Since the Wii U has been released into the wild people have been both rightly impressed by some of the things it does and also rightly perturbed by other things that it does. Whether it's turning your flash drive into a proprietary device just to transfer saves or locking your account to a system Nintendo has proven that it has not paid any attention to how people expect internet connected devices to work. That being said, what we've learned today about the Wii-U takes the cake. If you live in the European Union you cannot buy or even access any content that is rated 18+ on the E Shop before 11:PM and after 3:AM. It's not like when you create an account there isn't an option to tell the console how old you are. Oh wait. What the fuck was the point of that? What Nintendo has done, in Europe at least, is tell every single one of those customers do not buy 18+ rated games on their system. (By the way 18+ in Europe is equivalent to our M in the USA). That means that when COD puts out new map packs you have to wait till 11:PM just to be able to buy it. Ninja Gaiden puts out some new missions? Can't download it until you are ready for bed. Fucking stupid.

Anyway I think that's the dumbest thing Nintendo has done with their console. What do you guys think?

There is already a topic on this: www.giantbomb.com/wii-u/60-139/nintendo-blocking-18-rated-wii-u-eshop-content-at-certain-times/35-569746/#25

Think about it this way, before the arrival of the abillity to watch video on the internet, you had to stay up really late to catch some hot steamy action, if you wanted to view the naughty music video's on MTV you had to stay up late. I think Nintendo really misses those times and decided to recreate them in their console. Also binding your nintendo network account to your wii u, is infinitley more stupid.

@Oscar__Explosion said:

There is already a topic on this: www.giantbomb.com/wii-u/60-139/nintendo-blocking-18-rated-wii-u-eshop-content-at-certain-times/35-569746/#25

Ignore this rookie, this is obviously a different topic. I for one think the name was the biggest mistake. Vinny had it right a couple of bombcasts ago, if they wanted to still use the Wii name, call it the Super Wii. The Wii name has lost a lot of pull in the last 2 years, they had time to change it. But I would have gone with a completely different name. Don't know what. Maybe the Nintendo Famicom 4? Or go the Windows route and just call it the Nintendo Six. Something to say, this is not a fucking Wii. It is easier to explain that yeah, the old Wii peripherals still work with this new Nintendo (new name here) instead of explaining that the Wii U is not a new peripheral but a completely new system.

Releasing a console on par with the current gen consoles as the current gen is ending in less than a year.

@Tuggah said:

Releasing a console on par with the current gen consoles as the current gen is ending in less than a year.

This right here. Nintendo seems to be making a short-sighted cash grab.

@TheHBK said:

@Oscar__Explosion said:

There is already a topic on this: www.giantbomb.com/wii-u/60-139/nintendo-blocking-18-rated-wii-u-eshop-content-at-certain-times/35-569746/#25

Ignore this rookie, this is obviously a different topic. I for one think the name was the biggest mistake. Vinny had it right a couple of bombcasts ago, if they wanted to still use the Wii name, call it the Super Wii. The Wii name has lost a lot of pull in the last 2 years, they had time to change it. But I would have gone with a completely different name. Don't know what. Maybe the Nintendo Famicom 4? Or go the Windows route and just call it the Nintendo Six. Something to say, this is not a fucking Wii. It is easier to explain that yeah, the old Wii peripherals still work with this new Nintendo (new name here) instead of explaining that the Wii U is not a new peripheral but a completely new system.

If they had called it the "Nintendo 6" I may have bought it day 1

Honestly my biggest gripe with the Wii U is their excess crap with their external memory situation. In order to use an external hard drive for instance you have to make sure the device has its own power source separate from the console, or make sure it comes with a specific hub that allows you to plug into both usb ports in the back to work properly. This is a problem because most external hard drives I've seen in stores don't carry that specific hub, and instead have a single cable connecting between the device and one usb port. Without that hub the external hard drive can't get enough power and will not work properly.

Putting out a console at the end of a long console generation that has literally 0 improvements over what has been available for years. In some ways it handles things worse than consoles that have come out close to a decade ago. Its downright unacceptable and I will never buy this ripoff.

So many things sound downright incompetent about this console's design. I am very curious if we will hear internal stories about the design process at some point. Who was making the decisions here? What was the QA process like? How and why did they ship something with atrocious load times on basic console menu functionality? Who said the hard lock requiring manual unplugging of power cord was a shippable flaw?

???

I seriously do not understand how this thing got on shelves. This, the USB thing and the account being locked to your console are just some of the few unbelievably baffling decisions with the Wii U. What the fuck were they thinking?

One word... Dreamcast!

@SmilingPig said:

One word... Dreamcast!

...but the Dreamcast was actually a pretty solid console. Just came out at the wrong time.

@Milkman said:

I seriously do not understand how this thing got on shelves. This, the USB thing and the account being locked to your console are just some of the few unbelievably baffling decisions with the Wii U. What the fuck were they thinking?

I think one of the bigger issues is how a console launched in 2012 with an OS that is shit, bloated, and fucking slow. Even the Wii's OS was faster and more responsive than this thing.

@SmilingPig said:

One word... Dreamcast!

How dare you besmirch the name Dreamcast by comparing it to this thing. How dare you sir?!?

Honestly, I hope Nintendo crashes and burns on the hardware side of things and just resorts to doing software like Sega.

@Dynablade said:

Honestly my biggest gripe with the Wii U is their excess crap with their external memory situation. In order to use an external hard drive for instance you have to make sure the device has its own power source separate from the console, or make sure it comes with a specific hub that allows you to plug into both usb ports in the back to work properly. This is a problem because most external hard drives I've seen in stores don't carry that specific hub, and instead have a single cable connecting between the device and one usb port. Without that hub the external hard drive can't get enough power and will not work properly.

My hard drive came with a cable with two ports for the extra 3-5V needed. This is the limitation of the drive not the Wii U. I need to either use a powered USB hub or plug in both USB plugs from the hard drive in my PC to use it. Can't blame my PC manufacture on that one can I?

@HerbieBug said:

@SmilingPig said:

One word... Dreamcast!

...but the Dreamcast was actually a pretty solid console. Just came out at the wrong time.

The WiiU came out at the wrong time as well. If it had come out in 2007 it would have been the shit. Instead, it is shit.

System specs aside, limiting downloads to certain times and locking saves to a system seem like the most aggressively stupid things Nintendo has done. Fortunately both can be fixed easily enough.

Everyone seems to be forgetting that the PS3 and 360 were not perfect machines when they launched and even now they are not perfect. Instead of trashing everything Nintendo does for not leaping into your dreams and making them a reality lets give it a bit of time to settle in and through updates (just as PS3 and 360) they will hopefully get this system into a nice form. It isn't horrid as it is right now, the MiiVerse is actually pretty neat and at least the online service is free. If by this time next year there have been no noticeable improvements then we can commence calling the Wii U a failure. The people on here that are wishing Nintendo would fail and resort to only maing software need to think about the loss of jobs that would create. I want Nintendo to succeed just as I want Microsoft and Sony to. Parity in the market is a good thing sp be more positive and less negative.

@laserbolts:

But this is the second generation in a row they have done that. Sure, the Wii had motion controls, but the technical specs and online features were on par with or in some cases worse than the original xbox.

@mosespippy said:

@HerbieBug said:

@SmilingPig said:

One word... Dreamcast!

...but the Dreamcast was actually a pretty solid console. Just came out at the wrong time.

The WiiU came out at the wrong time as well. If it had come out in 2007 it would have been the shit. Instead, it is shit.

My point was that the Dreamcast was a perfectly functional system. It did not have the critical design flaws that the Wuu has shown at launch.

I really like the Wii U as is and there are some gripes I have with it, no question about it. The biggest blunder Nintendo made is not explaining clearly enough on what it is. When people think the Wii U is a Wii accessory, you've got a problem that was avoidable.

People need to realize that Nintendo refreshes their hardware 20% faster than the competition. Next hardware cycle is poised to land RIGHT in the middle of the NXB/NPS hardware cycles.

It's two years shorter. 6 years compared to 8. Check it out: the Wii launched one year later than the Xbox, and will now have launched at LEAST one full year before the next xBox. Assuming another 8 year lifecycle, the Wii U's successor will hit market sometime around year 5. "THAT'S STILL LATE" you say... well, imagine a new console back in 2010. Would've been nice.

$0.02

Oh, and stay classy re: wishing the death of nintendo as it exists.

@MX said:

Think about it this way, before the arrival of the abillity to watch video on the internet, you had to stay up really late to catch some hot steamy action, if you wanted to view the naughty music video's on MTV you had to stay up late. I think Nintendo really misses those times and decided to recreate them in their console.

sounds like something Patrick would say

#apologist

I would say No Achievements personally.

I can't be sure. I thought it was that you couldn't save games to SD cards from the Wii U side, but instead only to internal storage or USB drives.

Then I thought it was that your Wii U account is permanently tied to one console.

Now I'm pretty sure it's the 11P to 3A thing.

But who really can tell? They're blowing this really badly, that's for sure.

Wait, maybe it's trying to create an entire ad campaign to convince people that when gaming in a group, it makes sense that one person should have a controller with a display while the other 4 should have a wand without even an analog joystick.

Or maybe it's making a controller where the batteries only last 3 hours and you can't swap them nor buy another (yet, later you'll be able to at a ridiculous price).