| amp316 said
I don't think trying to adopt core gamers first is the way to go with Wii U. This was the strategy that they used with the Gamecube and the sales for that system were a miserable failure until a massive price drop. Regardless of what anyone may say, the Wii was a much bigger success initially than even Nintendo expected. The plan looked brilliant since the Wii captured the imagination of non-gamers and those that hadn't gamed for years. Now Nintendo is turning their back on this massive group of people that bought Wiis. Why? They listened to press clippings and to "real gamers" that want the next Wii to be one of the HD triplets. Nintendo doesn't seem interested in giving the people what they want. They are interested making the games that they want to make and trying to talk the people into wanting it. |
I don’t want to derail your thread since it’s about the Wii and its abrupt decline; plus the fact that my thread that is in the works will specifically be about this topic, so I’d rather debate it there. However, I’ll address why the Gamecube comparison isn’t accurate:
Personally, I loved the Gamecube. It’s my third favorite home console of all time behind only the NES and SNES. That said, there were many terrible missteps made during the Gamecube era, and, fortunately for Nintendo, there are several fundamental differences with the WiiU’s position.
First, the Gamecube (and original Xbox) both launched late against the PS2, whose brand and positioning was hugely popular at the time. Second, Nintendo was coming off of a console that was not very successful in the market. Third, the Gamecube had absolutely nothing to distinguish it from the competition. And lastly, the Gamecube lacked any games throughout its entire lifetime, save for Smash Bros and Mario Kart, that would help to propel it into the mass market. The first three of these points will be non-issues for WiiU, and if Iwata’s recent statement is to be believed, Nintendo realizes that evergreen software is imperative even if their early focus is the core.
So I don’t think their plan is to neglect giving people what they want at all, I think they want to try and give everyone what they want. Sure, there are a number of variables involved that could keep WiiU from doing great: Core gamers could stick with PS360 or wait for their successors, people could not take to the new controller, etc. But if they can comprise their library of their 1st party games and the vast majority of 3rd party games as well (while launching early and utilizing their new controller well), they could also become unstoppable next gen.
