Roundup: Highlights from reviews of the just-released Nintendo Wii U

• Gizmodo “While technologically, the Wii U sort of feels like the step you’d take before you get to motion controls in the Wii, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t totally fit into Nintendo’s ethos of interaction. It’s fun. It’s something your family will enjoy using. If you’re looking for a network-enabled media center, like the Xbox or Apple TV, though, definitely wait before purchasing this.*”
• Time “The Wii U already feels like a much more robust and fascinating idea, one that shows even more promise, in my opinion, than the Wii did in 2006. That’s partly because the Wii U is still a Wii (a radically more powerful Wii with a second screen that floats around your living room, true), and motion control still factors big in the Wii U’s future. But it’s mostly because I haven’t been this impressed with a new interface since Nintendo put a joystick on a gamepad in 1996.”
• USA Today “Whether the Wii U reaches the incredible heights of its predecessor remains to be seen. The Nintendo Wii had a clear target (casual players) and game in Wii Sports that served as a shining example of motion-based gameplay that was easy to enjoy. The Wii U needs a similar kind of experience to sell players on a world with two screens.”
• The Verge “The Wii U is close — tantalizingly close — to being a portable console. So close, in fact, that I found myself wondering constantly why the GamePad wasn’t the console, and the TV-connected piece a peripheral.”
• Engadget “Nintendo promised consumers a modern HD gaming console, and the Wii U — what’s there of it thus far — delivers on that promise. Games look gorgeous (HD Mario!), the risky controller is another successful control innovation and there’s a ton of promise on the horizon. What’s missing, sadly, is a huge part of the puzzle* — so huge, in fact, that it’s impossible for us to pass judgment on the whole package just yet.”

* — As the Engadget and Gizmodo reviews note, a key part of the Wii U’s play — a digital streaming package which includes Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and Amazon — wasn’t ready for them to review.