j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
And thus far, there has been not a scrap of news about Wii U console failures approaching the 10% rate, let alone the 360's legendary 33% failure rate, so I don't see why you're trying to spin this into an issue. As a general rule, when people try and hold failure rates as a negative against a company, the console has to have started breaking down in large numbers first.
A 10% failure rate wouldn't be news worthy. That's the industry standard. A news article would have to read "Nintendo WiiU is average where failure rates are concerned". That's not a compelling story. We likely won't know what the failure rates are for a year and they may not get reported for two years. I would be SHOCKED if Nintendo every released a console with the kind of problem Microsoft had. That's on them and will always be associated with Microsoft going forward. Sony at least had the advantage of being a hardware company and so knew how to test and build things properly.
Until that actually starts happening with the Wii U, which as I pointed out above I find unlikely given Nintendo's history of making shit Tonka Tough and the interviews they've given about reliability being a key issue, then pardon me if I think you're fussing about nothing here.
I still don't know why you're arguing this. The WiiU is likely to be less reliable than the Wii and even at the Wii's failure rate we're still talking about over a hundred thousand people right now who just magically lose their library. 3 out of 100 isn't bad. But none of us are impervious to that and this failure rate is only if Nintendo makes a mistake. That doesn't include theft or damage. These shouldn't make the library vulnerable. The process of redownloading games you've purchased from Nintendo should be simple and painless like it is for nearly every other service that is available today. Why are you defending their practice of making it exceedingly difficult to protect games you've purchased from their store?
It is not. The CPU likely has a lot of common elements with the CPU design of the Wii and Gamecube (though also being designed to be a multi-core), but the GPU is entirely custom, and based off AMD architecture that appeared years after the 360 or PS3.
Ok?
The PS3 failure rate was 10% according to a study done by an electronics warranty company. That's not the sweet spot. That's just inside the acceptable of failure rates that you yourself gave. Interestingly enough, the same study put the Wii's failure rate at 2.7% which is a phenomenal figure no matter how you look at it, and only reinforces the fact that Nintendo have, and always will take reliability seriously.
These are the numbers I've been saying. Why are you citing this as if you're debating me?
As for where I got the number of 10% being a good number, look at the market for the 3-4 year failure rate (the console failure numbers were at 2 years and so will be lower):
http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pop/lm_failureRates.html
The average electronics failure rate is 15%. 10% is well within that standard mark and is indeed a sweet spot. Please cite something indicating otherwise but that's about the most recent (yes, it's older but we're talking about product at the time the consoles were made).
What fucking nonsense? The 'nonsense' that Nintendo have yet to build a machine that is completely, totally, 100% failure proof? Well them and the rest of the human race. Be reasonable, for god sakes! And you don't lose your library when a console bricks. Nintendo customer service replaces your library as long as your orders are registered on your Nintendo Network account.
Which again, brings me to the question of why you continue to debate this with me? I'm not saying that Nintendo's failure rates are astronomical, or bad. They're well beneath the industry average and especially below its competition. I get the feeling that you're just defending Nintendo with no real thought to where I'm coming from. I'm not attacking Nintendo, I'm discussing its position. Nintendo what appears to be the least consumer-friendly games library policy of any of the big names in the industry. My presentation that Nintendo actually has a failure rate is only to explain that these are real people who may have suddenly lost their entire library for no other reason than Nintendo links the account to the console and not to an individual like the industry standard has become. So I don't get it, do you like that Nintendo does this for some reason?
So let me get this straight... you claim that Sony offers exactly the same functionality as the Wii U by allowing tablets to sync with their console. When I point out that phones and tablets lack any buttons, and therefore cannot offer the same experience, your response is to bring up the fact that you can now sync external controllers with smartphones?
Congratulations on pointing that out to me. Now if you would kindly explain how that is in any way, shape or form relevant to the discussion? Pointing out that controllers can sync with smartphones is redundant when the topic of this conversation point, the PS4, has its own Dualshock 4 controllers that Sony have been marketing pretty loudly. What is the point of syncing up a PS3 controller to a phone to play a game on a console that has its own damn controllers? And more importantly, how is chopping and changing between a controller and a smartphone the same as a controller which has a touchscreen built in? Answer: it's not.
I'm saying that Sony offers similar functionality and it's entirely optional. It does not force you to spend $140 on a peripheral you may not use. In fact, it allows you to use hardware that you likely already have. Nintendo forces the individual to purchase an unnecessary peripheral. Sony does not while still mandating the developers make games able to be played remotely. So it gets the same development support as the gamepad without incuring any additional fees on the user.
Yes, it is. It is a tablet. It's a tablet that is supplemented with a gamepad. By the same turn you can say it's a gamepad that has a tablet in it. Either way, it is a tablet and it is a gamepad. I'm sorry if that somehow offends you or makes you think this is an attack on Nintendo. I just do not like tablets as an input method for mainstream games. For that same reason I'm concerned with the PS4's touch screen interface on the controller and I'm most concerned with the XBO trying to force a kinect on us.
For example, take a look at this consumer report on the Archos Gamepad Tablet.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/04/archos-gamepad-tablet-review-a-good-idea-with-so-so-results/index.htm
Long story short, the article starts with, "The Archos GamePad
is a tablet designed specifically for playing games...". Emphasis added.
So it's a good thing that the Gamepad functions as a regular old controller then, as seen with games like Bayonetta 2 and NSMBU.
Yes, that is a good thing. It's an even better thing that they've released the Wii U Pro Controller which is what I want to play with. I can't, however, play with that controller as long as developers still make entire games that demand the tablet-based gamepad. I am also forced to buy a $140 device I don't want and then have to go out and buy another $50 controller that I do want but may not be compatible with several high-profile titles. Can you at least understand how someone who does not like other forms of input would be miffed about this?
No it's not. You'd be having to constantly put down the controller to pick up the tablet, and vice versa. That's not intuitive. That is the textbook definition of being unintuitive.
If it is literally the controller for the ps3/ps4, why would you have to pick up the tablet/phone at any point? All the necessary buttons would be there on the controller. Also, there are gamepads that wrap around the tablet/phone in the exact same way as the WiiU's does. You can also purchase higher end models but those are generally gamings systems all by themselves and have no need to connect to the ps4. The Vita for example, is a pretty flawless system and the premium model is now only $200. $60 more than the WiiU's gamepad and yet capable of playing ps4 games from anywhere that the individual has service, capable of playing its own games, storing and playing movies, storing and playing music, etc.
I'll also note that the Vita has sold more than the WiiU. Just to put things into perspective.
So in order to get the most out of the PS4's smartphone/tablet functionality, you're going to have to buy a peripheral add-on device for your peripheral phone controller? Weren't you slamming Nintendo just now for their focus on peripherals, or 'gimmicky crap' as you like to call it? How is the Gamepad a gimmick, but an optional controller add-on for an optional smartphone control method not?
What I'm saying is that Sony is doing the same gimmick for cheaper and as an option, not a forced purchase of $140. Surely you see the difference in price (most of the pads are around $10-30) and having the option not to get or use it?
No, they can't. I've humoured you up until now, but this is pure bunk. A touchpad is in no way, shape or form a valid alternative for the tactile response and feedback offered by buttons.
Hmm, that's what old people said when smart phones got rid of number keys.
If the functionality offered by the Gamepad is not worth an additional $150 in your eyes, then there is no way in good conscience you can then turn around and in the same breath make a virtue of the PS Vita' functionality for considerablly more.
Haha, yes I can. The gamepad isn't anything other than a controller with a tablet screen in it. The Vita is an actual console. The gamepad has no internal storage that you can access and can't play its own games or stream anything apart from the WiiU. The Vita can do all of that. The Nintendo 3ds XL is also around $200 new. Imagine if you could use that instead of the gamepad. Which would be better? The 3DS XL by far. The basic 3ds is just $40 more. The only difference here is that you can't use them to play WiiU games whereas you can use the Vita. Well, you also can't use the DS to do a variety of other media tasks but that's not the point I'm making here.
Not on tablets/touchscreens. The screen has areas with icons on them to perform tasks.
A function we have yet to see demonstrated in a real world setting, and thus have no idea how well the service actually works. Game streaming is notoriously laggy, and requires a huge broadband connection to work. If you think you'll be able to stream the next Killzone game lag-free over a Starbucks wi-fi connection, then I only hope you have a strong stomach for disappointment, because that's what you'll be in for.
What do you mean? We've already seen it in action from the PSP/PS3 generation. There just weren't many games that supported it so you sometimes had to use silly hacks to play those games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeDNKCFBzEg (this is playing Batman Arkham City on psp remote play)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYKutQ_QBBw (this is just basic video streaming stuff from the ps3)
Your home internet is the machine connecting to any servers. Your handheld is just the display and input viewing it. I would imagine that lag would show its face on games like COD but I find it hard to believe that such a staunch Nintendo advocate is using difficulty playing COD games as a deterrent. It has been historically much harder to play COD titles on the Wii since they weren't often ported to it and if so, were downscaled.
Factually. Games are made for it specifically that you play on them. I'm not sure how you could bring that into question.
And is currently tanking harder than the Wii U, without any kind of comparable first-party push being made by Sony to actually turn things around.
Playstation Vita = 7 million units sold over the past fiscal year, WiiU = 3.45 Million Units sold in their fiscal year. If you're using the Wikipedia numbers to base your facts off of you should note that those numbers are from 2012. You have just called the WiiU a failure by association.
http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2013/05/sony_doesnt_expect_to_sell_many_playstation_vitas_over_the_coming_year
Sony only forecasts being able to sell another 5 million in the next fiscal year. The WiiU won't come close unless something changes.