Wii U ‘good, but not great’, says Molyneux

Legendary designer and 22 Cans co-founder Peter Molyneux has played the Wii U, and he's somewhat disappointed so far.

"I think the Wii U is good, but I don't feel it's great," he told GamesIndustry.  "I've played the experience, I've played Nintendo Land, I've played ZombiU, and they're good."

However, Molyneux pointed out that he finds holding the device in his hand and looking up at the screen and down to the device "slightly confusing as a consumer."

"It's good, but it's not great," he added. I, too, found the second screen to be a distraction, though I did enjoy it while playing ZombiU. I suppose it all comes down to the type of game experience it offers. Some games it works, while others it distracts. Of course, we may be in the minority here as the Wii U sold an impressive 400,000 units during its launch week in the United States.

Molyneux stressed that "we really need these new pieces of hardware to be great in today's world, because the competition is not just consoles anymore."

"The competition is everything, all the technology," he explained. "When you're holding a Kindle Fire or an iPad in your hand, it's just amazing technology. It really is. It's expensive, but it's amazing technology. And people like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft need to match that. They need to match that in my mind, and exceed it. And I'm not sure the Wii U really did that."

The the legendary designer isn't giving up on Nintendo just yet.

"I've got unvelievable respect for Nintendo. They created our industry in a very real sense. I can remember everybody in the industry laughing and giggling about how stupid the Wii was, what a stupid name it was, and who would want motion control. And then it went on to sell what, 60, 70 million copies? It got people who never considered computer games to play them," Molyneux concluded.

Everyone has their opinions on the Wii U; what's yours? Are you a fan of the Wii U or are you passing it up in hopes of a new Xbox or PlayStation?