Surviving the dead: a review of ZombiU

No one seems to be interested in that sale back there.

The thick shadows press down on your field of vision. The flashlight is running out of batteries, and that means that even if you turn it on you'll only have a few seconds of bright relief before being thrown back into the inky blackness. Their heavy breathing can be heard practically all around you and the radar on your Prepper Pad is sounding off multiple targets so quickly that it is almost mimicking your heartbeat.

No more bullets, one medical pack, a candy bar and the trusty cricket bat that was given at the beginning of your long trek into the dingy London Underground. Hardly an arsenal. How much longer can you hold out against the pressing darkness and the thought of the fiends shambling towards you, invisible, before you crack and run back the way you came? Or how much longer before one of them sneaks up behind you in your moment of indecision and panic and ends it altogether?


"ZombiU" really throws you hard into the survivor role. It never lets up, never gives you a break and sure as hell never stops. All that sounds like the game is full of sprinting undead, like those of "Left 4 Dead." No, I'm talking about the speed of your heart and your thought process. The dead in Ubisoft's new game don't move that fast, but that slow gait makes for a tension that riles you up.

As you see them approach, you mentally gauge the distance between you and them, whether or not your bat can reach them or not. Are they too far away for the bat? Do you have time to switch to your gun? Do you have enough bullets in it? How good of a shot are you to put them down quickly? All of these questions run through a player's mind, all the while the zombies continue to move towards you.

Not only are items and inventory a worry when fighting the enemy, but health and damage must be monitored as well. There are really very few hits that a player can take from the zombies before they are food. Not only that, but a player can die instantaneously if the zombies are too close and grapple them.

This insta-death spawns you as another survivor who has been drawn in by the mysterious Prepper, a man who is bent on finding ways to survive the apocalypse and full of theories as to how it happened. This serves two-fold, though. The ability to lose your survivor so easily means that the attachment the player places on the character can either draw them to be reckless and take many risks or be severely cautious.

Knowing that if the survivor dies the new character can kill the previous's risen corpse and retrieve the lost loot seems to give the player a bitter-sweet taste, knowing that not all survive in these scenarios, but if you do for so long you feel extremely proud of yourself and accomplished.

It's scary when those fuzzy hat guys actually move, isn't it?

There's something to be said for a first-person perspective in a game like this. "Dead Island" had a more fast paced and open feel to it, so the player was able to take in the scope of their surroundings and plan out how they would tackle a situation. Of course, there are times when close-quarters combat happens, which is more the style of "ZombiU."

Enclosed spaces in apartments, the London Underground, a supermarket and on and on. There are very few places where the player can move back and regroup away from the oncoming hordes. Not only that, but the limited perspective heightens tension and freaks me out to no end in all honesty.

How does this compare to games like "Resident Evil?" Well the open field of vision allows for more zombies to be in the area, giving the player larger numbers to deal with. It helps that the game also gives the player much more ammo and firepower to deal with the hostile forces. "Left 4 Dead" does a similar thing, though their weapons and ammo are much more powerful and plentiful to compensate for the first-person perspective.

"ZombiU" is a solid game. With or without the story it has some very well put together mechanics, decent graphics and works well in compatibility with the Wii U gamepad. The survival gameplay is well done and many will find it enjoyable. There are some clipping issues, some confusion with how to read the radar and it did in fact freeze on me twice while playing. Sometimes the player will get lost or not know how to get to certain locations without a little help from outside sources.

All in all, the game is a 7 out of 10. An excellent launch title for the Wii U, lacking in some qualities but performing admirably when creating an environment of fear and tension. A very well-done zombie game.

Wii U sales after the first month

Seems a little cumbersome, right?

As of last month, around four hundred and fifty thousand Wii U consoles were purchased in the United States, with forty thousand units sold in the United Kingdom during the opening weekend alone. In just one month, and not even a whole month mind you, the newest console by Nintendo has sold almost a quarter of what the PS Vita's cumulative sales were in October. Just two months ago.

Not only that, but the website MCVUK.com has stated that the software attach rate for the Wii U is 2:1, giving it a higher rate than the PS Vita in another area. The GfK Chart-Track, which monitors the sales of video, music, and software through retailers, states that 60% of sales in the UK are the 32GB console, 30% are the "ZombiU" bundle console, and 10% are the 8GB console. With that being said, one need only look at the reviews of the system from globally recognized sites like Kotaku, IGN and even G4 to see that reviewers and industry buffs are impressed with the system.

While it may still lack certain features that many gamers have come to expect, the hardware itself may take some getting used to and the update download times are almost mind-bogglingly slow, consumers are warming up to the new console.

The tablet-style controller, of course, is the most unique feature and one that most people are curious about working out well enough for them actually play games with. Opinions here vary from "works well," "takes a while to figure out" and "gosh, I hate this thing." Thankfully, the system allows for Wii-mote and classic controller peripherals which can be used to adapt to the style of play for the owner. Choosing to use controllers other than the Gamepad means that some of the features in games requiring a touch pad are inaccessible.

One gimmick that has many people singing the Wii U's praises has been the ability to play full console games on the tablet while another person uses the television. Stories abound on Twitter illustrating ways in which gaming couples are able to share the same space finally and game at the same time in the same room. Kids are able to play while their parents watch TV and families are no longer divided to gaming rooms and living rooms.

If the Wii U did one thing right, it was this feature. Changing the entire atmosphere of the gaming room not only changes the way gaming is viewed, but it changes gaming to a more social enterprise without having to include many other people in the experience. In the past, a social experience was a party game or multiplayer. Now a gamer can lounge on the couch with their significant other as they watch their favorite show or play their own system, Wii U still plugging away.

Now, mobile and handheld gaming systems have been able to provide this experience for years. However, the quality of game has often not been on par with console gaming experiences, contrary to the PS Vita's tagline and sales. Gamers don't want to play "on-the-go" games at home unless, it seems, it's "Pokemon" or "Final Fantasy." Other than that, if they are at home, they'd rather play a title like "Mass Effect" or "Call of Duty."

You can't go wrong with basic black, it seems.

What does this mean for Nintendo? Well, they have continued their trend of creating a system or technology that raises the bar for their competition. I expect we'll see more streamlined, complex and sophisticated versions of the Wii U gaming pad in the future. But by that time I expect Nintendo will have announced another new technology like they always do when their competition catches up to their latest innovation.

Wii U: too much money and too many promises?

Look! Shiny...

I know it was last month when this information came out, but it bears discussion. The Wii U's launch line-up has been announced and so has the price tag.

For $300 you get the Wii U console with an 8 GB hard drive and a gamepad. The $350 Premium Bundle comes with a console, a controller, an HDMI cable, power cradles for your gamepad, a 32 GB HDD and a subscription to Nintendo Network Premium, which offers 10% discounts on downloadable software, according to G4's article.

Not only that, but the system launch date has also been revealed. November 18th, 2012 will be what I call "The Big Show." Nintendo will have to put up or shut up at this point, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how it's going to do.

After playing with the Wii U twice, at PAX and E3, I've decided that I rather like the system. I've enjoyed everything I've played on it, and I admit that the novelty of playing on a controller directly is appealing since I live in a home where the TV is used by multiple people.

But, the entire industry isn't enamored with the system. They might be impressed, but some are still skeptical.

Check out this quote from Adam Sessler that was strung out over several of his tweets during September following the announcements about the Wii U:

"The novelty of playing on the gamepad screen is way too overstated. This 'assurance' on the launch line-up is deadly. This is their chance to make the best case for themselves. If they were so willing to show a substance-free trailer for 'Bayonetta 2' why not do the same for Zelda? Right now their best angle with the hardcore are promises, they needed more. The pricing makes the casual market much harder. I realize they didn't price the gamepad stand-alone. But is there any reason to have a second one? To clarify: I have great affection for Nintendo. my observations come from a place of concern. $350 is a fine price for core gamers, but Nintendo isn't making a strong case."

To an extent, he's correct. The price tag is high, even for Nintendo, which flaunted it's $250 price tag years ago with the Wii. That was part of the selling point and the mass appeal of the system.

If they are going to promise good things for hardcore gamers, they are digging themselves into a hole if they don't deliver after launch. Take a look at the titles that are slotted for release:

• 007 Legends
• Aliens: Colonial Marines
• Assassin's Creed 3
• Batman: Arkham City - Armored Edition
• Ben 10: Omniverse
• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2013
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II
• Darksiders 2
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two
• EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• Funky Barn
• Game & Wario
• Game Party Champions
• Jeopardy
• Jett Tailfin
• Just Dance 4
• Lego City Undercover
• Madden NFL 13
• Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
• Mass Effect 3
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
• Nano Assault Neo
• NBA 2K13
• New Super Mario Bros. U
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
• Nintendo Land
• Pikmin 3
• Rabbids Land
• Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
• Rayman Legends
• Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game
• Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• Scribblenauts Unlimited
• Sing Party
• Skylanders Giants
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
• Sports Connection
• Tank! Tank! Tank!
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• Toki Tori 2
• Transformers Prime
• Trine 2 Director's Cut
• Warrios Orochi 3 Hyper
• Wheel of Fortune
• Wii Fit U
• WipeOut 3
• The Wonderful 101
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved
• ZombiU
• Zumba Fitness Core 

That's a lot of games. Even for Nintendo. If you remember the Wii release, there were hardly any games to choose from. It seems like they're trying to pull out all of the stops to get hype for the system, especially since Sony and Microsoft are still behind on releasing their next-gen consoles.

The speed at which Nintendo is doing this could hurt them in the end. There's nothing wrong with perfecting things so that they perform well at launch.

What do you think about the launch titles and the price tag? Is this Nintendo's way of competing against the hardcore market that Sony and Microsoft have taken from them so long ago? Or is this a literal cost-of-living adjustment for Nintendo considering the amount of new tech and work they've put into the system and games?

Well those price tags are bright enough, but are they too high?

Hands on ZombiU

Aim for the head!

Ubisoft’s Wii U title that has been passed around and casually looked at by press and gamers is something of a mystery. At this year’s E3, I was able to watch some people play a mode of the game where a single player fought hordes of zombies that came in waves as they held a point down. What I got to experience first hand at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend was an entirely different story.

Jumping into the shoes of a survivor, I had to escape Buckingham Palace and survive the zombie hordes within. Inside, I had to scrounge for ammo to go with my handgun and the Royal Guard carbine that I had looted off the ground. The people at the demo booth told me that the game relies heavily on survival and tactical instincts, making you really conserve your ammo and get down and dirty with the zombies if you have to.

That made sense as I only had eight rounds for my pistol and three rounds for my carbine. But what I did have was an unlimited supply of skull bashings thanks to my handy-dandy cricket bat. Very “Shaun of the Dead” if you ask me. And like Shaun, I aimed for the head and cracked a few zombies in the skull a few times to make sure they were good and double-dead.

That's pretty much how it looks when you play the game.

The game’s menu is on the Wii U gamepad, so instead of having to press pause, you just look down and slide the inventory in to view, and the game on the screen pauses while you rummage through your pack to figure out what you want to use or discard. Now, this is a really interesting use of the gamepad and I actually liked it. What was hard was that the mini-map was down there as well, and having to look at my hands while also running on the screen was a little difficult. Especially when little red blips show up on it to tell you where zombies are and you don’t immediately look at the controller to see if there’s danger. It’s going to take a lot for gamers to get used to that on Nintendo’s new system.

The graphics were good. They were passable for current-gen systems but nothing too impressive for a next-gen machine. I suppose that’s actually a compliment for a Nintendo console as they’ve never been the most graphically-intensive machines on the market. Often times, if you crack a shot off at a zombie’s head, you might actually give them a real close haircut and expose their brain.

Zombie John!

Something fun was that when I actually died in the demo, I was put in the place of another survivor and I actually encountered my past-self in game as a zombie. When I killed that version of me, I could loot myself and get all of my previous items back. That kind of reminded me of the old "Diablo II" mechanic where you could loot your corpse. Something fun they were doing at the booth was also allowing you to use the camera on the Wii U to zombify yourself and I was told that you could even put zombie-you in "ZombiU."

All in all I think that “ZombiU” might present an interesting experience for a title on the Wii U. The game isn’t anything new, but it utilizes enough of the technology available in the system for it to be somewhat interesting to people who pick it up for the first time. I’m equating it to “Red Steel.” Hopefully it is much more refined and well executed than the other Ubisoft flop. Keep your eyes out for this game to come out Dec. 31.

Will U buy Wii U?

I’m not sure if that whole “full-disclosure” thing applies to me or not, but I must admit that I’m a bit of a Nintendo fanboy. Plain and simple. I’m probably going to be getting the Wii U when it comes out. I mean, seriously, who can resist swinging the sword around a few times in "Zelda" or totally pwning your friends in "Super Smash Bros." every once in awhile?

Moving past that, I can still see that Nintendo is in a very vulnerable position right now with the release of their next-gen console. I went to Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year, and what I saw wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring. Immediately after the presentation I booked it over to the Nintendo booth on the show floor and played almost all of the demos available (yes, even Wii Fit U with the ridiculously fit staff members there yelling at you to "squat lower!”).

Some of what I saw on the floor, namely "Takamaru’s Ninja Castle," "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day," and "Luigi’s Ghost Mansion," were quite fun to play and are the mini games that are going to help sell "Nintendo Land" and the console.

The accuracy of my ninja stars using the Wii U GamePad was ridiculous, and the flat out fun that resulted from pitting several players against one single opponent were concepts that aren’t seen or just not well executed on other consoles.

Other demos like "Pikmin 3" and "Just Dance" were either too similar to their predecessor or were just not as good as their Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 alternatives.

Also absent from the floor were games for players who like to, well, play video games using a standard controller. Even with a couple of exceptions ("Assassin’s Creed III," "Mass Effect 3") there is not enough software availability to prevent anyone other than the casual gamer from jumping ship to Microsoft or Sony.

Gamers who aren’t fans of Nintendo’s overly-saturated, colorful games are not going to suddenly flock back because of the announced Wii U Pro Controller. But does Nintendo want to appeal to this type of gamer right now?

It's like a theme park without the sweating and lines.

From someone who loves seeing products evolve instead of simply upgrade, I applaud Nintendo for the advances that they’ve made with their hardware and some of their software. The Wii U platform has given developers a memo that says, “Go forth and develop!

Many of the feelings of inadequacy felt by visitors of the Nintendo conference are due to the fact that the games that are going to excite them and reinvigorate their trust in Nintendo have not even been shown yet. Instead of encouraging manufactures to simply put the latest GPU in their console to crank up the polygon count, we need to encourage developers to take a step back and develop a game that is an evolution from existing gaming methods instead of an incremental upgrade. Nintendo is making the radical move of trying to change gaming, and that takes a lot of guts.

Another big point of contention is the company's forthcoming attempt at a dedicated online service, Nintendo Connection. No one has been able to match Microsoft in terms of online playing experiences, and the Wii wasn’t even in the same universe when it came to online play.

At their E3 conference, Nintendo talked about all the communication that Nintendo Connection was bringing to the plate: video chat, message boards, etc. All of the things they talked about sound good in theory but I doubt how easily they are going to allow players to connect (Friend Codes, I’m talking about YOU!).

By being first out of the gate with Wii U, Nintendo has both a lot of power and vulnerability. Play their cards right, and Nintendo dictates early on what the playing field looks like when Sony and Microsoft release their next-gen consoles.

Releasing with a competitive price point, selection of 1st and 3rd party games and a Nintendo Connection that can compete with the likes of Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network are all crucial to a harmonious release that would put Sony and Microsoft back on their toes. Play their cards poorly, and competitors already have a favorable playing field when they release.

The big three at E3 2012

John and Jesus round up the offerings from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft from the E3 convention floor.

E3 2012: Nintendo Press Conference

Nintendo's E3 2012 press conference this morning was all about the games.

Shigeru Miyamoto opened the event with a look at the upcoming "Pikmin 3," which is being developed for the company's upcoming Wii U console. The game itself looks cute and colorful just likes a Pikmin game should. The big feature touted was the ability for players to take control of four leaders (none of which are Captain Olimar) and use them all simultaneously to change up the normal gameplay strategy.

A black model of the Wii U console could be seen on stage and the image popped up sporadically onscreen throughout the presentation.

Reggie Fils-Aime took the stage after Miyamoto and proceeded to show off a ton of games, all of which make use of the Wii U gamepads's touchscreen. Games shown included "Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition" and "Mass Effect 3" as well as "New Super Mario Bros. U."

A game called "Sing" was shown and appeared to bring all the awkwardness of karaoke to your living room. The promo video featured a few friends gathered around one girl who was facing toward the group and singing lyrics read from the gamepad.

The 3DS had a small showcase of games including "New Super Mario Bros. 2" and "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon." 3DS games were sparse during the press conference because Nintendo is hosting another event specifically aimed at showcasing game for their handheld tomorrow night.

"NintendoLand" will showcase the possibilities of the Wii U gamepad.

"Lego City Undercover" was shown to be a sort of open-world crime solving game. The game will feature voice acting and looks to feature the clever parodies Lego games have come to be known for.

The showcase was closed with a look at "NintendoLand," which seems to be a sort of Playstation Home for the Wii U in which players congregate in a central hub area and can play mini games together that are designed specifically to show off the versatility and usefulness of the gamepad.

Nintendo fans are likely to be pleased with the official announcement of a new installment in the Pikmin franchise, but there was no hardware information or a price and release date for the Wii U.

All the E3 announcements from Nintendo throughout the week can be found at e3.nintendo.com.

E3 2012: Ubisoft Press Conference

So if you didn't watch the Ubisoft press event, we're going to give you a recap of what happened! This marks the start of our E3 2012 coverage!

After a somewhat fog-filled and anxious wait in the venue, the crowd was greeted by a cacophony of sights and sounds of music and dancing. A very energetic preview of the new music and moves of "Just Dance 4" was accompanied by a performance from rapper Flo Rida which was...interesting. There seems to be a theme going around of celebrities making appearances at E3 press events.

While the dancing was entertaining, we really didn't see anything more than what a person can see online via trailers. It just seemed to be another dance game.

The first actual shot of gameplay footage we had was during the "Far Cry 3" portion of the presentation. I hadn't actually done any sort of research on the title, and apparently I needed it as I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the demo. What I did see was that there were people on an island, the player character had a bow and a gun, and he shot a lot of people while another person seemed to yell at him from off-screen.

Despite my canonical confusion, the footage was beautiful and apparently there's an entire system of islands you can explore in the game. The gameplay seems very reminiscent of "Bulletstorm," which means a lot of shooting but some close-quarters combat. There was a moment when a tiger was released from its cage and it ran amok on some of the enemies while the player picked them off from afar, but other than that there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of indifference to the game. It was impressive, but it was just another shooter.

What really picked the audience up was the new "Rayman Legends." Three players cooperatively working together on the Wii U gave us all quite a show. While two players controlled Rayman and his buddy, another used the touchscreen to cut ropes, lower ramps and move obstacles out of their way so they could continue on their path.

The grand finale was all three players working on some sort of constantly moving chase scene where the player using the touchscreen hit points on the path which created the music to the entire portion of the level. It was a beautiful show of streamlined gameplay and a fun design of old platforming. The audience cheered and clapped not just for the pleasant surprise of Rayman, but also for an excellent demonstration of the Wii U's capabilities.

There were several more trailers featured during the event, including one for Wii U exclusive survival-horror game "ZombiU" and an Avengers game as well. While those were interesting ideas, a lack of gameplay footage made us just feel like we were watching clips from any press-packet we could get online.

Then the big gun, "Assassin's Creed 3." A trailer and then a gorgeous demo from the team working on it wooed the crowd. The environment, the fighting, the character models and even the voice acting was spot on. Building upon the framework of past installments in the Assassin's Creed series, subtle - and not so sublte - changes to the gameplay could be spotted during the demonstration. A bow and arrow replaces Ezio's crossbow for the newest protagonist, most likely implemented to keep in theme with his Native American heritage. One of the smaller additions to the game that we all noticed was the ability to pick up weapons on the go and seamlessly transition from a kill to running. It was beautiful to watch, and of course we're still eagerly awaiting the game to see if it lives up to what we've seen.

The newest assassin, Connor, has a more sleek fighting style than his predecessors.

"Shootermania" followed "Assassin's Creed 3," which seemed to be a letdown for the crowd. The blatant battle of the sexes that was put on between girl "Counterstrike" stars and male "Counterstrike" stars was a little awkward to watch and we really didn't see all that much gameplay. I'm not sure if the game is just player versus player or if there's a story, but really it just seems like Ubisoft is creating a competitor for the online gaming gun circuit for E-Sports.

The best was saved for last. The crowd was built up with "Rayman." It was on the edge of its seat after "Assassin's Creed 3." Now they got what Ubisoft was holding back with. "Watch Dogs" seemed to be an amalgam of "Assassin's Creed" and "The Bourne Identity." The combination of stealth, technology and narrative had the crowd cheering and asking for more than the demo could give us. Just watch:

I can't even begin to describe it. It's just so amazing looking. I just hope the game itself is as good as the demo we were shown.

¿Wii U a 299$?

Según fuentes internas de Nintendo, ya corren rumores de que Wii U podría comercializarse a 299$ y 24.000 Yens. Este precio es, al parecer, uno de los objetivos que se ha marcado Nintendo para el lanzamiento de la consola.

Ni que decir cabe que para el lanzamiento europeo ya nos esperamos una conversión uno a uno con el dólar de firma que se quede en 299€. ¿Y a vosotros que os parece este precio de lanzamiento?

Wii U se muestra en el CES 2012.

Nintendo ha presentado algunas demos de Wii U en el CES (Consumer Electronic Show), una de las ferias de nuevas tecnologías más importantes del mundo.

Algunos medios extranjeros que han podido asistir a este evento, han publicado varios vídeos donde nos muestran las virtudes de la consola. En los tres videos que os mostramos podréis ver el video íntegro de la demo técnica de Zelda, ya mostrada en el pasado E3, Wii U Panorama View Demo y un gameplay genérico. Lo que podemos observar, además, Wii U será totalmente compatible con el Wiimote y Nunchuk oficiales de Nintendo.

Como bien nos recuerdan, de momento sólo se trata de un prototipo y no del producto final aunque la gran compañía japonesa ha comunicado que seguirán mostrando nuevos videos y demos, durante el año y antes de la celebración del E3 2012. Seguiremos la pista e informándoos.

Demo técnica de Zelda.



Wii U Panorama View Demo.



Wii U Gameplay Genérico.

LEGO BATMAN 2 previsto para verano de 2012

¡Saludos a todos amiguetes!

Después del período navideño y con las pilas cargadas, os traigo una noticia que a más de uno le va a resultar muy interesante. Y es que uno de los superhéroes más queridos, volverá a nuestras consolas muy pronto junto con una de las franquicias más deshinibidas y divertidas que podemos encontrar hoy día. Vuelven Batman, Robin y todos sus gadgets, esta vez convertidos en piezas de lego gracias a Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.

Lo mejor de todo, además del hilarante sentido del humor del que hacen gala los juegos de lego y el profundo respeto hacia las sagas que representan, es que en este Lego Batman nos encontraremos con más personajes del universo DC, como Superman, Wonder Woman o Green Lantern, que deberán ayudar al murcielago a derrotar a la amenaza conjunta de el Joker y Lex Luthor... ahí es nada.

Su salida está prevista para el verano de este año, aunque aún quedan datos por confirmar, parece ser que lo hará en todas las plataformas disponibles, tanto portátiles como de sobremesa. Estaremos atentos a su estela.

Wii U se puede reservar en Carrefour por 450,20 euros.

La cadena de tiendas Carrefour de Francia incluye desde hoy mismo, la posibilidad de reservar la enigmática consola Wii U en su catálogo digital francés, por 450,20€.

Y he escrito bien enigmática consola puesto que apenas tenemos detalles reales sobre la próxima consola de sobremesa de Nintendo. Wii U está llegará al mercado durante el próximo año fiscal, es decir, a partir del 1 de abril de 2012, sin fecha, ni precio, ni especificaciones técnicas confirmadas a día de hoy.

Según las últimas informaciones, este sábado 10 de Diciembre, aprovechando la celebración del evento Video Game Awards 2011, Nintendo podría dar una breve conferencia especificando nuevos y suculentos detalles de la esperada Wii U. Seguiremos informando.

¿Steam u Origin en Wii U?

Según los rumores, Electronic Arts y Valve están luchando por una batalla aún no decidida por parte de Nintendo. En efecto, dado que el sistema de descargas de Wii U aún está "abierto" y Nintendo ha decidido repartirse los beneficios con un tercero que tenga más experiencia en temas de distribucón online, la lucha está abierta entre Steam y Origin.

A decir verdad sería una grandísima oportunidad para Electronics y su jóven plataforma Origin ya que permitiría equilibrar un poco más la balanza en el mercado y no disponer sólamente de una plataforma experimentada como Steam. Queda saber cual será la decisión final del gigante japonés, pero estamos seguros que ambas opciones serán un complemento perfecto para esta consola.

Nintendo parece querer cambiar las reglas rígidas del sistema de Xbox con algo mucho más flexible y versátil. ¿Qué plataforma pensáis que se llevará el gato al agua? ¡Se admiten comentarios!

Anunciado Oficialmente - Dragon Quest X Online: Rise of the Five Tribes.

Hoy mis queridos amig@s, no podía dejaros sin comentar la que ha sido la noticia del día. Y es que a primera hora de la mañana, la compañía japonesa Square Enix ha presentado el esperadísimo juego Dragon Quest X.

Noticias positiva ¿verdad? Sinceramente ha llegado con un sabor un tanto agridulce que no gustará a todos pues el juego estará más enfocado al modo online que al offline (aunque éste, sí se ha confirmado).



Os adelantamos todos los detalles:



Square Enix ha presentado en Japón Dragon Quest X, juego que llegará en exclusiva a Wii y Wii U, tal y como había anunciado hace dos años. Será, además, un juego online aunque contará con una historia disponible también para ser jugada sin estar conectado a la red.



Tendrá un estilo próximo a los juegos masivos en línea con un componente multijugador que expande y desarrolla lo que se hizo en Dragon Quest IX para Nintendo DS. También será compatible con Nintendo 3DS aunque no se ha detallado en qué sentido.



Visualmente el juego busca una estética próxima a Dragon Quest VIII con importantes elementos en los que se percibe la influencia del estilo visual de Dragon Quest IX para aumentar la personalización de los personajes.



Las luchas no serán aleatorias y los personajes podrán moverse libremente en combate mientras seleccionan los comandos a ejecutar desde un menú.



Contará con diseños de Akira Toriyama, como es marca de la casa, incluyendo un editor de personajes desde el principio. La versión para Wii U incluirá gráficos en alta definición, aunque el juego en línea será cruzado con Wii, haciéndolas totalmente compatibles.



El control permitirá jugar con el mando clásico, con el mando remoto de Wii más nunchuck, y también emplear un teclado, que se conectará al otro puerto USB de la consola.



Llegará a Japón en 2012, sin fecha para otros mercados por ahora y se ha confirmado que utilizará un sistema de cuotas por suscripción.



Os dejamos con el video de la presentación, puesto que todos los trailers han sido eliminados de la red. Espero que sepáis japonés xD.

WiiU soportará 3D.

Las noticias de Nintendo van cayendo poco a poco, pero según confirma el gigante nipón, WiiU soportará la tecnología 3D.

Afirman que el parque de estos televisores es aún pequeño, y que no quieren centrarse sólo en esta característica sino también en los Hardcore Gamers.

¿Que os parece esta nueva opción de WiiU?

Nueva polémica a la vista: Miyamoto confirma que Wii U no será muy superior a Xbox 360 y PS3.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Director General de Nintendo y creador de sagas tan conocidas como Mario o Zelda, ha confirmado esta mañana que Wii U será equiparable en potencia a Xbox 360 y PlayStation 3, pero previsiblemente no irá mucho más allá en términos de potencia, tal y como apuntaban los primeros rumores.

Miyamoto recuerda que "Nintendo es una compañía de ocio" y que, por tanto, "somos muy sensibles con los precios porque la gente generalmente sólo destina una parte de sus gastos al entretenimiento. Y si se trata de padres que van a comprarle algo a los niños, hay ciertos precios que los padres están dispuestos a pagar y otros que no."

"Cuando miras lo que vamos a hacer esta ocasión creo que quizás sea hasta un poco imprudente, porque estamos intentando incluir este dispositivo similar a una tableta, el mando con pantalla. Estamos intentando hacerlo encontrando el equilibrio entre CPU y GPU, y unir todo eso junto a la posibilidad de aprovechar las capacidades de alta definición del sistema, y hacer tanto como nos sea posible también en ese frente."

Miyamoto concluye con "estamos intentando hacerlo a un precio apropiado. Así que no sé si podremos coger y decir que va a superar drásticamente a las consolas que hay ahora."

Tras las polémicas declaraciones, todos los foros del mundo entero están echando humo. ¿La razón? Los detractores de la compañía japonesa señalan que, una vez más, Nintendo nos quiere vender un hardware algo antiguo a coste actual y que la consola quedará desfasada una vez salgan al mercado las nuevas videoconsolas de Microsoft y Sony.

Por parte de los defensores, se apostilla que lo más importante de Wii U será su revolucionario control y que, al ser éste, un dispositivo caro, ven con lógica que el hardware de la nueva consola no sea muy superior al de las actuales, si con ello, se consigue conseguir un precio apto a todos los públicos.

Y vosotros... ¿Qué opináis? ¿Os parece adecuada la estrategia que en los últimos años está tomando Nintendo?

Wii U no podrá reproducir ni DVD ni BluRay.

Según ha confirmado Satoru Iwata, presidente de Nintendo, Wii U no dispondrá de la capacidad de leer ni BluRay ni DVD. Según sus declaraciones, afirma que ya existes muchos aparatos que ofrecen esas capacidades y Nintendo no ve lógico el aumento de coste que eso supondría para la consola.

Así pues la futra máquina de Nintendo se lanzará en 2012, y sólo leera los discos de 25GB en un formato propietario de Nintendo asi como los juegos de Wii. Aún desconocemos si podrá leer nuestros antiguos juegos de GameCube.