Great Video Game Ideas Not Used 8

Thank you again for taking the time to read another edition of Great Video Game Ideas Not Used. This edition is going to continue my talk and practice of game radio situations, but it will also cover the Wii U. The game radio practice edition for this article, Up and Coming . Before I get to the demonstration, as always, I’m asking that you support Orange Lounge Radio, an internet based video game radio station, as well as Chatterbox Radio, which airs Tuesday Nights at Midnight in Phoenix Arizona on the 1100 AM dial. Chatterbox is also simulcast on the net as well, so you don’t have to live in Phoenix to show your support. I’ll say it again, I’m not affiliated with either, but I’m all for the movement of game radio. And without further adieu I present to you…Up and Coming .

Hello and thank you for listening in to Up and Coming , this is your gracious host, Andre Ratchford. Today I’d like to cover a gaming console that is to hit the retail market next, the successor to the Nintendo Wii, the Wii U. Now there’s been a lot of speculation about this system before it’s debut at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo). One of those things is the addition of Blu-Ray. I’d like to say this now to anyone who may listen, Blu-Ray is owned by Sony. There’s not much of a chance that they would give Blu-Ray to a competing company. This much I had concluded even before Wii U was announced.

With that aside, I’m very much looking forward to this console’s release. Sadly, that probably won’t be until at least mid 2012. There are quite a few things that we do know about this console, and yet even more that we don’t know. For the things that we are aware of, the Wii U won’t be using Blu-Ray or even HD DVD, but a new high-density proprietary disc which I assume to be developed by Nintendo. It is also going to be completely backwards compatible with all of the Wii games and peripherals. Wii U games will also have support for the Wii peripherals as well. We know it will have a touch screen controller that will allow players to take their game from the television screen to the controller itself and continue to play, being the situation that the TV becomes unavailable. And last but not least, we know that the Wii U will be an HD console, bringing Nintendo into the HD era. There will no longer be the need for friend codes which will hopefully bring more core gamers back to the fold.

Now the questions that I have, and that I’m sure others are thinking about or asking. What will the connectivity be between the Wii U and the 3DS? What will be the connectivity between the Wii U Controller and the 3DS? Will there be any focus on user created content? Will players be able to use more than one Wii U Controller per Console? And if that is true, then would that mean that up to 8 players could play the same game on the same console at the same time? What games will be available at launch? Not just the projected to be available. And the most important thing to gamers alike, how much will the console costs?

I’d like to take a stab at a few of those questions, just guesses merely on my part. Now the connectivity between the Wii U and the 3DS, well I’d figure it to be very much similar to that of the Wii and DS. But I’d also expect a little more from it, like how the Gameboy Advance could be used along with certain Gamecube games to expand upon gameplay, or add extra features. Hopefully it would also be able to be used as an additional controller for the Wii U, and if that happens, I’d definitely be happy to have both. But that would be dependent upon the game, and whether or not it would even be a logical thing to implement.

The connectivity between the 3DS and the Wii U…that one is a bit tough to cover, as there hasn’t been any mention of it. At least not to the public anyway. But I figure that since Nintendo is making so that multiple Wii U Controllers will be able to communicate and send info back and forth with each other, then it would be reasonable to think they’d allow it to be done with the 3DS as well. There’s not guarantee that it would be that way, I’d just like it to be so. I think lots of gamers would like it to be that way, the only thing is, will Nintendo do it? And if they are trying, will the console be able to handle it? I hope that the answers are yes, but only time will tell on that.

Now, user created content would be a big thing for the Wii U to jump into. I’m sure lots of players would love an interface that allows them to make content for games, or even their own games, much like Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio . Though that would really be up to Nintendo if they wanted to venture that far, and if so, it’s not likely something that will be available from the start. It would take a lot of time to develop something like that for the Wii U, just thinking of all of the different peripherals available to be used with it.

In my opinion, I think the Wii U will be able to use more than one Touchscreen Controller per console. I think that Nintendo wants it that way at least. It would open up a lot of opportunities for gameplay. Think about it, four players using Touchscreen Controllers and four players using Wii Remotes. Depending on the game, that would be great. Just think if the tech demo of Catch Mii was anything to go on, the separate screens on the Touchscreen Controllers could be used to add players. From what I remember Catch Mii was a 5 player game. Think if someone were creative enough, you could have to different teams playing the same game from separate rooms on the same console. Let me paint a scenario for you…say you’re playing some sort of alien resistance game, the four aliens could play on the TV with Wii remotes, or other Wii peripherals. The four humans/survivors could use the Wii U Controllers to try to escape. See how this could turn out to be a very fun situation?

Now as far as launch games, I’d rather avoid that. I’m sure Nintendo will have a nice list for us months before the launch of the console. However, the cost of the console at launch is something I know that a lot of gamers are going to be thinking about, whether they are directly interested in buying the console or not. Nintendo can’t set a price point that is too low or they’ll definitely lose profit, but if they set a price too high, they might intimidate players from even buying it in the first place. My guess is that the price point would be around $499.99-$549.99. I hope that I’m way over pricing it, but I feel that that is a good point to stop the price hike at. I’m just thinking of the fact that the main controller has a touchscreen, which is also motion sensitive. They’ll be planning on opening up their own network I assume with the things they’ve said at E3. Plus they’re optical discs are going to be of similar quality to Blu-Ray, which would make them more expensive. We’ll see what good old Nintendo has in store for us. Either way, I’m done for now, and I hope that you enjoyed this morsel.

Thank you for taking the time to sit through that. As always, I’d ask that you link this article to any forum that you are apart of, especially those dealing gaming. And again, please support Chatterbox Radio, and Orange Lounge Radio. Let’s take further steps to getting video game radio to become mainstream.


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