By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Soundwave on 25 October 2013
Edit Thread
RolStoppable said:
Arius Dion said:

Bold 1: Very true, I'm starting to believe 'the old gaurd'  is doing more harm than good for the company at large.

Bolded 2: Is the Gamepad needed for every game or every aspect of the OS? Would it be possible to patch it so it work with a Wiimote or Pro Controller?  Thinking about it, it may be a lot of work involved, but it'd be worth it. This Gamepad hodge podge of everything Nintendo repudiated with the Wii is nothing more than an albatross as far as I'm concerned. History converts more people than critics.

The Gamepad is required for the eShop and Miiverse, although that could be changed with patches. Games that don't require the Gamepad can already be started and played without ever touching the Gamepad, meaning the console doesn't bother you with a message when the Gamepad's battery is dead. A game like Pikmin 3 could be fixed with a patch, because even if you play with Wiimote/Nunchuk, the Gamepad still needs to connect to the console constantly. There's no solution for a game like Nintendo Land though.

I am not sure if all the patchwork would be worth it, because what does it matter, if Nintendo is (largely) unwilling to make Wiimote games? By the time those games can come out, the hardware price (including the Gamepad) wouldn't be that much of a problem anymore anyway. Besides, I don't think the Wii U can be really fixed any way you slice it. The problems the system is facing are too big and Nintendo simply wasn't prepared for such a reality. So for the next few years it comes down to damage control and only the next generation console can truly fix what went wrong this generation.


Perhaps Nintendo just needs to ditch the "controller can sell a system!" concept ... the Wiimote was a miracle, the type of thing that happens maybe once every 20-30 years in this business. Another Wiimote (motion gaming) type break through probably isn't happening for a while. I guess there's Occulus Rift/VR but Sony is already incorporating that into the PS4 apparently.