Nintendo WiiU : Thread 04

[dvdx2]

The writing has been on the cards, for the wiiu for sometime. I knew the moment i walked into shops, months and months later, only to see either the product wasn't being stocked at or the same games from launch were only available to purchase - a total retail/ marketing disaster. Games sell a console and a lack Bread and butter 3rd party support has been the nail in the coffin. Its pretty clear now that despite what the fans say, its buggered.

[speedlolita]

Saw this today, and it's very close to how I feel about all the recent Nintendo doom and gloom.

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/224...m_you_are.html

I feel as if the argument for Nintendo being too kiddy goes back to around the time people were playing GTA and I was playing my GameCube. However, now those people have grown up and don't care for Nintendo or Japanese development in general. Perhaps the strength of the West and Indie development contributes towards this, the advent of f2p games on Android/iOS seem to be hugely popular with kids too - whereas previously it would be the likes of Pok?mon on a Game Boy.

I guess times have changed and the cores gamers such as most of the people on this website are seemingly the only ones that remain to enjoy Nintendo's products - so very good as they are.

[endo]

The writing has been on the cards, for the wiiu for sometime. I knew the moment i walked into shops, months and months later, only to see either the product wasn't being stocked at or the same games from launch were only available to purchase - a total retail/ marketing disaster. Games sell a console and a lack Bread and butter 3rd party support has been the nail in the coffin. Its pretty clear now that despite what the fans say, its buggered.

Certainly looks that way, which is a shame. I've been playing practically nothing other than SM3DW lately (well, interspersed with bits of Link Between Worlds), and it's undoubtedly a brilliant game and miles more fun than 99% of what's out there at the moment.

I largely agree with that article above, but it doesn't really address the fact that, even though most of their first-party games are usually great games, they're relying far too heavily on a small number of IPs that they've been flogging for donkey's years. Yeah, CoD and Fifa do it every year and no one moans, blah blah, but that doesn't make it right for them, or Nintendo, to do it. And in Nintendo's case, more pertinently, it's clearly not working to bring in the numbers they initially forecasted. Mario is being flogged to death and, yes, some of the games, most recently SM3DW, are fantastic, but there's plenty of games that just go through the motions. I'm looking forward to Mario Kart, mainly because it's something new on Wii U, but without radically altering the formula, where is there really room for innovation? Oh look, the karts can turn into gliders or go underwater, or the track goes upside down. Great, but nothing's really changed and they've only got themselves to blame if these games aren't the draw they once were.

Nintendo clearly has some of the most talented game designers in the industry. Would it really kill them to come up with something new, something different? One new IP? If that's too much, how about doing something with F-Zero? It may not be new but it's been rested for a while and there seems to be demand for it. Why this constant reliance on a handful of IPs, when it's clearly not working anymore? Nintendo's not a dumb company, so why do they make dumb decisions? On which note, the whole marketing of Wii U (especially the name- I hope whoever come up with that genius idea got fired) has just been so spectacularly mismanaged, it's laughable.

[capcom_suicide]

I guess times have changed and the cores gamers such as most of the people on this website are seemingly the only ones that remain to enjoy Nintendo's products - so very good as they are.

Which is of course the root cause.

Core gamers are in decline. Younger gamers either love their twitch shooters or ipad games, (At least the ones I know.) The dedicationt to complete a Zelda game is non-existant, and I don't think they even have the attention span to do so.

Nintendo needs a market, they need to sell.

Wii = Casual non-gamers happy with console and wii sports
3DS= Core gamers PLUS children

Wii U= Core gamers, in decline.

What's next? Any CFO would say the same: Follow the market and build services that have a real demand.

What can that mean?

Either a console so innotative that it sells to the casuals again (And some AAA games please the core) OR: Mobile.

[Team Andromeda]

Saw this today, and it's very close to how I feel about all the recent Nintendo doom and gloom

Nintendo is the ones to blame they tried to chase the casuals and forgot about the core users, the 3rd parties and that's what cost them . Grans and granddads don't go into the shops each week ,gamers do and Nintendo complete lost them lost generation with poor spec, poor on-line and poor 3rd party support.

now those people have grown up and don't care for Nintendo or Japanese development in general

Think is, even in Japan times have changed . GTA 5 now outsells Mario 3D in Japan which kind of says it all .

[Lebowski]

The wiiu currently stands at about 4.3 million sold, you cant even call the wiiu the new Gamecube, (22 million units lifetime sales) its not even the new Dreamcast (10 million lifetime sales) its got a long way to go to catch the Gamecube up, can Smash brothers, Mario Kart and a new donkey kong get it another 17.7 million units sold.

[capcom_suicide]

the wiiu currently stands at about 4.3 million sold, you cant even call the wiiu the new Gamecube, (22 million units lifetime sales) its not even the new Dreamcast (10 million lifetime sales) its got a long way to go to catch the Gamecube up, can Smash brothers, Mario Kart and a new donkey kong get it another 17.7 million units sold.

No, they can't I don't think. Clearly the Wii U has failed, hence the need for Nintendo to provide investors with a new business plan.

[speedlolita]

I feel bad for Iwata. I'll wait until the end of the year before I deem the Wii U doomed.

That said, mine hasn't been turned on since I put Wonderful 101 in it and played the first level, so mid December. The eShop showing is extremely poor, considering all the IP they could shove on it from the past and no cross platform integration when I own a 3DS is annoying.

[PaTaito]

Hmmm its a funny one with nintendo's first party stuff, i've had this niggle about franchises being rinsed at nintendo, and maybe there is some truth in it still.

Maybe people are fed up of buying nintendo hardware just for mario, when this generation the 3ds seems to provide all the nintendo fix you need.

I think some old franchises really deserve some attention, much like kid icarus got a couple of years back.

[capcom_suicide]

Maybe people are fed up of buying nintendo hardware just for mario, when this generation the 3ds seems to provide all the nintendo fix you need.

I think that is a great point too. This time I have purchased Mario 3d/Zelda/Mario Kart 7/Pilotwings/Luigi's mansion on 3DS and LOVED IT! Nintendo games don't need uber graphics chips to look great (A point the Wii U marketing completely failed to point out) and one of the reasons I haven't purchased a Wii U is becuase the 3DS has utterly delivered the gaming fix of AAA nintendo I needed.

Perhaps an uber handheld with remote TV functionality would be a logical next step? An evolution from Wii U that needs to be played locally. Who knows, but 3DS has been freaking awsome.

[PaTaito]

I don't think the WiiU can be fixed at all now. Some new decent games will get the hardcore that haven't yet bought one yet to buy one perhaps, especially if it gets a price drop but for the masses WiiU is simply not an alternative to a PS4 or XBOne. Wii was an anomoly. Underpowered compared to the competition but with a strong feature in the Wiimote and a killer app in Wii Sports. Prior to that Nintendo consoles were at least comparable in terms of power to their competitors. NES, SNES, N64 and Gamecube all had titles that looked as good or better than what the competition offered. That all changed with Wii and it worked brilliantly but it won't work again. WiiU is already a disaster and it cannot be fixed IMO.

EDIT: Package it with a new metroid for < ?150 and I'd buy one but I'd probably sell it straight after I'd finished it.

Yeah pretty much bang on.

If you want to tap into the core AND casual market, you sure as hell better cater for all...this means both tech, and plenty of 3rd party support.

Otherwise its futile.

[endo]

Hmmm its a funny one with nintendo's first party stuff, i've had this niggle about franchises being rinsed at nintendo, and maybe there is some truth in it still.

Maybe people are fed up of buying nintendo hardware just for mario, when this generation the 3ds seems to provide all the nintendo fix you need.

I think some old franchises really deserve some attention, much like kid icarus got a couple of years back.

I'd agree with that. If they can't manage to come up with a new IP, why not revisit other old IPs that haven't had much attention lately?

Times have changed and Nintendo don't seem to have realised that. Mario's been around since the early 80s (30-odd years, unbelievable!) and he's still getting trotted out time and again; more and more often lately too, it seems. Fair enough, there are lots of games in the canon that are nailed-on, all-time greats. No doubt about that. Thing is though, loads of people playing CoD/FIFA/whatever crap you hate that sells bucketloads, weren't even born then, even in 1996, when Mario 64 came out. They have no nostalgia for it, they don't care. Why would they? I'm sure there are plenty of younger gamers revisiting those old Mario games and getting the same sense of wonder we got at the time, but it's sure as **** not a mainstream pursuit.

I'm not saying kill those old IPs - absolutely not, some of the newer games are just fantastic - but, f**k my hat, how about applying a little of that famous innovative nous to a whole new game?

[QualityChimp]

Already the WiiU has New Super Mario Bros. U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World and Super Smash Bros. is coming.

Even a basic feature like DVD or Blu-Ray playback would have helped it get under people's tellies.

[speedlolita]

B-but they have to pay royalties to their rivals!

[PaTaito]

What was the last new nintendo ip i wonder???

Pikmin?