Weekend Confirmed 86 - Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Saints Row the Third

Here's the problem with the Wii-U in relation to the upcoming Sony and Microsoft successors: we don't know shit. We probably won't know enough to start predicting until E3 2012.

Of course this depends on how much flow the Wii-U can get in its probably 12-month lead, and the hardware gap that will exist between it and the PS4 and next Xbox.

In terms of the hardware, we don't have a clear picture of the Wii-U (we know what series of graphics card it MIGHT use, which if true would make it noticeably more powerful than current hardware), and we know that all three next gen consoles will use AMD GPUs. That's about it.

What little we do know though suggests that the hardware gap between Nintendo and the others won't be as wide as it was between the Wii and the 360. Likely at the very least he same engines running PS4 games will also run on the Wii-U, mainly because those engines: idTech 5, CryEngine 3, Frostbite 2, etc., are already running on current gen systems. The only wildcard, and a big one, is UE4. If I were Nintendo I would be in serious dialogue with Epic right about now.

That brings me to the developers because that's always been Nintendo's weakness - getting the developer support. With the Wii the consumers didn't care about the amount of pixels on the screen, but the developers did, particularly Western ones just getting into the console space.

It's not surprising Ubisoft will support the Wii-U. They've always been with Nintendo. They were one of the few western third parties who still made Gamecube versions of their games to the end of that system's lifespan. They're there. EA and Activision will also be there with the big stuff because they can afford it. The problem is the slightly smaller guys who've never had any relationship with Nintendo: Irrational, Valve, Bethesda, etc.

I think what Garnett said: a PS2-like scenario where the Wii-U becomes a baseline for multiplatform games is probably the best case scenario for Nintendo. That's gonna depend on A LOT of things but I don't think it's impossible for Nintendo. Backwards compatibility for the Wii-U might count for something like the PS2's BC with PS1 games, and looking back, the most powerful hardware has never "won" a console generation in terms of sales and market share (unless you count the NES).

In terms of playing handheld games at home, like I said in last episode's discussion, I think Sony just needs to give the Vita an HDMI attachment. I would be much more likely to play the thing then. It would basically become a console and a handheld simultaneously. Or if they don't wanna cannibalize PS3 sales, do the operation through some kind of attachment to the PS3 like a Super Game Boy.

A part of me wants us to move towards something like what Apple has set up - where you have multiple devices that all carry the same content but on different scales. I can buy content on iTunes and it works between my computer, my Phone, my iPad, and my Apple TV. If I have a good portable game that I'm playing while at home, I'd definitely prefer to play it on my TV if I could (regardless of how it looked). I got through a ton of GBA games on the Game Boy Player (and still think about buying another one). By the same token it would be cool if I could at least play a part of some of my console and PC games on portable devices.

A good example mentioned on the show was Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. Now there's a PSP version and a PS3 version, and the save files are inter-compatible between them, so I can play the game in HD at home, but if I still want to play it while on the go I can. We already know Kojima plans to do this with Vita games, and another example is Dragon's Crown which will come out on PS3 and Vita with inter-compatible save files.

Didn't someone on the show say they wished they could play a version of Civilization V with the basic strategy view graphics on their iPad? I kinda wish I could play a version of Dragon Age like that.

Hey Jeff. The automatons were in Morrowind. They're not new just because they weren't in Oblivion.

Well, the word "Cave" was followed by the word "Story."

It only took 86 episodes to get that far, but I guess that's progress.

You guys could use an old Jeff Cannata song clip to introduce the first segment:

Weekend Confirmed 21, 1:42:28:
Jeff: "First SEGMENT!! First SEGMENT!! First SEEEEEEG-MENT!!"

I think the point Jeff is missing with smart phones, is the whole essence of the phenomenon being that people don't use their phones as a phone anymore. Long distance socializing is now multimedia based. People would rather send their friend a message, invite them to an event, or update people on their lives through Facebook, Twitter and other services, rather than call them. I think that phone tech itself is becoming antiquated. I would assert that in 10 years we won't have phones, we will just have ipad-like devices that communicate with each other via video chat, and social networks, "feed updates," etc.

So this fundamental change in how we communicate has created a new market where a company that has nothing to do with the tech industry---like Barnes and Noble, can release a tablet and have it be successful for them. If every media platform on the market can run the same social media app, then every hardware configuration can thrive. The market for gaming handhelds is by extension really bigger than it ever has been. Again, my main point with the Vita is can Sony carry over the wider experience of "Apps" to a Playstation platform. It appears that they plan to use an Android proxy for this, but I think the question is---will that work?

I want to sincerely thank you all for a wonderful show and community. That goes for both the hosts and the people posing here.

I do have a question, too: What games do you think are best played in little chunks?

I'm a middle school teacher now, and it is seriously taking a bit out of my gaming time. I seriously have put more time into listening to Weekend Confirmed than gaming since school began. I have bought a few of the big recent releases, but have little time to play any of them. I own an iPad, but most titles on it seem to shoehorn in motion control or try to slap a game that needs a controller onto a device that only uses touch interface.

I have a ton of games on my iPad, but haven't put much time into them beyond a few hours on a few select titles (Game Dev Story, Myst, The Thirteenth Guest, and an assortment of puzzle games.

I thought about just dedicating myself to a game like Monster Hunter and skipping buying new games for a while, but I am a single player console-loving dude.

Of course, a lot of my time is being spent reading the Game of Thrones books.... so until I am done with that, gaming will take a bit of a back seat.


PS- It has been crazy to see how many kids talk about Batman: Arkham City and CoD. They light up when they hear I play games and used to review them for the local paper. I find myself wanting to school them on older titles they have missed, but resist the temptation because I don't want to come off as the dude too cool for the new games.

I loved the multiplayer talk that Jeff was engaging in, even if I'm totally on 'the other side' from him. I grew up on card games, Nintendo local multiplayer, fighting games, Worms, D&D, etc...

I do share his sentiments on MW (even though I've probably put a few hundred hours into the multiplayer over the last few years) but let me submit that part of MW's appeal to the 'jocks' is that the game will not ever, ever let you play a round without engaging you every 10-20 seconds. Nothing crazy happens in a round of MW, just people shooting each other and triggering some powers, but it usually works as intended. It's eager to please in a lot of ways.

Compare and contrast with BF3. That game is willing to give you lots of weird dead ends. Maybe you'll walk for a really long time and nothing much happens. You can probably hide in a bush and take a phone call without anyone ever finding you. It generates a story (of sorts) every round that isn't just about your personal score. Sometimes stuff happens that is indescribably cool and organic. Sometimes it's a mess. But I think for story people like Jeff it's a much better fit than MW.