Apples and oranges, no pun intended. A lot of the reasons for the derision of the Wii U are focused on very specific points about the system, the majority of which have no analogue to the iPhone 5 upgrade.

In other words, to draw that comparison, you have to generalize too far, effectively stripping away the context of the positive/negative comments.

- Hmm. Fun stuff coming to the VOG game? Maybe I should get more points!
- As for the S3 vs. the iPhone 5, well the Galaxy ain't an iPhone but it sure is a BetterPhone.
- Now, are the Apple praisers the same as the Nintendo bashers? I mean, it would be very damn stupid if they are.
- The Bayonetta 2 haters should be banned from the internet. Period. Seriously, I would kill for a game series I like to get a NEW game. (Yeah, I'm still at TWEWY on iOS)
- Also, Nintendoes what Microdon't?

Great show Blackwolf, looking forward to listening live this Sunday with the interview and all =)

Better in what context, though? Spec-wise, maybe, but specs aren't the end all, be all.

The Galaxy may be better in and of itself, but would it be better within a network that is primarily Apple-based? As in, Macbooks, other iPhones, iPads, etc. All currently acting together very well with few bugs. Would it be worth getting the extras of the Galaxy, to deal with fundamental incompatibilities?

Within that context, the focus on the iPhone and its upgrades is less about which phone is better, and more about improvements to the overall platform that an individual feels works best for them. (Never mind that iPhone iterations are every 1-2 years, so one can skip several upgrades, therefore getting a much bigger leap forward when one does so.)

In contrast, the Wii U is an evolution of a system that a lot of people bought and then didn't actually play, for various reasons. For some, it was the games; Nintendo is at least trying to address that. For others, like me, it was neverending frustration with the controls. I hate the Wii controls. The Wii U is adding another layer of complication to those controls. It's a novelty, sure, and could be interesting, but I generally game on my own, so it just doesn't appeal to me.

So I think there are rational reasons for someone to be excited for the iPhone 5, yet tepid or dismissive of the Wii U. As always, Context is King.

It was a good episode, You all should check it out.

As for Bayonetta 2 being a WiiU exclusive, I think it was all part of Nintendo's plan, Put a hot scantily clad Woman on your Console and it will sell. It's a proven strategy, Sex Sells.

I love that WiiU is getting Bayonetta 2. I'm not actually a fan of the first game but if WiiU continues to get these types of games as well as the cross-platform games when they release, it will strike a good balance with the gimmick games they release for the soccer mom crowd.

I still take issue with the WiiU storage. I don't buy Reggie's spin at all. They are simply passing off an expense to the consumer to keep the system price lower. Unlike some people, I don't have a hard drive laying around and I actually am interested in getting a WiiU down the road. Fortunately, I know this is just launch spin and they will release a system with more internal storage eventually.

Do you by chance own a PS Vita?

I do not. I really hate what they did even more because they use proprietary memory cards. I dislike this whole trend of passing the costs onto the consumer. I feel like Sony and Microsoft are only going to follow suit with their consoles even though storage is cheaper than ever.

So you would rather the companies force the decision (and charge more for the console) rather than give consumers the choice of how they want to handle storage?

Yes, because it's a console. This isn't PC gaming where every system is only as good as what the individual owner puts into it. My 4 year old computer can't play Guild Wars 2, but my 4 year old PS3 can play Uncharted 3 without a problem. Why not go even further backwards and charge people for an external internet adapter? They can have the choice to be online or not and save money.

All I'm saying is consoles have had internal hard drives for a long time now. It's become standard, but Nintendo now tells me to get a similar experience on their "next gen console" to what I have now, I need to buy something external to hook into the system and crowd my entertainment center, oh and it isn't covered by their warranty.

They don't even need to charge more for the console. Storage keeps going up in Xbox360 and PS3, but the price keeps going down. They are pinching pennies as opposed to putting out a superior product.

Leave the external USB option there, it's an awesome feature, but not at the expense of a tiny internal drive. At least throw 100GB in there to facilitate a few download games and the occasional movie rental. Then the customer really has options. The way I see it the 8GB is no option at all, you must buy an external, and the 32GB isn't much better.

I'm confused. In your first paragraph, you said "no, consumers should NOT be able to choose how they handle storage" and then in your fourth paragraph, you say "give them the choice of how to handle storage." You're essentially speaking both sides of the argument here.

"All I'm saying is consoles have had internal hard drives for a long time now. It's become standard, but Nintendo now tells me I need solid state memory to get a similar experience on their next gen console." 1995 called: "All I'm saying is consoles have had cartridges for a long time now. It's become standard, but Sony now tells me I need optical CD-ROMs to get a similar experience on their next gen console." Just because something has been done "for a long time" doesn't mean it needs to always be done that way for the foreseeable future. That's called "I hate progress!"

Also, while you may believe that having a 100GB HDD "wouldn't cost anything" compared to the 8GB or 32GB solid state memory (and in a perfect world, it probably wouldn't) it drastically changes how the console is designed now that there are more moving parts involved. Even a laptop HDD (like what the PS3 uses) takes up more real estate inside the console than the memory sticks they're using now. Everything affects the price.

Anyway, that's the most thought out version of "corporations need to make the decision for me" I've heard. It sure beats the Apple fanboys that made fun of the Microsoft Surface for including USB ports rather than forcing a proprietary technology on everyone and their only reason was "it just works"...

Thought I clicked reply, but TLDR of my below post: Still don't like buying external storage but if you say that's the cheapest and best way then I bow to your superior intellect, Mr Blackwolf, and I'll have to just save more money.

Just to chime in...despite loving the specs for the Vita, I also don't own one yet. Why?

Two things:

1) Wariness over the touch controls. I'd rather have a more powerful handheld with better controls, but less gimmicks. If I want touch-driven games, I'll get them on my phone!

2) Lack of exclusives that I absolutely have to play.

That said, what is getting me to buy a Vita this holiday season? Assassin's Creed: Liberation, plus the addition of PlayStation Plus and cross-play options. All things that, generally speaking, don't require the use of the annoying gimmicky controls and make the case for owning the system. (Golden Rule of Gaming!)

Where Nintendo keeps losing me is the lack of games that I want to play, that I CAN play without the gimmicks. Take Skyward Sword, for example...can't play it without the damn motion controls. So forget it.

If it was something more like the Move or Kinect, where there were a subset of games specifically for those optional control mechanisms, on top of the traditional controls, then I might be more amenable to the Wii U. But since everything about the Wii U is centered on the unique control scheme, it's just not something I want to bother with.

Whoa, walked right into that one. I guess by saying "yes" to your question my quote suddenly got a lot longer.

I guess my point is I feel forced already to get the external hard drive. Since that choice is already gone in my mind I saw the larger internal while still allowing externals as a compromise. I just don't see it as progress if it comes at a gimped (storage-wise) base system.

I do like the WiiU overall. I just know that to be able to use it the way I currently use my PS3(adding about 100gb of space and a plus remote so my wife can play too) and it quickly jumps up in price beyond what we can afford. I don't think people are dumb for buying one and as I've said I don't think it's going to be a one-trick pony like the Wii. It is just too expensive right now and the storage is the main reason why, again for me personally. If you say it would be that way anyway if they upped the internal storage then I'll have to trust you on that one. You analyze this stuff way more than I do.

I don't think the Wii was a One Trick Pony, I just think that casual players made the Wii something different than what everybody expected. LOKI said the manufacturing difficulties and supply shortages were really just made up by Nintendo. I don't. I think people you'd never expect to own a console did. In incredibly large numbers.

I don't recall if I made this point on OLR when I called in a few weekends back, but one of the things I've had in my mind is that I fully expect the sales numbers for the Wii U to be abysmal compared to the Wii's first six months. Because the Wii came with Wii Sports, and EVERYONE who wouldn't otherwise buy a game console bought it, for THAT single reason alone.

I don't think the Wii U has that killer app right from the start, and certainly not included. Plus the slightly higher system cost will put off the same 'casuals' that could pay $300, and have everything they need to play Wii Sports, and never make another purchase.

It would be completely impossible to know, but I would love to see statistics of how many people never bought anything (except maybe more controllers) for their Wii. No retail titles, nothing from the eShop, nothing.

In my mind, there is a significant number of these people, maybe 20% at least and likely much more more. These people won't pick up the Wii U at least initially. This may be somewhat offset but the children of the touch device revolution (newly-minted gamers), but I tend to doubt that it will be that large of a number by comparison.

I fully expect the Wii U to be a retail disappointment because the casual players won't come out in droves like they did for the Wii. The Wii U will sell comfortably, but nothing like the Wii did.

Well, I'll agree with that. I don't think any console is going to be huge anymore because so many gamers, casual or not, get their fix on iOS and Android devices now.