Why Wii U???

[gumby_trucker]

Joelcool7 said:

Personally I don't think Nintendo is reconsidering WiiU nor should they.

However they may be reconsidering price point and power. Nintendo was cocky and thought that all those new consumers that WIi and DS garnered would upgrade when 3DS came out. But they were wrong, they also thought with WiiU that yet again they could play the weaker console releasing something that won't be as powerful as PS4 and 720. Nintendo themselves said the console will be expensive.

So what do I think, Nintendo is probably going back to its developers and saying "We need more power and a cheaper price tag" I think Nintendo may consider launching WiiU at a loss, they might also be adjusting the hardware to see how cheap they can go so that they can atain a cheaper price tag.

All in all I don't think Nintendo will drop the controller and hope they don't. I want a WiiU and so do millions of other fans I hope Nintendo doesn't compromise and make cuts.

If I were Nintendo I would be rethinking the whole notion of a 5-6 year console cycle, frankly. Hardware is getting better and better, to the point where it's becoming difficult to convince buyers to put aside a platform they're already used to and make room for a different one - unless that difference is really significant.
Casual gamers are independent adults,  people who are more likely to make educated buying decisions. These are people who don't easily buy into fads and as long as their Wii/DS are still working and serve their purpose, why should they upgrade?

If what made Wii and DS such a success where their unique features, then offering similar features in a new console isn't a very good proposition to existing customers. Similarly, if Nintendo wants their user-base to move on, they have yet to make a strong argument as to why the user-base should care.

Better graphics and 3D are not a selling point, because they don't really change the experience. For people who are new to gaming, this experience is broadly defined as convenient interactive entertainment, and no more! It is not defined by video resolution or the amount of buttons on your controller etc. If anything some of the design decisions like lower battery life in the 3DS or a complicated controller for Wii U offer a less convenient experience than their predecessors.

I believe many non-gamers who got into gaming with Wii and DS have essentially 'ticked the box' next to that niche of their life and are content with what they have. It's good enough for their purposes because gaming is not a central activity in their lives.

Nintendo would have been much wiser to present a new console/handheld as disruptors to their existing ones, just like how Wii was not perceived as being in the same product family as PS2/GC or PS3/360 but as something else that filled a previously unaddressed need in the consumer's lifestyle.

But since Wii and DS were marketed as lifestyle devices pretty much from the start, it's not surprising that consumers don't see a need in having more of same in their lives now because the impact is gone. It's like trying to sell somebody a new vacuum cleaner when their first one still gets the job done. Most people won't care that the newer machine has more features and improvements, because they simply aren't in the market for vacuum cleaners right now.

It's a shame because I do think Nintendo could have maintained a market for software on their existing platforms if they wanted to... But I guess they feel that selling games is beneath them.

In that case it's a good thing they are going to make all that profit on hardware /sarcasm.