As we all probably know, the Wii U has been getting a lot of flak. It seems like every chance they get, major players in the game industry and video game news sites knock down the Wii U and call it a "failure". I'd like to hear your guys's opinion on the Wii U's future, and on how people are perceiving the Wii U right now, and any ways you see that Nintendo could solve their problems. I'd like this to go on the front page as somewhat of a "talking point", as to really get everyone's voice on the issue. I also have a poll here as a very straightforward way to see how we see the Wii U; however, I'd like those of you that vote on the poll to also put a comment with your thoughts. Thank you very much :)
I'd say success. I may be biased as a huge Nintendo fan, but I think it will definitely be a success. Anyone remember what happened to the 3DS? People were talking about how it would fail too, and look at where it is now. The fact is that Nintendo isn't great with 3rd party developers. Now I don't know if it's a problem on Nintendo's part or not (I believe it's partially their fault. I do believe they need to communicate better with 3rd party developers), however they make incredible 1st party games. That's their thing. They still have many of the most prestigious game series in history. Nintendo may get a lot of flak, and have it's own problems, but it still reigns as the king of the industry, whether others like it or not.
I'm with Double. I don't have a Wii U myself because I'm stuck in a financial crisis down here and the game library is simply not yet attractive enough to spend triple digits on, but once either or both of that change I plan on getting it and it will likely get played as much as the Wii I've had for years. In regards to Nintendo getting a lot of flak, I'd like to point out that a lot of video game sites, magazines, and major video gamers seem to have this game called 'bash Nintendo for all it's worth.' Nintendo can't do anything right; it's just so wedged into their brains that the company sucks that nothing they can do will change that. My brother is actually subscribed to a game magazine that does little other than kiss the ***** of Microsoft and Sony and criticize Nintendo for all it does and doesn't do. He and I theorize that Nintendo simply doesn't pay these people enough bribe money to say nice things about them- their gigantic market share and sheer number of loyal gamers -even if it's just on the side or casual- seems to imply they DO know what they're doing. This is why I generally judge for MYSELF whether or not games are worth getting.
As far as my opinion is going to go, all I can say is "not a failure." The WiiU is playing a different game than Nintendo did in the past with the Wii and even with the Gamecube. The WiiU didn't have to compete against the PS4 or the XBone; just with its own "Pros and Cons" issues that it would've had to deal with no matter the timing. The WiiU's been out long enough that people can form their opinion of it without comparing it immediately to the PS4 or XBone, so the ball is almost literally in Nintendo's court as to how the WiiU will do. If Nintendo can address concerns with games that are solid games on their own and help define the WiiU as more than just an expansion pack Wii, they'll solidly not fall into the Failure pit. Success, though, is going to be highly variable no matter what direction they go. I personally don't dig the WiiU as a stand-alone system, but if Nintendo gets games that are really rocking sweet, it won't really matter what I think of the system.
If I have to get the WiiU to play WWHD, SSB, and the rumored upcoming WiiU Zelda, then I will. That's all I really care about, and I get the feeling that I'm not alone in that; if there are good games for it, I'll buy it.
I think Quill's point pretty much sums it up. The Wii U is struggling right now because of a lack of games, primarily, and I don't even think that's because of a lack of third party games. The original Wii did well, but it wasn't because people were buying it to play the next Call of Duty. They liked it because Wii Sports was fun and engaging, because Mario Kart was exciting, and because Smash Brothers was a classic come back. The WiiU, on the other hand, is struggling to get people those things. So far we have Pikmin, which is a good series but not as influential as some others, and tWWHD, both of which only recently came out and neither of which really did anything super crazy. A new single player Mario, a new title Zelda game, Mario Kart 8, and Smash Brothers are all definitely needed if they want to get this thing running. Hopefully waiting on them for two years won't kill the console, but it might.
I personally think that the Wii U's future looks pretty bleak, new IP has been scarce for Nintendo and I'm not too sure how much longer they can survive off of Marios, considering he's their primary money-maker and his sales have been shrinking. The lack of games and third party support is troubling for Nintendo as well, especially considering that virtually all game consoles sell at a loss but recoup their losses and then some through games, which developers must pay a portion of sales to the console manufacturer for the right to use their console. And that cost seems to be drastic this generation with Sony admitting that every PS4 sold will cost them $60 (I wasn't able to find any statistics on the XBox one or the Wii U). And yes, the PS4 is likely the most powerful, and thus most costly, console this generation the concept holds for the others as well. You've also got to consider the recent death of Hiroshi Yamauchi, the CEO of Nintendo the had the guts to green light many of the company's most risky moves; including it's transformation from a card manufacturer to a video game manufacturer and then lead the company to it's highest peaks. True he wasn't the creative lead for any project I'm aware of, but if his replacement doesn't have the gall to greenlight similar risky projects, Nintendo likely will take a major hit from that lost potential revenue. As for the XBox One, knowing gamers' notoriously short memory, all they have to do to get their PR back up around that of Sony or Nintendo is announce full backward compatibility for both the original xbox and the 360; though admittedly, the execs over there don't really know how to work the gaming community.
Hiroshi Yamauchi hasn't been Nintendo's CEO since around 2001, though. Satoru Iwata took over once he left. I believe he was only a share holder from then until his death.
