wii

After using the Wii U for about a week, I've had a decidedly mixed experience.

The positive future-forward idea of a tabletlike GamePad that works away from the TV, Nintendo's fun family-oriented ideas of same-room party play -- well, so far, those benefits have been outweighed by a lot of question marks.

You've probably heard about some of the issues in our still-unfolding Wii U review. The Wii U, as it currently stands, is a new game console that's in need of a confidence boost. It needs to compete against the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and even Apple's devices, and be good enough to succeed.

Here's what I think it needs most, and what's standing in the way of success.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Watch Jeff go nuts on the Wii U.

- German police stop man with mobile office in car.… Read more

It's only been available for a day, but Nintendo's Wii U has already been disassembled by not one, but two different sites.

Anandtech and iFixit both broke out their screwdrivers and tweezers recently and tore the Wii U apart. According to iFixit, the insides reveal an IBM PowerPC-based multicore processor, as well as an AMD Radeon GPU. It's the optical drive, however, that caught iFixit's eye first. According to the site, the drive makes up about one-third of the Wii U's total weight of 3.3 pounds.

According to Anandtech, the Wii U's optical … Read more

In the flurry of news on Nintendo's Wii U launch this weekend, one aspect stuck out: streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and Amazon Instant Video, along with Nintendo's TVii service, were to be delayed for a few more weeks.

However, Netflix announced today this is incorrect. Contrary to the news reports, there will be no delay for Netflix on Wii U's launch -- the company announced that the service became available on the console this weekend.

"Netflix is available today on the Wii U home screen with the Wii U launch in the US … Read more

Nintendo's Wii U is now on sale in the U.S., following a midnight launch event at the Nintendo World store in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center.

Fans started gathering more as early as Thursday for a chance to be the first to own the Wii U, a living room game console with a tablet-style controller. The Wii U is the first new living room game console from any of the big three console-makers (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo) since the the 2005-2006 releases of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

For a closer look at the midnight launch … Read more

What big feature will be missing from the Wii U on launch day?

Bad news for first-day Wii U buyers: the company has announced that the TVii service, which was promised to be available at launch, will now not be live until sometime in December. In addition, streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and Amazon Instant Video will now be going live in the coming weeks. This is certainly a blow for Nintendo, which can't seem to get things ready for any launch -- you'll recall that the 3DS launched without access to the virtual eShop store, … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Hostess liquidates assets, Twinkies no more.

- Anti-stress stations in Italy let people pop bubble wrap.

- Homeless dude arrested for public charging.

- Nintendo ships incomplete Wii U, missing TVii service and more.

- NY good Samaritan treated like thief by cops, he says, sues for $1 million.

Bathroom break video: That's a big Twinkie… Read more

Despite getting off to a slow start and being called into a question as a viable purchase option, the PlayStation 3 might just take the second spot in console sales after this generation is up.

Earlier today, Sony announced that it has sold 70 million PlayStation 3 units worldwide since the console's launch in 2006. The device hit that tally on November 4, meaning it's somewhere above the 70-million-units mark at this point.

Sony is now in striking distance of Microsoft. The software giant announced that as of September 30, it has sold 70 million Xbox 360 units … Read more