When Sony was screwing up with the PS3, it was clearly arrogance. Their PR proves that - "People will buy a PS3 even if it had no games." "People will have to get 2 jobs to get a PS3." "The PS3 is too cheap." The $599 price, lack of rumble (last gen tech), loss of third party exclusives (GTA, FF, DMC, Tekken, etc. etc.), crappy first/second party games, etc. etc. But by 2009 Sony did a complete rebranding and made a complete comeback that carried momentum to the PS4.
It's a shame cause the Wii was my favorite console last gen, and the 3DS is amazing. I predicted the Wii U would sell 40 million (admittedly I let some outside factors influence me - my original prediction was 25 million), but it'll be lucky to get half of that (it won't). I am a HUGE Nintendo fan.
On the other hand, Nintendo the past 4 years have gone insane. Have they done anything right?
- New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land do not have online. In 2012 this was unacceptable
- The weak hardware. What the heck Nintendo? It made sense for the Wii because of the controller. The Wii U does not have that luxury. They couldn't give us at least something that could be ALMOST near the PS4/One? Maybe a Dreamcast to the PS2? Instead we get something weaker than the Xbox 360 and PS3 and then Nintendo charges us $349 for it! What the heck were they thinking? Unbelievable.
- The gamepad controller. Appeals to no one. The Wiimote appealed to non-gamers (and even hardcore gamers). Not even Nintendo is utilizing it. Did they just throw it on cause tablets were popular at the time with no planning? Probably. When I first saw them unveil the controller I thought it was a joke, and that it was a complimentary controller. When they were serious about it the next year I made like 3 threads (on different forums) asking what was going on and no one knew. Everyone was just as confused as I was.
- The name. Nuff said.
- Their online still sucks
- Super Mario 3D World isn't what gamers wanted. We wanted a Super Mario 64/Galaxy type game in HD, imagine how glorious it would have been. The sales reflect that. 3D World is probably a great game but it doesn't have near the appeal 64/Galaxy type game would have. Also no online multiplayer - Nintendo are you kidding me? F-
- Zelda cel shaded. Ugly graphics. Their E3 2012 demo looked so cool. Instead we get an ugly cartoon that looks like it's trying to be between Wind Waker and OOT/TP. Also, Zelda - like Metroid - is supposed to have the more "realistic" graphics because even Nintendo admitted it themselves. There is an event in Melee where you fight Nintendo's "realistic" characters and Link is among them! This Zelda will not be a big hit. Compare it to Twilight Princess which is the most hyped Zelda of all time.
- No console Pokemon. Seriously could sell a billion, and Pokemon amiibos? Trading card game fad all over again. Instead Nintendo is content with letting the Wii U fail.
- Amiibos. No point outside collecting them.
- Smash Bros. 4 , came out way too late (2 years after release) and no 8 player online play? Sad. They couldn't even give this game a subtitle.
- Retro Studios not being used to full potential. This dev team could possibly bring us a new FPS game that will blow our rocks off, instead we are given Donkey Kong Country: TF which had no online play. It also flopped badly in sales. Good.
- Game droughts because they didn't prepare for HD. LMAO HD consoles have been around since 2005 and they were caught off guard (like devs were from 05-08) and they didn't prepare? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!?!!? Now they have had massive gaming droughts. This is the first time we won't get a Zelda console 2 years after console release.
- No new IPs. Splatoon is like their only new IP this gen. Nintendo could do that for the Wii (even though the Wii had a couple new IPs) because of the Wiimote, but Nintendo needs to start expanding its library ASAP. Gamers don't get as excited for Smash Bros. or Zelda as they did in 2006-08.
- Scaring away third parties. Nintendo made billions of cash from the Wii and DS. That probably could have bought some good exclusives from third parties and could've helped them out a bit as well. Instead Nintendo scares them away.
- The Virtual Console STILL hasn't even reached a third of its potential
- No more E3 presentations
Added: No achievements, buying Sonic as its third party exclusive
Now the good things Nintendo has done with the Wii U:
- Mario Kart 8. Came out at a good time (Mario Karts tend to come out 1.5-2 years after a console release) and was a hit and really good
- Saving Bayonetta 2
- Nothing else
Nintendo in the Wii era seemed like geniuses. Porting Twilight Princess to the Wii was a genius move. Packing Wii Sports? Wow. Packing Nintendo Land? Wow, but not the good kind of wow. We finally get a Nintendo HD console and we get Mario 3D World and a cel shaded Zelda rather than epic games.
Did Nintendo become arrogant or something? And think they can do no wrong? What was their gameplan with the Wii U? Every decision they have made this gen has baffled me.
