From Wii to U

From Wii to U - Ugrading to Nintendo's next generation console

Towards the end of 2012 I made a deal with my kids: save £75 each and I will pay the difference to buy a Wii U - Nintendo's successor to the Wii game console.  Remarkably they stuck with it and in November 2013, just as attention was turning to Microsoft's and Sony's next generation consoles, we were taking delivery of a shiny new Wii U.  In this post I share some thoughts about our experiences moving from Wii to U.

First some context, I have not progressed through the console generations. I'm not a 'hard core' gamer. The Wii was the first console in our household   It brought gaming into our living room.   From Wii Sports action to Wii Fit activity, from Mario Kart racing to exploring Super Mario Galaxy we have enjoyed our time with the Wii.  It has certainly served us well.  

Over time the Wii has seen the arrival of several competing attractions: handhelds, tablets, smart phones and an Xbox 360. The Wii started to look a little 'smudged' after we upgraded to bigger HD TV. Slowly, it was seeing less and less use.

Enter the Wii U. Not wholly different in size. It fits in the space the Wii ocuppied.  The main obvious difference is the addition of an extra controller with its own touch screen the Wii u gamepad, more on this in a moment

First set up, this was relatively straightforward and it was not long before the Wii U was up and running with new Mii characters created for each of our family members. There has been some later tweaking to find the right mix of parental controls linked to online functionality.   We never dabbled greatly in the on-line elements of the Wii so I can't make much of a comparison there. What I can say is I found it easier to set up than the 'Xbox live' service previously bought for my son. It was also free. 

The main change is the new Wii U gamepad controller. As well as acting as controller with the usually array of buttons and sticks, the addition of a touch screen has changed the experience in two main ways:- 

First, as an extra hand held screen to continue playing games when someone wants to watch the TV so called 'off TV play'.

Second, as an extra screen to interact with and change the way games can be played. In some titles the gamepad is totally integral to the gameplay experience. For example, in Zombi U, it becomes a scanner zombi detector map, gun sight, and 'live' inventory management screen. In some multiplayer games it creates a second view on the game for 'asynchronous' play - one player with the game pad sees one view, the others watching the TV another.  Play the Mario Chase or Luigi's Ghost Mansion mini games in Nintendoland you'll soon realise what fun this can be! Riotous laughter prevails with some squabbles over whose turn it it to play the gamepad role.

A key thing to point out is the controller is not a seperate independent portable console, you need to be in range of the console. You also need to keep it charged up!

Of course games consoles are not much good without games. Our bundle came with two games on disc -Super Mario U and Super Luigi U, plus codes to download tennis and bowling.    At Christmas the game count went up and to include ZombiU(2nd hand), Rayman legends, Sonic All Stars Racing, Just Dance 2014 and Nintendoland. Post January sales we added Pikmin 3, Assassins Creed 3, Deus Ex the Wonderful 101 and Lego City Undercover(2nd hand). By shopping around none of these games have cost more than £20 and some less than a tenner. The only launch day title we have bought has been Mario kart 8. For just around £40 it came with a free racing wheel. The launch offer included a free download code so was in effect two games for the price of one (we chose Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD).  Add a few more downloaded titles in the 'pocket money' category, our entire back catalogue of Wii games -plus some new and second hand Wii games - and we have amassed plenty of games to play!

So the experience. The Wii U is not a radical addition like the Wii.  Games are part of the scene now. Its another platform to play them on.  It's more an evolution than a revolution. It feels like the console has caught up with the HD TV and the games look good crisp and vibrant and the sound is good. Nintendo's characters look and play well again. Family friendly party gaming is now very much back on the menu in our living room.  Mario kart online racing is on the agenda too.

Of course whether you choose to buy a Wii U will no doubt depend on your own circumstances and preferences.  If you enjoyed the Wii, the WiiU is a logical progression. If you have invested in Microsoft or Sony consoles I'd say the Wii U is best seen as a contrasting 'companion' rather than a duplicate replacement. In our household the Xbox 360 is still in use. But it is used almost exclusively to play Minecraft and Fifa games (I'm loathe to buy an Xbox One at its current price when the likelihood is that it would used to play Minecraft and Fifa!). 

I'd sum up the main positives of the Wii U as follows:-

Some excellent games - a strong family friendly line up - but reasonable variety and some mature titles too

Budget conscious gaming - especially if you are prepared to shop around

Off TV play -keep playing in the same room when someone wants to watch TV

Interesting ways to play - not all games exploit the game pad, but several do in imaginative ways.

Strong 'in room' social gaming. Party gaming lives on.

Relatively easy to use online play options in some games - no need to pay a premium to play online

Wii mode to play existing Wii disks (if you have them)

Wii controllers compatible with many games  (if you have them).

Good deals to be had.

Only Yes. And No.

As a resident in England I have no vote on Scottish independence. I do, however, have an opinion about how Britain is governed for better or worse. It's time to voice it.

In part I'm writing this blog because it helps to untie the knot of thoughts and emotions that have built up as referendum day approaches. Another reason is because it's one of the few things I can do. In the event this blog helps a single undecided voter, or even creates some shared understanding beyond, then it'll have been worth more than its therapeutic value alone. I hope it conveys my solidarity with those who may welcome it at this time.

I've been trying to avoid the coverage on the referendum. Keeping off twitter. Steering clear of the news. For the sake of my blood pressure and mental health, I've tried to keep some distance from what often seems grossly simplistic arguments.

Independence is an emotive issue and played out within a relatively small island particularly so. I'm no fan of nationalism. I know how difficult it is to escape its call and consequence. Nationalism fanned at a time of widespread economic despair does not seen to have a good track record!

I'm no fan of an over dominant Westminster either. I think Britain is imbalanced politically and economically. Local governance is impoverished, the English regions emasculated. London dominates (with a seemingly independent City of London state-within-a-state at its heart). But is the nationalist call to break the union really the answer?

It's been a grim few years for many of us in Britain - and elsewhere- living through the after shocks of a global financial melt down. Add the scape-goating of the public sector unleashed in its wake (by a government I have no love for) and I'd welcome some change.

I'd also welcome some solidarity.  I'd sooner see political energy expended on improving the lot of those in need whatever side of a line on the map they happen to live on. Instead, if the nationalists get their way, it is likely to be  spent bickering over an ugly separation.

I'd be very wary of a soft focus 'holiday brochure' independence, however alluring its presentation. I certainly don't buy the argument painted by some on the left that sees Scottish independence as some route to a new socialist order, or even a way of cementing the foundations for an enduring social democratic state. It may temporarily shake parts of the establishment, but I don't see an independent Scotland being free from global capitalism. Or even from the dominant influence of what remains of Britain. I part perceive it as a means for capital to further pick the bones of a potentially weakened state. If Rupert Murdoch is in favour of it, alarm bells start to ring.

I fear many of those in favour of a 'yes' vote beyond Scotland, in part relish the opportunities that any aftershock might create. However exciting this might appear intellectually, I'm for more immediate and practical struggles. I speak not from the comfort of an arm chair, but amidst the worry of another round of redundancies at work. It doesn't need a 'yes' vote to create such opportunities. They have already been created.

Despite attempts to play it down and pretend it's a non-issue, the wider rise of nationalism worries me. From warped racial variants, to more subtle shades of 'difference': UKIP want UK independence from Europe; the SNP Scottish independence from Britain. Personally I'm happy to be a cestrian, northern, English, British and European (roll on a wider sense of being a citizen of the world!). To me each identity presents possibility, community and potential solidarity. In contrast breaking away from some burdensome 'other' creates a 'them' and 'us'. Soft cuddly nationalism stokes nationalism of quite another variant. It's to easy to turn friend into foe and neighbour against neighbour sliding down this slope.

The ugly side of nationalism has been present on the campaign trail. Division is divisive in Scotland. If successful I fear things will get uglier still beyond. Scotland is not contained within an ancient border. In our well mixed home, the break up the nationalists desire risks creating many strangers in their own land north and south of the border.

I would ask those attracted to independence whether they really think devolution has really run it's course? To me it appears to be in its infancy with more prospects and avenues to travel. I'd certainly welcome a bit of devolution to the north west of England. Couldn't we further rectify the imbalance in Britain with a proper constitutional settlement across the whole of Britain?

Ultimately I suspect how you perceive independence is in part a reflection of your identity at a time of crisis. It is also a question of what value you place on unions. To my mind people can vote yes to be only Scottish or no to remain both Scottish and British: 'only' yes; 'and' no. 'And' includes some notion of value in a union with those you share a small island with.

So to wrap up my rambles, there's a fork in the path approaching. People living in Scotland have a choice  to make - whether they wanted it or not. If I had a vote I'd vote 'no', no to a narrow risky seemingly one-way path. I'd vote 'no' not to keep the status quo but to go further together in an evolving union of possibilities. I'm for 'and' not 'only', solidarity not division.