Last week I attended Nintendo’s Wii U Holiday Showcase event and sat down with their Canada spokesman, Matt Ryan, old acquaintance that some of you may know from his involvement with Destiny Productions.
In case you don’t know, or have been living under a NES, the Wii U is Nintendo’s re-entry into the core gamer market of 16-35 year old males. Despite what Nintendo might argue, their approach doesn’t have much at all to do with the original Wii. They have finally made a processor that can allow for 1080 p HD graphics and have created a gaming experience that revolves around a super crazy awesome HD tablet/gaming remote device that allows for new ways to interact with the game, or even take the game with you if the TV is needed. Another telltale sign of arcade integration is the optional 8-button style controllers seen on other systems.
While Nintendo stresses they have not forgotten about their 5-95 age bracket, I am crazy excited for this new jump in Nintendo’s evolution with games like Assassins ZombieU, Call Of Duty: Black Ops II and the racy gorefest (feat. Ayane as a playable character from DOA with a massage/ambush attack, so you can imagine what that might entail) that is Ninja Gaiden III: Razor’s Edge. Not since the SNES have I seen a Nintendo console that will have me back in the (cannon) seat, firing away with glee.
Shipwrckd: So tell me about the Wii U.
Matt Ryan: Wii U is the next innovation from Nintendo, we are al about innovation. It’s about the U game pad, an integrated second screen for asymmetric game play that gives you another window to peer into your gaming realm that’s also happening on your TV. It can offer a different perspective, a different view; it can be a way to access your weapons, items, and menus. It can literally have a different angle view, either top down or straight on. It can be a competitive advantage, a competitive disadvantage. It’s a new toy in the toy box for a developer to have this 2nd screen that will react in real-time while playing the game on the TV.
Some games using the gamepad, you might not look at the screen at all, as you’ll see in Nintendo Land’s mini-games like the ghost hunt, Mario chase. Some games like Mario U, you can literally pull the game off of the TV and continue on the pad if they want to watch a movie or watch the TV. That’s not for all games; it’s up to the developer to build it that way. The gaming console is backwards compatible with all the Wii games and accessories like the nun chucks, balance board etc. You don’t have to buy all them again.
In terms of user accounts, we are moving to an account based, rather than hardware based system, all the Wii ware and virtual console purchases can be moved over to the U. you can also move your Miis over.
Shipwrckd: What does moving away from the Wii Remote and nun chuck represent?
Matt Ryan: I don’t think we are.
Shipwrckd: But it seems more based around the new pad.
Matt Ryan: I don’t think we are moving away from it at all. The idea is that we are making multiplayer games where some users can use the remote and nun chuck combo; others can use the Wii U game pad. It’s a transition of accessories slightly, but it’s a leap forwards as a console because it’s got more than the Wii U gamepad. It’s got HD for a leveled playing field, higher processing power. The Wii U gamepad is an integral part of the game play that we want to show off in this leap forwards, and a different way to play your games. But we want the experience with Wii remotes, Wii remote pluses, and nun chucks, still to be great. Depending on the developer builds on what is the experience, there are tonnes of options. The Wii U game pad is just a toy to add to the experience.
I would argue that we are not moving away from the Wii remote and nun chuck and if anything, developers have learned to perfect those controllers and we’re moving into another generation of consoles where that perfection will just make better games and experiences.
Shipwrckd: But the games aren’t built to be immersive experience as they are with the nunchcuk.
Matt Ryan: That’s true. I would say that games are being developed with the Wii U gamepad in mind, first as that new innovation. And I guess your argument is that with Wii , it was all about the Wii game remote. So I guess we are digressing slightly away from the Wii remote as the hero controller and I definitely agree with that but we are not fully moving away from it.
Is that a Nintendo strategy? Was the Wii Remote too out there and now they are going for a more traditional route as a recipe for success with the core gamer market?
Matt Ryan: I think we are doing something very unique that no one else is doing. The new gamepad is built specifically to work with the Wii U and you can’t take the gamepad with you on the go, it’s not a portable gaming device, it’s wireless, you can walk around the room with it. but the idea that the two are built together is totally unique, so I will definitely argue with that. The focal point of the main controller as the game pad is true, but some gamers will prefer to use the Wii U pro controller because of what it offers. There are lots of different options to play and it’s up to the developers to make those experiences.
Shipwrckd: So the age is skewed higher than the original Wii?
Matt Ryan: We are leveling up the caliber of games, which is what the core gamer is looking for. Like in Ninja Gaiden III: Razor’s Edge which is quite gory, had some racy content and dismemberment, and a lot of blood. We want to make sure that we are delivering to the core, the experiences that they are looking for. You’ll also see it in ZombiU by Ubisoft. There’s a new IP coming exclusively for Wii U with some pretty gross, pretty terrifying first person shooters like ZombiU. Activision is coming to the table by giving us a great version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II which has some enhancements, so we are definitely leveling up the age category. But we’re not forgetting about our 5-95 target group from Wii because there are games like Nintendo Land that is safe for anyone, or Scribblenauts Unlimited, Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2. We have something for everyone and now there’s more for the core gamer, and there’s no doubt that they’ll be super happy about that. And now that we have a level playing field, there are going to be games that come through the pipe like Assassins Creed III that will be available in multiplatform.
Since we are in HD and have a higher processing power than Wii , it’s great. So now you have to make your decision. Which system are you going to play on. And we are pushing our developers to create Wii U exclusive experiences with the game pad, the type of content that you’re going to get.
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