“Maybe it’s because we in the U.S. just came out of a viciously unpleasant election cycle, but I don’t feel like participating in the spin — damning or praising the Wii U, forecasting its failure or success.
It is a system with a lot of potential. It is a system that faces a lot of challenges and requires new ways of thinking on the part of both consumers and developers.”
Initial thoughts on Wii U’s launch from Christian Nutt.
I haven’t spent enough time with the online-enabled version of Wii U to form a broad opinion on the system, but I’ll throw out a few impressions about its OS:
- People are going to hate grabbing the day-one update that takes 1-3 hours to download.
- Miiverse is a fun social network that feels deeply integrated into Wii U (we might be attempting to build a secret community in the Funky Barn thread).
- eShop’s design and offerings are far better than I expected, a vast improvement over the 3DS version.
- That web browser is really fast!
- Loading apps can be super slow.
- Netflix is available at launch, though TVii and other Video on Demand apps are still delayed.
- The TV remote features, browser, and Miiverse will likely make this the primary device I keep in my lap whenever I’m plopped down on the couch and watching TV (instead of my phone or tablet).
For a more in-depth look at the system, please refer to our own JC Fletcher’s Wii U review over at Joystiq.
Buy: Wii U stuff
See also: More Wii U news, media
