darkSpyro

Title says it all. If I wanted to play on the Wii U, do I have to use the Gamepad, or can I basically play similar to how I do on Wii? Question goes for Giants and Swap Force.

I don't have Giants, but the Gamepad isn't really necessary in Swap Force. The controls are different than with a Wiimote/Nunchuk, but you don't really interact with the screen at all during play. It is nice to have - it shows your current Skylander's stats, or you can look at how many objectives you've completed on the current level - but it doesn't really change the gameplay at all.

Good. That's what I wanted to hear.

Who else here find that its a shame that every wii u game must have the gamepad as the main controller at all times if your player 1.To me I beleive that every game should have an option to use either the gamepad or pro controller for player 1 so if I want to play it with the pro controller as I do any other console I should be able to like for example skylanders I should be able to play with the pro controller and the gamepad should be like if i want to play off tv gameplay and inventry and also if your gamepad needs charging.I hope everyone knows what I am on about.

Quote: dangerousbrian0

Who else here find that its a shame that every wii u game must have the gamepad as the main controller at all times if your player 1.To me I beleive that every game should have an option to use either the gamepad or pro controller for player 1 so if I want to play it with the pro controller as I do any other console I should be able to like for example skylanders I should be able to play with the pro controller and the gamepad should be like if i want to play off tv gameplay and inventry and also if your gamepad needs charging.I hope everyone knows what I am on about.

I agree an option is nice, but I'm guilty of only using the gamepad, even in Wii not many games had classic controller or GCN controller options when there wasn't enough motion control to justify being just wiimote+nunchuck.
Gotta love that the gamepad has a rechargeable battery by default and off-screen play if I feel like sitting anywhere else.

Wait... So if I have Wii U I MUST use the Gamepad as one of the controllers?

yes only as player 1 but let me check that.Right ok this might confuse you but you can use the pro controller as player 1 if your gamepad has lost its charge as i am doing that right now but i am not sure if it will work if you turn on your wii u with the pro controller and a fully charged gamepad if you understand not sure about wiimote and nunchuck.

You can play as Player 1 without the game pad, I've done that, looks like dangerousbrian0 has too.

As far as turning on the console and navigating around, I've always had the game pad so I don't know if it would or would not work without it.

You can use wii motes as well to play. I personally much prefer the new controllers over the wiimotes.

You could play as player 2 with a wiimote and have player one leave the game, im not sure if it will want player 2 to use the gamepad but I wouldnt have thought so, and obviously it would only work with skylanders unless you are playing a game with similar co-op

As long as you use the pro controller at the main menu you can use it as player 1. I agree that having the game pad always turn on is stupid, but seriously it has possibly the worst battery life ever so just put it in a case or cabinet, make sure the volume is off, and let it sit.

The Wii U is really more of a traditional console than the Wii. The gamepad is always on and functional in some way, but any game I have owned also has pro controller functionality, and the gamepad itself is just used like a classic controller if you do use it. Any game I ever played on the Wii U treats you like you're player number 1 if you use a Pro Controller as long as you were using that controller when you started the game. In any case, the portal won't refer to it as "player 1 and 2" when it asks you to put a Skylanders on the portal. It'll say "Pro Controller player" or "Gamepad player"

Nope, I was playing it just with the pro controller today. The gamepad will just echo the screen if you aren't using it, which seems useless.

U can play with game pad, pro controler ,Wii mote/ nunchuck / wii pro controler hooked to wii mote and you can play just on game pad without tv too but to answer your question you can play without game pad but use just pro controler or wii mote etc you can turn game pads screen off in options in the game while just playing with pro controler etc

So I went ahead and got a Wii U and a matching game copy. For Giants, controls on the Wiimote are identical to the Wii version. For Swap Force, the controls are different... B is jump instead of A, no Wiimote shaking to open things... Now it's mashing buttons or jiggling stick on nunchuck. Or did I do something wrong?

After playing the game with the GamePad, I've gotten used to the controls. I tried playing the Swap Force with both Wii Remote and Nunchuck Attachment, but it doesn't feel the same as playing Giants for the Wii.

Quote: jcmeyer5

So I went ahead and got a Wii U and a matching game copy. For Giants, controls on the Wiimote are identical to the Wii version. For Swap Force, the controls are different... B is jump instead of A, no Wiimote shaking to open things... Now it's mashing buttons or jiggling stick on nunchuck. Or did I do something wrong?

Haven't played the wii /wii u one yet, but they changed the jumpo button to where attack was in giants on the xbox and i think ps3 also.

Fire up the Wii U using whatever controller you want to be Player 1 and that will be the one used on the left. I have to go into the home menu and turn off the gamepad screen or else the flashing inbetween scenes get's kind of annoying.

The Wii U actually let's you use a Wii U Controller Pro without a gamepad which is neat, but if you have a Classic Controller and a Wii Remote you can use that as well...but only on the Wii U (unless Beenox fixed that...I couldn't do that with Giants, and it was pretty annoying that I couldn't on the Wii but could on the Wii U).

Newer controller arrangement is similar to the 3DS, with jump on bottom button, and 3DS' Dash (right button) replaced with secondary attack...It's kind of a bummer that you don't have shaking the Wii Remote to open chests, as having that choice on the WiiU made that particular console version a bit more appealing. (IMO the worst was having to move the mouse left/right on the PC version of SSA to open them, as it required the sensitivity to not be lowered).