Nintendo Press Conference

[Guts]

If it hadn't had the mass market appeal it would have done worse than the WiiU currently as taken on face value there isn't a huge amount of games for the hardcore.

Possibly, but in the end that's pointless speculation because it was a huge success. My original point was, that Nintendo could make a succesful console, even without a Mario/Zelda launch and the Wii was the proof of that.

[dvdx2]

imagine the success, if mario kart 8 had been ready for the wii u's launch......

[Asura]

imagine the success, if mario kart 8 had been ready for the wii u's launch......

Nah, hate to open this debate again but the WiiU's launch had more problems than the lack of a killer title. The console still has a name and identity that is confusing to the market; a name too much like its predecessor, a box that looks very similar to the redesigned Wii, a tablet that can't be used away from the base unit, a focus on multiplayer games but only one tablet can be used... It was a mess.

It might not have been such a big deal in Japan, where they've habitually had similar tablets for years (in Karaoke bars, when ordering sushi at conveyor restaurants) but in the West, people fixated on the tablet and that was always going to be a problem.

[dataDave]

there isn't a huge amount of games for the hardcore.

You mean mainstream?

[originalbadboy]

You mean mainstream?

No I mean hardcore .. The Wii catalog is mainly casual games interspersed with a few decent hardcore games (Mario Galaxy etc.)

[dataDave]

No different from any other catalogue, then.

[Brad]

Yes, the Wii concept captured the imagination and also came with a killer app, packed in, at launch. Absolutely nailed it. People eventually realised that outside of Wii Sports the controller was a bit of a gimmick (I loved it for FPS controls but I'm almost on my own here I think), Nintendo realised this and sensibly abandoned it for their next console.

Microsoft's Kinect also captured the imagination and thus sold in the millions, despite not working reliably. People eventually realised that it was a gimmick - and one that didn't work at that - but decided to make it a compulsory part of the next console. A big gamble that has failed.

Sony's Move is a weird one. They never really pushed it. It worked well enough. I enjoyed it but it was implemented poorly in some games. Another one of Sony's things that they bring out and then kinda just abandon. Apparently it still works with PS4 but who knows or even cares at this point? Sad because out of the 3 it's easily the best motion tech.

[originalbadboy]

No different from any other catalogue, then.

I guess by 'non hardcore' games I mean the party / my little pony / motion sports games. There was more of that sort of stuff on the Wii than on the other big two (at the time).

Obviously there is a fair amount of 'pap' in any console or handhelds catalog (especially handhelds), but the Wii (for a mainstream console) was particularly bad.

[fishbowlhead]

The Wii's success was nothing to do with the games, it just appealed to the mass market to the point where everyone wanted one.

To be fair the Wii had great, and constant, advertising pretty much everywhere, not to mention the adverts clearly showed what the console did and how it worked, all in short clear shots. The wiiU has had none of that unfortunately.

[Brad]

Wii appealed to a far wider age group than the other two so there was bound to be a lot more easy to get into, basic games for that system.

[Guts]

Obviously there is a fair amount of 'pap' in any console or handhelds catalog (especially handhelds), but the Wii (for a mainstream console) was particularly bad.

Maybe, but does it matter really? No one forces you to buy that mass market/casual ****. It was there for the masses of casuals and they probably bought it since there was so much of it. There were plenty of excellent "hardcore" games on the Wii also.

[dataDave]

I agree with the remote being awesome for FPS control. Despite the little bit of lag it was the superior method for Sin and Punishment.

[PaTaito]

i disagree with the wii success not being down to games, EVERYONE wanted wii sports making it a killer app, and also zelda was a big deal, it may have been a port, but it was still a brand new game.

Without wii sports on release who would have bothered out of the mums and grans??

[Leon Retro]

Without wii sports on release who would have bothered out of the mums and grans??

Without the Wiimote and Wii Sports(or a game like it) the Wii wouldn't have been a massive phenomenon. People of all ages went mad for Wii Sports - it was nothing more than a huge fad people will look back on in those tv shows where celebs mock things that were popular in past decades. People will look back and laugh at how old people were waving remotes around - pretending they were bowling.

I personally bought a Wii for Super Mario Galaxy and enjoyed it a lot. I didn't play Wii Sports hardly at all. The Wii had a few great games that I have fond memories of.

I hope Nintendo announce a new F-Zero for the Wii U at TGS.

[wakka]

Without the Wiimote and Wii Sports(or a game like it) the Wii wouldn't have been a massive phenomenon.

Yeah. The Wii was an instance where the software and hardware were of equal importance and came together perfectly at launch. It was simply a great product and you can see why it sold like gangbusters.

Personally I didn't really enjoy Wii Sports. I sort of thought it was going to be 1:1 or close to it (stupidly) and when I realised it wasn't I was like...meh. The bowling was pretty fun I guess. I haven't bothered with Club on Wii U.

Unfortunately the chances of F-Zero Wii U seem to be nil. Nintendo never really announce anything at TGS. I'm not sure if they even attend. If they had it I'm sure they would have used it at E3 which is a much bigger stage for a much more important market.