Finally the Spring Update is here, and with it new features to freshen the Wii U.  Besides a much needed speed boost to the OS, other features such as background downloading and installing of applications are a welcome addition to the Wii U’s somewhat lacking OS features.

The best thing about these updates, though, is that no other console can do what the Wii U is doing now.  PS3 and XBOX 360 have downloading capabilities that were hindered by playing games, and installing software after downloading usually took almost as long.  The Wii U says goodbye to both of these problems now that software can be downloaded and installed in the background, while playing games, EVEN when the console is powered off!  Finally something systems of the past CAN’t do, the Wii U CAN do.

Add these new OS features to the already existing gameplay features that only the Wii U has such as OffTV play, and asymmetrical gameplay, and the Wii U suddenly looks that much more capable. That’s not to say the Wii U is complete.  I look forward to seeing more new features implemented as time goes on further changing and evolving this living console experience.

Best Buy will have the “better” demo kiosks interestingly dubbed the Wii U “social stations”. The social stations will sport a larger, custom-made 42″ HDTV to better suit the new Wii U console and its new abilities. Here is a picture of a social station:

The Wii U social stations are the most elaborate demo units Nintendo has ever made, and it really shows! What’s interesting is that Nintendo is embracing current technology by making Wii U updates easier for stores. There is no game or demo disc in the social stations and updates are done during the night. Everything runs off the custom Wii U’s internal flash storage which makes things VERY snappy. Updates are going to be done at random and while Rayman Legends is the only playable demo, Nintendo will quietly update the social station kiosks to add new playable demos which you can expect before launch. Best Buys are still the only stores to offer a similar set up with newer 3DS XL kiosks by removing game paks and doing automatic updates to the system memory over night. Any other station not classified as a social station will be getting a custom-built 32″ HDTV that will require a game or demo disc to be manually added/changed (this is relevant to all GameStop locations). So if you are looking for the most current, up-to-date kiosk, look no further than the Best Buy social stations. We also snapped a picture of the back of the Wii U:

While this is picture is nothing new, we can confirm that all Wii remotes and GamePads will be powered by the USB ports from the back of the special Wii U demo unit. This is interesting because retail GamePads will not be able to charge via Wii U USB ports. While this is understandable, it’s the OTHER custom addition Nintendo added to kiosk Wii U units that make me want Nintendo to implement into retail units; built-in ethernet. That’s right folks, that coaxial-looking cable is a direct internet source, as none of the Wii U demo units will use WiFi. Our source tells us that the main reason why GameStops won’t  be getting automatic updates to their Wii U units is because they don’t provide wired internet, unlike Best Buy who will accommodate such a resource.

So there you have it! It appears that Nintendo is really taking the Wii U serious about in-store presence. If you haven’t had a chance to check out a Wii U, you should do so. If you have been lucky enough to spot one, check back again soon to see if new playable demos are available! The 3 week wait is all that’s left for us to endure!

The sync button which was previously hidden under the confines under the battery cover is now easily accessed in the open. Nintendo is also taking precautions of easily accessible sync buttons with its new Wii U Pro controllers as well. While we can’t find any disadvantage to having an exposed sync button, it does make us wonder why it was so “hidden” in the first place.

The internet was set ablaze yesterday with the confusing news of Nintendo’s voice chat strategy igniting anger in some Wii U-hopeful fans. It had been hinted that Nintendo was aggressively developing better online solutions for its consumer base along with their new social networking service, Miiverse to better compete with current HD consoles. After a recent Nintendo Direct video explained that there would be a total of 2 GB RAM in the Wii U, many fans were put to ease as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata himself explained that a whole 1 GB would be for the Wii U OS and system operations. Many speculated that cross-game chat (the ability to chat with friends over WiFi via Wii U regardless of  what content either consumer is playing/using) would now be a possibility with such a healthy amount of RAM at the Wii U’s disposal. This idea became further supported as retailers such as GameStop received Wii U demo boxes that mentioned “Wii U Chat” on the side of the box, although it had not been fully detailed by Nintendo. As we are now less than a month from the Wii U’s release, Nintendo has been giving out small doses of information regarding their newest home console and yesterday’s news nugget had sparked some debate regarding voice chat functions.

“Wii U will have in-game chat functionality for select games, including, but not limited to, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Assassin’s Creed III and Mass Effect 3. This feature will be supported by licensed stereo headsets that plug directly into the headphone port of the Game Pad.  Licensed headsets are available from Turtle Beach and TRITTON.” This statement released officially by Nintendo yesterday stems off into 2 branches of confusion; The first regarding the voice chat functionality itself, and the second being the supported input devices compatible with Wii U’s service.

Before understanding the first point of confusion, we should calm down and think about what Nintendo is trying to say, as it’s not as bad as it may seem. Nintendo is reassuring that voice communication is indeed possible for online multiplayer games for the Wii U console and didn’t define any absolutes, for example, “only during gameplay”. While they didn’t mention it, Nintendo is talking about games being played over Nintendo Network, their new and improved online service for playing games online and replacing the “Nintendo WFC” branding. The problem is that Nintendo hasn’t really explained what exactly is different with Nintendo Network and what it offers, and until they fully detail which services are provided within Nintendo Network and how it connects with Miiverse will remain a mystery (for now). Miiverse may very well be a social network that provides a “party chat” and messaging service that may or may not provide continued communication during gameplay. Because Nintendo employs the masters of “explaining something that creates even more questions”, we may not know the details about Nintendo’s 2 divided (or connected) networking services until we get our hands on them next month. To conclude the analyses of Nintendo’s voice chat solution, we will have to wait and see what happens and how they will implement their online strategies, as for now, they told us a little info about Wii U communication, not all of it.

The second bit of confusion from yesterday is probably the most baffling to me, and leaves me questioning the complete veracity of Nintendo’s “official” statement. They mention that officially licensed headsets will work with Wii U voice chat that are “available from Turtle Beach and Tritton.” What confuses me is that PDP was (and hopefully still is) a close partner with Nintendo for audio headsets. I interviewed Gerry Block, who is one of  PDP’s National Accounts Managers, at E3 this past year that PDP was approached by Nintendo a couple years ago  to make a better headset solution for the Wii to replace the abysmal Wii Speak. PDP did in fact create the drivers and headsets that developers used to implement a voice chat solution in their online games for the Wii. Gerry assured me that the same drivers present in their headsets designed for Wii (notably the HeadBanger headset) will in fact be included in the Wii U. This interview all took place while he was showing us these:

You may or may not have seen these, but they are PDP’s WIRELESS Universal AfterGlow 2.0 headsets that support and work for Wii and Wii U (in which I fell in love with). Both Ozhan (from PDP product desings) and Gerry confirmed these headsets will work WIRELESSY with Wii and Wii U for audio and voice chat. To further confirm this claim, when these headsets released in September to select retailers this is what the front of the box looked like:

Interesting, wouldn’t you agree? It clearly states on the product description that the headsets are compatible for Wii and Wii U and have been available for a month now. So what baffles me is that large online outlets are reporting that there are no wireless headsets PLANNED for the Wii U when these are readily available? And although I can’t speak for other sites, it makes me wonder if people get angry and post without proper research. The ones who lose are the innocent readers who have been misinformed and go on thinking that something doesn’t exist but in fact does. This brings me to my earlier point about the “confusing” and conflicting statement provided by Nintendo earlier and maybe it should be taken with a grain of salt. Nintendo has in the past told us one thing and did the exact opposite (Wii Price drop and 3DS refreshers anyone?). Does that mean that this statement falls into the camp of Nintendo PR BS? Who knows.  The important thing is that the Wii U is a very promising and powerful machine that is shaping up to provide one of the best launches ever with some great games. Nintendo has been much better with updates and patches on the 3DS and the same should follow suit with the Wii U. Nintendo also has a lot on their plate right now and while cross-game chat MAY not be available at launch, they could easily add it in later. But as for those worried about not being able to voice chat while using the Pro controller or Wii remote/nunchuck combo, fear not for PDP has you covered.