Five Wii U Issues You May Have Not Considered
by Benjamin Yoder, posted on 12 July 2011 / 20,341 Views
The Wii U has the potential to shake up the industry again with an all new way to play on a home console. But while many sit around wondering about what the new controller can achieve and how their favorite Nintendo franchises will look in HD, it's easy to overlook some of the issues the system may present. Potential problems like system specs and online functions have already been discussed at length by many, including us. But what about some of the smaller issues. Let's take a look at some issues that are unlikely to be a huge factor when purchasing, but may cause a bit frustration to those who pick up the Wii U.
You Still Need AA Batteries
The Wii U controller runs off a rechargeable battery. Right off the bat you would think, “Finally, Nintendo is offering a rechargeable controller so I don't have to buy anymore!” Wrong! Due to costs and possibly technical limitations, Nintendo is planning on building software based around a single Wii U controller. So when local multiplayer comes around, it's back to the Wii Remote and nun-chuck for at least one player. What do those use? AA batteries, of course! There are alternatives, but nothing official from Nintendo. I personally find third party accessories questionable in terms of quality, but they're out there.
Parents Will Hate It
Parents will love the ability for their kids to take the gaming experience off the TV onto the controller. What they won't love is that the Wii U software will be built with only one Wii U controller in mind. If you have multiple children, you can only imagine how quickly kids will start tugging the controller out of each other' hands. If there is only one of something, kids will inevitably fight over it. Their loud and annoying cries will become a headache fast. Then parent will need to go in to break up the conflict, or just let it play itself out while the kids shout and scream at each other.
Super Smash Bros. Will Never Be the Same
If you didn't hear at E3, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will be starting development after Kid Icarus: Uprising is complete. Exciting, right? Unfortunately, there is one issue. The Wii U has dropped all Gamecube support, so no more Gamecube controllers. It's a controller that has felt perfect for the series and fans have been using it since Melee launched in 2001. The Wii offered alternative options, like the lone Wii Remote, Wii Remote plus Nunchuck and the Classic Controller, but none of them ever felt as natural and comfortable as the Gamecube controller. It's hard to say how the Wii U controller will hold up for Super Smash Bros. But with only one Wii U controller, at least three people will be stuck using Wii controllers.
Kids Will Hate Their Parents
Parents won't be the only ones who will be frustrated by other members of their household. Kids may be as well. It's hard to say what the reach of the Wii U's controller will be, as Nintendo isn't giving any concrete details yet. But if it is anything like the Wii Remote, you can probably go at least a room or two away from the system without much of a problem. So a kid could essentially wander off with the Wii U controller to a certain extent, but would have to leave the console on. If a parent comes in, notices it turned on and then turns it off assuming the child was done, it could lead to lost progress, or worse, save data corruption if caught during a save. You can always just grab a sticky note and put “do not turn off” on it, and place it on the system.
No Built-In Harddrive
The Wii U, like the Wii, will include internal flash memory. Thankfully, if space is a problem, Nintendo is claiming plans for external hard drive support via USB. Considering that's an optional piece of hardware for your system, Nintendo is going to act as if you only have the flash memory. That means, depending on what size we're given, it could limit the file sizes of the ever-growing downloadable market. WiiWare's size limits has already kept software like Super Meat Boy off service. If retail games on demand ever pick-up speed on the console side, there's little chance Nintendo's flash memory will be able to hold two potentially 25Gb games on flash memory alone, or even one game for that matter.
Again, these aren't exactly system breaking issues we were looking at. Just ones that might cause inconvenience to the consumer or, in the case of the flash memory, inconvenience to the developer. Of course, system specs aren't set in stone right now, so we may see changes before the Wii U's launch. But as for right now, these issues may be present.
