"The Wii is doomed"

Something I've seen spread over the Internet over the past few months. Not just on this site, or other forums, but on respected news channels. Heck, even BBC news said it. 

But is it really doomed? There's no doubt that it could, and should, be selling better than it is, and IGN may have just found the solution:

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/114/1147411p1.html

The worrying thing is, that all 7 of those things mentioned in the article could, very easily, be implemented by Nintendo for next to no money. And we'd all be partying like it's 2008.

But this is Nintendo. Let's not forget that. They never released Earthbound. Why would they TLS?

At any rate, here's what I hope Nintendo do this year:

• Publicise the Wii shop Channel more
• Improve online performance
• Strike deals with 3rd party developers for more exclusives (Goldeneye and MHtri last year, and Conduit 2 this year are good signs!)
• Localise TLS, Xenoblade and Tales Of Graces for Wii in the EU 
• More certain digital-only games retail releases
• Make a HD update/redesign
• Drop the price
• Localise TLS, Xenoblade and Tales of Graces for Wii in the EU
• Get Dragon Quest X out the door in Japan and get a localisation quick-fast!
• Bring back the Player's choice series at a discount
• Add a HDD for the re-release, or an attachment (seriously, we need to use those USB ports!)
• Bring back classic Nintendo franchises, such as Starfox, F-Zero and Earthbound, but "tease" them around about now. That way people will hold onto their Wiis in hope
• LOCALISE TLS, XENOBLADE AND TALES OF GRACES FOR WII IN THE EU!!!!!

I think they could, but it would take a major effort, and depending on how soon the Wii 2 is releasing I'm not sure it would be worth the investment.

But if they were trying to rejuvinate Wii sales, this would be my strategy.

-Redesign at E3, accompanied by a large marketing campaign. I'm not sure what could be done, maybe add a HDD, make the console a little sleeker, etc. It would be more about making it seem like a major overhaul in the eyes of the consumer than actually changing the console a lot.

-Player's choice to fill in gaps during dry spells. The Wii goes too long (like right now in NA) without major releases. Releasing budget lineups will help fill those gaps and make the console seem like a better value. (My strategy, release Super Mario Galaxy, Brawl, Animal Crossing, Mario Party 8, Twilight Princess, as the first players choice titles as soon as possible).

-More big games (esp for Japan). In Japan Nintendo has the start of a strong line up for 2011 -The Last Story, Kirby, Zelda, Rhythm Heaven, Inazuma Strikers etc. They need a few more big releases such as Dragon Quest X to release this year and I think they'll be in good shape.

-Full blown Pokemon on Wii. They have one huge established franchise that has not seen a true release on the system. I think this would help the Wii out a lot worldwide, but especially in Japan.

- Vitality Sensor, or some other new and innovative accessory and game. I think they need to come with one more big Wii__ title that seems completely new and cataches on like Wii Sports/Fit.

- Price Cuts - I think there should be two this year. One to $179 in the start of April to prevent hardware sale from dropping to much, and another down to $150 in October to help drive huge holiday sales.

I think if they do all that Wii sales will rebound largely, not to the peak levels in 2008, but maybe between 2009-2010 levels, instead of experiencing another large drop this year if they don't try hard to prevent it.

I think all the things I suggested are possible (except maybe the Pokemon game), but like I said at the start, if the plans is for a Wii 2 in 2012 I'm not sure it would be worthwhile.

 IGNorant.

It is pointless.

Nintendo most likely started focusing games for the next system now anyway. They don't care if the system sells 150million or not. It has been their most successful home console to date and profitable from the start.

I know they will localise the games from Japan. Because it will be easy. They do not really need to work on anything else themselves. Also they have a zelda game coming out and kirby is yet to hit some places.

I personally rather they work on relations with 3rd parties for next gen. 

They can always lower the cost of wii to $99 a few months before next console comes out if they really care about cracking records.

All those points are terrible my vote is to make motion based games that use motion plus

THE WII IS D00MZ......oh shit im not aloud to say that any more >_>

You can get banned for that now?

Why? Europeans hate RPG's

Listen to this man. He knows what he speaks of.

I think DQX will keep the Wii from being 'doomed' in Japan for long enough.

For the West, Nintendo should localise games like The Last Story, Excitebots, Xenoblade and Captain Rainbow and strategically release them in order to stop any software droughts.  The Wii should also have a price drop in the 1st half of 2012 in order to spur sales.