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Nintendo president Iwata apologizes for Wii U's out-of-box experience

Nintendo president Iwata apologizes for Wii U's out-of-box experience

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"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."

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Gallery Photo: Nintendo Wii U hands-on pictures
Gallery Photo: Nintendo Wii U hands-on pictures

Many Wii U owners were disappointed to open their new console only to be confronted with a huge, slow patch to unlock its online functionality — and so was Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. "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," said Iwata in an interview with 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."

After the initial day-one patch that granted access to the Miiverse social network, Wii backwards compatibility, and other system-level features, it still took several days for apps such as Hulu Plus and YouTube to trickle out for the system. Iwata stressed the unique nature of the Wii U's online services, which on the face of it don't match up to many features offered on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, by arguing that Nintendo didn't think "offering the same features that already exist within other online communities would be the best proposal for very experienced game players."

New 3D 'Mario' and 'Zelda' titles will come to Wii U

Whether or not Nintendo's network proves an enticing online offering over time is an open question, but there's little doubt that the Wii U will appeal to fans of previous systems from the legendary Kyoto company. In unsurprising news, Iwata confirmed that new 3D entries in the Mario and Zelda series would be developed for the console, although there were no details to share on either title.