Thoughts on the Wii U

Since not all the information is available on the Xbox One or the PS4, I can't fully judge what they have to offer, but from what they have shown, I don't see anything really they're offering that really changes how games will be made.  Prettier graphics, more advanced motion controls I don't want that will be foisted upon me, and (so far) no games I have any interest in.  This made me feel even better about my purchase of the Wii U because the Wii U actually offers something new and unique to game designers to play with - a secret screen for only one player to see.

So far I have only played Nintendo Land and that for only one evening with a group of friends, so it's still mostly about the potential of the Wii U than anything concrete, but what I have seen so far has amazed me.  Three minigames of Nintendo Land, all with a similar premise: one player with the Gamepad containing extra information not available to the other players vs. four other players who really must work as a team to defeat the solo player.  In one game, the four are trying to catch the one, in the other two, the one is trying to catch the four.  This is precisely what I love about the Wii U's new game possibilities - the ability to have players having different experiences with the same game.  Nintendo originally had this same mechanic with the Game Boy Advance connecting with the Gamecube in Zelda Four Swords and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.  The downside of those was that you had to have friends who each had not only their own GBA, but also the cable that connects the GBA to the Gamecube.  With the Wii U, I can have all the various gadgets needed and my friends merely need to bring their wonderful smiles.  Of course, the battery life on the gamepad is pretty poor, but it looks like (hopefully) that won't be an issue much longer.

I look forward to when more games come out and I can see how the Wii U works for single player experiences.  This has really been the reason the Wii U hasn't been doing well (and why the 3DS had such a slow start), but with all the announcements of things coming out starting in August (hooray Pikmin 3!), that shouldn't be a problem much longer.  We'll see what Sony and Microsoft have to offer at E3 in a couple weeks, but at this point, I feel like they'd have to offer quite a bit to get my interest (especially Microsoft).