My wife found uDraw Wii too fiddly to work with so it's sitting in a cupboard gathering dust. She went back to using ink and watercolors.

"and he kids"

*Buys Pencil, Paper and Crayons*

Look I still have some money left....

The uDraw brings back memories of my own failed XBLIG painting game that would automatically share art between users.

There was one user who did some awesome stuff with it: http://bwootgames.blogspot.com/2010/05/graffiti-live-art-showcase.html

But yeah, dont make a painting game for XBOX

Soooo..... I have Photoshop, painter, gimp, and various other paint programs that came with my 3D softwares.. and I have a cintiq 21ux... Why would I have ever wanted this on my PS3 or whatever the hell it was on, THQ. PAINT seemed better then this back in the day. Good job THQ suffer the consequences of not being awesome.

FWIW the 35 minute time limit is on the record feature. Meaning for larger projects that would want to use undo or redo it can only record/remember about 35 minutes worth of strokes. It measures the time for your strokes not the time you just sit there. It's a memory thing.

@prodigy_T said:

Soooo..... I have Photoshop, painter, gimp, and various other paint programs that came with my 3D softwares.. and I have a cintiq 21ux... Why would I have ever wanted this on my PS3 or whatever the hell it was on, THQ. PAINT seemed better then this back in the day. Good job THQ suffer the consequences of not being awesome.

Saint's Row: The Third was not awesome?

I got a UDraw as a pack in game with a replacement PS3 a few weeks back. I use a tablet all day at work, so I was pretty curious. Overall it's not bad, but has two design flaws that shit me no end: first, you cannot rest your hand on the tablet while drawing, as it registers both the pen and your hand; second, the cord is in the worst position and constantly snags on the corners, I understand it's central to keep it ambidextrous, but it would make more sense to put the cord on the bottom, not the top.

I guess the biggest issue is the lack of games. I'm waiting on a couple of ultra cheap copies I found of Pictionary and Marvel, but they seem like kids games at best. It's more an exercise in curiosity for me.

It's a reasonable enough idea, but ultimately useless when things like Move/Kinect exist. And even they struggled to get traction in the early days.

THQ should have known UDraw was going to be a flop! I didn't even know it existed until acouple weeks ago. Bad marketing!

heres the problem they released it for ps3 and 360 instead of PC. They still have the hardware, if they think they have a flop on their hands its their own problem. They could totally make it work because its a good thing but why not? Great article, it shows how easy of a solution it is to solve.

Dr. Strange?

@Little_Socrates said:

This is a good read. However, I'm supremely bummed out that amongst all the uDraw art out there, most of it looks worse than some of the things made in MS Paint you'll find on DeviantArt. It's cool that people are using it, but looking at the end results is cementing in my mind that it's not worth owning for adults or artists.

Yeah, a lot of that art looked kind of horrible

@spilledmilkfactory said:

@Little_Socrates said:

This is a good read. However, I'm supremely bummed out that amongst all the uDraw art out there, most of it looks worse than some of the things made in MS Paint you'll find on DeviantArt. It's cool that people are using it, but looking at the end results is cementing in my mind that it's not worth owning for adults or artists.

Yeah, a lot of that art looked kind of horrible

I don't even think the artist was bad, I just think the quality of the tablet limits the artist so much that it's not possible to make anything that looks at all engaging.

Hehe, this is an amazing piece, Patrick. It's amazing the cult following that surrounds commercial failures in gaming. There aren't that many fans, but they make up for it by being SO devoted (see also 3DO fandom). It's actually quite ironic that this device, intended for the casual market, appealed to some of the most hardcore of them all. Seriously, considering the limits of the tablet, that Scorpion is dope,

@prodigy_T said:

Soooo..... I have Photoshop, painter, gimp, and various other paint programs that came with my 3D softwares.. and I have a cintiq 21ux... Why would I have ever wanted this on my PS3 or whatever the hell it was on, THQ. PAINT seemed better then this back in the day. Good job THQ suffer the consequences of not being awesome.

This was never marketed toward the 'serious' artist. Especially since it was being made for a limited power version of a PC with a set of casual and kiddie games. If you have a Cintiq of all things why SHOULD you want this?

How could you productively model and render things at all on a PS3, Xbox or Wii anyway?

I've seen some amazing stuff done solely in Microsoft Paint. If the samples above are the best examples of art produced in uDraw, that makes uDraw look like a pretty crappy product.

This all kind of breaks my heart a bit, I hope something more can happen out of this thing. I love art. Thank you Patrick.

I don't necessarily see who this is aimed at, even the notion of "entry level artists" can find better alternatives. At best this is a doodle toy for kids. I mean, just because someone made a barely decent picture doesn't legitimate it as anything other than a waste of resources.

@Lunar_Aura: I like it.

The uDraw on the Wii was a success because it catered to a very specific audience: families who don't know any better. The system, bless it's little heart, was prey for any crapped out plastic peripheral like GUN HOLDER THAT DOES NOTHING or FAKE TENNIS RACKET THAT DOES NOTHING. Obviously the uDraw brings more to the table with actual, okay technology, but throwing a peripheral at a 360 or PS3 won't sell. Those systems weren't designed to trick grandmas, so their market is different.

udraw was an attempt to make a bazillion dollars selling to all the Wii owners of other consoles. They need to realize the Wii sold so well cause it was a gimmick, a new one even. Now it's old, used and beaten dead. Let it go, waggle, motion controllers etc are not a big deal anymore. The Wii U will bomb.

It isn't the huge stuff, if you are expecting a professional tablet you will get disappointed, I like draw traditionally and like a begin on digital art I buy this, in my opinion isn't so sh!ty if you know appreciate simple stuff

@Sinful said:

*Buys Pencil, Paper and Crayons*

Look I still have some money left....

Je looks simpler, but for me, that can't colour well, the tablet is useful for making scenes

Why on Earth does the 35 minute limit exist?

See this is why Patrick is awesome, I want more articles like this and not game trailer number 3736362636. Or press release number 2736663627. Keep up the great work Patrick.

If your an artist and your using this, your doing it wrong.

Curiously, there seems to be less complaining in regards to the huge watermarks stamped on most of the exported images. How can a cartoon rabbit be serious art with a logo plastered over a good half of his face, I ask you?! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

... Still, if it's cheap enough it could be worth it for some errant doodling. Also, you just can't trust some kids with markers or paint. They'll color objects, pets, themselves, ANYTHING. With this, the worst scenario is a stylus up the nose.

@Claude said:

I wonder if the Wii U's new tablet controller will be used for something of this nature as well?

the E3 demo video showed off drawing

...

sidenote: man, those typos! I suggest you guys get someone to read over the stuff before you put it online :)

Ship Saints Row: The Fourth with uDraw controller support and I will buy one. Sold. Done. Boom.

I still don't understand why THQ invested so much into this.

Didn't know THQ was run by a bunch of dumbasses.  This is what cronyism & 
nepotism gets you.  Where can I get a free uDraw?

uDraw looks pretty MS Paint to me.

If you can't sell them... donate them to childrens hospitals,schools,Daycares & retirement homes. Chalk up the losses as charity. Or ...... Have "The Shamwow Guy" sell them for $19.99 on late night Infomercials,and if you call within the 1st 10 minutes you get the "Slapchop" for free. I would consider buying it then...