Zero Punctuation: ZombiU

[SirCannonFodder]

As a reformed PC gamer who couldn't give a fuck about the console wars, I really am starting to wonder if there is ANYTHING Nintendo can do to satisfy Yahtzee.

Provide a chocolate-milk-lactating-stripper factory, complete with en suite disposal facility for once he's finished with them?

That or committing sepuku.

Well since he's apparently not terribly interested in the ladies, either [http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/archive/20080719-20100626.htm] (scroll down to 29/09/09), seems Nintendo's only option at this point is the seppuku thing.

 

[empirialtank]

did Yahtzee just give a mostly positive review of a Nintendo product? and a triple 'A' survival horror game?

Dear god its a sign of the apocalypse! the Mayan's were right! the world will end on a Friday!

 

[ex275w]

Also, it appears that the Wii U is not as powerful as the PS3 even in spite of being more powerful then the Wii.

How is it even possible to release a next gen console that is less powerful then a LAST gen console?

I get the Wii not being as powerful as the PS3 or the Xbox 360 but the Wii U?

This is lame.

Yea yea graphics aren't everywhing bla blah blah and whatever.

The graphics processor unit on the Wii U is better than the one on the PS3 and Xbox 360. The processor isn't as fast though. So games like Dynasty Warriors or Dead Rising might suffer from slowdown. A game like Zelda or Mario will run at 60fps and display nice graphics since those games don't need that much processing.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

"...gimmicks that are a solution looking for a problem" is a golden statement that just about sums up the Wii and the Wii U's control scheme, thank you Yahtzee.
And before someone tries to tell me with a straight face that this is how we're going to move forward with technology/innovation...no, just no. And again, before someone tries to tell me "at least they're doing something different", I tried to take a shit while standing up today for the sake of doing something different. It didn't go too fucking well.
Also see Yahtzee's Bread Submarine.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

At least they're trying to do something different.

Yeah, this morning I decided to eat cyanide-laced dog feces, instead of Cornflakes. At least I was trying to do something different!

 

[duchaked]

I'd be more open to Nintendo trying to win back its hardcore audiences (especially those of us who grew up with their games and systems) if it involved putting out good games rather than...well what I feel are half-baked games with some decency but brought down by forcing the hardware on us.

Skyward Sword made me not miss Legend of Zelda really. of course I still have my N64 and GameCube

 

[Canadamus Prime]

At least they're trying to do something different.

Yeah, this morning I decided to eat cyanide-laced dog feces, instead of Cornflakes. At least I was trying to do something different!

Hey, I didn't say it was a good idea.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Ok, we gotta start using the words Fugbar and Daygunt as proper words!!!

 

[ex275w]

"...gimmicks that are a solution looking for a problem" is a golden statement that just about sums up the Wii and the Wii U's control scheme, thank you Yahtzee.
And before someone tries to tell me with a straight face that this is how we're going to move forward with technology/innovation...no, just no. And again, before someone tries to tell me "at least they're doing something different", I tried to take a shit while standing up today for the sake of doing something different. It didn't go too fucking well.
Also see Yahtzee's Bread Submarine.

This is how we're moving forward with technology/innovation. Nintendo is at least doing something different.

Now on a more serious note, I don't think Nintendo is really looking for a solution for problems with their consoles. I just think they're looking for alternatives with their consoles, so they have a unique position in marketing, remember the PS2/GC/Xbox era, all consoles were basically the same at playing games and had similar control schemes. So yeah Nintendo is a cold marketing bastard and that's why I love them.

 

[Negatempest]

I was waiting to see what he made of the whole look-at-your-controller-for-inventory-management thing. In most games it certainly would be annoying and pointless, but since this is survival horror, this sort of thing accomplisheses the all-important task of keeping the tension high since having to look away from the TV screen gives the zombies a chance to sneak up on you, making even navigating a menu a something of a nervous prospect. Maybe Yahtzee figured that ZombiU doesn't deserve a thumbs-up for it because he figures every other WiiU game is going to shoehorn in touchscreen-based menu systems for far less useful reasons... which will probably soon prove 100% correct as the WiiU's library expands.

At any rate, great review, and well worth the time spent in anticipation of it. Let Yahtzee's epic struggle against the WiiU begin.

I dunno, when something makes me look away from the screen during a fight or whatever it's just irritating and immersion-breaking, not more tense.

Depends on the reason. For example, a fighting game or action/adventure game that has you look at the screen for specific button promps to use a specific ability that only works when certain conditions are met. Like GoW where the QTE get in the way of you enjoying the carnage.

ZombiU WANTS you to not look on the TV for the purpose of getting in the way of your Line of Vision to increase tension. Think of it like yourself rummaging through your back-pack at high school and a close friend decides to scare you. You may jump to the attack because it was sudden. Now imagine that same scenario but you have eyes in the back of your head now. Now you see your friend coming a mile away and are now completely aware of your surroundings and your own fear is nearly none existent.
So in a Zombie game where you have you place yourself in a situation where you lose sight of your surroundings on purpose adds tension to your simple task. "If" the screen was clear than you kinda sort of see the scares coming a mile away....thus killing any fear potential.

In short, that duel screen complaint is stupid.

 

[Woodsey]

I was waiting to see what he made of the whole look-at-your-controller-for-inventory-management thing. In most games it certainly would be annoying and pointless, but since this is survival horror, this sort of thing accomplisheses the all-important task of keeping the tension high since having to look away from the TV screen gives the zombies a chance to sneak up on you, making even navigating a menu a something of a nervous prospect. Maybe Yahtzee figured that ZombiU doesn't deserve a thumbs-up for it because he figures every other WiiU game is going to shoehorn in touchscreen-based menu systems for far less useful reasons... which will probably soon prove 100% correct as the WiiU's library expands.

At any rate, great review, and well worth the time spent in anticipation of it. Let Yahtzee's epic struggle against the WiiU begin.

I dunno, when something makes me look away from the screen during a fight or whatever it's just irritating and immersion-breaking, not more tense.

Depends on the reason. For example, a fighting game or action/adventure game that has you look at the screen for specific button promps to use a specific ability that only works when certain conditions are met. Like GoW where the QTE get in the way of you enjoying the carnage.

ZombiU WANTS you to not look on the TV for the purpose of getting in the way of your Line of Vision to increase tension. Think of it like yourself rummaging through your back-pack at high school and a close friend decides to scare you. You may jump to the attack because it was sudden. Now imagine that same scenario but you have eyes in the back of your head now. Now you see your friend coming a mile away and are now completely aware of your surroundings and your own fear is nearly none existent.
So in a Zombie game where you have you place yourself in a situation where you lose sight of your surroundings on purpose adds tension to your simple task. "If" the screen was clear than you kinda sort of see the scares coming a mile away....thus killing any fear potential.

In short, that duel screen complaint is stupid.

A real-time menu would still work better. If a horror game relies on immersion then the worst thing you can do is make me physically look away from the main screen and have me acknowledge the room. Hell, it's bad enough when controls aren't very well designed and you become more aware of your hands.

It's the same problem that motion controls inevitably and unavoidably have.

 

[Negatempest]

You have no one else to blame for your ruined immersion than yourself. Kind of goes with the "Suspend your disbelief" kind of thing. Like watching a movie, the whole thing is fake in more ways than one when you watch it in a theater with a few dozen other people in there. You hear them there and can possibly hear a few people talking or laughing. Do you walk out of the theater than because your immersion was ruined?

What I am trying to say is that the control scheme is part of the immersion and if you don't like it, like I don't like a turn-based system in an RPG, than you (I) are/am to blame for the immersion break.

 

[Marik Bentusi]

That's the problem with a "serious" zombie game like this, after you introduce them you can't really add anything new exept for more intense encounters. You can't introduce, say, fly-men once you've established this is a "conventional" zombie outbreak. This is probibly why Resident Evil made it aobut bio-weapons, to add giant snakes and lizard-men giving the game some variaty.

You can make zombies as scary as you want them to be without straying *too* far from the formula. You can make them a slothing shooter gallery or a gun-spraying mad horde highly alert to sound. Just like you can twist a game around them anywhere between "Action", "Stealth" and "Survival Horror".

 

[Marik Bentusi]

You have no one else to blame for your ruined immersion than yourself. Kind of goes with the "Suspend your disbelief" kind of thing. Like watching a movie, the whole thing is fake in more ways than one when you watch it in a theater with a few dozen other people in there. You hear them there and can possibly hear a few people talking or laughing. Do you walk out of the theater than because your immersion was ruined?

What I am trying to say is that the control scheme is part of the immersion and if you don't like it, like I don't like a turn-based system in an RPG, than you (I) are/am to blame for the immersion break.

Some things make it easier for people to immerse themselves and others make it harder. Regardless of his, yours or my opinion.

 

[Bindal]

ZombiU WANTS you to not look on the TV for the purpose of getting in the way of your Line of Vision to increase tension.

You know how they also could have achieved the "loose sight of surrounding"-thing? BY HAVING A FREAKING GUI ON THE SCREEN BLOCKING SAID VIEW!

 

[geier]

"Come and join as, the master will be home soon"

I laughed so hard at this sentence, i will download the video, rip the audio from it, cut this sentence out and use it as ringtone on my cell phone !

One of the most funny videos from Yahtzee

 

[SweetShark]

The sad part inside the review is the cat actually can eat anything, including the dead corpse of the one that had took care of the specific cat with so much love.

 

[JoJo]

Heh, interesting, even as a Nintendo fan I'm still on the fence about whether to get this console or not. I liked the part about the Queen particularly. The section at about 4.00 with the crosshair on a group of a children though; a reference to recent events in Connecticut or simply an unlucky coincidence?