Nintendo Reveals Wii U's Miiverse Social Network

chrb writes "Nintendo has announced that its new Wii U console will feature a social network called the Miiverse in which users can video chat, see what others are playing, share game content and swap tips." And with a nod to Zawinski's Law, "The redesigned Wii U GamePad features dual sticks, a touch screen that supports finger and stylus interaction, motion and gyroscope sensors, and the ability to act as a TV remote. The Wii U GamePad has its own dedicated Web browser and can share images and video to a TV so that everyone can enjoy the shared content."

Irrelevant

[MogNuts]

I'm gonna start this thread with some good 'ol flamebaiting. Well kinda.

I think Nintendo lost their relevance. They owned casual with the Wii. They failed to realize casual gamers are just that: casual. They have no allegiance. Words with friends on their iPhone is good enough now. Or Cut the Rope. They don't feel the need to buy a second box when their smartphone is good enough and games cost $1 or free.

People have moved on. Adding more gyroscopes or screens wont' help.

But that's an observation. But I have my bias. I moved on from Nintendo after I played Mario Kart 96 and Zelda 47.

Off-label uses?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Wii U GamePad has its own dedicated Web browser and can share images and video to a TV so that everyone can enjoy the shared content.

Sounds like a good resource for getting First Goatse [flickr.com] photos. You could do it with your whole family!

Well, there goes that

[slashmydots]

The Wii was all family friendly and then late horrific rated M games like House of the Head Overkill where every third word was a swear word. That shocked everyone but it was to attract hardcore gamers. Who are they trying to attract with video chat? People banned from chat roulette? I'm sure the creators of that were thinking "oh boy, people will connect and learn about other cultures and there might be a weirdo or two but otherwise it'll basically be 99% Starbucks customers. WRONG! Freaks and pervs aren't outside in public being social, they're inside on their PC and Wii so I'm sure the video chat will be shut down. The only question is, before or after the class action law suit by parents?

Nonsense

[medv4380]

The Wii U will be as relevant as the Wii, which was as Relevant as the Game Cube, and the N64 before it. It won't be as relevant as the SNES and NES. Nintendo has been playing this game for a while now and every time people like you come out and claim they are dead and no longer relevant. The 360 and PS3 haven't sold as many units and Nintendo was able to make actual profit off of their system right at launch.

It's questionable if MS and Sony have really come out ahead of this or not given the systems cost. The only real reason why MS and Sony aren't releasing a new system this year is that they still haven't made up for all the losses they incurred from the last round.

If Nintendo ever fixes its issue with 3rd party developers then Sony and MS will have to worry since that is the only thing making their system relevant enough to stay in the market. Their 1st party development is lack luster and Nintendo can practically print money without the aid of 3rd parties.

They have only had ONE year with an operational loss. Look at what's happened in Japan in the last year tsunami/nuclear disaster, Every major industry in Japan has been in the red.

To add to your flaimbait. You have to be retarded and ignorant of the history to make the claim that Nintendo will be irrelevant. They've ether been irrelevant for the last 20 year or they haven't been and probably won't be.

I think it is more than that

[Sycraft-fu]

One of the reasons the Wii sold was a gimmick. People were interested in the "wave the stick" around method of control. They bought it because it seemed cool, and wasn't too expensive. However that was a gimmick over all. Notice there's been no massive rush to a similar system the world over. That is because it really isn't that great. For a few games you find it is a superior method for control, but for the more part it is just different. Instead of pressing a button to do X, you make a certain motion. Ok, fine, whatever. Nothing revolutionary though.

Also like most gimmicks, it fades with time. The novelty wears off and it actually can become rather annoying. Like in Zelda it was a real pain to have to keep doing that sweep motion to do a spin attack rather than just press a "spin attack" button. That aside once the novelty wears off you are left with a below average console. It doesn't support HDTVs, it doesn't have full surround support (just Pro Logic), the graphics are pretty low level.

As such in the long run it has been sputtering out a bit. Ok fine again no big deal. Nintendo made a lot of money on it and that's really all they need to do. It was a success... However it really isn't a success to try and emulate.

Well that's what they are trying to do. Rather than make a solid console and market that, they are again going for a gimmick, this time with the whole silly "tablets as controllers" thing. I just don't see it working. For one, it is rare for the love of a gimmick to strike a second time around since it is as much luck with what consumers happen to be interested in as anything. Then there's the fact that tablets aren't novel to consumers. They are all over the damn place.

Motion control was novel. Most people had never seen anything like the Wiimote. It wasn't new actually, Gyration made mice that were motion control mice for a long time (no need for an optical sensor either). However it was new to the public. So that made the gimmick more interesting. They'd never seen it and wanted to play with it.

Tablets though, well just look at Apple's balance sheet, that'll tell you all you need to know about how many consumers have encountered tablets. It isn't something that'll make them say "Oh I need to try that!" since most of them have already tried it (and may indeed own a tablet).

I think the Wii U is going to flop on account of that. It's hoping for success on a gimmick, like the Wii had, and I don't think that'll work twice around.

Re:Irrelevant

[Belial6]

No, it is just people getting old. When I got Nexus one, I handed my MyTouch down to my 6 year. The sales people at T-Mobile were a bit shocked that a 6 year old had a smartphone. The HTC rep was in the store, and was fascinated at our existence. It was a completely new concept to him that a 6 year old would have one of their phones.

The think was, the phone, even if purchased that day brand new, had a lower dollar value than a Nintendo DS with a dozen games. Yet no one would bat an eye over a 6 year old having that. $1000 is an expensive gift for a 6 year old, but for families that can afford it, it isn't out of line for what would be spent if there was no iPad.