Wii U前途未卜，任天堂命悬一线

    上周末，任天堂对Wii U进行了软件升级。虽然我们仍然无法证明Hulu Plus及亚马逊（Amazon）Instant Video等流媒体视频应用的进展如何，但Netflix这次倒有如神助。它全新的用户界面和Wii U手柄配合得甚是完美。所有内容都加载得很快，我能在触摸屏上非常方便地进行视频搜索、跳过片头片尾、快进和后退等操作。整体效果明显强于PlayStation 3和Xbox 360上的Netflix。

    不过并非所有一切都完美无缺。举例来说，退出游戏或应用程序时，我发现Wii U主界面的加载时间非常长。最快也要16秒之久，最慢一次长达28秒。（平均用时20秒。）虽然这并不是个影响全局的问题，但用户很快就会对此感到厌烦。手柄的触摸屏也经常掉链子。我有时发现屏幕对我的点击毫无反应。

    此外还有价格问题。对于一台新款视频游戏机而言，300美元是一个很中规中矩的价格。但眼下，父母们完全可以给自己的智能手机装上1美元、5美元或是10美元的游戏，然后给孩子玩，相比之下，300美元就是个大数目了。因此，韦德布什证券（Wedbush Securities）分析师迈克尔•帕切特预计，任天堂今年能在国内卖出350万台Wii U，其后再卖出1,000万台Wii U，可能不及Wii上市头两年半的销量。

    现在，任天堂比以往任何时候都更需要一次巨大的成功。该公司将本财年的净利润展望从2.51亿美元下调至7,520万美元，而休闲游戏只会更加普及。但是，Wii U会为任天堂带来马里奥、林克和银河战士那样的经典热卖大作吗？Wii U具备很多必要的元素，包括可靠且具有创新的硬件。假如在五年前，我会毫不含糊的说：“会。”但如今眼看着《愤怒的小鸟》出了无数续集，我感觉没那么确定了。

    译者：项航

    Over the weekend, Nintendo updated the Wii U's software, and while we still can't testify to how video-streaming applications like Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video fare, Netflix worked like a charm, with an entirely new-interface that uses the GamePad very well. Everything loaded quickly, and I could handily search out content, skip around around movies and episodes, fast-forward, back-track, and so on with the touchscreen. The experience overall is superior to Netflix on the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360.

    Not everything's perfect. For one, I found that loading up the Wii U's main menu, say, when exiting out of a game or an app, took too long. At best, I counted 16 seconds; at worst, 28. (The average time was 20.) It's not a dealbreaker, but it gets old quickly. The GamePad's screen can also be hit-or-miss. Once in a while, I found the screen didn't recognize my finger taps.

    There's also the price. $300 is pretty standard pricing for a new video game console, but may now seem like a lot to parents who could more easily load up a $1, $5, or $10 app on their smartphone and hand it over to their kids. This reasoning is why Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter predicts Nintendo could sell 3.5 million units domestically this year, and then 10 million units thereafter, potentially less than what the Wii sold during its first two-and-a-half years on the market.

    Now, more than ever, Nintendo needs a homerun. The company slashed its net profit outlook from $251 million to $75.2 million for the fiscal year, and casual gaming devices will only proliferate. But will the Wii U be that for the company that spawned memorable properties like Mario, Link, and Metroid? Many of the ingredients it needs are there, including solid hardware with an innovative twist. Five years ago, I would have given an unequivocal "yes," but in a time when Angry Birds persists with its umpteenth sequel, I'm not so sure anymore.