Wii U sales are still awful

[toughtrasher]

If I'm going to play a game for any extended period of time, it gets installed to my 360. It helps load times and avoids excessive disc wear or accidental disc damage due to drives. Albeit, the latter was more of an issue with earlier 360s. Why do I bring this up? Because you can't do a darn thing while the 360 is installing a game. You can't install a game and go to Netflix, and installing a game takes 5+ minutes.

On a PC, I can troll the Console Gaming sub-forum while installing games. Doesn't that sound inviting?

Hallejuah!

 

[cmdrdredd]

the only thing that CAN be factually better on PC is graphics/framerate/resolution. and that is if you have a capable enough pc.

things like control, online community, ease of use, etc, is all totally subjective and up to the end user as to what they personally like better.

to flat out say a PC version of a game is "better" than the console version is ignorance itself.

can it be graphically superior? yes in pretty much every case. doesn't mean that is the case for the everyone out there. probably the case here on AT though, which is a tech site, dedicated to computer hardware.

Lets take Battlefield 3. On 360 it's 30fps, a decent PC can get 60fps+. On 360 it's 16 players, on PC I have 64 and 64 players is enough to say without a doubt that it's a better game on the PC. The game's resolution isn't even 720p on the 360 while on PC it can be rendered at any resolution you choose.

Battlefield 4 closes the gap significantly for sure, but there are little things that still make it a better PC game for me.

 

[purbeast0]

Lets take Battlefield 3. On 360 it's 30fps, a decent PC can get 60fps+. On 360 it's 16 players, on PC I have 64 and 64 players is enough to say without a doubt that it's a better game on the PC. The game's resolution isn't even 720p on the 360 while on PC it can be rendered at any resolution you choose.

Battlefield 4 closes the gap significantly for sure, but there are little things that still make it a better PC game for me.

never played it nor do i plan on it (bf3 or bf4) but i can tell you 100% that the console version would be better to me. i'd have a much better experience playing it in my ht on my 10" screen reclined with a 360 controller rather than playing it at my desk here on a 21" monitor hunched over my desk with a kb/m. and moving my desktop downstairs 3 floors to my ht isn't logistically going to happen. my vid card is probably as old as the 360 is too so not sure how it would run games.

i'm also not a fan of huge multiplayer games like that, so having 64 players means nothing to me. the most i like playing on fps games is like 6v6, which was on cod, but on halo i like 4v4 max.

and using a controller for a pc version of the game isn't the same as the controller on the 360 version, because the control is built to have some aim assist and what not on 360, whereas it isn't on pc. i could be wrong about this since i've never played it on pc, but if the pc version with a controller just mimicks the mouse controls, then it would be much tougher to aim with a controller on pc version vs controller on 360 version. just like using a mouse adapter for 360 version of fps is ass compared to playing pc version with native mouse support.

more features on pc version? most definitely.

superior graphics on pc version? most definitely.

better experience on pc version? not for me.

so again, totally subjective.

/thread totally derailed

 

[Arkaign]

It is BS in the sense that with a modern and well equipped PC, there is absolutely no doubt that a PC will produce better graphics. This shouldn't even be debated. It's obvious to anyone with a good PC and consoles to complement it (I have a 360 and PC.) Making the blanket statement that a console has better graphics is laughable at best. You can take something like Metro Last Light on a modern PC (say, a GTX 780) and the graphical detail will easily be 20-30x better than any console.

HOWEVER, with that being said -- I agree with those who mentioned earlier graphics are not the be-all and end-all. I can live with slightly worse textures and lower resolution provided by the console. There are many genres that the consoles will always do better than the PC, despite the worse graphics. Also, many MP experiences are better on the console due to having substantially larger playerbases.

So my opinion is yes, a modern PC with a good GPU/CPU will absolutely rip a console apart in terms of graphics. But that doesn't matter. They're both good and both serve a place! Use both as I do, best of both worlds. I don't think about graphics when I play SF4AE on the 360. Or BLOPS 2 (yes, I like black ops 2, sue me). They're just better experiences on the 360.

And there ya go, this should have been the /subject ender, as it's just the flat out truth.

Best of both worlds is having both, that way you miss nothing.

 

[blackened23]

I have no qualms with playing Street Fighter on a console (with an arcade stick), but a FPS on a console? Bite your tongue, knave! I tried using a XIM Edge on a console to play BLOPS 2 with a friend, but honestly, it just felt like a mushy mouse.
.

Blops 2? Well, graphically the PC version is better. But, I play for multiplayer and BO2 shows you how many are online - the PC version has 1000-4000 when I play while the 360 version usually has 400,000-600,000. There is no comparison. 360 is far better for multiplayer competition.

I don't give a EFF about graphics (for BO2), when i'm sitting 20 feet away from my plasma it looks fine. It looks perfect, in fact.

Basically, it depends on the game. Even some MP FPS games are more enjoyable on consoles due to less cheating/hacking (this DOES happen on PC more) and much more competition. Although I do prefer bf3 on the PC. If it's a single player game, PC all the way - the PC more often than not has a superior experience in a solo game. (assuming the port is adequate)

 

[blackened23]

my vid card is probably as old as the 360 is too so not sure how it would run games.

You basically just stated that your PC around 10 years old...that's a no go. I guess folks were confused when you said "consoles have better graphics" that just isn't true. But experience is subjective.

Again, you can still enjoy both the PC and console as I do. They both have their place. Some games do lend themselves better to the console format, so it is subjective as you mentioned. /end thread derail

 

[purbeast0]

You basically just stated that your PC around 10 years old...that's a no go. I guess folks were confused when you said "consoles have better graphics" that just isn't true. But experience is subjective.

Again, you can still enjoy both the PC and console as I do. They both have their place. Some games do lend themselves better to the console format, so it is subjective as you mentioned. /end thread derail

i never said "consoles have better graphics" i said "360 has better graphics than my pc", which is completely tru.

i also have a cpu and mobo from the past year or 2 with an ssd. my vid card is the only old thing in my pc, since it's the thing i use the least.

i have no need to enjoy pc games personally because there's nothing exclusive to pc i want to play. i used to like rts and older fps on pc, but then kinda lost interest in those on pc and gradually switched over to console gaming pretty much strictly.

 

[tential]

I've gone more away from PC gaming. After a hard day at work, I don't want to have to sit down at yet another desk when I get home. I like to relax with my controller on my recliner while playing now. Keeping my PC up to date is just another hassle I don't have the time for anymore.

I don't see why this stops you from PC Gaming. I do this on my PC. It's hooked up to my HDTV. When I game on it, it's on my couch, with an xbox 360 controller in hand. I like the console experience, I just wanted better graphics to go with it.

 

[tential]

never played it nor do i plan on it (bf3 or bf4) but i can tell you 100% that the console version would be better to me. i'd have a much better experience playing it in my ht on my 10" screen reclined with a 360 controller rather than playing it at my desk here on a 21" monitor hunched over my desk with a kb/m. and moving my desktop downstairs 3 floors to my ht isn't logistically going to happen. my vid card is probably as old as the 360 is too so not sure how it would run games.

i'm also not a fan of huge multiplayer games like that, so having 64 players means nothing to me. the most i like playing on fps games is like 6v6, which was on cod, but on halo i like 4v4 max.

and using a controller for a pc version of the game isn't the same as the controller on the 360 version, because the control is built to have some aim assist and what not on 360, whereas it isn't on pc. i could be wrong about this since i've never played it on pc, but if the pc version with a controller just mimicks the mouse controls, then it would be much tougher to aim with a controller on pc version vs controller on 360 version. just like using a mouse adapter for 360 version of fps is ass compared to playing pc version with native mouse support.

more features on pc version? most definitely.

superior graphics on pc version? most definitely.

better experience on pc version? not for me.

so again, totally subjective.

/thread totally derailed

Are you seriously kidding me with some of the points in this post? It's CLEAR you haven't played a PC Game with a controller recently. My PC is setup in my "Hometheater".

The experience for me, is exactly the same, expect I have the added power of a PC. I get aim assist in games. But imagine this, if you're playing Halo 4, imagine only being allowed to play 2v2 instead of 4v4. That's how playing Battlefield 3 is on Xbox 360 vs PC. You literally don't get the correct experience on the game due to the player limitation. I stopped playing because maps were too big for the amount of players and it was clear the map was meant for more people.

I'm not saying one is better, as Xbox 360 is certainly cheaper, easiest to setup, etc. But many points being made here, people act as if you can't do the same thing on a PC. In fact, Steam even has "Big Picture Mode" for HDTV.

 

[purbeast0]

yeah i thought i made it pretty clear that i haven't played pc games in years and don't care to. that is great that you have your pc hooked up in your theater, i don't nor will i ever. it's 3 floors up in an office room at a desk and it's gonna stay there. there's simply nothing on pc that is enticing enough to make me want to start pc gaming again. the only games i'd play on pc i can play a lot easier on 360 and ps3, and sometimes earlier on those consoles too.

different strokes for different folks.

had killer instinct been announced for pc, then i would probably be singing a different tune.

 

[tential]

yeah i thought i made it pretty clear that i haven't played pc games in years and don't care to. that is great that you have your pc hooked up in your theater, i don't nor will i ever. it's 3 floors up in an office room at a desk and it's gonna stay there. there's simply nothing on pc that is enticing enough to make me want to start pc gaming again. the only games i'd play on pc i can play a lot easier on 360 and ps3, and sometimes earlier on those consoles too.

different strokes for different folks.

had killer instinct been announced for pc, then i would probably be singing a different tune.

I just get tired of the lazy arguments for "consoles are better than PC". They're lazy.
I always here these ones:
-I don't want to play on a small monitor.
No one forces you to hook it up to a TV if you want.
-I want to sit on a couch.
No one forces you to sit at a desk, go buy a couch, a controller and sit on the couch.
etc.

Lots of LAZY arguments. I understand ones about price, hassle of setting up PC gaming, etc. But the lazy arguments, jesus lol. I really don't consider a Home Theater though to be a Home theater without a PC hooked up to it personally. No XBMC, WMC, etc? that's a pretty lame theater to me.

 

[zerocool84]

I just get tired of the lazy arguments for "consoles are better than PC". They're lazy.
I always here these ones:
-I don't want to play on a small monitor.
No one forces you to hook it up to a TV if you want.
-I want to sit on a couch.
No one forces you to sit at a desk, go buy a couch, a controller and sit on the couch.
etc.

Lots of LAZY arguments. I understand ones about price, hassle of setting up PC gaming, etc. But the lazy arguments, jesus lol. I really don't consider a Home Theater though to be a Home theater without a PC hooked up to it personally. No XBMC, WMC, etc? that's a pretty lame theater to me.

If you've ever played games on a PC, it's more than just hooking it up to a TV and connecting a controller to play games on it. Everybody that has played games on a PC knows this.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you've ever played games on a PC, it's more than just hooking it up to a TV and connecting a controller to play games on it. Everybody that has played games on a PC knows this.

Huh? I take my working PC, hook up HDMI to my receiver...TV receives signal, video card scales to 1080p, set HDMI audio for my sound. I load up steam with my library of games, plug in my 360 controller and the drivers are built in. Done.

SOme of you guys make it sound like you need some type of specialized technical knowledge to figure it out.

 

[purbeast0]

I just get tired of the lazy arguments for "consoles are better than PC". They're lazy.
I always here these ones:
-I don't want to play on a small monitor.
No one forces you to hook it up to a TV if you want.
-I want to sit on a couch.
No one forces you to sit at a desk, go buy a couch, a controller and sit on the couch.
etc.

Lots of LAZY arguments. I understand ones about price, hassle of setting up PC gaming, etc. But the lazy arguments, jesus lol. I really don't consider a Home Theater though to be a Home theater without a PC hooked up to it personally. No XBMC, WMC, etc? that's a pretty lame theater to me.

sorry if i don't watch pirated movies in my home theater and watch strictly blu rays and tv and play games.

i'm pretty sure 99% of people would say my home theater is far from lame.

 

[Geosurface]

I'm a strange one... I've got a 360, PS3, Wii, and a nice gaming PC.

My gaming PC is on one side of the living room with 2 monitors (27" and 23") but the third monitor is the 40" Samsung LED TV on the other side of the room. I have a 25 foot HDMI cable in these runner sheath things across the ceiling over to the TV.

I will sometimes play PC games on the TV that way, using a wireless XBox 360 controller (silver) for Windows. I played Bioshock Infinite this way, for instance. And Max Payne 3. I've also done some Need for Speed that way... and most of my Skyrim playing that way.

If it's something I want to use mouse/keyboard for like Counter-Strike, or StarCraft 2, or Diablo 3, I'll play it on the primary monitor (27") instead.

My consoles largely collect dust, but then again so does my massive Steam library... I don't game as much as I just aimlessly surf the net.

I did recently play The Last of Us on the PS3 quite religiously until I completed it. That was great. Last time the 360 really saw much use was Halo 4 I guess. It's mostly those exclusives that cause the consoles to get fired up. If I have the option to play something on PC, I usually will. The TV method with controller is always available these days, and tends to work very well. And it looks better to play PC Skyrim at high resolution with high res texture pack, and all the bells and whistles my GeForce 670 GTX can handle, on the TV - than it would to play the PS3 or 360 version of Skyrim.

That said, after a long period of my PC games working reliably, I'm now having random system reboots while playing a lot of stuff... really annoying. Tried to play some Witcher 2 yesterday and was getting crashes after like 20 minutes. Not looking forward to troubleshooting this, especially if it culminates in an expensive part needing to be replaced.

So those are the moments that I appreciate the simplicity and relative reliability of console gaming.

My Wii has hardly seen any use... just a couple games of Mario Kart, and a vague intention to finally eventually finish Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword (for some reason none of the post-OOT Zeldas have grabbed me and kept me coming back the way it did, other than maybe Majora's Mask)

 

[chalmers]

First argument people go towards in arguing against PC gaming is the 'hunched over a desk' argument. That's ignorant at best. YOU choose what you want your experience to be. But instead you hear...

1. I don't want to PC game when I get home because I sit at a desk all day anyway, now I have to be hunched over at the desk looking at a small screen? No thanks.

2. With my consoles I get to "lounge" and "kick back" and play on a big screen tv and relax and enjoy myself.

That's because YOU choose (or stereotype) that's how your setup is or would be. I have the same type of setup with both my consoles and PC's. Large screens and comfortable couches/chairs. So I agree with tential, that's just a lazy argument.

Oh and arguing consoles vs PC's is silly at best. Two different types of systems marketed to two totally different market segments. Have fun though I guess. It is the internet and people love to argue.

I certainly don't get people posting on a computer hardware tech site that only play console games...that's kind of weird. It would be like someone posting on a forum dedicated to grilling & BBQ who's only interested in baking cookies.

 

[Carmen813]

How did this turn into a console vs. pc gaming thread?

I think both have their uses. I prefer FPS and RTS on my PC. I prefer action/adventure/platforming/sports/everything else on my consoles.

Now to steer back to discussion at hand. Pikmin 3 launches at midnight tonight - it'll be interesting to see if it has any impact on Wii U sales.

 

[tential]

If you've ever played games on a PC, it's more than just hooking it up to a TV and connecting a controller to play games on it. Everybody that has played games on a PC knows this.

Really? That's EXACTLY what it was like on mine. It was like it on my laptop when I was using my laptop before I replaced it with an HTPC. My brother and I beat Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition (well I'm on the last bosses with more farm than him and less time played but I'm too lazy to complete it as the story line is boring and makes me fall asleep) and it was EXACTLY like this.

Huh? I take my working PC, hook up HDMI to my receiver...TV receives signal, video card scales to 1080p, set HDMI audio for my sound. I load up steam with my library of games, plug in my 360 controller and the drivers are built in. Done.

SOme of you guys make it sound like you need some type of specialized technical knowledge to figure it out.

First argument people go towards in arguing against PC gaming is the 'hunched over a desk' argument. That's ignorant at best. YOU choose what you want your experience to be. But instead you hear...

1. I don't want to PC game when I get home because I sit at a desk all day anyway, now I have to be hunched over at the desk looking at a small screen? No thanks.

2. With my consoles I get to "lounge" and "kick back" and play on a big screen tv and relax and enjoy myself.

That's because YOU choose (or stereotype) that's how your setup is or would be. I have the same type of setup with both my consoles and PC's. Large screens and comfortable couches/chairs. So I agree with tential, that's just a lazy argument.

Oh and arguing consoles vs PC's is silly at best. Two different types of systems marketed to two totally different market segments. Have fun though I guess. It is the internet and people love to argue.

I certainly don't get people posting on a computer hardware tech site that only play console games...that's kind of weird. It would be like someone posting on a forum dedicated to grilling & BBQ who's only interested in baking cookies.

Thank god some people realize that you CHOOSE where you game. I got tired of gaming at a desk, and enjoyed playing on my couch after college playing on a couch with all my friends. I wanted 1080p resolution because I was tired of my Xbox 360. Boom HTPC hooked up to my TV. I blow up the text on the TV so I can see it since I'm a little blind but it all works well. I can even use XBMC and Advanced Launcher if I want all my games in a great pretty format, or I could use Steam Big Picture.

Edit: I do agree with the reliability part though. Sometimes you dont want to troubleshoot and thats when I boot up my Xbox 360. Rarely though. I had flickering problems with Crysis which annoyed me. But Xbox 360 usually just doesn't cut it.

 

[purbeast0]

First argument people go towards in arguing against PC gaming is the 'hunched over a desk' argument. That's ignorant at best. YOU choose what you want your experience to be. But instead you hear...

1. I don't want to PC game when I get home because I sit at a desk all day anyway, now I have to be hunched over at the desk looking at a small screen? No thanks.

2. With my consoles I get to "lounge" and "kick back" and play on a big screen tv and relax and enjoy myself.

That's because YOU choose (or stereotype) that's how your setup is or would be. I have the same type of setup with both my consoles and PC's. Large screens and comfortable couches/chairs. So I agree with tential, that's just a lazy argument.

Oh and arguing consoles vs PC's is silly at best. Two different types of systems marketed to two totally different market segments. Have fun though I guess. It is the internet and people love to argue.

I certainly don't get people posting on a computer hardware tech site that only play console games...that's kind of weird. It would be like someone posting on a forum dedicated to grilling & BBQ who's only interested in baking cookies.

DING DING DING!

finally someone gets it! last i checked, i was talking about MY setup not anyone elses. which is why i don't get why people are upset when people have varying opinions/setups than they do. and me personally, i'm not "arguing" anything i'm just talking about my opinion and how my stuff is setup. not trying to convince anyone otherwise. not sure how it's a "lazy argument" either.

and last i checked this was the CONSOLE GAMING forum, not the PC GAMING forum. that's why we're talking about consoles in this forum. your analogy is retarded too, since we're not having this discussion on a forum dedicated to pc hardware - it's a forum dedicated to console gaming, hence the name. i think i've visited anandtech.com like 4 or 5 times ever since i've joined here.

 

[tential]

DING DING DING!

finally someone gets it! last i checked, i was talking about MY setup not anyone elses. which is why i don't get why people are upset when people have varying opinions/setups than they do. and me personally, i'm not "arguing" anything i'm just talking about my opinion and how my stuff is setup. not trying to convince anyone otherwise. not sure how it's a "lazy argument" either.

and last i checked this was the CONSOLE GAMING forum, not the PC GAMING forum. that's why we're talking about consoles in this forum. your analogy is retarded too, since we're not having this discussion on a forum dedicated to pc hardware - it's a forum dedicated to console gaming, hence the name. i think i've visited anandtech.com like 4 or 5 times ever since i've joined here.

31,000 posts, and you've only visited the main site 4-5 times.... lol......
I don't even know where to start.....

 

[Barfo]

I feel like Nintendo knows what they are doing. Things might suck now but they must have something up their sleeves.

I think the biggest issue was the name. It does not sound like a new system more of an add on. Even Super Wii would have been better lol

fanboy much?

 

[tential]

fanboy much?

Companies make mistakes. It's how they recover from those mistakes. Can Nintendo recover from the Wii U is what we have to wonder? I really don't know. To think though that just because they are a big company they know what they are doing is completely wrong. Business is survival of the fittest, and sometimes, you become unfit and die out. I think Nintendo has had a FANTASTIC run, but if something drastic doesn't change soon (maybe moving away from selling hardware and moving to a developer for PS3 games, Xbox 360 games or both) they'll end up out of business.

Lets talk about companies that failed to innovate.
Blackberry. MAJOR phone company, until android came along, and the touch screen. They still preferred their hardware keys. By the time they made the switch it was too late.

Palm OS. I still have a palm pilot. Where is Palm now?

Nokia? Number 1 phone company at one time. Look at them now.

Times change, if you don't figure out how to fit in which those times, they leave you.

 

[chalmers]

DING DING DING!

and last i checked this was the CONSOLE GAMING forum, not the PC GAMING forum. that's why we're talking about consoles in this forum. your analogy is retarded too, since we're not having this discussion on a forum dedicated to pc hardware - it's a forum dedicated to console gaming, hence the name. i think i've visited anandtech.com like 4 or 5 times ever since i've joined here.

and last I checked the main purpose of 'anandtech.com' is PC hardware discussion. You're right, this is a console subforum of a PC hardware tech site's forum section. But my point is valid. For example.

I brew my own beer. I chat on homebrewtalk.com about it. There are sub sections of that site about cheese making and smoking meat that people chat in too. I would guess that 99-100% of those people also brew their own beer, because the main point of the site and its forums are to attract beer brewers. I probably wouldn't join that site to chat about smoking meat if I had 0 interest in homebrewing.

I just find it funny that people post on a forum meant to attract PC hardware enthusiasts get butthurt when their console love gets flamed on in jest at times. Well.....you're on a PC enthusiast website, what the fuck did you expect? I would imagine most (not as high as my beer example) of the people posting in this subforum are PC enthusiasts first, with a love of PC gaming usually coming with the territory.

 

[purbeast0]

the only people butthurt in this thread are the ones who are mad cause I said console versions of games are better than pc games to me.

 

[cmdrdredd]

How did this turn into a console vs. pc gaming thread?

I think both have their uses. I prefer FPS and RTS on my PC. I prefer action/adventure/platforming/sports/everything else on my consoles.

Now to steer back to discussion at hand. Pikmin 3 launches at midnight tonight - it'll be interesting to see if it has any impact on Wii U sales.

It won't, not in North America. Pikmin is one of the least popular franchises Nintendo has.

Pikmin one and two didn't even cross 3million units sold worldwide combined, and in North America did even worse. Pikmin one sold 780k and Pikmin two 480k. That's horrible sales and when it's not Mario, metroid, or Zelda (new zelda game nobody played before) I see pretty much no new $300 system sales. Where as something like Super Mario Galaxy sold over 10million and could make an impact on system sales because of the popularity of Mario.