The Shallows

On this very blog, there have been a few postings regarding mobile games.  Anyone who reads them would probably get a good idea of my stance on such forms of entertainment.  I'd like to say that my experience of mobile gaming was positive over all, or that I'm excited about the prospect of more such games to come, or that these smaller games would make a good compliment to the bigger games I play today.  I want to say that I'm open to apps and mobile games, but, unlike Luke Skywalker, deep down inside I know that's just not true.  The following story should illustrate the point.  Since most of the participants' names start with 'J' and since they are all co workers, I'd rather not use real names.  Instead, I'd call them 'J-girl', 'J-guy' and 'J-dude'.

 

So here I was at work, and on my way to deliver some documents to another group.  I caught J-guy and J-girl chatting about iPhone games.  Knowing that I'm a big gamer, J-girl turns to me and says:

 

"Hey, have you heard of this game called Nemo's Reef?"

 

That innocent remark was enough to stop me in my tracks.  I literally stared at her and took a step back, like she just offered me a box of cancer sticks.  I said, "Um… I don't do those." 

 

There was a brief awkward moment where J-girl shot daggers at me with her eyes before J-guy says: "You could have been nicer about it."

 

Which is true, I could have, had the question came so suddenly, I was caught in the headlights.  There was no place to run.

 

J-girl:  "Well, the game lets you build a reef, and you have to spend real money to buy stuff like pearls and…"

 

I forgot most of what she said, but I saw my way out.  "Um… see, that's why I'm not into those things."  It was a feeble excuse, and I know it.  While it's true enough that microtransactions don't do much for me, it's not exactly a dealer breaker IF I really like a particular game.  I've 'invested' before in Dungeon Hunter…

 

It was then that rescue came from the form of J-dude.  He was passing by when he heard J-girl's explaination and nochalantely added, "Those Android apps aren't real games.  Just something to play for five minutes while waiting in line."  Bless you, J-dude, bless you!  The man took the words right out of my mouth, words that I was too scared to say but felt deep within my being.  Like Luke Skywalker, deep down inside, I know this to be true.

 

With J-dude on my side, I was able to snap out of my embarrassment and scurried off like a squirrel with a peanut.  But this exchange taught me something about my true feelings on mobile games.  Which is to say that I think they are rather shallow.  And this reminds me of something else.  A short while I after the incident above, I started and finished a book called The Shallows.  The author was writing about the way the Internet literally changes the brain to think a different way.  There were a lot of comparisons to reading.  By reading, I mean reading books.  It's no secret that web surfers do a lot of reading, same with avid book lovers (such as myself).  Yet, the type of reading is totally different.  Rather than deep reading required by traditional paper bound works, the internet with it's myriad of links is more 'back and forth' and more fragmented in its presentation of information.  The author of The Shallows concluded that web lovers are more capable of multitasking, but the trade off is that they become unable to focus on any one thing.  Book readers are the opposite, featuring laserlike focusing abilities but perhaps not so much good at doing more than a couple things at once.  That is also why the book's title is what it is, because Internet use involves a more shallow way to use our brains and memories.  They are great at picking out info by skimming the top, but not so much when deeper research is required.

 

This is generalization, mind you.  There will always be people more scatterbrained than others, without or without the internet but this is one analogy.  And I find the same when it comes to mobile games versus traditional PC and console fare.  A game that is meant to be played four or five minutes at a time is the definition of shallow and the proof is in the game itself.  My girlfriend recently told me about a mobile game she played called "Candy Crush".  From what I've seen, it like a puzzle game, like Tetris.  The game itself comes with five lives and once those are gone, you cannot play anymore.  To keep playing, you must go on Facebook and ask other users for more lives.  Otherwise, you will have to wait for a specific amount of time to pass before gaining lives back.  So the game itself comes with a caveat that it cannot be played for a long stretch.  It was designed that way! 

 

I can't help but make the analogy that mobile is to consoles as the internet is to books.  One is the shallower experience than the other.  Yet, I don't think I can ever play mobile games with the same enjoyment as I do on my consoles.  There's no way I can ever enjoy games like Candy Crush.  But I'm a bit scared that, by closing off the mobile door this way, it might make me, too, a little bit shallow.

Gaming Update:

Ni no Kuni:  Done!  After over 50 hours!  Absolutely fantastic game.  I wish it wasn't so long, but now that it's done, I miss it.  Such light hearted fare comes along far too rarely these days.

DMC:  Started this again, from scratch, now that Ni no Kuni is done.

Fire Emblem Awakening:  Great game, and still working on it on my commutes and such.

Thinking about Walking Dead

Warning:  There will be spoilers in the article below.  If you plan on playing the game eventually, please do not read.  If you have started the Walking Dead but haven't beaten all the episodes, then please do not read. 

 

I beat the Walking Dead about a month ago but since then, I have been unable to stop thinking about it.  The more thought given to the game, the more I realize that there is a contradiction at the core of the Walking Dead.  They are as follows:

 

1)  The Walking Dead featured the best, the most awsome and the most terrifying (in a good way) choices I have ever made in my history of gaming.

2)  The Walking Dead featured the most ineffectual and the most inconsequential choices I have ever made in my history of gaming.

 

That is the contradiction.  And yet, The Walking Dead is one of the best games I have ever played.  How is that?

 

The answer lies in the past.  Choices have been a mainstay of games since the current generation of consoles.  Fallout, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Witcher, The Elder Scrolls, Infamous and many other titles all share the mantra that 'choice is king'.  Now it pays to discern how these games differ from The Walking Dead, which is in a class of it's own.  In earlier titles, choices have real gameplay consequences.  Chosing route A over route B may mean a shortcut to your objective or a longer path.  Choosing choice C over choice D may reward you with a stat boost versus some additional experience.  In other words you are rewarded, or judged, or punished by the game whenever you choose something over another and there are real gameplay consequences.  By extension, choices in most games are a factor to your character's survival.  Choosing one route over another may make your task more difficult, with a more frequent visit to the game over screen.  Choosing a stat boost may mean a better chance of survivial than just a handful of experience points.  Unless those points let you level up, making your character that much harder to kill.

 

Now contrast this with the choices in Walking Dead.  Absolutely nothing you say or do in the zombie game makes things easier or harder for your character.  Nothing you can ever choose will grant you any bonuses.  In fact, there isn't a single choice in The Walking Dead which affects your gameplay whatsoever.  Especially since the game is so easy anyone can beat it.  And with very few exceptions, none of the choices you make can get your character killed.  Most of your decisions affects the lives of the people you are with.  Your character is mostly immune to the consequences of your actions.  To be accurate, some of the choices you make can get you killed, but they are less of a 'choice' than a failure of saying the right things at the right time.  Kind of like how messing up button presses can get Lee killed.

 

So there in lies the heart of the contradiction.  Without real gameplay or survival motivation, the decisions in The Walking Dead are inconsequential.  And what's even more of a shock:  NONE of your choices matter to the overall outcome in the story!  Every single player in every single playthru will end up doing the same major things and getting the same ending all the time.

 

And yet… and YET…. the decisions DO matter!

 

I think it is because of this very contradiction that this is so.  I think it is the very fact that your decisions make for nothing in the long run which grants the game it's magic.  Because once you take away the threat of death, once you take away the gameplay factors, what you are left with are dozens of big and minor decisions which are pure.  The decisions are there solely so that the player can decide.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Without gameplay factors, the player can focus on making decisions based purely on the story and chracters.  While the way you play may not have any real consequence, that doesn't mean it's devoid of meaning.  Far from it.  Without the game rewarding or punishing the player, the player can focus on the meaning of his or her choice rather than simply which path feature the most rewards.  What it boils down to in the end is that the decisions you made were made because YOU MADE THEM.  There are no excuses or regrets.  It is what it is.  No rewards and no judgement.  And the game cleverly remembers what you said and do, so that even if all players end up watching the same ending, how the characters react to Lee and what they say to him make the difference.  

 

I find that the decisions in this game terrified me because there were no other distractions.  I know I will survive whichever I choose.  I also know that the game won't give me anything for picking one over the other.  The decisions are hard because there are no excuses.  I can't say afterwards that I wanted the experience, or the stat boost, or the short cut.  I can only justify my decisions based on what the story was at the time, or what the other characters were saying and doing.  And it is this… and it is also how the game throws you at the worse situations possible… that make the decisions worth something.

 

I have to take back some of what I said.  Maybe the stuff you pick aren't so inconsequential afterall.  Maybe the reward, and the punishment, of choosing one path over the other is in the story, the characters, and the fact that at the end of the game, the decisions are your's to live with forever.

Gaming Promise Update:

 Still playing the same games, glad to say.  Ni no Kuni and Devil May Cry are still on the list, but I am playing Ni no Kuni way more.  30+ hours and counting.

 

 

Next Generation Social Advantage

So it's that time of the cycle again, folks.  The time for the new console announcements.  I think everyone expects Sony and Microsoft to announce their new consoles sometime this year.  For those who've read my old blogs back on 1up, you may be familiar with my stance that the new consoles can in no way compete on what they used to compete on before.  That is, the usual better graphics and faster hardware just going to cut it this time around.

 

Why?  Because of development costs.  With studios folding left right an center these days, big budget triple A titles are getting harder and harder to make, not to mention more and more expensive.  So just throwing better graphics and more horse power will not work for this new generation because less and less developers can even take advantage of the added muscle.

 

Nevertheless, however, processing power has grown by leaps since the last major console launches (not counting the Wii U).  Memory has also taken similar bounds.  It would be a shame not to take advantage of progress.  But if better looks and bigger worlds are too expensive and risky to make, then what to do with all that extra power?

 

I believe I have the solution, and it was Nintendo who inspired this.  You know the Wiiverse on the Wii U?  Basically Twitter for Nintendo?  Well what if this is the next new leap in gaming?  I'm going to use Sony as my example here because they rock.  So picture this.  Wiiverse is Twitter for Nintendo, right?  So what if, when Sony introduces their new machine, we have Twitter for Sony…  and Photobucket for Sony… and Youtube for Sony…. and… dare I even say it?  Facebook for Sony!  You see what I'm getting at here?  That's right.  Complete social integration within the platform.  Social Media for Sony.  For the PS4.  That gets my blood pumping.  It's also a great way to use that extra horse power and memory available with progress today.

 

A number of you reading might be thinking: so what?  We already have Twitter, Photobucket, Youtube and Facebook.  Why would we need a Sony version?  My answer to that is another question.  Why have a console in the first place?  I mean, you can play games on your PC right?  A lot of folks like the dedicated machine experience.  A Playstation should only really be used to play games (and do game related stuff).  It's a lot less complicated to use hardware when it's dedicated.  So a similar thought could also appy to software.  Social Media for Sony isn't going to have the reach of Facebook, but it doesn't have to.  Think about what Facebook tells us for a second.  Who's got together?  Who broke up?  Who got married?  Divorced?  Having a kid?  Going on vacation?  That's all well and good but as a gamer, sometimes, I want to get away from the world and just talk about the one thing on my mind.  Games.  And with social media built in to the consoles, this could be a reality.  Besides, when you excitedly post on Facebook about your Platinum on Dragon's Dogma, who except your gamer friends are gonna care?  You might as well save those important pieces of gaming worthiness for the folks you know will understand:  your buddies on your Playstation list.

 

Of course, the option always exists to have Sony's software linked up to the real Facebook.  So if you really want to show off your newest Platinum, you can.

 

Okay, so this all sounds pretty good so far, but what is the actual application?  How would it work?  Imagine this scenario.  You're playing multiplayer deathmatch on Black Ops 3 and you wanted to go hide in your favorite ambush point.  You get to where you want to go, and without looking, start backing into your favorite spot.  All of a sudden, you die.  The kill cam shows that someone was already in your hiding spot, and since you were trying to back into it without looking, you literally walked into a backstab.  Pretty funny, right?  Suppose this happened on the the PS4 with Social Media for Sony.  Suppose also that you are able to set the machine to record a video of whatever was on screen for the past two minutes.  Then it would be a simple matter of pausing the game, retrieve the video, and whenever you have time, run the handy video editing program built into the machine to show specifically only what you wanted:  your untimely death and the hilarious cause.  After that, it's another simple matter of saving the video and posting it online.  The best part is, you can do all this on the console, built in, without leaving the machine and having to go onto a PC.  You can expand the concept to screen shots too.  See a particularily nice vista while in your favorite RPG?  Snap a pic and post it on Twitter for Sony.  Stuck in a game and need some help?  Pause and do a post on Facebook for Sony and see if any of your friends can offer some advise.  Done well, the possibilities are limitless.

 

And so that's how the next generation of machines can compete.  Not on raw processing power or graphical shine, but on what you can now do with and on a game that's much more than what you can do now.  Without hooking it up to a PC, that is.  By all means, this isn't turning a console into a PC.  Far from it.  We don't need to do spreadsheets on a Playstation.  But anything that can make the gaming experience more social, more exciting, more hands on and more rewarding is the very thing the gaming industry needs to cultivate for the next round of consoles.  And I think bringing in social media factors on board is one way of making this a reality.

Gaming Promise Check:

Atelier Meruru - 10 hours done

DMC - great game and now playing, but...

Ni no Kuni - broke my new year's promise already.  Bought this game.  Will juggle this with DMC.  With any luck, these are the only two games you will see here in a long time.

New Year's.... Promise

A bit of a disclaimer before starting.  I cannot stand new year's resolutions.  Never liked holding myself hostage to anything, even if it's something devised by myself.  Last year, however, I put into place a rule.  I hesitate to call it a new year's resolution but it's close.  The rule is, simply:

 

1)  I'm only allowed to buy a new game once I have beaten the one I'm playing now.

 

It's a very simple rule, and it's designed as a money saver and a time saver.  I used to buy a lot of new games for a lot of money, only to have no time to play the lot of them.  So it's basically money wasted and time not so well spent.  This rule changes all that and I'm happy to report that I did do pretty well for myself last year.

 

Of course, as with most things, it's never so simple.  The rule is pretty black and white, but I find that breaking it tend to be very easy because it's so inflexible.  There's no lying here.  The rule has been broken many times.  Knowing this, I put into place a few sub rules.  They are:

 

The 10 Hour Rule - This one is for fighting games, racing games, and any other gamer for which there isn't an ending.  I can't beat a game if it doesn't end, right?  So this rule is to put a limit to that.  But it's real purpose is to get me out of a game I don't like!  Yes, I admit it's a cheat, but it's a cheat with a purpose.  There are some games that are overly long.  Like most RPGs for instance.  If I don't like a game, I don't think it's possible to do the 50 hours it takes to beat these things.  However, with the 10 hour rule, it ensures me enough time to at least give it a fair shake.  If, by the 10 hour mark, I still can't get into the game, then it's fair to say that it's time to move on.

 

The Collection Rule - There are some games where, if you miss it the first time, you might not be able to find a copy later on.  Most niche titles fall into this category, my favorite of which being niche JRPGs.  Once they are sold out, they rarely come back.  Which is where this rule comes in.  I can buy it for collection purposes, so at the very least, if I want to play it in the future, the option is there.  Also, there are some titles where I do think is rare, and might be worth something in the future.  That also falls into this category.

 

The Cheap Game Rule - Part of the purpose of the whole resolution thing is to save money.  But if games are cheap, then saving money becomes less of an issue.  If I can find three games for $20, that's worth one game at $60.  Which is why I allow myself to buy games if it's cheap enough, and not count it against my resolution.  Usually this means games for $20 or under.  I find myself abusing this a lot, however (it's shocking how many cheap games there are that are interesting at that price), so for 2013, I maybe abolishing this rule.  What's the point of having a bunch of cheap games if I'm not going to play them, right?  Jury's out on this one, so we will have to see.

 

The Handheld Rule - Handhelds are a different beast because I can take these on the go.  With access during my commutes, I can easily put in 2 hours or more a day into a handheld.  This isn't something I can do with console games.  Which is why handhelds really isn't part of this resolution.  This might seem like a bit of an abuse, but it's mitigated by the fact that I don't like handhelds as much as their bigger cousins.  Given the same game - one on the go and one not - I would pick the big screen version every time.

 

The Mistake Rule - There are times where nothing helps.  You do all the due diligence, you read all the reviews, ask all your friend's opinions and still the game you just bought isn't rubbing you the right way.  That's when I pull out the mistake rule.  This one is to be used sparingly because it basically nulls the main resolution.  I can drop a game after 2 hours with this rule.  However, it is necessary because there are just some games which will kill me if I force myself to play it for more than two hours.  An example of this would be the newest Need for Speed Most Wanted.  Great reviews and everything, but I hate….. just hate…. the way the cars handle.  More of a sim guy here.  Playing this was like pulling teeth.

 

Well, there's a reason I'm putting all of this up here.  The reason is… I need some accountability.  My girlfriend has been graciously overseeing me last year but let's see if I can't make it accountable in public.  So I think whenever I do a blog, I'll write a little blurb on how my gaming is going.  Starting now.  So far, since the very beginning of 2013 (and I'm taking VERY beginning since I had to work late on new year's eve and literally started playing at 3am Jan 1) I've been playing these games:

 

Dragon's Dogma - 10 hours put in, done

Vanquish - quite after 3 hours BUT this doesn't count since I bought this a long time ago…

Atelier Meruru - still working on this but it's 10 hours done.  Once DMC comes out I'm kicking it to the curb. :)

 

Well, that's all I got now.  Happy new year to all.

 

Review: Binary Domain

Normally, I don't write game reviews because the various professionals out there do a much better job collectively than I ever could.  But the system isn't perfect, and occationally, a great game falls through the critical cracks.  Binary Domain is one such game.

 

The closest comparison to Binary Domain is Gears of War, which is a very good thing and a very bad thing.  Gears is a great game, and so is Binary, but Gears is polished to a mirror sheen, and anything held up to that reflection had better look just as good.  Unfortunately, Binary Domain just isn't THAT polished, which is why I think it was passed over by critics and gamers alike.  This is unfortunate, because BD stands out on it's own as a great game, with it's own personality, and it is every bit as good as Gears of War.

 

Binary Domain, published by Sega, takes place in the near future where robots are as common as mobile phones and do much more besides.  From serving drinks to making buildings, robots are a part of every day life.  So much so that a law was enacted to outlaw any robot made to look like human beings.  The game beings with two American soldiers infiltrating a futuristic Japan to apprenhend a corporate researcher in violation of this law.  You play as one of those American soldiers, and along the way, you pick up your usual ragtag crew and as par in this type of genre, by the time you reach the end, the premise in the beginning will be blown wide open.

 

This band of merry men you assemble come and go, like a classic JRPG.  You'd be switching out old buddies for new party members at various stages of the game and back again.  When your party gets too full, you can pick and choose who you would like to take with you.  In a particular twist, you can actually build a bond between your protagonist and your party members.  With a good relationship, you can issue orders to your teammates and they will respond favorably, with a bad relationship, they will ignore your commands.  The enemies have a strict tendency to focus on you, the player character, so it's important to get on your party's good side, or more likely than not, they will stand there and do nothing while you take a beating. 

 

The story is the best part of Binary Domain.  It starts off pedestrian, but by the end, some serious ethical and philosophical discussions would have taken place.  None of it, however, is very high handed and I think the game strikes a tight balance between being too preachy and just letting the player blow things up.  It also helps that your party members are a likable bunch of folks.  Yes, you have your cliches like the big black guy trying just a little too hard to be 'black', but each of these folks do evolve somewhat so that they are different people by the end of the game.  I can't say much more on this, because doing so would spoil what I think is the best part of Binary Domain.

 

All that talk of story and characters matter jack if the gameplay isn't good and here, the gameplay is great!  Binary Domain is your basic cover shooter at heart, but it's one that works.  The excitement is enhanced by some light RPG elements.  You earn money with every badguy you defeat, and with the cash, you can upgrade your weapons and even your physical attributes (such as your usual defense and health upgrades).  This means that from a gameplay perspective, the character you end the game with is much stronger than the one you start with.  This will be helpful because the enemies do get stronger and the bosses need all the firepower you can muster because they are big.

 

The bosses are the highlight of Binary Domain's combat.  They come in all shapes and sizes from huge monstrosities to small, lithe but fearsome foes.  No two are alike and all of them take some serious firepower to bring down.  A lot of the bosses even feature multiple 'stages' where they change patterns, forcing you to adapt.  Other's have little quirks.  You might be fighting one head on in one section, but in another, you will be luring the boss towards damaging explosives.  All this, before you can finish it off for good with a big turret.  Come for the story, but stay for the bosses, and you won't be disappointed.

 

One of my favorite things about this game is that it's good clean fun.  All your foes here are robots, which means that outside of a few cut scenes, there is barely a drop of blood to be found.  I think this is refreshing, given how bloody and violent most games are these days.  Blasting foes which spews out armor parts and metal pieces instead of blood and guts is something I can get behind.  But this also factors into the gameplay.  Because your foes are not alive, blowing up their legs just means they will crawl at you.  If you take out their main gun arm, they will use the other arm to attack instead, usually with a smaller pistol or a melee weapon.  In a neat twist, taking off a mech's head will make it attack it's own allies.  Useful and fun to see in action.  Having robots as foes is another way Binary Domain distinguishes itself from the competition.

 

All in all, polish or no, Binary Domain is a stellar game.  If you're a fan of shooters or just looking for something a bit different, then Binary Domain will do you no wrong.

Deja Vu

I think it's official now.  MMOs are dead, long live MMOs!

 

For a good number of years now developers everywhere has been trying to top World of Warcraft as the holy grail of subscription based massively multiplayer online game.  All have failed.  The latest being Star Wars: The Old Republic, now in life support as a free to play game funded by micro transactions.  The dream wasn't supposed be like this.  It was supposed to be funded via subscriptions.  Lots of subscriptions.  It is Star Wars afterall, with Bioware pedigree.  It was not to be.  The Old Republic is not the only victim.  Not by far.  The list reads like a who's who of sci-fi fantasy: Lord of the Rings, Star Trek Online, Final Fantasy 14, Conan, Warhammer and not even Star Wars can stem the tide.

 

Those are just the more well known names.  Recently, developer Trion (maker of the MMO Rift) got hit by layoffs.  At about the same time, another MMO called The Secret World just dropped its subscription model, presumably to move onto free-to-play.  I think it's safe to say that MMOs are pretty much dead and that noone can ever topple WoW from its throne.

 

Unless they can.

 

Anyone figure out what all the 'failed' games have in common?  Yes, they are all pretty much the same, aren't they?  I'm not too sure about Secret World, but I can say that I've read up on all the others from Conan to Rift and the one thing they all have in common is fantasy.  They are all, in some way, shape, or form, the same old melee and magic based RPGs that we've been playing in the past.  What if you can change up the formula?  Create something different.  Something that doesn't depend on swords and socery (or lightsabers and lightning in the case of Star Wars).  What would you get?

 

Well you might get something like EVE Online, which is one of the few surviving subscription based game.  The focus here is starship to starship combat rather than person to person.  This might sound like Star Wars but it isn't, because the game is designed to be extremly brutal.  You can be stolen from by other players for instance.  You can't do that in Warcraft.  Last I read, most players join a corporation (an EVE term for guild or clan) just to be able to survive.

 

Or, you can get a game that's completely different.  Like Second Life.  This doesn't come up much in gaming media because it's not a game but rather… well, it's a second life.  A digital life, versus your real life.  It's a place where you can design your own avatar if you have the inclination, or pay for 'parts' from other users to design your avatar with.  After that, I think, you just try to live a life.  Meet other digital people.  Maybe buy some virtual property and design a virtual house.  It's really rather flexible, and I believe people pay for the privilage. 

 

Personally, I don't think making the next breakout MMO is impossible.  But I do think making the next third person, quest-based, might and magic, raiding and leveling fest is.  In other words, there will be no World of Warcraft except World of Warcraft.  The next successful subscription based MMO MUST be totally different from anything that's came before.  I think the recent declining trend supports my theory.

 

If a gamer wants to play in a fantasy, the option is there.  If another gamer wants to be a spaceship, there's that too.  And if another gamer wants to live another life, that's possible online.  But there's got to be more people than that.  I don't know what it is though, because the next big massively multiplayer game has yet to be invented.  What I do know is that there will be two breakout MMOs coming in the future.  One is World of Warcraft 2, and the other will be someone noone has ever seen before.

 

P.S.  Why do I get the feeling I wrote this exact same blog before?  On 1up maybe?  Or an earlier one in Blogger?  I don't know.  But it's not stopping me from writing about it again!

Wii U Impressions Over Four Days

On day 1, the new system was down right disappointing.  I understand that the new touch pad is the gimmick of the hour but must everything go through that tiny screen?  On this day I find that far too much action happens on the small screen.  Even if the TV and the touchpad is showing the exact same image, the actual input comes from the pad.  You can't even use the directional buttons to make selections.  Nope.  You have to touch the screen.  Which means eyes must be taken off the TV.  You might as well forget about the beautiful 60 inch set you have and just stare at the pad!  I was so mad.  Not that I have a beautiful 60 inch set.  Just an example, the Nintendo eStore can be viewed from your TV just fine, but if you want to go into an item, say, to browse the description, you have to use the touch pad.  Drove me nuts.  What happened to old fashioned d-pad and the A button?   Bah.

 

On day 2, I was determined to do something different.  Today, the goal is to ignore the touch pad until absolutely necessary and focus almost strictly on the TV screen.  The difference it made to the Wii U experience was like night and day.  I was using the new Wiiverse app (more on that in a minute) and you can scroll through the app with the analogue sticks and some features have button short cuts (you can go back a menu for example, by using the good old B button).  This means that I was using the TV screen most of the time to read posts.  Unfortunately, to use any of the more 'advanced' features like 'reply' or even to make a 'new' post, you have to tap and tap and tap.  Grrr.  But I'm getting used to the dual screen setup and there's less anger towards the machine.

 

Day 3 was the day I popped in a real game to try.  Nintendoland it is.  Didn't spend too much time with it, but there was some nice things to do with the touch pad so it didn't seem so stupid anymore.  Played the Legend of Zelda 'attraction' as they call it (more like mini game) and you use the pad as a 'viewfinder' of sorts where you can tilt it around to aim and shoot arrows at enemies.  It was suprisingly fun.  I also tried Octopus Dance.  It's a rhythmn action game whereby you follow the instructions of an AI NPC and try to copy it's dance moves.  Harder than it sounds!  You also have to switch from looking at the TV to the pad screen and vice versa whenever the game randomly 'flips' the perspective of the dance.  Very nice!  I'm coming around to the Wii U.  Actually liking it now.

 

Day 4.  Mario time!  Popped in New Super Mario Bro. U and played it.  It was…. blah.  It's Mario.  You jump, you eat mushrooms, you jump some more.  *snore*  Wooops!  Sorry about that.  To be honest, I was excited about starting Mario.  After I did, however, it grew old and fast.  Sorry, Mario lovers, I grew past this guy around the time when games went 3D.  BUT, the Wii U grew on me nonetheless.  That's because I found the joys of Wiiverse!  What is it?  It's basically Nintendo Twitter.  You can't carry an app around your phone like real Twitter, but on the Wii U, it's the primary method of communicating.  Your Friends can be access from here but you can also access a great many other things.  The app works almost exactly like Twitter, right down to the 120 charaters or so space limit.  You can broadcast your posts or you can view other posts, give them 'thumbs up's and follow other users.  Because of the nature of the touch pad, you can even use the stylus to draw your post rather than type them!  There are some talented artists in the community.  Each game has it's own 'community', or forum, and you can post into any one of them regardless if you've ever played the game.  But what sold me was the integration of the app into actual gaming.  You can take screen shots and post them to the game's forum.  You can post from within the game and the post will even include which level of the game you're currently in at the moment.  I still haven't figure out everything yet, but already the excitement is difficult to contain.

 

It's Nintendo, so I don't think they'll ever grow out of their old habitats, but if Wiiverse can be integrated into Facebook or the real Twitter where if you post there you post everywhere, then I think it'll be the best thing since 3D polygons.  Even as it is, I can't wait to be able to use it for other games besides Mario.  Right now, I'm playing Farcry 3 on the 360.  It's a very beautiful game, and sometimes, I'd be high up on a cliff somewhere and there would be a breathtaking view for miles around.  Those are the times when I wish I could take a picture and post it for all to see.  Alas, there is no Miiverse on the 360!  But give it time, maybe, and I can do that, some day, on the Wii U, with another beautiful game.