games has started to come down for the system.

I got the 32GB ZombiU edition, which comes with the aforementioned game ZombiU, THAT gamepad, a pro controller, a Nintendo Network premium account (which effectively means that you get a £5 credit for every £50 you spend on downloads in the Wii U eShop), and a couple of different stands/cradles for THAT gamepad. This package cost £350 when I bought it, though the price of the various packages has come down a bit since then. I also got Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Batman: Arkham City (Armoured Edition) at the same time for an additional £75.

When I got my Wii U, I was aware that there was a large system update already required. This meant that after I had set up a Nintendo Network profile (and later linked my Club Nintendo account to it), designed a Mii and connected to the internet, I had to download the update, which took a good hour or so. This might have been more annoying than it was had I not recently got New Super Mario Bros 2 on 3DS, which I played while the update downloaded. Still, an hour is quite a while to wait when I wanted to get straight down to playing my shiny new Nintendo system, especially when I have 300mbps broadband.

As mentioned, I got the 32GB (as opposed to the 8GB) version of the Wii U, like the majority of people. If you go online, of course, a lot of PS3/Xbox fanboys mock this as being ridiculously small; personally, I aren't that bothered, it makes the console cheaper (the forthcoming PS4 is rumoured to have a £400 launch price, much in excess of the Wii U) and I think/hope this will be enough for me; Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate aside, the only games I plan on downloading are retro Virtual Console games which don't take up that much space. In terms of DLC, I’ll probably only bother if it's cheap and doesn't take up much space anyway or if it's for the essential "AAA" games, i.e. Mario, Zelda etc. I personally find a lot of DLC to be fairly uninteresting-sounding and a bit of a rip-off. That said, you can get a 1TB hard drive on Amazon for just over £50 making it a not too expensive option to expand, and the good thing about Nintendo is that they allow you to use ANY external HD you want, rather than an over-priced "official" product *cough* Sony *cough*. A 250GB HD for PS3 is £65 on Amazon, the same price as a 2TB HD you can use on Wii U; a (Wii U compatible) 250GB HD would cost just £30.

Chop Their Hands Off

Someone at work stole my mug that says "hot stuff" on it and I'm pretty pissed off about it. Its matching "cutey" mug is safe though.

I still have the coaster.

This all comes after my Audrey Hepburn mug got stolen last Christmas. I'm pretty sure that someone is out to get me, starting off by stealing my mugs at a rate of one every four months. It's a crazy plan, but so crazy that it might just work.

Happy Birthday

Happy 7th birthday to my dog, Lily, for yesterday (21 April).

She's a big fan of my blog and will almost definitely see this.

Sign Of The Times

Are we pre-disposed to take some musical genres or instruments more seriously? I only ask because I recently got "Sign O' The Times" by Prince. The title track is a serious song about the destructive influences of drugs and guns on communities. I find it quite hard to take it completely seriously though as it is a slightly chirpy-sounding synth pop song.

Questions I Asked People Today

Can you show me your angry face?

If you were the last human left alive, would you bother milking cows?

Who's your favourite League of Gentleman?

Do you think you could work as a jizz-mopper?

Can goths have beards?