Nintendo fires back at Wii U criticisms

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has fired back at criticisms over the Wii U's launch hiccups. Speaking to Gamasutra, the executive first addressed the system's hefty day-one patch. He said this was a requirement to ensure the "very best product" for consumers.

"That creates a dynamic where our developers are working on elements until the very last point possible," Fils-Aime said. "That's why the system update was required on day one; and this is quite similar to what's happened with other consumer electronic products."

Fils-Aime added that the system update will be incorporated into new Wii U firmware sometime in early 2013 so users won't need to download the large file.

The executive also defended the Wii U from hardware reviews that were less-than-praising. "Reviews of a system or review of a game really come down to the quality and capability of the reviewer," he said.

Fils-Aime said he recognized there has been a "range of comments and commentary" (GameSpot's review highlighted several shortcomings) on the Wii U, but claims other data proves users are flocking to, and enjoying, their time with the system.

"When I go on Miiverse and see how consumers are reacting to games like ZombiU or…Call of Duty, that tells me we're doing something very, very positive," he said. "Similarly, when I go on other consumer social networks and see other consumer reaction that is positive, I know we've done well."

The Wii U launch was also met with Miiverse connectivity issues, but Fils-Aime does not foresee these problems springing up again during the ever-important holiday season.

"Without getting into a lot of technical details, the Miiverse [problem] was not purely driven by capacity," he said. "That gives us confidence that come Christmas morning, those servers will not be challenged in the same way. Come Christmas morning, the Wii U will be available globally. We know there will be a lot of consumers utilizing their Wii U for the very first time. So we're working very hard to make sure the initial customer experience is a good one."