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[The Monster King]

that's what they are saying on some interview. like many people have said, it sort of misses the point.

[DavidCaruso]

With a touch screen, we're kind of at the mercy of whatever UI the game devs make.  How do we know where we'll decide to put the button to pause the game?  Will it be in the top-right?  Bottom-left?  Upper-middle?  It's a bit of convenience that we'll have to sacrifice, because given a giant screen to work with devs have the potential to make a completely new control layout for each game.

Before E3, when rumors were going around about the WiiU's touch screen, I was actually thinking this would be a great idea for devs to implement game-specific UIs on the touchscreen, and even let users move around buttons and all to their preference (with a standard default template). But that was when rumors were going around about the controller having extremely good haptic feedback (meaning the biggest problem with touch-screen based systems, the lack of physical response, could be mitigated somewhat), and when I thought the controller would just literally be a compact 5-inch touchscreen and a Home button instead of what we got.

Something to worry about moreso is how much the controllers are going to cost.  It seems like each one has more tech in it than a DS.  I thought paying sixty dollars for a 360 controller was painful, but, I can only imagine how much purchasing another would cost.  

Oh yeah there's some real extreme retardry there too. The controllers will cost as much as the consoles. This is because apparently the controller will not be sold separately from the console. In other words if I want to play multiplayer videogames I either have to buy 4 WiiU consoles or hope that all my friends have a WiiU and can bring their controllers over.

[Samtagonist]

In other words if I want to play multiplayer videogames I either have to buy 4 WiiU consoles or hope that all my friends have a WiiU and can bring their controllers over.

In before some garbage about how the Wii was about 'we' coming together and playing games and the Wii U is about 'you' or something. 

[C.A. Sinner]

Oh yeah there's some real extreme retardry there too. The controllers will cost as much as the consoles. This is because apparently the controller will not be sold separately from the console. In other words if I want to play multiplayer videogames I either have to buy 4 WiiU consoles or hope that all my friends have a WiiU and can bring their controllers over.

You can only use one tablet controller per console, so even that won't help. In local multiplayer, one player uses the tablet and the others use Wiimotes(?).

I think one way it could be improved would be making the screen smaller, reducing the controller approximately the size of a DS (maybe slightly bigger) and of course allowing multiple Wii U controllers in local MP. That'd be like the GBA/Gamecube connectivity thing but done right, which is what I initially thought it was gonna be.

The way it is now, it kinda seems like a jumbled mess of random features whose main point is being flashy and gimmicky and attracting the sort of crowd easily impressed by "trendy" tech gadgets, kinda like the 3DS's 3D feature.

[DavidCaruso]

How to reduce WiiU controller price while retaining the features everyone cares about anyway: remove camera and mic.

Actually uh I'll probably think this is retarded after I finish typing it, but is there any real problem with ditching the gyroscope and accelerometer for backwards compatibility with Wii games and just using stylus strokes across the touch screen in stead of motion control? Swinging around a tablet would look and feel even worse than original Wii.

EDIT: oh yeah the "hold controller up to screen" thing. Though I doubt that really needs as precise equipment as regular motion control.

[C.A. Sinner]

It supports Wiimotes anyway, so no real need. 

[shig]

i'd be a lot more optimistic about this whole controller thing if it were built as part of an arcade cabinet instead of a regular videogame console.

[SirNiko]

My impression of the one-tablet-per-console thing was to precisely get away from having to buy multiple copies to play games. Nintendo got burned on the Zelda Four-Sword debacle for the Wii, since it was a hot game that demanded a huge hardware investment to play. They may be playing it safe, and that's a decision I can understand and support.

Really, though, the smart thing would be to allow the use of a DS as a controller for most games. Virtually every WiiU owner will have at least one, possibly two if they bought a DSi or 3DS, and then if they have a friend come over that makes three. Without the need for those goofy connector cables, you could pretty easily reach the player limit without investing in new hardware, I suspect.

[C.A. Sinner]

They could remove some features from the tablets (like other people suggested) to make them more affordable. I don't see a good reason why they would absolutely NEED cameras or microphones for instance. Or why they couldn't make the screen a bit smaller.

[mirosurabu]

With a controller, you have a very nice convenience of familiarizing yourself with a layout that translates from game to game.  What I'm trying to say is, you'll always know where the A button is on a controller regardless of if it makes you jump in Game A or if it makes you shoot in Game B.  If the game prompts you to press the A button, you know where it is.

Yup, that's a valid concern. Though, PC games don't have standardized layout and PC gamers (both casual and hardcore) get pretty nicely with that.

I don't know.

The way it is now, it kinda seems like a jumbled mess of random features whose main point is being flashy and gimmicky and attracting the sort of crowd easily impressed by "trendy" tech gadgets, kinda like the 3DS's 3D feature.

Sadly, that's how business works.

[BlueSweatshirt]

They could remove some features from the tablets (like other people suggested) to make them more affordable. I don't see a good reason why they would absolutely NEED cameras or microphones for instance. Or why they couldn't make the screen a bit smaller.

It's possible that they included those to ensure connectivity to the 3DS. I recall Nintendo mentioning something about both of those devices working together for games or something. So I'd assume that's why, or perhaps at least part of the reasoning.

[Danmark]

How to reduce WiiU controller price while retaining the features everyone cares about anyway: remove camera and mic.

AFAIK the cost of shit-tier cameras and microphones is basically negligible compared to small LCDs.

Anyway, none of this seems like a big deal to me. Nintendo releases new, overpriced hardware, packed with gimmicks of suspect functionality. Perhaps ten good games are released over the machine's lifespan, of which one or two actually make good use of the hardware. Nonetheless, ever-loyal fanboys, soccer moms, and hipsters love it. The world keeps turning.

[Anarkex]

i'd be a lot more optimistic about this whole controller thing if it were built as part of an arcade cabinet instead of a regular videogame console.

Close enough?

[Snow]

Unless this was mentioned, it would be interesting to play separate individual games on the controllers - so you could use them temporarily like a handheld console. Then when everyone got bored of 1 game, they could all play different games for a while. Another cool thing would be if you had muliplayer games being played on the controller and use the tv as a map or show progress of all players. This could be interesting.

[swordofkings128]

Man what the hell is wrong with just a regular freakin' controller with regular ass buttons on it. please ms/sony, make a console that goes back to the basics!

oh well. As long as the new Halo trilogy doesn't have motion controls, I'll be a happy camper.