SirShandy

I haven't had any personal issues with connecting online, but plenty of other have had similar trouble. See if this helps, it's a thread on Neogaf devoted to connection problems:

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=44979690

Well, I'm not sure how to answer whether it's worth the 350, because it entirely depends on what you're looking for in something. I bought the hardware interested in the potential opportunities afforded by the WiiU gamepad, and all of the unique experiences, whether crafted by Nintendo or committed third parties. As is often the case with Nintendo, it also continues the tradition of offering interesting new local multiplayer ideas, that are really a lot of fun.

The first thing that really clicked with me using the WiiU on launch day was the boost mood challenges in NSMBU, where specially made levels require the individual using the gamepad to put down temporary colored blocks for the other player to reach the goal. It requires an absolute sense of cooperation that I haven't experienced besides perhaps the Coop mode in Portal 2. Thus far, the second screen concept has really proven it's worth in multiplayer ideas like that, as well as the remote play idea, which is pretty handy if the tv is occupied or you want to play in bed.

The miiverse is another component that adds a lot of value, integrating a fun social element that makes the whole experience feel more alive, more connected to the rest of the world playing wiiU, a fairly progressive concept for game consoles, which is surprising coming from Nintendo.

So, yeah, if you're on the fence now, perhaps wait until early next year when the library will be more fleshed out, and more of the kinks of the operating system have been ironed out, plus the Tvii app, or whatever its called, will be released by then. So in short, there is absolutely 350 dollars worth of potential here, but you're not going to get the full, polished, expanded experience right at the outset, but that's kind par for the course with system launches.

I don't know how prevalent the freezing issues are, but it appears it's strictly a software issue caused by a problem reading multiple langauges in the miiverse. You can change an option in the settings to have english only posts which appears to solve the issue for most people.

Here's a link that explains it: http://www.ign.com/blogs/bbqsetz/2012/11/25/wii-u-freeze-heres-a-solution-why-its-nothing-to-be-too-scared-about/

From my own experience, I had a couple lock ups when I got it on launch day, and a couple the days following, but since then, with over 70 hours of using it in the past two weeks, I've had zero problems, and I didn't even mess with the language settings.

The miiverse is in many ways the core of the wiiu experience, so it's important that they are able reduce the time it takes to get into that as much as possible. Also, it's kind of annoying how hitting the home menu button automatically exits you from miiverse, and you have to reload it. I un derstand if you already have a game running in the background, but they really need to have the miiverse aspect as seamless as possible. As for the rest of the OS, some things load quickly for me, like eshop and the internet, while basic applications like the set-up menu take a while. But, nintendo has done firmware update's for all their recent hardware to optimize the OS, there's no reason they wouldn't do that here as well.

Yah, it's pretty much mandatory that you'll need an external hardrive if you plan to buy the white one, unless you never plan to download any digital games.

I just measured the charging cable. It's slightly over 8 ft and 2 inches long. You can charge the gamepad directly through the cable, while playing, or rest it on the dock which the cable can plug into. Also, you might be disappointed going into zombiu expecting a condemned like game. It does it's own thing. It's very good, it knows how to build atmosphere, but it plays and is structured very differently.

@believer258: Almost every point you made contains a very narrow perspective or is based on speculation. You criticize Nintendo with trying to innovate with "gimmicks" at the same time you criticize them with relying too much on old franchises and tired ideas. There are certainly examples that would seem to give both criticisms some weight, but it's hardly the whole story.

- It's true that Nintendo does sometimes put themselves into a corner, creating unique hardware that doesn't always align with the goals and creative vision of a lot of developers. It put's them in a position where they demand special attention and care which a lot of developers prefer not to deal with. However I don't think the answer is, do what everyone else is doing. Do we need three consoles that do the same sort of thing, constituting mostly the same experiences? I disagree that the gameplay environment that Nintendo has introduced with the WiiU gamepad is inherently a gimmick. There will certainly be a lot of gimmicky implementations of it, but there are ideas and experiences that will be new and unfamiliar, given that developers are willing to experiment a little bit.

- I don't understand this view that Nintendo relies solely on Mario and Zelda. They certainly are key franchises but you're ignoring all the other first party and second party efforts that have come along. You can see that Nintendo is actively courting third-parties with the WiiU, with interesting exclusives like ZombiU, Lego City Undercover, Rayman Legends, the Wonderful 101, and obviously Bayonetta 2. And except for Bayonetta, these are all within the first quarter of next year. I don't know if any one of these games will "sell systems", but I imagine the lot of them make for diverse library of choices. As for first party efforts, we still know very little. We only know of Pikmin 3, Game & Wario, and Wiifit U, to be released in the launch window. Yes, Pikmin 3 will probably play similarly to past Pikmin games, it's a sequel, to a game that came out ten years ago. But there's really no other games on the market that play like it.

- Given the two examples of Mario and Zelda not differing much from their N64 forebears, you must not have played Super Mario Galaxy or Skyward sword. There are genre similarities, and perhaps a few touches that could be left behind, but they are different enough to divide the fans of the franchises. With Mario Galaxy, people complain that it's more linear and not open ended like mario 64 was. A similar complaint was made about skyward sword, how it lacked a cohesive open world, and the controls themselves made for a completely different experience, which alienated a lot of people.

- The wiiU is two weeks into it's life. There are problems. Some of which can be solved with updates, probably after it's been released in all regions. I don't know how it will sell, but do numbers tell the whole story about the quality or potential of a system? If the original wii sold almost a 100 million, and yet at the same time disappointed so many people, isn't the other extreme a possibility? I don't know what kind of impact the lack of horsepower compared to future consoles will have, or what kind of impact they will have on the game industry, but I think that makes it a lot more interesting than if Nintendo only did what people expected of them.

I really don't know that much about the technical aspects of computers, but I don't think you can strictly compare clock speeds of two pieces of hardware like this and call it a day with respect to power . The architecture of the WiiU is very different compared to 360 and PS3, just as the 360 is different to the PS3.

Marcan said himself on twitter:

- "It's worth noting that Espresso is *not* comparable clock per clock to a Xenon or a Cell. Think P4 vs. P3-derived Core series."

Espresso being the name of the WiiU CPU.

Oh, and this has nothing to do with the GPU, it's a separate component.

Also, since when does Nintendo put out PR's with detailed systems specs and clock speeds? They've made no claim to be offering the cutting edge in graphical power and computer processing. That's not their MO, and have never hinted otherwise.

Think "2001" monolith but with rounded sides and corners( at least for the black one), there it is.

Nintendo has really made the effort to place the emphasis on the controller, all it's advertising, and publicity has placed the controller as the crux of the console's identity. I can understand this emphasis, having used the console extensively now, it rearranges your relationship with the console and the main television, being able to play it away from the set up, in bed, or, as is a big point for many people, in the bathroom ( I don't understand this, I would never do this).

It's really strange how I find myself annoyed now that I have to go up to the console to change game discs to play something different. It's enticed me to go digital on future releases. It's hard to explain unless you experience it yourself, but the console itself does feel less integral to the experience, it's trying to fade into the background, which is a very differen't feeling then I've had with any console before hand. The fact that the wiiu gamepad charges via it's own ac adapter, as opposed to being tethered to the system also enhances this separation between these two things.

It's unfortunate that the marketing only makes sense after the fact. I imagine there will be a lot of confusion among more casual buyers. I look at the way it's been marketed, or how it appears in stores. How many people are buying the wii thinking it's the new console, or buying wii u games thinking it will work with the wii? It's going to be pretty bumpy for a while, it's something only time will be able to mend until you get more larger and unique games that carve out the wiiu's identity a bit better.

The only major confusion that took place was the B and A button reversal, but I quickly got used to it. But before that, I had regularly been switching off between the 360, PS3 and Wii, and then also handled the 3DS quite a bit, and so got used to switching up control schemes pretty easily. It will certainly take some getting used to for people that have been anchored to one familiar control scheme. I haven't used the pro controller yet, but I haven't really played a game that I feel would absolutely necessitate it.