Nintendo Land and why I feel Nintendo has lost me

[Yogurtmaster]

I know Nintendo Land is packed with the Wii U console and I don't have a Wii U but I have been looking at video's on YouTube to see what it's all about.

I also have looked at a few other games and I realize that I just don't really care for Nintendo and here is why (not that anyone cares, but I thought it would make for a good discussion).

Movie studios like Pixar have been successful in making movies that appeal to both adults and children.

Nintendo hasn't done this with their game-play and that is one reason I am not into them anymore.

I owned a Nintendo 64 awhile ago and I loved me some Super Mario 64. It was innovative at the time and the game-play was new.

The Wii had a lot of potential, but most of it was wasted by Nintendo and third parties.

What I have discovered with Nintendo is that they have games on the Wii U that are interesting for a few seconds and that is all.

The New Super Mario for Wii U has old boring game-play from the early 1990's just with better graphics and so does the Nintendo Land games, they are just very simple games which have better graphics, but have extremely boring game-play. Yes, I know Nintendo Land is a party game, but my issue still stands.

In my opinion, Nintendo has upped the graphics since the 1990's of course, but offer the same old tired game-play from the 1990's, they are not pushing out anything new. The Wii U itself is just a glorified DS that uses the TV as the other screen. We have a whole world full of tablets, why would you want to use one that is more limited in battery power and more limited in where you can take it?

Nintendo used to be the champion of new and Interesting game-play, but they are falling back into old patterns from the 1990's and if I wanted to play those same games, I would play an SNES.

Now, I know there are a ton of fans on here that will defend Nintendo, but don't you feel like most of their games are just using the same formula with newer graphics and they are not pushing game-play like they used to do?

Maybe I am getting old, but Nintendo just seems to be the same game-play and I want something that pushes out interesting, fun, and new game-play that is fresh and I haven't really seen that much of anything (besides Wonderful 101) fresh from Nintendo when it comes to games.

The only game for the Wii U which even looks interesting is Wonderful 101 and that offers a little new game-play, but that is the only title that I have found that is even remotely interesting and that should have probably been included with the system instead of the Nintendo Land mini-games.

Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me?

[Slammers]

If you loved Mario 64 you should play Mario Galaxy 2. That has more gameplay innovation in each level than most games do entirely. I understand what your saying about New Super Mario Bros Wii U - it doesn't have much new but many people will agree that the gameplay is excellent and it's a great game regardless. It's also very challenging and certainly for both "adults and children",

For me the gameplay on most first party Nintendo games, while not necessarily presenting much new, is still incredibly fun and worth the price of admission.

For a free game that comes with the console Nintendoland is pretty damn good. It's got a ton of depth, unlockables and secrets. It's also got some of the most fun local multiplayer you can have. It's no Wii Sports that's for sure, it's x1000 times better.

I agree Nintendo has certainly degraded n quality since the golden days keep in the mind the Wii U has been out for a month. Nintendo has only released a couple of games for it. Pikmin 3 next year looks to be very innovative and will have a control scheme never done before on a console. I don't think you should write off the Wii U as having games that are fun for a few seconds without even trying them.

[123456789A]

Wait, are you saying the new Mario game is like Super Mario World? I might have to check it out.

[Dotdot]

Have you actually played any of these games or even a Wii-U? Im not defending Ninty as in a few ways i can relate to what your saying, nor have I played a Wii-U myself.

But as stated above your being a bit quick to judge and rule out stuff, videos are not evocative of the final game or the gameplay experience. The Wii has some amazing games. Galaxys and 2 are just OMG so so so so soooooo good, and easily hold candles to SM64.

Also saying they havent done anything to change gameplay is total tosh, Wii Nun-Chuck, Wii-U pad? Id say they change and add a good element to gameplay. Hell the Wii-U even brought us a new type of gameplay in that only 1 person has the tablet and 3 others have controllers, go look at the Metroid demo game they showed with this, totally new type of gameplay and experience.

[Blackhearted]

We've had nearly a whole console cycle of sequels, rehashes, and remakes and the only place you can point to about things being samey is nintendo? Really? You can't be serious.

[MightyJordan]

Maybe I am getting old, but Nintendo just seems to be the same game-play and I want something that pushes out interesting, fun, and new game-play that is fresh and I haven't really seen that much of anything (besides Wonderful 101) fresh from Nintendo when it comes to games.

Welcome to the Nintendo way. Actually, that's a bit wrong. The Nintendo way is seemingly neverending game series (how many Mario games have there been now?). I'm not a big Nintendo fan (the only Nintendo console I've ever owned is the Wii, and that holds the accolade of being the only console I've ever sold), but they do at least make good use of the console's gimmicks each time. The problem is that usually they're the only developer to do this. As we've seen from the Wii, the third-party market is pretty mixed. You've got the odd star game that can stand alongside Nintendo's creations, but it's mostly shovelware that either doesn't bother to make use of the gimmicks, or does it so badly that you wish they just didn't bother (one example that springs straight to mind is the PDC World Championship darts game; that was practically unplayable).

Personally, I've not got high hopes for the Wii U. Third-party developers seem to be a bit reluctant to jump aboard (except for Ubisoft), and the overall experience doesn't really scream "next generation". The graphics are on par with the Xbox 360 & PS3 (which are seven and six years old, respectively), there's no wow factor in terms of gameplay (yes, there's the touchscreen in the gamepad, but nowadays, it can easily be implemented by the others using tablets and smartphones; in fact, Microsoft's already doing that with Xbox SmartGlass), and there's a lot of loading going on...

[Teebor]

Two Words

Colonial Marines

If you don't know what thats about I suggest you seriously check it out for WiiU in videos. That game makes owning a WiiU worth it alone

[HawkMan]

Two Words

Colonial Marines

If you don't know what thats about I suggest you seriously check it out for WiiU in videos. That game makes owning a WiiU worth it alone

If you're talking about what I think you are, even though I'll probably have a WiiU soon ish, I'll rather play it on my Xbox where the game doesn't force me to be outside the gameworld to play the game for no good reason other than offering a gimmick that works better when it's implemented on screen.

As for the New Super Mario games. while the op thinks they make Nintendo stay in the 90's. they made the new super Mario games because older people like me, think the "new" Super Mario games are horrible and that 3D has no place in Mario and has ruined the games, and the NSMB games have revitalized the Mario brand and brought back what made Mario awesome and fun. So while it's your opinion that no "old" gamers play them, they are in fact the main target group and the people who play them the most.

[Lord Method Man]

We've had nearly a whole console cycle of sequels, rehashes, and remakes and the only place you can point to about things being samey is nintendo? Really? You can't be serious.

Yeah, I laugh pretty hard at this. Immature "hardcore" gamers bash Nintendo for releasing the same thing over and over right before they go out to start camping in front of Gamestop to buy Call of Madden: Grand Theft Turismo every 3 months.

[Xilo]

Call of Madden: Grand Theft Turismo

At least try to make a convincing title. Gran Turismo has only had 5 numbered instalments dating back to the original PlayStation. Grand Theft Auto has had more but no where near as bad as the other games... :/

[neufuse Veteran]

"New Super Mario for Wii U has old boring game-play from the early 1990's" really? you know there is a reason Nintendo brought back the side scroller... because us retro gamers LOVE side scrolling.... SMW is still the best game to me... Super Mario Wii was a nice revival of the side scroller... not everything has to be 3D Mario 64 was great, but mario is great as a side scroller also..

it's not boring old game play, its fun for people that grew up with that kind of game, we still game you know

Personally, I've not got high hopes for the Wii U. Third-party developers seem to be a bit reluctant to jump aboard (except for Ubisoft), and the overall experience doesn't really scream "next generation".

define next generation? to me any big change is next generation, and nintendo pushed it with the game pad, higher graphics doesn't necessarily mean next generation... new ideas and new execution of them is next generation

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

Nintendo Land (I have Wii U) is just a bunch of mini-games designed to show off all the different ways you can interact with the game pad in different ways. Essentially to show off to developers how you can use the game pad in ways people may not of thought of and demo multiple player / Mii interaction.

[jerzdawg]

So your whole rant is based off of watching Youtube videos? Got it.

I can only comment on Mario Bros as thats the game I have had the most playtime with. In short, the game is great. Map style is very similar to Super Mario World (multiple paths, secret exits, etc). Yoshi returns in limited amounts but also a few baby yoshi's.

As far as the controller, feel free to read Larry's write up of Zombie U which makes great usage of the gamepad.

Nintendoland... only checked out a few games but already loved the balloon flight game

Ill agree that the Wii U is not for everyone and would say that it should not be your primary console, that being said someone like me who has limited "gaming" time has found myself playing Mario way more than my xbox or ps3 combined. Looking forward to Rayman this spring!

[WolfieZero]

I must say, I got a Wii U after trying a few demos at shows and I really like it. Often people say it's rehashed stuff and boring/predictable, but isn't this a good thing what they are repeating is good.

I can understand the want for something new, but at the same time, there is a safety net of sticking in a particular formula that works. Look how much chairs have change in their basic design over the years we had them and they aren't good for you (some would argue).

Nintendo have mixed up the gameplay to provide something a little different but still kept the core game at it's heart. Plus, this whole notion of "hardcore gamers" is completely out of whack normally associating itself with those who play games such as COD - lets be honest, it's a casual game that you can pick up for 15 minutes and put down again without any real commitment.

I play games from alsorts of geners, one of my favorites being JRPGs, and the more bat crazy they are in complexity the better, but I absolutely love playing games where I can sit down with my nieces and nephews, older family members and wife and they can beat me without a handicap. Nintendo games are the only games that typically match that appeal, that ability for anybody to drop into a game and know how to play without having to sit through 2 hours of training or what have you.

So, before committing to this idea you have of Nintendo's Wii U without trying one in-depth; have a play of the games, play with some family and then make a judgement on that as apposed to footage, because at the end of the day, the most important factor in video games is the gameplay, otherwise it's just video.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Two Words

Colonial Marines

If you don't know what thats about I suggest you seriously check it out for WiiU in videos. That game makes owning a WiiU worth it alone

No, it really doesn't. It's great that they're making use of the WiiU's controller to implement the motion sensor but having to keep looking away from the game screen doesn't increase immersion - it diminishes it. And playing first person shooters on console simply doesn't come close to the experience on PC, where you have dramatically better graphics and a better control system.

The Wii's controller was genuinely innovative. The WiiU's simply isn't on that scale and the way a lot of developers are choosing to use it looks more irritating than enjoyable. But the biggest issue is that the hardware is chronically dated out of the door - the X360 and PS3 are already really showing their age and yet Nintendo has chosen to release the WiiU based on the same tech, with games again only running at 720p. The WiiU is a budget console for casual gaming than just happens to have been released a year before Microsoft releases its next-gen console.

[~Johnny]

Nintendoland is a barely more than a collection of tech demos, it's not meant to be blowing your mind, nor an essential purchase. If you wish to see a collection of great gameplay ideas from Nintendo's finest, go play Super Mario Galaxy 2. It's like the epotimine of "fun" - not all games have to be fun these days per s? (whether it's story or spectacle or whatnot), but Nintendo mastered it there. And in fact, they seem to focus more on pure gameplay than sheer spectacle and story than most other gaming studios. Most of their games are about games just being games, if that makes sense. Not interactive movies or whatnot.

And in reference to the guy above, little about the Wii U screams casual gaming. Not in it's advertising nor it's overall gaming portfolio - at most there's a focus on social gaming. But at the moment, that vast majority of it's games are aimed at gamers.

[HawkMan]

And in reference to the guy above, little about the Wii U screams casual gaming. Not in it's advertising nor it's overall gaming portfolio - at most there's a focus on social gaming. But at the moment, that vast majority of it's games are aimed at gamers.

Unfortunately all the non social/casual wii games are or would be better on a different console or without the pad.

This might change, or it might not, and maybe it shouldn't. I don't think the Wii needs to compete with Sony and MS for the core gamers.

[n_K]

I looked at new super mario bros. wii and it looked awful, absolutely nothing like SMW.

Which is why I'm glad I've got a SNES, a flashcart and loads of SMW hacks :D

[theyarecomingforyou]

And in reference to the guy above, little about the Wii U screams casual gaming. Not in it's advertising nor it's overall gaming portfolio - at most there's a focus on social gaming. But at the moment, that vast majority of it's games are aimed at gamers.

There was a list that compared all the games coming out in 2013 and what platform they were coming out on and the WiiU had barely any of the AAA games that the PC, X360 and PS3 have. And before too long developers will have moved onto the next gen of consoles, which won't be able to be ported to the WiiU because it's not powerful enough. It's going to struggle to get anywhere unless Nintendo can convince publishers that the WiiU is a serious platform. I can't imagine it helps that the WiiU has the smallest storage space of all current consoles, as that basically kills of digital distribution as a viable for the platform (aside from very basic arcade-style games).

Nintendo should have had some really strong, non-casual exclusive launch titles. Unfortunately the vast majority of titles were multiplatform titles available elsewhere. There's not much point buying an expensive new system just to play the same games you could have bought for your existing console.

[Alley Cat]

The Nintendo 64 was a good system, but it had bottle necks, it could have alot better.

I think the Gamebox faired well, and I understand the Wii's weak specs. If I was in charge of Nintendo, I would release the Wii U with slightly better specs, AND it give it an upgrade path, like a 2nd APU connector, to be released about 2 years from now, that way the 2nd generation of Wii U games has double the CPU and GPU power, adding some RAM too.

Kind of like the 8MB upgrade of the N64, and the upgrade path Sega had planned for the Genesis/Megadrive, but never put into action.

Also, the Wii and Wii U needs WAY BETTER 3rd party support. I have one of the "Driver" games, the controls make the game unplayable. And I not even done with the tuteriol yet.

Sadly, Both Sony and Nintendo is slipping into oblivion. Xbox 360 is too resticted, if 360 ran a version of Windows, I would buy it. IF I can plug keyboard and mouse and ran any software. I am excited about the OUYA gaming console, and the possibily of a STEAM console.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I looked at new super mario bros. wii and it looked awful, absolutely nothing like SMW.

Which is why I'm glad I've got a SNES, a flashcart and loads of SMW hacks :D

you were looking at the wrong game then :p there's a big difference between Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Bros. U

[Yogurtmaster]

We've had nearly a whole console cycle of sequels, rehashes, and remakes and the only place you can point to about things being samey is nintendo? Really? You can't be serious.

I can be serious because Nintendo used to be King in game-play and now that game-play is just more of the same from the 1990's. They haven't furthered game-play in a long time. Sure the Wii came out with the new way to play, but even then the games became samey. The game-play wasn't really enhanced. It was just 1990's style game-play with 2006 motion controls.

This is why I think Wii was popular at first because of the new style of game-play but then it collapsed because the game-play was all the same and it was somewhat limited. That crowd them moved to iOS and Android games.

Nintendo adds new ways to play games, but the game-play itself is stale and from the 1990's. Nintendo used to be King of game-play above everyone else. I have to say that it is disappointing.

[johnnyq3]

The Wii's controller was genuinely innovative. The WiiU's simply isn't on that scale and the way a lot of developers are choosing to use it looks more irritating than enjoyable. But the biggest issue is that the hardware is chronically dated out of the door - the X360 and PS3 are already really showing their age and yet Nintendo has chosen to release the WiiU based on the same tech, with games again only running at 720p. The WiiU is a budget console for casual gaming than just happens to have been released a year before Microsoft releases its next-gen console.

First off the WiiU from what people have been able to find out is running last year's GPU, and second off there is a short list of games that can run at 720p natively, ie: Halo 4, and a few other games. It has 2GB(1GB for games and 1GB for the System OS, which is probably also where the Pad's stuff is handled) of RAM where as the Xbox 360 has 512MB total, and the PS3 has 512MB (256 split). Now I'm not saying that will be on par with the next generation, but it is a good step for developers that are making games for it. It has a lot of power considering the price, I personally wish it had a bit more but then again Nintendo wanted to make the system affordable and profitable, which is something that Nintendo has only really done right out the door.

[spaceelf]

First off the WiiU from what people have been able to find out is running last year's GPU, and second off there is a short list of games that can run at 720p natively, ie: Halo 4, and a few other games. It has 2GB(1GB for games and 1GB for the System OS, which is probably also where the Pad's stuff is handled) of RAM where as the Xbox 360 has 512MB total, and the PS3 has 512MB (256 split). Now I'm not saying that will be on par with the next generation, but it is a good step for developers that are making games for it. It has a lot of power considering the price, I personally wish it had a bit more but then again Nintendo wanted to make the system affordable and profitable, which is something that Nintendo has only really done right out the door.

Reportedly weaker CPU than the 360. Half of that 2GB is reserved for the OS at this point. The extra graphics power is likely abused when driving two screens.

I wanted the Wii U but everything I've heard about it sounds like a giant cluster****, so I'm passing.

[Yogurtmaster]

Have you actually played any of these games or even a Wii-U? Im not defending Ninty as in a few ways i can relate to what your saying, nor have I played a Wii-U myself.

But as stated above your being a bit quick to judge and rule out stuff, videos are not evocative of the final game or the gameplay experience. The Wii has some amazing games. Galaxys and 2 are just OMG so so so so soooooo good, and easily hold candles to SM64.

Also saying they havent done anything to change gameplay is total tosh, Wii Nun-Chuck, Wii-U pad? Id say they change and add a good element to gameplay. Hell the Wii-U even brought us a new type of gameplay in that only 1 person has the tablet and 3 others have controllers, go look at the Metroid demo game they showed with this, totally new type of gameplay and experience.

Nintendo has changed the way you play the games with a different controller, but the game-play itself is old and outdated.

Example of this: The Wii for example used motion controls, but it didn't use it in a way that was really interesting, they used a lot of pointer controls which light gun games had back in the 1980's and the game-play was just the same (House of the Dead for example). The game-play in the way the game is played hasn't really changed that much if at all. It's still the same games that we had in the late 80's and early 90's just with new controllers.

New controllers are fine, but I need to see game-play that has evolved and deepened. I don't mean the game has to be violent, it should be more like Pixar quality in that the game-play is fun for kids and adults and Nintendo just doesn't do that for me.

They take kids games with kid game-play from the 1990's and combine it with new controllers and call it a game. That is not what I want, I want something more interesting than that. I want a deeper (it doesn't have to be violent) experience in game-play itself.

Pixar != Kids movies (Adults and kids can both enjoy them)

Nintendo = Kids games (Adults get bored in minutes, Kids can play for a little bit and get bored by the repetitive game-play)

Nintendo hasn't really changed that much, they offer new gadgets now for controllers, but they don't improve the game-play or experience from something more than what I played in the 1990's.

So, I am saddened because I used to love Nintendo, but they have really lost their edge in game-play.