Today I received my Wii U here in the UK, happily a day before launch too. I got my very own ‘ZombiU‘ Limited Edition bundle, which is essentially the ‘Deluxe’ package but replacing ‘Nintendo Land’ with ZombiU and includes a Pro Controller(plus the artwork on the packaging is pretty cool too).
I love Nintendo, always have! I’ve bought every console day one since I started gaming, the first being N64. So for me the Wii U is a big exciting launch and with the nice line up of games, its safe to say I was/am, erm, EXCITED!
So what did I get all together? Well apart from the bundle itself I also got ‘New Super Mario Bros. U, Black Ops 2 and Assassin’s Creed III. As of right now I’ve only played ZombiU – more about this game later. It took me around 5 minutes to open it up and connect it all together, my first initial impression of the ‘GamePad’ was that its very sleek, real light and wow is it a comfy piece of kit to hold. My impression of the Wii U was similar (apart form the comfy bit), the system is a really beautifully finished machine, but within seconds of just unwrapping the thing fingerprints were highly visible; not that this is a problem since you wont be touching it but the gamepad uses the same gloss material finish so if you are the kind of person to OCD about this, erm, unlucky!?
Once it was all connected, I turned the system on and it ran me through the initial set up; Profile settings, Date/Time settings etc. “the norm”. Then comes the infamous “Day One Update” and you know what?! It wasn’t nearly as bad as it’s being made out to be! In fact it took me around 45 minutes, and my internet connection speed isn’t the worst, but it’s certainly not the best, oh and 5GB? Erm, not quite, not at all actually!
So the system is connected and now fully set up. Time for games right? Yeah, but not for me. I started messing around trying out all the pre-installed applications and in all fairness there isn’t much. The system included applications like Youtube, Netflix and LoveFilm Instant already pre-installed which is very nice since they are around 2GB each to download. The apps which were not just surprising but are also excellent were the ‘eShop’ and the MiiVerse. The eShop looks fantastic and the layout is simple yet so well designed. As for MiiVerse… MiiVerse is in a word, brilliant! For those who don’t quite understand what MiiVerse is or may still be a little confused on its purpose, basically it’s Nintendo’s very own social network. Miiverse is a service that holds communities, communities for each individual piece of software and by entering a community you have the ability to communicate with other players from all around the world; for example if you were to enter the New Super Mario Bros. U community you will be sprung upon thousands of players posting messages and screenshots, communicating with one another on tips and overall game relating information, it’s truly ground breaking and makes the whole online system feel so connected. Nintendo has shown us that with MiiVerse alone they can add to the online world of gaming, and in such a way that it really feels fresh.
Once I tried out all the apps, I started ZombiU, now I haven’t played much (about 1 hour) but going from just that first hour, I’m very impressed. The thing that makes ZombiU stand out is the sense of limitation, you never have that feeling of running into a room taking down enemies or pulling out your gun to blast everything apart, because for one your equipment can be very scarce and those zombies are bloody tough! Your standardised weapon is a cricket bat and with looting around for additional weaponry such as pistols, machine guns, grenades etc. But when you do find those items its such a secure feeling of finding a new item to feel safe with and to stop these tough sons of bitches, because it really is easy to die and once you do you re-spawn as a new character and lose all of your loot. If you were to die (oh, and you most definitely will) just going back to the location of your previous characters death and there you will find your collective equipment.
I’ll be reviewing ZombiU within the coming days so be sure to look out for that. I’ll be reviewing the other games too, and all Wii U title for the foreseeable future.
Have you got your Wii U yet? What are your impressions of the system or the games you’ve played so far? Let me know in the comments below’
By the way if any of you would like to add me as a friend, my Nintendo Network ID is Hx3KinG 🙂