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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - How the Wii U could make a comeback

The Wii did something no other console was able to do before: attract female (I will use "female" as it's easier to type than women and girls) gamers by the millions. Although this is old data, 80% of console gamers last generation were Wii owners. This was before the Kinect, but I doubt this percentage changed much. About 8-10% of PS3 and 360 players were female, while 30% of Wii players were female. Once again, these stats are pre-Kinect, which did attract many non-gamers but probably not enough to be really significant (at the most, 15% of 360 gamers).

The DS is the same way, but surprisingly, the 3DS is also the same. One of the reasons the 3DS has made such a comeback was because it attracted female gamers. 31% of 3DS owners are female.  This is evidence that even though mobile games have taken a lot of this demographic, there is still a lot of them who would buy a dedicated gaming system.Animal Crossing: New Leaf, for example, is a HUGE hit with girls - 56% of players are girls. Look up Let's Plays or Unboxing of it on YouTube and many are girls.

If I was the head of the Wii U right now my strategy would change entirely. Male gamers have pretty much rejected the Wii U - it's selling worse than even the Dreamcast did during the same time frame (and the DC was Japan-only for almost a year). Their big franchises aren't doing what they should be doing - selling units. Super Mario 3D World was rejected for looking just like the 3DS game (and rightfully so - with the new HD consoles we should've got something amazing like Mario 64 2 or a Galaxy game at least), the new Zelda art style is once again going to fracture the fanbase, and too few first party titles being released anyway. Donkey Kong Country: TF failed to even register on the radar as well as Pikmin 3. Mario Kart 8 was a little spike but not good enough. I doubt Smash Bros. is gonna do much as well.

So Nintendo should change focus, and try and get female gamers now. The GamePad is actually GREAT for those type of games. Popular games for girls on the 3DS include Disney Magic World, Animal Crossing, Tomadachi Life, Style Savvy, Professor Layton, Nintendogs, Cooking Mama, Imagine series, and then Nintendo could add dance games, fitness games, etc. etc. A lot of these games would be perfect for the GamePad as well, so it could be a major selling point.

The Wii U - like the 3DS - could then make a comeback and start selling more.

And hell if that doesn't work then just do a Pokemon RPG. The Amiibos make NO sense to me... because what are they used for? In Smash Bros., why would I need one? On the other hand, Amiibo Pokemon would be HUGE. And it makes sense (Gotta collect them all!). A Pokemon RPG with amiibos could save the Wii U no doubt. Also, Nintendo should have Retro Studios make the next big FPS game! Nintendo used to be known for being the first person shooter console (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok, Doom 64, Quake 64, etc. etc.) and Retro Studios can obviously make a good first person shooter... so why not have them make a killer app to compete with Destiny, Titanfall, Halo, Gears, etc. etc.?

What do you guys think? What would YOU do if your job was to make sure the Wii U could make a comeback?

TL;DR Version: Females were able to help foster the 3DS comeback, and they can do the same for the Wii U



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Well, Mario Kart 8 kind of showed us a little comeback, Im pretty sure a slight more when Bayonetta 2 comes out also. But what guarantee will turn things around is Super Smash Bros. With Amiibo coming a long with it. When every game this holiday comes out, most likely the new install base will be more then 60k+ probably 80k per weeks :D
My guess!



uKiddo said:
Well, Mario Kart 8 kind of showed us a little comeback, Im pretty sure a slight more when Bayonetta 2 comes out also. But what guarantee will turn things around is Super Smash Bros. With Amiibo coming a long with it. When every game this holiday comes out, most likely the new install base will be more then 60k+ probably 80k per weeks :D
My guess!


Mario Kart I don't think did enough... maybe a little spike. But I think it's pretty clear gamers have rejected the Wii U (not saying it's a bad console or anything).

Amiibo I don't think will become a hit because there's no real use for them. I think they should've did Pokemon Amiibos instead.



Well, yea MK8 did a slight boost as the new install base is now around 60-70k units sold each week by looking at the chartz. But who knows about amiibo, it seems like there gonna do something different. I have a feeling they will create something with the amiibo to go a long with Pokemon. Who knows.. It could be true, something like What ever pokemon amiibo you have will be your pokemon through out your battle. Wouldnt you think that will be cool? :D



I just think that the wii u is an unappealing console overall for the casuals. I mean you have a tablet controller that does not have unique apps and not even nintendo themselves have a gamepad centric game to show off what it can do. The gamepad is just a controller witha screen on it. Wiphen you compare it to let say an ipad it pales in comparison to what it can do.



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uKiddo said:

Well, yea MK8 did a slight boost as the new install base is now around 60-70k units sold each week by looking at the chartz. But who knows about amiibo, it seems like there gonna do something different. I have a feeling they will create something with the amiibo to go a long with Pokemon. Who knows.. It could be true, something like What ever pokemon amiibo you have will be your pokemon through out your battle. Wouldnt you think that will be cool? :D


Yes! Kind of like the Pokemon trading cards back in the late 90s. It could be HUGE. Nintendo needs to get the ball rolling on a console Pokemon RPG with Amiibo support. Right now there are no reasons to buy Amiibos, but once Pikachu and Haunter and Dragonite and friends are Amiibos for a full fledged console Pokemon.... sales would be through the roof.

It just boggles my mind why Nintendo keeps doing this stuff and not making any changes in strategy. The Wii U is selling worse than the Dreamcast (and the Wii U isn't as profitable as previous Nintendo consoles!) which SHOULD put them in panic mode.... but they just keep doing what they do. 



McDonaldsGuy said:
uKiddo said:
Well, Mario Kart 8 kind of showed us a little comeback, Im pretty sure a slight more when Bayonetta 2 comes out also. But what guarantee will turn things around is Super Smash Bros. With Amiibo coming a long with it. When every game this holiday comes out, most likely the new install base will be more then 60k+ probably 80k per weeks :D
My guess!


Mario Kart I don't think did enough... maybe a little spike. But I think it's pretty clear gamers have rejected the Wii U (not saying it's a bad console or anything).

Amiibo I don't think will become a hit because there's no real use for them. I think they should've did Pokemon Amiibos instead.

Well, it was selling around 35k units a week before MK8. So it would have sold a little over 200k since May 30th. It's sold close to 600k since MK8, so there's almost a 400k difference from what it would have done. Doesn't sound bad to me.



random15 said:
I just think that the wii u is an unappealing console overall for the casuals. I mean you have a tablet controller that does not have unique apps and not even nintendo themselves have a gamepad centric game to show off what it can do. The gamepad is just a controller witha screen on it. Wiphen you compare it to let say an ipad it pales in comparison to what it can do.

I don't think you can compare the Wii U to an IPad...



random15 said:
I just think that the wii u is an unappealing console overall for the casuals. I mean you have a tablet controller that does not have unique apps and not even nintendo themselves have a gamepad centric game to show off what it can do. The gamepad is just a controller witha screen on it. Wiphen you compare it to let say an ipad it pales in comparison to what it can do.


I totally agree. When I first saw the GamePad I didn't even believe it was Nintendo's new controller. I was shocked. I can even show previous posts where I said the Wii U wouldn't even  be a big hit cause of it. I knew right away it made no sense.

However, I think for the games I mentioned, it could be a huge hit with girls. Like style games, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, etc. etc. Think of it like a console DS (where 1/3rds of players are female).

Also the Wii U would be perfect for a Pokemon RPG and a Retro Studios FPS!



Glad to see someone who agrees with me!

If Nintendo did this once Amiibo is out, It will sell like hotcakes. So far Amiibo with Smash Bros. is still iffy for me. Hoping how this will turn out :3