Famitsu reviews

E.X. Troopers (PS3, Capcom): 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 - (36/40)

E.X. Troopers (3DS, Capcom): 9 / 9 / 8 / 8 - (34/40)

Need For Speed Most Wanted (PS Vita, EA): 8 / 8 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)

Need For Speed Most Wanted (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 - (36/40)

Pika Pika Nurse Monogatari 2 (3DS, Nippon Columbia): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)

Ouchi Mainichi Tamagotchi (3DS, Bandai Namco): 7 / 8 / 7 / 6 - (28/40)

Dangerous Ji-San to 1000-nin no Otomodachi Yokoshima (3DS, Bandai Namco): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)

Pokemon no Fushigi no Dungeon: Magnagate to Mugendai no Meikyuu (3DS, Nintendo): 10 / 10 / 9 / 9 - (38/40)

Taiheiyou no Arashi: Senkan Yamato, Akatsuki ni Shutsugekisu (PS3, Systemsoft): 6 / 5 / 6 / 5 - (22/40)

Minna no Golf 6 (PS3, Sony): 9 / 9 / 8 / 9 - (35/40)

Call of Duty Black Ops II (PS3/Xbox 360, Square Enix): 9 / 9 / 10 / 9 - (37/40)

Doom 3 BFG Edition (PS3/Xbox 360, Bethesda): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (28/40)

Nintendo Direct mini summary: USB storage info, future update for VC play on GamePad, more :




Today’s out-of-the-blue Nintendo Direct was light on footage and heavy on information. I imagine most of you don’t speak Japanese, but the folks on NeoGAF have fortunately come through with a translation.




Read on below for details on Wii U’s handling of USB devices (2TB max, formatting the drive, two drives in the future with an update), backwards compatibility (future update to allow Wii U VC games to be playable on the GamePad), and more.




Parental Controls




- Nintendo realizes that some parents may fear that their children may use the Wii U’s internet functionality without permission. Wii U has Parental Controls.



- Can restrict content based on user age, CERO (Japan ESRB) rating, internet functionality, internet browser, e-Shop spending, Miiverse functionality, friend registrations, videos, data management, internet settings



- Wii U keyboard input can save user input habits and predictive input in a specific database that depends on the game and user. Wii U does not save input data that you don’t want other users to know into the database.



- Miiverse settings can be turned on/off depending on the save profiles per game.




USB Data Storage




- 8GB = 7.2GB, 32GB = 29GB in terms of actual save data. Wii U uses around 4.2GB when using the system for the first time.



- NSMBU is ~2GB, Nintendo Land is ~3.2GB. So, both won’t fit into the Basic set at the same time.



- Wii U lets you put data onto a connected USB media drive.



- One USB drive at a time only.



- Cannot disconnect the external drive while plugged into the Wii U and receiving power.
- You can use general drives.



- In terms of powering the HDD while connecting to the Wii U, if you do not use a Y Cable Type drive (2 USB cables), then Nintendo cannot guarantee it will work properly.



- Nintendo can guarantee functionality if the HDD plugs into a power outlet.



- No games on USB Flash Memory due to games not running properly all the time (whatever this means…)
- Wii U will read up to 2TB only for external hard drives
- In Data Management, you must format the connected media drive. Note that this means you cannot use the drive with a PC.



- You can move data from internal Wii U storage to external USB media in Data Management and vice versa. Data on both internal and external media will appear in the menu.



- At launch, only 1 USB hard drive can be connected, but through a future update, more than 1 will be possible and you will be able to move data between them freely.



- SD Cards can hold PC data, Wii Virtual Console, Wii Ware, and Wii save data, but cannot be used to save Wii U game save data.




Backwards Compatibility

- Wii games, Virtual Console, Wii Ware stuff cannot be played using the GamePad screen, but only on the TV in Wii Mode



- Iwata: “We understand that there are people who were looking forward to playing Wii games, Virtual Console games, and so forth on the GamePad, but unfortunately we cannot accommodate those users’ expectations.”



- There are plans for a Wii U Virtual Console that WILL be compatible with the Wii U GamePad. Please look forward to it in the future.




Nintendo Network Premium




- For Premium Set buyers only



- Point service



- Make Nintendo Network ID, then login to find and user the service



- After logging in, you can see the points you have earned



- Buy with download card or download number



- Earn 10% back on purchases



- Earn back purchase points in ¥500 increments



- Points earned can be used with Wii U/3DS e-Shop, Wii Shopping Channel, DSi Shop

Uh.... this hard drive stuff is sounding bad. I don't want to format my drive so I can only use it on U. I need it for PC too.

You need a hard drive with two usbs for power or one with an external AC power supply.

Some single usb powered drives may work but nintendo cannot guarantee those will work

USB sticks will not work:

Might as well buy a cheap ass one for U. SD cards are only for Wii 1 stuff it seems. Stoopid.

EDIT:

A few more clarifications on the USB drive functionality, including a correction regarding USB flash drives:


- Nintendo cannot guarantee that small hard disks (bus-powered) that require more power than USB 2.0 can handle will work properly.

- Generally, hard disks that have Y-Cables (2 USB connectors) will work with the Wii U.

- Nintendo warns that for USB flash drives, even though the Wii U will detect and connect them as it would a hard disk, due to limitations on the number of times data is read from the disk and how this will eventually wear the USB flash drive down, Nintendo does NOT recommend leaving important save and other game data on a USB flash drive for long periods of time. How this plays out depends on the game, of course.

I don't even intend to download full games, an SDHC card would be perfect to me, but SD cards are only for Wii 1 VC/WiiWare and game saves etc.

Bloody pointless. My USB 2.0 drive would work but I don't want it for exclusive U use. Also because you can't just use SD cards and easily swap out between PC and console it wont be easy to transfer pics and stuff.

Polygon said:

Katsuhiro Harada isn't ignorant, but he once shared a feeling normally associated with critical, cynical gamers: that Nintendo just wanted casual games on its systems.


Unlike many, he didn't mean it as a punchline, but rather as a guide for how to shape his next game. "We still weren't sure what the Nintendo audience was going to be like," he says, referring to when his team started work on Wii U. "At first, we were aiming towards a simplified version of Tekken — taking a lot of elements from the arcade version and streamlining them for a casual fan base.


"Nintendo's reaction was that it wanted us to keep the hardcore elements that make Tekken what it is. We were quite surprised."

Polygons presentation and writing makes me want to read these articles from front to finish. It might be my favourite new site. It feels like I'm reading a magazine again.

Part of my new year's resolution for next year is going to be not buying games that I know I am never going to get around to playing for possibly years. If I don't plan on playing something as soon as I buy it, I'm NOT buying it. I am just so sick of having a giant backlog...literally for like 5 years now I have had an insane backlog that feels like I never make progress on it. It feels like paying off a credit card.

This will hopefully get me not only choosing more wisely which games to buy, but also allow me to get rid of this backlog. What also annoys me is that I've bought games that I am almost certain I will never have the desire to play, just because I liked the idea of it or it seemed quirky. So what good are these games? Its a waste of money.

Sometimes I miss how it was back in the PS1/N64 days, when I was either working part time or had to rely on parents to buy me something & I really HAD to only choose the best of the best. Not only were there a ton of truly revolutionary games back then, but by having a select bunch to choose from it made me appreciate them all that much more.

Edge, that's the way we should all game. Unless you are perpetually on the never-ending games industry new release train, there is no way to keep up. I don't want to be stuck on that train anymore.

I've been reading some more press impressions of Wii U. A couple of the journos are saying the U pad screen looks better than their TVs and they prefer playing games off screen. Also some are finding that the gamepad range is better than they thought and even works upstairs, others found that the structure of their pads cut the wireless range short.

edgecrusher said:

That really didn't bother me at all in Halo....in fact I don't think it even crossed my mind until I saw a few people talking about it on the Gamespot boards back in the day.

Honestly, a few of Nintendo's games annoyed me much more than Halo last gen, more to do with them sticking a very annoying fetch quest in every game than the actual backtracking. Wind Waker was very guilty there, but Metroid Prime 2 took the cake. I literally just started going by a walkthrough because I didn't want to deal with the fetch quest in Echoes. That to me is a much more aggravating way of lengthening a game than the way they did it in Halo. Is there anything fun about having to go search through areas you've already been trying to find a bunch of crap to open up the final boss or area? No.

I disliked WW's one but enjoyed MP2's. Metroid environments are so intricate and well designed, finding those items was like figuring out a puzzle.

WW and Mario Sunshine were rushed out and unfinished in that way too BTW - having shorter dev cycles than previous games. Mario Sunshine Blue coins? Spare me. WW had like 2 dungeons cut and I will criticise those games the same way I will criticise Halo 1's rush job.

Yeah have been tempted several times to cancel my preorder and all the games I have preordered, but I just can't seem to do it. I'm truly an addict. I was thinking I don't really want this, then thinking I do. I figure the worst that can happen is I won't like and be able to recoop the cost early on by selling it because of the high demand, and if I really like it I will keep. So really no good reason not to buy it .

Archangel3371 said:

I didn't see the Library level as a rush job or padding at all. You went in there to retrieve something, shit get's real, then you have to haul ass back out. It made sense to me from a story-telling perspective.

I've never understood the problem people have with the level.  There is a much worse one in Halo 2, dunno what it is called, I've only beaten H2 twice, but it is in a high ceiling purple space place and you have what seems like endless identical rooms interlinked and flying enemies.