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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Was going after the casual crowd a bad strategy for Nintendo last gen?

No! What's a bad strategy is Nintendo NOT expanding the gaming audience like they are now ...



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Long term speaking,downgraded their image even more than already was with N64/gamecube.

Short term,loads of money....



I don't think. If the Wii were focused on core gamers, it probably wouldn't have done as well as it did.

What was the bad decision on their part was going a similar route with the Wii U.



Well if they hadnt done it, then I think they would be in a worse state than now. Most core gamers prefer the PS and XB over a Nintendo console. Simple as that. They offer more of what they want.



The Wii didnt really get much notably 3rd party support because the console couldnt handle games like Assassins Creed etc. For the Wii U, Nintendo never really tried to rectify that and go after the big 3rd party games.

Honestly I never felt Nintendo primarily targeted the casual audience with the Wii. Sure the console gathered a hell of a lot of crappy shovelware but the PS2 had the same problem. I will admit games like Wii Fit and Wii Music are terrible games that should never have existed. Thing is I never got games like those as I was never interested.



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No! I'm sure you're familiar with Nintendo's clear downward trajectory from the SNES to the N64 to the GCN. Pursuing the blue ocean is what put them on top again (temporarily...). It was the best thing they could have done.

Their mistake last gen was in creating a system that couldn't handle the graphics and multiplayer components of third party games that became more and more popular as the 7th generation went on. The lack of CoD, AC, etc. is what killed the chance to transition well into this gen.

I respect the Big N's choice to keep hardware costs low and not produce an HD system, but the online is where I think they really shot themselves in the foot. Do you think it really would have hurt their family brand image if they nixed friend codes and simply had a normal account based online system?

Game specific friend codes, the lack of accounts, and weak servers killed their chances of capitalizing on the online multiplayer boom and because of this the Wii's rocketing trajectory fizzled out early and led to an air of irrelevancy that has carried through to the WiiU.

Just my presumptions.



fatslob-:O said:
No! What's a bad strategy is Nintendo NOT expanding the gaming audience like they are now ...


Yep. Thats what I'm always saying.

And the numbers a supporting us: Wii Sports Resort is the third best selling Nintendo title on the Wii. Only Wii Sports and Mario Kart Wii sold more and Mario Kart just sold a few millions more.

What this means is clear: when a Motion Control title released YEARS after the first motion control title sells rougly half - motion contorl CAN NOT BE A FAD.

Instead there were MILLIONS of gamers looking at Nintendo what the Wii U will offer to THEM. And Nintendo revealed the GamePad. And no hint if and how the unbeatable WiiMote/Nunchuck control scheme will be used in future games.

Releasing Wii Sports Club so late was a BIG mistake. Not promoting it big made the situation only worse.

 

There is only ONE way for Nintendo to get the Wii U numbers up: get the attention of those Wii gamers which bought the Wii because of its motion controls. 

If only one third (!) of those Wii Sports Resort buyers will "upgrade" to a Wii U - Nintendos problems are gone..



Wii - 100 Million
DS - 150 Million

Whatever strategy they used clearly worked.

As far as the 3DS goes, it's simply the decline of dedicated HH's due to mobile competition. Nintendo couldn't do much against that.

As for the Wii U? Nintendo failed to build a strong console brand since the PS was introduced. It's not the Wii's fault.



No. They made so much money and became more profitable than any gaming company has ever made.



    

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No if they didn't attract causals they never had a console like over 100M and would sell as bad as gamecube



PS4 - over 100 millions let's say 120m
Xbox One - 70m
Wii U - 25m

Vita - 15m if it will not get Final Fantasy Kingdoms Heart and Monster Hunter 20m otherwise
3DS - 80m