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GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - The joys of off-TV play

by rawmeatcowboy
04 December 2012
GN Version 4.0


Man, it was unseasonably warm here today! I'm hoping for the same when I wake up. I like to work with the windows open! Not something you get to do much in the Winter in NJ. I hope all of you are having lovely weather as well! See you in a few, short hours.

Such a simple feature...such an interesting idea. Something we haven't seen any other console out there provide. The Wii U may have all sorts of motion controls, online features and touch-screen tricks, but there's one feature that seems to be trumping the rest. The Wii U's killer app could very well be off-TV play.

I live in a very game-friendly home. It's just Mom Brain and I, both of which play games. With that said, sometimes Mom Brain wants to play a different game than I do. Sometimes one of us wants to watch something on TV. We never, ever get into arguments about that stuff, but having off-TV play has given us even more freedom to enjoy the entertainment we want.

I played the majority of NSMBU in off-TV mode. I just found it so much easier to fire up the Wii U via GamePad, start up the game and play from the comfort of my couch. Mom Brain would usually end up watching something on TV while I'm playing, which made us both realize just how useful the feature is.

Late last week, a few friends stopped by to hang out. We're all pretty big Halo fans, which lead us to playing some Halo 4 online. Just before that, we were enjoying Scribblenauts Unlimited. Mom Brain didn't want to join in on the Halo action, but she did want to continue with Scribblenauts. We simply dropped the game to the GamePad, switched the input on TV and then we got into Halo. She enjoyed Scribblenauts Unlimited right next to us as we played Halo 4. Again, a very simple feature, but seeing it in action like that blows my mind.

What do you think of the off-TV play feature on Wii U? How much have you used it thus far? Has it already ended arguments over the TV in your home? Leave us a comment and fill us in!