If you, like me, read numerous online articles about gaming, no doubt you will have noticed the abundance of Wii-related "tragedy" stories in the media. Just in case you don't, here's some examples;

http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Peak popularity wistful memory/3946061/story.html (past its peak, unpopular, no Wii sales in 2 months)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20024780-17.html (360 sales eclipse Wiis, bad news for Nintendo, continuing to fall to new lows)

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/wildlife/we-want-games-not-gimmicks-1.1824283 (Nintendo is stuck in the past, stale, Wii is a toy)

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/07/worst-tech-gadgets-return/ (Return the Wii, no need for it, avoid giving, return it ASAP)

As well as countless others (I did a check on Google and over 200 of these similar articles have been released in the past month), including top industry heads dismissing it as a "gimmick" and as a "toy"

So, what should Nintendo do to counteract this failing, and what should Nintendo have done? In reality, when I think of this, it becomes very difficult for me to think of anything after "HD", and maybe "online" (which, if you play Monster Hunter regularly, or a similar game, you will know is much better now than it used to be)

But, are these things real "deal-breakers"? Would Nintendo have sold millions more Wiis if it were in HD and had better online capabilities, which would no doubt have caused a massive price increase and maybe even a yearly-online subscription? I doubt it, and, as I said, they were hardly deal breakers!

People, you need to remember that the Wii has been the market leaders for, well, pretty much since it was released. Its low price, simple-to-use interface and new gimmick revolutionised the gaming world, so much so the past few years the other companies have been playing catchup. The Wii has been out now for over 4 years. Do we really expect with no price cut, and no redisign for it to sell as well as it has already, breaking countless previous sales barriers? Unlikely. Nintendo has shown with Black Friday that they are still king, breaking their previous sales numbers in America and being the only console to sell over 1million in that week (home consoles)

There is much for Nintendo to do, and call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think it has been their plan al along. This is my expected timeline;

2006: Launch Wii with Wii sports at £180, heavily advertise new feature, launch with Zelda game to keep fans happy

2007: Release a batch of core-Nintendo IPs (Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario galaxy) to keep fans pleased, lure in more fans and advertise it as a "casual" machine for anyone of any age

2008: Release more "casual" games to the market, (Wii Music, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart), contact 3rd parties to talk about exclusivity with certain games

2009: Continue the casual selling and feel in the west (wii sports resort etc.), make the Wii more "hardcore" in the east (Monster Hunter Tri etc.). Cut price to £130 for sales boost. Release NSMBWii but advertise it as family-friendly to capture both demographics.

2010: Form collabaration with certain 3rd parties (capcom, Square, Monolith) in order to get exclusives which are more "mature" (Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest X, Xenoblade, The Last Story, Goldeneye etc.), improve services online, produce more Nintendo classics (Super Mario Galaxy 2, DKCR, Kirby Wii) to attract the core franchise back. Make this more apealing with bundles of "evergreen" titles to persuade potential buyers

2011: Cover Move/Kinect by attacking their market. Announce Resident Evil 6 for Wii, release TLS in east, then west, release Xenoblade in west, release more core Nintendo franchises (Zelda, Kid Icarus) during 3DS launch. Cut price in July, then announce a Wii-succesor in November/December. Request 3rd parties to release their last wave of games. Advertise these to the "casual" audience to gain more skill in gaming. Cut price to £99

2012: Release Wii2 almost exactly one year after 3DS, with a similar lineup. Cut price of Wii to £80, add more bundles. Release vitality sensor with WiiRelax. Release numerous games for both consoles (mari, Metroid, Classic Nintendo franchise) to keep both camps happy. Advertise Wii2 heavily, making sure it relates to original Wii. 

2013: Discontinue Wii support, expect sales of between 115-120mil WW by 2015.

So, at least in my opinion, the Wii is doing perfectly fine. Doomsday stories like the ones above demonstrate just how poorly the press know the medium. It is likely, remember, the Wii will be behind the 360 by around 3mil by years end. That's 3mil behind with no hardware redisgn, no mega selling game, no price cut, no new attachment etc. 

Nintendo will be perfectly fine with this year. Nintendo will be on top next year. Press releases and other mediums need to realise how well the Wii has done (remember, it was predicted to sell <30mil WW LT, and bust Nintendo), and stop calling doomsday when the sales inevitably decrease.

Do you agree? Comment below! Also, if you like this and there is a good response, I may make this a regular item from me! We shall see

Making it HD would have changed everything.

How so? I have HD with my PS3 and 360, and whilst there is a difference, admittedly, I don't think that the Wiis graphics make it so much more undesirable. In the end it is down to the games IMO, and whist each console has great games, they don't have Nintendo games!

Well I think HD would have toned down a lot of criticism regarding the graphics.

Because I personally think games like Brawl and DKCR are looking good but the fact that they aren't HD is a bit disappointing. Especially when you are playing the Wii on an HD TV where it looks ever more blurry.

Nintendo would have to make the Wii something the media would support. It's the media that are trying to make the Wii look bad, not anything with the Wii itself. This thread shows you are falling for their smear campaign. Black Friday sales show the system can still sell.

Stay the course. They've put these haters in their place before, and they are continuing to do so, by the look of things. Ride it out till the next generation. Then we'll see something cool

They didn't really mes it up though did they? It outsold everyone's predictions, by a long way, but the fact is, the "killer apps" which you mentioned above were all that were really needed to keep the Wii's momentum. That is something the HD consoles don't have; a steady stream of killer 1st party games, which is why there's such a "cult" following for Nintendo games!

Not really, I made this thread so no-one else would fall into this trap...

though yeah, the media seem to hate Nintendo for some reason...heck, they gave NO coverage at all for Mario's 25th Anniversary, yet it was a non-stop party when Kinect and Move were released!

Honestly, starting your analysis with media reports when talking of the Wii isn't a good idea. The media has always been against the Wii, before its release or after it, gaming or non-gaming, large influencial media corporation or small unknown blog. Of course, there have been exceptions, but usually they've been far and few.

Also, you used UK prices and figures (360 200k ahead, :P - it'll probably be 4m behind at least), but switched to a worldwide perspective for its overall sales. You also used > instead of < when you mentioned expectations for it, :P.

But that's just fun nitpicking, xD.

I really don't agree with your plan for the Wii, though. You seem to think they expected it to make a mockery out of its competitors. I don't think even Nintendo planned to have to ship over 50m Wiis; it surpassed even their expectations, :D. Also, 2013 is far too early for Nintendo to just drop the Wii like that. The NES, Nintendo's best home console before the Wii and the only console other than the PS1 that it can be accurately compared to, sold a third of its sales after SNES release. Around 20m, I believe. Considering the Wii will have sold over 100m Wiis (probably more, Q1 2012 is too early, more like September-ish to be able to meet supply by the holidays and sell massively consistently), 150m really seems more likely. Also, they won't need to drop the Wii because it'll easily sell to poorer (recession-affected) people in Japan, Europe and America and the few developing countries they can access because of the eventual price drop to $50 (which is more than likely).

So, yeah, I'm basically criticizing your overly pro-Wii thread for being too anti-Wii, :P. Oh, and I'm saying that, other than messing up their '08 line up, they did nothing wrong, xD.

HOW DARE YOU! xD

However, your point is correct, my timeline was just following the trend of what is happening now. 2013 will be 7 years after its release, with another 4 years of manufacturing more models, meaning it lasts 11years, far longer than any previous console! 

OK, I've edited the OP with your "adjustments" :D