[Wii] Wii U : And you thought the Wii was a stupid name...

I waited in line for three hours yesterday morning. It was apparent after the store opened at 8:00 that I didn't need to get up even that late (when compared to the launch of the Wii). With six people in line, four of whom got there 20 minutes before opening, I could have easily gotten a Deluxe model if I had just shown up at 7:30 in lieu of 5:00. Hell, if I just wanted a basic model, I could have probably gotten there after opening. I imagine people just weren't aware that it's out yet. I told my girlfriend I picked one up, and she started to chastise me for buying an import model, since the US one would be coming out next month or so. People will probably start going feral this week through the rest of the year.

So far? Loving it. Nintendo Land, which I figured was going to be another Wii Sports and hold my interest for a day before boring me, has turned into quite the surprise. Yes, it's another collection of mini-games and no one will be talking about it next year, but some of the games are quite deep. Pikmin is essentially an action-RPG giving us a taste of what to expect out of Pikmin 3. Zelda is a great brawler that can turn into a fantastic, riotous clusterfuck. And Metroid? Fuck yes is it fun to be the gunship.

I was also surprised to see how much Miiverse is like a social network. I thought it was going to be collections of random, disorganized thoughts and comments. It is, but then there are Communities and the ability to directly comment on and "Like" posts (called "Yeah"). Very interesting.

I will probably pick up New Super Mario Bros U after payday. I must admit I am a little tempted to pick up Mass Effect, just to have a meaty RPG on the system already. Played the hell out of it on the 360, but I'm a very big fan. However, 60 bucks is unacceptable to me. I'll wait for a price drop.

The hardware has been criticized as being cheap and plastic-y, which I thought was an odd accusation to levy. Consoles have never screamed luxurious, and I'm not surprised the Wii U didn't break that trend. I would have preferred a matted finish over a glossy one, but the Game Pad is light and comfortable, the console itself is compact and quiet, and now all three of my main consoles are black. Hurray

The software is a little slow and needs to be addressed. I don't care that the default TV interface is bare and disorganized, as you normally use the Game Pad's default grid view to interact with it. Simple, organized, clean. The loading times, however, are indeed noticeable. Not the 30 seconds I've been told by people, but a solid 10 or 12 seconds to boot up, and about 8-10 for a disc to load. Certain apps also push that 10-12 second mark. The Wii backwards compatibility thing is kinda weird too. I boot up the Wii U, select the Wii start screen, then boot into the old Wii GUI? Strange.

Final verdict? Pleased and optimistic for the future, but Nintendo needs to not drag its feet like usual. Get another firmware update going.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

In a bit of news unrelated to them vidyas, Nintendo TVii will launch tomorrow.

YouTube Video

It's difficult to say exactly how much of this functionality is tied into TiVo services, but I suppose we'll find out tomorrow.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

If you did not have a fierce erection after watching the trailer for X, you should check your pulse. Good God, that was glorious.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.