We love the Wii... U?

At the Nintendo World store in Manhattan, a line of hundreds of people that stretches over three blocks are waiting for the newest addition to the Nintendo product line; Wii U. Nintendo holds an array of our favorite games and beloved characters such as the Mario Brothers, Samus from Metroid, and Link from the Legend of Zelda. One avid gamer, known only by the name of "Triforce" is said to have been waiting in line for the release since October 23rd, nearly a month from the November 18th release date. However, many reviewers are delivering discouraging comments regarding the new gaming system.

The internal components of the new Wii U rival that of its preceding Xbox 360 and PS3.The Wii U's processor runs an IBM Power PC-Based Multicore. A 25 GB hard drive capacity, a multichip module that allows the graphics card and CPU to run together on the same piece. It consumes .22 watts of power when running on standby and 33 watts during game use. The entire case is smaller than both the PS3 and 360's design. Nintendo had multiple third party sources contribute work on the motherboard such as Samsung, Panasonic, and Micron.

The brand new gaming system has some noteworthy pros to take a look at. Just like the 360 and PS3, the Wii U has movie streaming capabilities from companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, but with slightly increased capabilities. It has the ability to access TiVo and the Internet Movie Database as well. Fifty games were released on the same day allowing for a multitude of gamers to have their fill. The deluxe version for $350.00 is a much better option than the lower grade $300.00 with the additional components, free game, and warranty. This also puts the new system within direct competition with Sony and Microsoft for the holiday season. The Wii U is also backwards compatible with the old Wii games and controllers. The new Wii U controller is the most impressive aspect of the Wii U. A 6.2 Inch LCD gamepad equipped with a microphone, camera, and motion sensors makes it the first mainstream console to use a touch screen.


After waiting almost seven hours in line the new Wii U gamers have become pretty impressed with the systems software, but unfortunately there have been some “iffy internet capabilities”. Although the image is close to perfect, the Wii U only comes with a single gamepad which you cannot buy separately. Initially Nintendo had intended to help families by using the original Wiimotes, the game controllers, but it seems that by doing this Nintendo is “taking a step back” in gaming. Along with these imperfections, the Wii U has a slow start-up when turning the console on and when switching from menu to applications there can be lengthy delays. Reviewers believe that one of the bigger problems facing the Wii U is that unlike Microsoft’s X-box, and Sony’s Playstation 3, the Wii U is not compatible with all forms and types of media. Unlike these other types of gaming systems Wii U does not support DVD and Blu Ray playback. In terms of operating hardware the Wii U is also at a slight disadvantage. Even though the Wii U is on par with the X-box and Playstation when Microsoft and Sony unveil their next generation systems they could put the Wii U behind in terms of technology utilized. Bundle that with Nintendo already delaying releasing of apps such as TVii it begs the question; is it worth it?

Cited:

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