????上周末，任天堂對Wii U進行了軟件升級。雖然我們仍然無法證明Hulu Plus及亞馬遜（Amazon）Instant Video等流媒體視頻應用的進展如何，但Netflix這次倒有如神助。它全新的用戶界面和Wii U手柄配合得甚是完美。所有內容都加載得很快，我能在觸摸屏上非常方便地進行視頻搜索、跳過片頭片尾、快進和后退等操作。整體效果明顯強于PlayStation 3和Xbox 360上的Netflix。

????不過并非所有一切都完美無缺。舉例來說，退出游戲或應用程序時，我發現Wii U主界面的加載時間非常長。最快也要16秒之久，最慢一次長達28秒。（平均用時20秒。）雖然這并不是個影響全局的問題，但用戶很快就會對此感到厭煩。手柄的觸摸屏也經常掉鏈子。我有時發現屏幕對我的點擊毫無反應。

????此外還有價格問題。對于一臺新款視頻游戲機而言，300美元是一個很中規中矩的價格。但眼下，父母們完全可以給自己的智能手機裝上1美元、5美元或是10美元的游戲，然后給孩子玩，相比之下，300美元就是個大數目了。因此，韋德布什證券（Wedbush Securities）分析師邁克爾?帕切特預計，任天堂今年能在國內賣出350萬臺Wii U，其后再賣出1,000萬臺Wii U，可能不及Wii上市頭兩年半的銷量。

????現在，任天堂比以往任何時候都更需要一次巨大的成功。該公司將本財年的凈利潤展望從2.51億美元下調至7,520萬美元，而休閑游戲只會更加普及。但是，Wii U會為任天堂帶來馬里奧、林克和銀河戰士那樣的經典熱賣大作嗎？Wii U具備很多必要的元素，包括可靠且具有創新的硬件。假如在五年前，我會毫不含糊的說：“會。”但如今眼看著《憤怒的小鳥》出了無數續集，我感覺沒那么確定了。

????譯者：項航

????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.