There's no way to put this delicately — the Wii U is sluggish. I enjoy the console, but the load times are unacceptable for a console released at the end of 2012. In the most recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo said that the latest Wii U software update would improve load times. Did they?
Polygon did some analysis — so I don't have to — and here are the results. The time comparisons are:
System Power Up
Pre-patch: 15 seconds
Post-patch: 10 secondsOpening Mii Maker
Pre-patch: 18 seconds
Post-patch: 12 secondsOpening System Settings
Pre-patch: 13 seconds
Post-patch: 8 secondsGoing Back To Menu
Pre-patch: 25 seconds
Post-patch: 21 secondsStarting Nintendo Land
Pre-patch: 21 seconds
Post-patch: 14 seconds
Okay, the times are improved, but 21 seconds to go back to the Menu is far from where it needs to be. I have no doubt Nintendo will continue to patch and improve load times; I just wonder how much further they can improve.
You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com
[Polygon]
