Simple question, state its name and why based on Gameplay, Technical/implementation details (if any) , the effect it has had on you or your friends and any lessons for devs and/or Nintendo if any. I'll start.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted U
Gameplay
This game is amazing guys, it really is. I love the way the cars handle. I kept crashing into things every 5 seconds when I first got the game, but after a while you get a hang of it, and "it" feels great. It can be quite frustrating when you over or under shoot a sharp turn but the racing is tight and satisfying. There's a very small difference between the handling of cars, particularly as you upgrade them but they still manage to feel unique. I'm a solo player so haven't used co-driver mode to its fullest but switching day night cycles and turning off traffic during speed runs is a welcome addition.
I also love autolog and besting most of you guys on my friends list :p The autolog alerts are a nice distraction and I still find random cars throughout the city. P.S. "Import Duty" is one of the best circuit routes I've experienced in any racing game lately.
The city itself is nicely designed and great to explore, not as good as Paradise City but damn good regardless.
Technical/Implementation
I think this is the ONLY game that bothers to use WiiUs RAM for PC grade textures and improved lighting, and it shows (more on that later). It doesn't chug at less than 30 fps unlike most 3rd party games *ugh*. The game just looks and feels great. I was and still am really, really upset that Rivals didn't make it over. Interesting that an EA studio is the only one that bothered to use the systems power. Mass Effect 3 on PC didn't have better textures either so it gets a free pass in that regard. If that "unprecedented support" didn't fall through we could have had great versions of Fifa, Madsden et al *sigh*. And no, I don't blame EA, I blame Nintendo (more on that later).
Effect
Apart from being my favorite 3rd party game, it has won the "respect" of my friends. Yes, upon seeing this for the first time my dude bros were like "Wow, I didn't know the Wii U could look this good". They were actually eager to play it (and Tekken, spamming attacks with the gamepad). They were not so eager for Nintendoland or Rayman, they only joined in for the Ninja stars game. These are guys that love Fifa, CoD and Army of Two btw.
Why do I cite this? Nintendo has a huge demographic problem around here, I gather everywhere based on fairly poor 3rd party sales of multiplats since the GameCube days. I'm one the few Wii U owners who won't hesitate to say that graphics actually do matter. So does perception, it matters a lot, almost more. As great as Super Mario Land plays and looks for example, I'd be embarrassed to leave its cat suit box art lying around when the guys come over. Hell Id be embarrassed to use the damn cat suit with anyone other than family and really, REALLY close friends watching. "Grow up" . "Don't be so insecure". Yeah whatever, sue me :p Along with Zombi U this game and others like it can sway the mainstream core gamers to actually give the system a chance. The Playstation, Playstation2 and Dreamcast managed to balance Kiddy and Mature REALLY well, I'd love for that to happen on the Wii U.
Lessons for devs and/or Nintendo
Nintendo, fix your relationship with EA. They are simply too big to ignore and they cater to many demographics that made a lot of systems successful. Not having Fifa on the system for example, especially in Europe is just f@#king ridiculous. Not having Madden in the states, not so clever. Most yearly dude bro games are best played in local multiplayer and missing some of the best 3rd party local coop games on the system is just dumb.
Like I said earlier I'm really, REALLY pissed about Rivals, and would gladly have purchased it for Wii U over PC, even though I have a 7870HD that could run that baby at 1080p60fps.
And Nintendo, would it kill you to try push any of these games the way Sony and MS pushes timed DLC or extra content. Would it really kill you!? Yes I'm ranting about sales here. This game and the Wii U itself deserve much better.
The original Wii was great because of Nintendo games AND good third party efforts, weather multiplat or exclusive. Currently the sales of the Wii U is putting both in jeopardy. And Nintendo's usually smug attitude towards the 3rd parties will NOT help. It will NOT be good for us consumers as well. At least I don't see how that can be good.
EA, is a business. I don't have to say anything. They would be here if they could make large sums of money. It's up to Nintendo to push more units out there and encourage developers to make the jump. The power of the system is also factor, some games simply won't come over because of that. Another thing I blame Ninty for but what's done is done.
That's me, what's yours?
I predict that the Wii U will sell a total of 18 million units in its lifetime.
The NX will be a 900p machine
