| Darwinianevolution said: It wouldn't have made any difference. The Super Game Boy didn't sell the SNES, and the GBA Adapter didn't sell the Gamecube. Physical DS/3DS compativility would have definitively been an amazing feature, but not one big enough to save the system. |
This is true. However, a console specific feature has an advantage over a peripheral. Every buyer of the console has the opportunity to experience that feature compared to someone who may not buy or even consider spending extra on a peripheral. It's the reason motion controllers were not sold for the GameCube even though conceptualized. Nintendo designed the Wii around them instead of selling them as a peripheral so as not to limit their market potential. In my scenario, even the person who isn't buying the Wii U exclusively because of the DS/3DS compatibility, maybe now they do try it out and buy additional handheld software to supplement their Wii U library. Another advantage in my scenario is the Day 1 compatibility. SNES released 1990 (Japan) - 1991 (NA). The Super Gameboy wasn't released until 1994. The GameCube released in 2001. The Gameboy Player wasn't released until 2003. I'm talking about a "launch present" console feature which would have had a much better chance of impacting sales than a late released peripheral.
