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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Should Nintendo offer an optional WiiU SKU without the Gamepad?

 

Should Nintendo offer a WiiU SKU without the Gamepad?

Yes, their best option at this point. 164 47.13%
 
No, the negatives outweigh the cheaper price. 183 52.59%
 
Total:347
archbrix on 16 February 2014
famousringo said:
The gamepad is a miss, but the answer is for Nintendo to find a way to add value to their console, not strip out what little value the Wii U offers.

Anybody who wants a Wii U without the gamepad should already have a PS3.

You can't play Nintendo's games on the PS3.  

My point about offering an alternative SKU without the Gamepad is not to strip away any value, but to make the prospect of being able to play Ninty's games more affordable to people.

Believe me, I was strongly against separating the Gamepad in any way, but these are desperate times.  And it's Nintendo's fault for not having the gameplay ideas ready upon the device's release to warrant the extra cost that resulted.



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Dr.Henry_Killinger on 16 February 2014
Figgycal said:

The whole idea of the Wii U should've been scrapped. They should've called the system "Wii 2" for the sake of simplicity. They should've replaced the tablet with a wiimote and nun-chuck since launch. They should've had games that were actually made around using the controller and they should've gone all in with software development knowing that third parties were going to ignore the platform wholly. They should've targetted their main audience with the original Wii and not half-ass an approach to appeal to the audience of PlayStation or Xbox -- because that's not what Nintendo's audience is or has been for generations. They should've advertised more than just the controller early on (especially if they had went with motion controls again). And they should've made it cost $250 from the very beginning.

At this point -- it's too late to do anything for the Wii U. The best thing Nintendo can do is lose less money on it as they move on to its successor. They do that by taking out the tablet and cut their losses on it. Nintendo fans don't buy Nintendo consoles for the gimmicky controllers-- they buy it for the games. There's no sense in losing money on each console sold because of a controller that nobody is asking for.

Then they pretend that the Wii U was just a spinoff experiment until they made the true successor to the Wii.

The Risk is too high.

Releasing a new Console would damage the Nintendo Brand as a manfacuturer significantly. It it would essentially throw away a majority of its dedicated hardcore base for a much larger but unreliable mainstream market.

Coupled with the fact that the Wii 2 would get ZERO 3rd party support, it would fail even worse, and Nintendo would basically stagnate into irrelevance, rather than go Supernova like Sony could.



In this day and age, with the Internet, ignorance is a choice! And they're still choosing Ignorance! - Dr. Filthy Frank

Dr.EisDrachenJaeger on 16 February 2014
Figgycal said:

The whole idea of the Wii U should've been scrapped. They should've called the system "Wii 2" for the sake of simplicity. They should've replaced the tablet with a wiimote and nun-chuck since launch. They should've had games that were actually made around using the controller and they should've gone all in with software development knowing that third parties were going to ignore the platform wholly. They should've targetted their main audience with the original Wii and not half-ass an approach to appeal to the audience of PlayStation or Xbox -- because that's not what Nintendo's audience is or has been for generations. They should've advertised more than just the controller early on (especially if they had went with motion controls again). And they should've made it cost $250 from the very beginning.

At this point -- it's too late to do anything for the Wii U. The best thing Nintendo can do is lose less money on it as they move on to its successor. They do that by taking out the tablet and cut their losses on it. Nintendo fans don't buy Nintendo consoles for the gimmicky controllers-- they buy it for the games. There's no sense in losing money on each console sold because of a controller that nobody is asking for.

Then they pretend that the Wii U was just a spinoff experiment until they made the true successor to the Wii.


Nah, the gamepad has been something they've been cooking up for a long long time, they intend to use it long term I think. Its a big TV DS with asymetrical game design. Its Game design. You make fun games by utilizing its design. Ergo nintendo needs to utilize it for their games more . On the subject of moving on, cutting their losses doesnt work in this situation considering the Pad's and the hardware's costs it wont drop super hard.  Besides its a Gamepad not a tablet.

 

Screen+motioncontrols+NFC+ accelomerators.



Figgycal on 16 February 2014
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:
Figgycal said:

The whole idea of the Wii U should've been scrapped. They should've called the system "Wii 2" for the sake of simplicity. They should've replaced the tablet with a wiimote and nun-chuck since launch. They should've had games that were actually made around using the controller and they should've gone all in with software development knowing that third parties were going to ignore the platform wholly. They should've targetted their main audience with the original Wii and not half-ass an approach to appeal to the audience of PlayStation or Xbox -- because that's not what Nintendo's audience is or has been for generations. They should've advertised more than just the controller early on (especially if they had went with motion controls again). And they should've made it cost $250 from the very beginning.

At this point -- it's too late to do anything for the Wii U. The best thing Nintendo can do is lose less money on it as they move on to its successor. They do that by taking out the tablet and cut their losses on it. Nintendo fans don't buy Nintendo consoles for the gimmicky controllers-- they buy it for the games. There's no sense in losing money on each console sold because of a controller that nobody is asking for.

Then they pretend that the Wii U was just a spinoff experiment until they made the true successor to the Wii.

The Risk is too high.

Releasing a new Console would damage the Nintendo Brand as a manfacuturer significantly. It it would essentially throw away a majority of its dedicated hardcore base for a much larger but unreliable mainstream market.

Coupled with the fact that the Wii 2 would get ZERO 3rd party support, it would fail even worse, and Nintendo would basically stagnate into irrelevance, rather than go Supernova like Sony could.

The idea is:

The system is being sold at a lost. The tablet is the main cause of this problem. The tablet is not selling the system. The system isn't selling well.

All those statements are true. If we remove the tablet:

The system is no longer being sold at a lost. The system is not selling well.

------

There's  nothing left you can do for Wii U at this point aside from softening the damages a little. I never said to stop supporting it and move on to the next system ASAP. Rather they should ride out the system for a 5 or 6 year lifecycle and push hard at the causal market that WORKED for them with the Wii. The system won't sell on par with the Wii (its success was unique and can't be duplicated), but it would sell a hell of a lot better than the Wii U. At the worst it would sell as well as the gamecube.

edit: Feel free to replace the word "tablet" with "gamepad".



archbrix on 16 February 2014

Rephrased the thread title to a question instead of a statement to help avoid any potential claims that this is a doom thread or that I'm hating on the Gamepad, lol.

I completely welcome opposing viewpoints, but read the OP, people. :)



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Dr.EisDrachenJaeger on 16 February 2014
Figgycal said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:
Figgycal said:

The whole idea of the Wii U should've been scrapped. They should've called the system "Wii 2" for the sake of simplicity. They should've replaced the tablet with a wiimote and nun-chuck since launch. They should've had games that were actually made around using the controller and they should've gone all in with software development knowing that third parties were going to ignore the platform wholly. They should've targetted their main audience with the original Wii and not half-ass an approach to appeal to the audience of PlayStation or Xbox -- because that's not what Nintendo's audience is or has been for generations. They should've advertised more than just the controller early on (especially if they had went with motion controls again). And they should've made it cost $250 from the very beginning.

At this point -- it's too late to do anything for the Wii U. The best thing Nintendo can do is lose less money on it as they move on to its successor. They do that by taking out the tablet and cut their losses on it. Nintendo fans don't buy Nintendo consoles for the gimmicky controllers-- they buy it for the games. There's no sense in losing money on each console sold because of a controller that nobody is asking for.

Then they pretend that the Wii U was just a spinoff experiment until they made the true successor to the Wii.

The Risk is too high.

Releasing a new Console would damage the Nintendo Brand as a manfacuturer significantly. It it would essentially throw away a majority of its dedicated hardcore base for a much larger but unreliable mainstream market.

Coupled with the fact that the Wii 2 would get ZERO 3rd party support, it would fail even worse, and Nintendo would basically stagnate into irrelevance, rather than go Supernova like Sony could.

The idea is:

The system is being sold at a lost. The tablet is the main cause of this problem. The tablet is not selling the system. The system isn't selling well.

All those statements are true. If we remove the tablet:

The system is no longer being sold at a lost. The system is no longer selling well.

------

There's  nothing left you can do for Wii U at this point aside from softening the damages a little. I never said to stop supporting it and move on to the next system ASAP. Rather they should ride out the system for a 5 or 6 year lifecycle and push hard at the causal market that WORKED for them with the Wii. The system won't sell on par with the Wii (its success was unique and can't be duplicated), but it would sell a hell of a lot better than the Wii U. At the worst it would sell as well as the gamecube.

edit: Feel free to replace the word "tablet" with "gamepad".

Except the tablet isnt the reason the system is sold at a loss.



NintendoPie on 16 February 2014

It would be nice for Nintendo to go back in time and look and see if a WiiMote+/Nunchuck combo instead of the Gamepad would've worked better. If it ends up flopping, then there's obviously something else wrong with the Wii U.

*Hint* It would still end up not doing too hot.



Dr.EisDrachenJaeger on 16 February 2014

The price wont be astronomically cheaper like some people think it is , you gotta take into account what goes into NIntendp's production and assorted costs with this console.



Figgycal on 16 February 2014
Dr.EisDrachenJaeger said:

Except the tablet isnt the reason the system is sold at a loss.

CNN has it at $79. I've seen 100 thrown around a few. And with warranty Nintendo fixes it for $90 or replaces it for $140. I'm willing to bet they're losing a lot of money from the gamepad.



Dr.EisDrachenJaeger on 16 February 2014
Figgycal said:
Dr.EisDrachenJaeger said:

Except the tablet isnt the reason the system is sold at a loss.

CNN has it at $79. I've seen 100 thrown around a few. And with warranty Nintendo fixes it for $90 or replaces it for $140. I'm willing to bet they're losing a lot of money from the gamepad.

NIntendo wouldnt have included it in the system if that was the case...