My Nintendo Wii experience

So I've always been big into video games, I've played them as a kid, teen and adult. However at some point I kind of lost touch with the modern games. For example I was a die hard Nintendo fan, but was never interested in the GameCube. I got back into gaming when Halo was big on the Xbox, but only recently got a Xbox 360 to play the more recent games.

Instead of playing the modern games, I've just keep playing the classics on the retro systems.

Anyway, so today I saw a craigslist ad for a Nintendo Wii for $50 with 4 games and I said "why not". I've always wanted to play the New Super Mario Bros games on the Wii, but never got a change so I paid the $50 and got the Wii. Keep in mind that I've payed the Wii at my friends house a few times, but not really a whole lot.

So the first thing that pisses me off about the Wii is that it's big gimmick is the motion controls. I'm a hardcore player, I don't need a motion controlled game. I want a standard regular controller and that's it. Also I hate the vibration in the controller. I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I want my controller to be as steady as possible. I don't want anything wiggling my controller around in any game. The vibration doesn't give me any satisfaction whatsoever.

I know that there is a pro controller that I will have to get so okay.

So anyway I can't do anything unless I get up that motion control censor on the top of my TV so I put it there and it's like just balancing on my TV by a hair, but no big deal because I'm just testing out the system.

I pop in the first game. Lego Star Wars.... Since when did Lego all of a sudden combine itself with other franchises and then make games out of them? Like the last time I remember Lego was just a bunch of plastic toy building blocks... not movies... not games... and not games tied in with other companies such as batman and crap.

So the graphics aren't anything special and it says press the "+" button on the motion controller to start. Well I pushed the button and nothing happened. So okay lets try something else.

So I tried youtube, why not? But apparently I have to set my internet up internally before I actually use the app or whatever. Cool that I can use my TV to watch youtube.

Okay so next game. It's Toy Story 3. So I start up the game and I see probably the worst title screen that I've ever seen in my life. It has a 30 second sound loop and just flashes random pictures of Woody and Buzzlightyear and that's it. Like WTF. What person through this sh*t together in 5 mins? Like seriously. Then the game starts, just it's just loading and playing the actual movie clips from the movie. If I want to watch the movie then why not just put in the dvd? Why are they cramming the movie into the game? Why because its just cheap content to fill up space?

By the way, the original Toy Story 1 movie is a masterpiece in my opinion, but the sequels, Toy Story 2 and 3 suck royally.

So anyway, then it says I need the numb chucks to continue and I don't have those. Like seriously, what a piece of crap.

Now earlier today I actually played Secret of Mana for the first time on the SNES. Now this game is awesome. The music is beautiful and catchy and it seems like its a fun game so far. If you look at it's title screen, its a work of art and it looks like someone actually cared and put time into it when they made the game.

I also played one of the Mario Kart games on the Wii at my friends. Honestly I didn't like it that much. I'd rather prefer the SNES mario kart or the N-64 mario kart. I remember looking at the character select screen and seeing many different versions of Mairo as a playable character for instance: Regular Mario, Baby Mario, Metal Mario... like WTF you don't need all of these versions of Mario. And if you really want them then just have them as options under the Regular Mario character instead of wasting space and filling up the screen with nonsense by making them selectable characters individually in the roster.

It just seems as if I'm not happy with some of the recent games.

A nunchuck should've been packed in. The original box always included one.

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fwiw, the motion control actually really shines in mario kart wii once you've taken the time to get good at it. It's really good, imo. The game works as you'd expect any mario kart game without it, though, so that's an option.

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Games that are at their best for the wii:
-Resident evil 4. This version has all the extras from both game cube and ps2. It's also another game where the motion control really shines. Only negative i have to say is that it's a bit easier than earlier versions; because the control scheme is so slick.

-Metroid prime trilogy. Same here. This is the best way to experience the metroid prime series. Great control, nice extras, better HUD. Sub-weapon change takes a while to get used to if you started out with game cube, but that's ok.

My Nintendo Wii experience:

Install Homebrew Channel
Install Snes9x GX
Buy SNES->Gamecube controller adapters

Yeah the nunchaku controller is part of the standard setup so make sure you have one nunchaku for each Wiimote you have, since most Wii games requires one. They should be dirt cheap nowdays.

I hear you. Although the Wii has great controllers with a ton of controller setups, many games tend to use the Motion controls as a gimmick although they are not really well designed for it. I think Nintendo or someone pressured developers to use the motion controls in about every game. A few games like the Fire Emblem game however completely ignores motion controls and plays like it always has. Smash Bros and Mario Kart Wii are also games I tend to play with the Gamecube controller. My brother, who is an avid Mario Kart fan, hates the steering wheel accessory and only uses the Gamecube controller.

The Classic Controller Pro is actually technically a downgrade from the Classic Controller since Nintendo quietly removed the analogue sliders of the L- and R-buttons (due to a patent fuss I believe), but I don't think any game actually used these so it doesn't matter unless you are interested of using the CC for other things than the Wii. Also unless you have a more recent Wii without the Gamecube ports, a Gamecube controller can be used with probably any game that otherwise requires the CC, and it's really the best controller for some games like Smash Bros Brawl. I recommend to get a CC or CC Pro as well though.

Put it in below or front of the TV instead, you can change the sensor bar position that the Wii expects in the settings in the system menu.

Yeah Lego was one of my favourite toys as a kid because you could build whatever you wanted with them. Lego's sales has declined greatly recently though so they thought making video games and movies would be profitable, and it was. They say the Lego games are actually good, but I have never played any of them.

It's one of my favourite games! The first three Seiken Densetsu games are the best and incredibly beautiful!

I like Super Mario Kart the best, the N64 game is just waaaaaaaaaaay too easy. The only challenge in it is playing Toad's home ground track in reverse, it becomes oncoming traffic! Haven't really played the later 3D Mario Karts enough to judge them, but I think Mario Kart Double Dash and Wii both have way too much sound going on. All the characters are shouting ALL THE TIME! I'm going to get Double Dash and Mario Kart Wii for my own systems sometime later and play them thoroughly.


Oh and make sure you grab all the free stuff (not much) from the Wii shop channel if it's not installed already, and buy any Virtual Console or Wii Ware games that you want. The Wii server is shutting down at the end of the year I heard (although I can't find any info about it).

RE4 and Dead Space: Extraction made excellent use of the motion controls/aiming. So much so that it's the best version of RE4 and you'll wonder how you ever put up with stick aiming on consoles. Cursed Mountain and RE: Darkside Chronicles also made good use of them.

Oh, i forgot about Dead Space: Extraction. That a really nice motion control game, too!

My Wii experience is rather thin...
I could play and liked alot of Metroid the Other M and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles.
Other than that, the kids just "monopolized" it and seem to really enjoy playing Mario Kart, New SMB, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, Kirby and Just Dance.
The homebrew channel, in my opinion, is a must-have installation, since it "opens" the console to some very nice collection of softwares.

Other M is nice and much more fun than the Prime games, but I still prefer all the 2D Metroid games much more. Wii Sports is a great party game that uses the motion control in a good way. If you have a Motion Plus or a Wii Remote Plus I recommend Zelda Skyward Sword. The motion controls in Twilight Princess was just stupid (basically waving the controller instead of hitting a button) and I recommend the Gamecube version of that game, but in Skyward Sword the motion controls are pretty much perfect.

I found the info about the shut down.
http://www.nintendo.co.uk/News/2017/Sep ... 85994.html
Looks like they will shut down the Wii Shop Channel in 2019 but stop selling Wii shop points in 2018 march. This goes for Wii U in Wii mode as well. I don't know if this affects all regions.

One thing that has annoyed me is that in order to play gamecube games on the wii, you need to plug in a gamecube controller in those hidden ports behind the flimsy side panel. It'd be cool if it was an option, but they decided it was a requirement.

The side panels can be removed without harming anything. (You just have to not lose them if you care about being able to reinstall them)

Just FYI: YouTube retired the YouTube app for the Wii a few months ago. You'll only get an error message if you try to use it. :(

YouTube for Wii Service Has Ended - Nintendo Support


I don't like vibration either and always turn it off. (To turn it off, press the HOME button, then click on Wii Remote Settings.)

Awwwww. I guess I get to free up space now, tho...

Too bad WiiMC isn't maintained anymore either. Its youtube interface was awfully clunky.

I wonder how practical just a port of minitube to the Wii would be.

Speaking of the wii eshop closing down, what titles do you think are worth purchasing?

WiiWare Exlusives:
Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth - a must have as it is a return to what castlevania was all about prior to Iga. The graphics are a bit too smugdy for my taste (easy on the transparency mask and antialiasing pixel work next time, please!), but it's still a good game.
Blaster Master: Overdrive - meh. Mediocre and empty-feeling; it's got the bare bones to qualify as a game in the metroidvania genre, but that's about it. Graphics are bland, the level design feels uninspired. The original (and blaster master zero for the switch) are much better. I only include it because it's a WiiWare exclusive and Blaster Master fans might want to play it before it's too late.

Non-exlusives.. kind of:
I had a blast with la mulana. I'm uncertain whether this particular version is available elsewhere or not.
Would've probably been the same with Cave Story but i played it on the pc prior to getting a wii.

Virtual console:
Book of ys 1 & 2. Nice that your character transfers between the two games. But you can play this on the DS too, no?
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood: Probably the most inexpensive way to legitimately play this game from your couch. One of the best classic 'vanias, too.
Metal slug, 1 and 2: Mixed feelings. On one hand, these are well crafted classics, and we've had much fun. They're definitely hang-out-with-a-friend-type of games, but works well when playing on your own too. On the other hand, oh the slowdowns. Is this because of the emulator being faithful, or just slow?

Even though castlevania 3 for the NES was my very first hard copy of a game, i have it on the wii for convenience, too. But you can get it elsewhere, too.
Same with super metroid. Got it for convenience.

(edit: fixed a confusing sentence).

Dude, get off your high horse. So you don't like "modern" (in quotes since neither 360 or wii are particularly modern) games. Then don't buy them.



Over 12 years ago.

Very, though a custom interface combined with the youtube-dl logic could be faster to implement.

Actually vibration was introduced with the Dual Shock controller released in the middle of the PlayStation's life. I didn't know Wii motes had them too. But I and a lot of other people agree that it's awful, most games for the playstation allows to disable it. I do not see why anyone would not disable this systematically. In addition to being extremely unpleasant, it probably damages the controller itself in the long run.

The wiimote is however horrible for other reasons I won't mention here.

I guess you should blame capitalism rather than Lego themselves. If they just continues to sell the same toys over and over again, their shareholders will be angry that their revenue is constant rather than growing, or not growing fast enough, so they'll put pressure in order to have more crap coming out... you see the picture. Any company who just stays with the same product and doesn't "evolve" is basically dead (note that I personally think this system is not a very good one - however that is not only Lego who is to blame - actually even Nintendo is victim of that pseudo-infinite-growth "thing").


Agreed - note how the US/EUR title screen is a strange zoomed version of the japanese title screen. In my opinion the original japanese title screen looked better. Also it's so awesome Tales of Phantasia copied the concept for their own title screen


Licence games tends to be awful in general - and that was especially true in the "good old times" - juging the Wii on one of them sounds like a bad idea.


SNES Mario Kart has aged horribly. The mode 7 aliasing is so noticeable that it ruins the graphics. (Theoretically an emulator could remove it I guess, but it wouldn't be console accurate). N64 and DS Mario Karts are the bests; GBA is pretty good too.

I remember the dual shock controller being a big deal when it came out. (I still played NES during this period, though, so it's based on what friends in school thought). But i can't single out a particular game that has put it to good use. Haptic feedback may be good for the following in my book:
-one-shot impulses, like a push or bash or recoil.
-alerting the player of something s/he can't see but the player character ought to feel.
-guidance/assistance for visually impared users (again as one-shot impulses).

Instead, most games seem to go bzzzzzzz bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz bzzzzzz or bzt-btz-bzt-bzt-bzt; trigged by way too many things. Or it just feels like a buzz when it should feel like impact.


At which wii excels (and probably other newer consoles), because you can turn it off via the system one button away, rather than via the game interface. Goodbye menu diving.

I physically disconnect all the motors in the controllers I have. Headache (or should i say wrist ache) cured immediately ~

Sure, but ... isn't that basically what minitube is? A custom interface combined with youtube-dl logic?

I know there's already a version of QT that uses the linux framebuffer without needing X, that helps.

Nope. It was introduced with Nintendo's Rumble Pak, which was bundled with Star Fox 64.

And also Sony's Dual Analog in Japan, which came out at about the same time. But IIRC it was kinda buggy; in any case they removed the rumble feature from the international version.

I think it intensified MGS really well every time an alert goes off. Also... Psycho Mantis.

My favourite use of vibration is in Ico: your controller gently throbs when you hold Yorda's hand - it's supposed to be her pulse. It subtly makes her feel more "human" and helps make the player more emotionally invested in protecting her.

Also, uh, Rez came with a pretty interesting haptic peripheral.

But I think all games had to be playable with the original Playstation joypad as well.


I stand corrected then. This is still an awful idea, I don't see why anyone would want their controller to vibrate, and even less why you would buy an extension to do that.

There indeed are games that had to be played with the Dual Shock controllers though. Saru Getchu (or if you prefer, Ape Escape) is often cited as the textbook example. I think it actually only requires the two analogue sticks, and vibration is not a necessity though. I think the release of the N64 together with Mario 64 with the mandatory analogue 3-D movement done right (previously, most 3-D games only adopted the "tank" control, or just digital 8-direction movement, or very sloppily implemented analogue movements) is a huge factor here, and Sony just had to copy follow suit.

Qt is huge. Even with swap, a Qt-based UI could take far too much RAM. You need at least 16mb to buffer the video, maybe 1mb for audio buffers, and other parts before you get to the UI.

So that's why you'd likely need to implement a new interface anyway. Whether it's less work to disentangle minitube's youtube-interfacing code or adapt youtube-dl's, depends.

Fishing in Animal Crossing for GameCube uses vibration. When the fish bites, the controller vibrates, and the player has a split second to press A to pull the fish in. Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS replaced this vibration with a sound effect.

LEGO Star Wars is a great game imo, although a bit easy. Lots of unlockables and things to do. I can't speak for the other, more recent LEGO games.

One thing that I found about the Wiimote is that it still drains batteries relatively quickly when not in use. I started taking the batteries out when not using it and ithey've lasted a lot longer as a result.


I'm trying to think of any Wii games I'd consider essential. I'm honestly having a hard time thinking of some. Metroid Prime was pretty good, though it was originally a GameCube game anyway. I think that's the only Wii game I own that I'd actually recommend though.

Ironically it seems to me that Wii U got some much better games despite being a lower selling console.

...Mario Galaxy?

There's got to be more. I was starting to be disconnected from the modern game market around that time, so I don't have as much of a sense of what's good.

Yeah I noticed that too. My low-discharge batteries that usually lasts years, are always discharging fast in the Wiimote. And changing the batteries with both the jacket and strap on is a bit troublesome.
Mario Galaxy is a fantastic game, I love the story book scenes and the general atmosphere, but it was just a bit too easy compared to Sunshine and Mario 64.

Of course haptic feedback in the arcades predates Nintendos rumble pak, but I guess it's thanks to the Nintendo 64 controller and the DualShock that both analogue joysticks and rumble became the norm in modern console gaming.

I would normally never dream about turning off rumble in games and risk missing any surprises the developers has put in the game. When Star Fox 64 released I thought its only use was to make the player feel vibrations in collisions in shooting and other action games, but MGS and Ocarina of Time both made me realize that haptic feedback can be used for much more stuff than that.

The only problem I had with the rumble in Wii is that it was missing in the nunchaku controller. Because of that you only feel vibrations in half of the controller (right hand). I'm looking forward to the "HD rumble" in the Switch though, ice cubes in both hands and even in the pro controller. Maybe that's why they are so expensive though.

The Ys games have been ported and remade so many times, and yes I think the DS has it too. I guess the VC game is the PC Engine version? I have the PC Engine disc and it's pretty much the definitive version of the first two games.

According to Wikipedia a Windows version (on GOG and Steam) based on the WiiWare version of La Mulana was released (I'd also recommend the original MSX-style freeware game for PCs). But I prefer these kind of action games for a console with good controllers (not having to mess with gamepads in Windows), maybe I should grab the WiiWare version while the Shop Channel is still open...

I'd also like to recommend the WiiWare games Rockman 9 and 10. They are not Wii exclusives but they ARE two great instalments of the Rockman main series, and they'll be hard to get without pirating them when the online shops are all closing down. I still haven't grabbed all the DLC for these two games yet, but I plan to do that before it's too late.

Hahah, yeah sometimes I forget the jacket/strap even exist, 'cause I don't use them. (Maybe if I had very young kids?) That would definitely make the battery changing even more annoying.

Heh I even bought official colored straps and (third-party) jackets for my launch Wiimotes because early Wiimotes came with straps without fasteners and didn't have jackets. I don't go as far as attaching the straps to the nunchaku (or the Classic Controller why ever you would want to do that) though as the instructions says, because that would make changing accessories a pain. But maybe I should just put the straps back in the box, I don't think I ever dropped a Wiimote.

The jackets are very useful though, not only because of the better grip but because when holding the Wiimote like a Famicom controller it has like a cushion under the left hand which makes the shape a bit more symmetric. Before I had those jackets, holding the controller like that wasn't comfortable at all, and I'd even consider it a design flaw.

Hmm, I wouldn't call the sideways control of the wiimote comfortable, but it doesn't bother me much either. Square and clunky, but I can hold onto it okay.

The nunchuk, though, cramps my hand, especially when I have to hold the buttons. Because it's so small/short and maybe because my hands are relatively large compared to it, I just can't get a stable grip on it very easily. This is actually a bit of a problem for the Metroid Prime trilogy, where I have to hold down buttons on it while moving. I find I have to limit my playtime with it.

Actually the nunchuk is sort of why I didn't think of Mario Galaxy when I was trying to come up with good Wii games. Well, it is mostly a good game, but I felt really hampered by the nunchuk. Aside from the discomfort, there's really no definitive "north" direction on the nunchuck either; I think everyone's hand holds it slightly different, so there's no consistent point of reference. It's not like a controller where your two hands define a stable axis. The nunchuk is terrible for when you want to try and run in a straight line!

That's why I thought Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U was great: the world was axis aligned and you could use the d-pad to actually run in specific directions very easily! I thought it was the first 3D Mario game with good precise controls. The only one where I wasn't constantly anxious about being able to move in the intended direction.


On a related note, I thought it was absurd that there was never an option to choose left or right handed in the Wii Zelda games. Like the nunchuk + wiimote is one of the only systems that was ever easily capable of this, and also Link was canonically left handed. Instead, they mirror-flipped the world Wii port of Twilight princess to make him right handed, and again in Skyward sword he is right handed only. I can't believe they did this!


I've hated pretty much every Nintendo controller since N64, but the wiimote + nunchuk was an all-time low....

I could have written this exectly the same way, word for word. Nintendo controls seem overall to be size S, but the nunchuk feels like something XS. This is especially true in the MP trilogy series. It was better in RE4 wich was less intense on holding nunchuk buttons.

I feel like wrapping the nunchuk in bubblewrap before playing

I guess you guys have big hands. Are you perhaps two of those that thought the original large Xbox controller is comfortable? I wouldn't say my hands are small or big but that controller just hurt my index fingers after playing for a while because of the distance to the L and R buttons is ridiculous, stretching my hands at the root of my index fingers. It must be totally unplayable for most girls or people with small hands in general.

I don't really understand why it's hard to find north on the nunchaku though, it's restricted in an octagonal-shape just like the two analogue joysticks on the Classic Controller, so all 8 general directions are easy to feel thanks to that. And north is always in the same relative direction from the thumb no matter how you angle the nunchaku. I guess this is a size problem too, which somehow made it hard to use in general for you.

Maybe console makers should test their controllers more with extreme cases, people with very big and very small hands to make sure both are comfortable.

I agree, I don't like that they removed Link's left handedness at all, and as I'm a lefty myself I know that using a sword in my left hand is much easier. However I wouldn't like to use my right hand with the analogue stick as I'm used to steer with my left, and since the motion controls are mainly in the Wiimote and Motion+, this might have been unavoidable.

Oh I always thought Nintendo's controllers were the best (especially with a cross-shaped d-pad) and the Gamecube controller is the most ergonomic and comfortable controller I've used. I was a bit sad to see its support to be mostly gone in the Wii U. Although the Classic Controllers are also comfortable.

The 3DS however is surprisingly uncomfortable to play with. I often has to use the stand that came with Paluthena/Kid Icarus in other games as well. I imagine the Wii U tablet controller is similarly uncomfortable?

From what I remember I didn't think it was a good controller, it was very heavy and boxy and the buttons were like hard bubbles. However, I didn't find it caused discomfort to use, I could hold it and use it okay. Kinda similar in that respect to the sideways wiimote control, excepting the weight: not a good shape but I could still use it and it didn't hurt my hands when playing for hours.


The octagon guide helps at full tilt, but by then you're already running. The problem is more when I'm trying to make a slow precise movement. Follow a path, take the first step correctly, etc.

Because its not held in two hands the nunchuk's orientation is not kept in a stable position. Moving my thumb changes the shape of my hand, which rotates the nunchuk a little bit depending on how far I've moved my thumb. So, even if I could find "north" all the way down, it subtly rotates across the range of motion of my thumb from centre to north. Same if I rotate my wrist while playing, the position shifts. I find I have to constantly re-adjust and learn again and again where north is while playing. It's subtle, but games often require subtle input. Does that explain it a little better?

It's not as bad in games where the two buttons aren't being used. If I can grip the whole thing lower down, it's more stable. For all the crazy plastic wiimote adapters I've seen, I wish I could find one that just added a bigger handle to the nunchuk.


Hmm, another game where I was disappointed in a different way by the controllers was Punch-Out!! Wii. The game is designed around actually moving your fists, basically shaking either controller punches. While I thought it was a fun gimmick for the first minute or two, I very quickly just found it annoying to execute. This is just my own subjective taste, someone else may have really been into this. There was an option to just use the pad to control, but the whole timing of the game is based on moving your fists around, so that felt wrong too.

The motion wasn't right to feel like actually throwing punches, really it's designed for kinda short gestures with either hand, not a punch. Though, maybe if I was 3 feet tall it would pretty much be a punch? The length of the nunchuk cable would be a problem for range of motion anyway (but maybe not if I was 3 feet tall). The Playstation Move controllers, which were wireless and had actual position tracking not just tilt/waggle sensors, I think would have been capable of a much more realistic feeling boxing game. I never tried Sports Champions 2 but I like how this looks.



I'd assume this is its official name in Japan, but I've been writing nunchuk specifically because that's the official English name.



I would say their d-pads specifically were the best, though now in the current generation PS4 and XB1 finally have great d-pads and the Switch got rid of it???. The SNES controller was wonderful, and the Wii classic controller was not bad (except for being tethered to the **** wiimote).

A lot of people seemed to really like the Gamecube controller, but I do not. The layout and shape of the face buttons is totally bizarre (did not like), and the shoulder buttons are atrocious. Better than the N64 controller at least, though.

The Wii U pro controller was not bad either, but between the set of similar controllers from PS3/4 and XBox 360/1 it's the worst of that bunch to me. The right analog stick being above the buttons felt like bad layout.


Yeah the tablet really sucks. The only thing it was really good at was basically "mouse" controls for the Mario Maker editor, and for when you have to go to the bathroom but want to keep playing.

I think the first step is hard for anyone on any analogue joystick. It's very hard to know precisely where you are tilting until you get feedback from the game.

Yes now I understand. So it's a problem of the nunchaku being too small for you to be able to keep it secured without moving. Although the nunchaku felt a bit small at first, I have no problem holding it secured between my long finger, ring finger and pinky finger and the palm so that my index finger and thumb are free to move for the joystick and buttons.

I didn't even bother playing Punch Out like that because I didn't think Wii Boxing worked very well. Well even Skyward Sword lets the player make nice and clean cuts with the sword even by just sloppily flicking the hand fast enough. Of course they can't require the player to know how to handle a sword. I'm doing martial arts (both with and without weapons) but Skyward Swords registers 99% of my moves correctly unlike Wii Boxing. I wonder how ARMS for Switch is. There you have two controllers with both accelerometers and gyro sensors.

Ah yes I suppose so. Well "nunchaku" (ヌンチャク) is a Japanese (or more precisely Okinawan) word and I'm doing Okinawan karate and kobudou (which includes nunchaku) so I prefer that term. I guess "nunchuk" is an alternate spelling in English (just note that the "u" in "nun" isn't pronounced like the "u" in "chuk").

Haha yeah, I understand that Nintendo needed to make the d-pad so that opposite directions are pressable so it can be used as face buttons when turned on the side, but it's sad that it's gone. And then the Pro Controller still have it, but I heard it's not as good as it used to be for some reason.
I didn't know the PS4 has a cross d-pad though?

I agree about the button layout. It's ok for Gamecube games because they are designed for it but using it for other things (like GBA Player) isn't ideal, and it's not very good for N64 VC games that needs to use the C-buttons. I wish it had 6 face buttons layed out like on the N64 controller and it would be the ultimate controller.

The Wii U tablet is interesting...you can play a game without a TV, and you can play...about 40-50 feet away from the console with no problems.

It's not a flat cross, but it's as good as one, or maybe even better?

The difference between PS4 and previous PS controllers is that they've curved the edges of the centre so that it now feels smooth rather than having 4 points digging into your thumb (like on PS3). The way it is now the thumb sits very comfortably in that groove. I think it's my new favourite d-pad actually. (Too bad about that stupid touch pad in the middle though, and horrible new "option" button.)

The XB1 d-pad is also slightly curved inward too, but it's a much more subtle effect (comparison).


Many games yes you can play on the pad alone, though there are quite a lot that use the pad screen for something special rather than just being a mirror of the TV.

In some really awful cases you're forced to look/play primarily on the pad and the TV becomes useless, which is a problem because the pad has lower resolution and also lag that's somewhat proportional to your distance from the TV.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, for example, you have to draw with the stylus to do everything in the game. It has very nice art but it looks crummy on the pad view, but because you have to do all your action there anyway you can't look at the TV. (Not a very good game anyway, IMO.)

Starfox Zero has an alternate view on the pad, and in many situations you have to look at that rather than the TV.

Splatoon might seem like a game that you could play on a TV alone, but they intentionally made it so you couldn't, putting a map screen on the pad. For Splatoon 2, since it's on the switch, they let you switch to the map view with X instead-- something the original game could have EASILY done, but I think they wanted the pad to be more "essential", so they deliberately blocked the possibility of playing on the pad here.

From what I've heard, which may not be representative, the number one complaint about Splatoon 2 as a sequel has been the comparatively cumbersome map. People had gotten used to being able to just glance at the map, and tap it to jump to a teammate, but without a second screen you've got to do it the long way.


It's not about dropping it. Don't you remember the stories of people destroying expensive HDTVs because they got too excited playing Wii Bowling? They had to send out free replacement straps because the ones they launched the console with were too weak.

That's what I meant. People kept dropping it into the TV or out the window when playing Wii Sports and the like. I never dropped it but I bought the newer stronger straps anyway (my Wii was imported USA region so I couldn't get the free ones) and put the old straps in the box for my collection. I think I'll just remove the strap on one Wiimote and use it for games that doesn't need it.

I see, I looked it up and found an article about. It turns out Sony did some research how to improve the d-pad. Sounds good to me, the old DualShocks was good for a non-Nintendo or non-Hori d-pad, but still they did hurt my fingers in action games. RPG and Adventure games was no problem though.
The new Xbox d-pad is, although flimsy, said to be miles better than the previous ones. That honestly doesn't say much though, previous Xbox controllers reminded me about cheap computer gamepads with rock hard buttons and absolutely horrible d-pads.

Hori made a Pro Controller that has a removable cross d-pad and individual face buttons under it (for games that requires opposite directions to be pressed at once?), but they sacrificed motion controls, HD rumble and the NFC reader/writer. It got mixed reviews though, and I'm not sure if removing motion controls and HD rumble is a good idea as there could be games that relies on it. But for NFC, I think it's probably enough with the NFC that comes in the bundled right Joycon. I wonder why Nintendo had to include an extra one in their original Pro Controller, almost sounds like waste of money.

I remember playing games on the GBA and GameCube connectivity cable. Looking at the GBA and the TV at the same time isn't possible and games normally didn't require that.
But the point of a HUD is so you don't have to look down on a display but look at the same screen (therefore Heads Up Display), so having to look down on another screen for certain information feels like a step backwards from a HUD. It works alright on double Game & Watch games, DS and 3DS because the two screens are so close to each other. Maybe the Wii U wasn't such a good idea after all. The Switch seems to disable the built-in screen in TV Mode so it isn't possible for games to play like on the Wii U.

I like drawing though, so I really liked that you can draw on the touch screen in certain games and apps (Phantom Hourglass is one of the best examples, allowing you to take notes, mark things on maps and even draw maps from scratch of uncharted islands). Being able to draw is the main advantage of any touch screen IMHO. Therefore I think the Wii U had potential for interesting games and apps.

*has

You can make homebrew for it

plus, there might be some end of cycle-releases still?

No, it's basically dead: https://www.nintendo.com/games/coming-soon#wiiu

I think Breath of the Wild was its last real release.

You are damn right about that! Now when it's dying, there shouldn't be as much concern for piracy or Nintendo updates anymore, so it's about time for it to be jail broken for real. Has the non-Wii part of the Wii U even been hacked yet? Some quick googling tells me it probably has.

Except the system of pressing X to bring up the map feels like more of a band aid than anything. Jumping to Squid Beakons is much more difficult (which is why no one even uses them anymore), and is also probably why there isn't a special where you need to select a point on the map.


How about the let-down story for single-player, (Nintendo felt the need to release a mini story online leading up to the story in the game to build hype for some reason) Sunken scrolls (collectibles) that don't tell you anything you don't know already (the weapon shop moved; no duh? The original game revealed to us that the Splatoon world is supposed to be our own in the distant future; a bit more interesting) two of the most likeable characters (Callie and Marie) being thrown under the rug for no real reason and some others not appearing at all, unobjectively inferior music, worse animations and HUD graphics, nonsensical hairstyles and the early 20th century option to make pants gender-exclusive, shit weapon balancing, which has led to worse weapon variety in the metagame, (look at the number of people using Rollers) none of the old specials returning (which could have been modified to not be so overpowered; their designs were much more interesting) samey maps with 1,000 different flanking positions, (making deaths being more determined by lack of luck than lack of skill and greatly diminishing the effectiveness of chargers) no damage up that, along with maps, worsens Chargers to the point of irrelevancy, nerfed gear abilities that helped speed up the game (your base speed in either game is slow as tar) and encouraged different playstyles, 16Hz Tickrate, (!) twice the input lag (6 frames instead of 3), regional instead of worldwide matchmaking with the same latency, etc, etc, etc... Not to mention that every single problem the first game had is still absent, as if Nintendo just plugged their ears for two years.

It's been broken for ages.

I see, I might do that once I get a hold of a Wii U. As a homebrewer, a way to run arbitrary code on my game systems is an important feature.

If possible I rather get a new Wii U (a white Premium version), unless there is a reason to get a used older model?
For the Wii, earlier models are generally better. When buying my Japanese Wii, I scanned ebay for one with an early serial number for the following reasons:
- GameCube compatibility (very important reason, especially the GameCube Controller compatibility)
- Higher disc compatibility (for DVD-/+R discs) than later Wii models (mostly a piracy thing, but still it's a downgrade in later Wii models)
- Able to install Bootmii as boot2 (very important reason, brick safety)
- Able to downgrade Photo Channel to v1.0 for MP3 compatibility (a small thing but still)

Every released firmware version is vulnerable, and I don't think there's any reason to use an earlier model, but do check on gbatemp.

I see I will check GBAtemp, thanks!