Nintendo president 'very sorry' for large Wii U update

Satoru Iwata has said he feels "very sorry" for the large day-one Wii U update, saying it goes against his philosophy that functionality should be available out of the box.

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The Wii U's "Miiverse" is a distinctly Nintendo take on the concept of a connected console. It's a colorful, simple social network that can be integrated into offering game tips or mini-reviews. The large day-one patch that added the functionality, on the other hand, wasn't very user-friendly at all, and for that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata feels apologetic.

"Personally I think that users should be able to use all the functions of a console video game machine as soon as they open the box," Iwata told IGN. "So I feel very sorry for the fact that purchasers of Wii U have to experience a network update which takes such a long time, and that there are the services which were not available at the hardware’s launch."

The firmware update has received complaints for its size, and some users reported bricked consoles for interrupting the process. Meanwhile, many of the "TVii" features won't be available until December.

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  • reply
    November 29, 2012 9:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Nintendo president 'very sorry' for large Wii U update.

    Satoru Iwata has said he feels "very sorry" for the large day-one Wii U update, saying it goes against his philosophy that functionality should be available out of the box.

    • reply
      November 29, 2012 9:36 AM

      I really hope this doesn't dissuade them from updating the software rapidly. I know a lot of people have problems with freezing, and the Youtube app needs a serious revamp. I'd really like if it didn't take twenty seconds to switch between tasks, as well.

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        November 29, 2012 9:41 AM

        I don't see any reason why it would.

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      November 29, 2012 10:08 AM

      well, it was obviously the very complex emulation software.

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      November 29, 2012 10:17 AM

      not much space left for updates now

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        November 29, 2012 10:41 AM

        this is what worries me the most. they have put a very large and restrictive limit on themselves for updates in the future.

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          November 29, 2012 11:06 AM

          after installing the update, does the system still use the 5GB of space?

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          November 29, 2012 11:06 AM

          The package was 1.1GB, which unpacks to 5GBish. Post installation that's gone.

          Recent Nintendo consoles also use IOS (Input/Output systems, not iOS) as opposed to firmwares like Sony and Microsoft. Each part of the system is a specific IOS, like IOS38 covers usb peripherals, for instance.

          These IOS tend to be completely overwritten, but occasionally they'll add a new one. Either way, they're not big. You needn't worry.

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      November 29, 2012 11:38 AM

      It took me less than 2 hours to download last night. Bunch of whiners. Go watch a movie or something. If you cant afford internet you probably don't have any business buying a $400 console.

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      November 29, 2012 11:55 AM

      The large day-one patch that added the functionality, on the other hand, wasn't very user-friendly at all

      It took ~50 minutes to download the day one patch on Nov 18th at 12pm. Basically launch prime time. The initial setup including the patch was a breeze and fairly intuitive using just the Game Pad. I hate to sound like one of the "Big N" defenders but Steve Watts and the rest of the editors left here are really starting to get annoying with these bullshit subjective inserts in their articles.

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        November 29, 2012 6:45 PM

        12 pm on a weekday isn't prime time for anything. Not everyone had as smooth of an experience as you.

        Just search the web, a lot of people were not happy about this patch, especially those with briced systems.

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      November 29, 2012 10:47 PM

      Obviously something just wasn't ready in time. I assume Wii Us manufactored from this point on will have the software baked in...

      • reply
        November 30, 2012 6:41 AM

        Seriously, it's early adopter tax, and that's the way its been for generations of consoles.

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