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prayformojo on 08 July 2012
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Jumpin said:
prayformojo said:
My prediction? The Wii U is Nintendo's Gamecube all over again. The thing people forget about Nintendo is, they've really only ever had two commercially dominant systems, the NES and Wii. The SNES was beaten by Sega for most of it's life cycle and the N64 and Gamecube were both completely destroyed.

The only reason the Wii was such a commercial success is because it was the "it" thing to own for a few years. People who didn't know what a video game was bought it because it was "cool". Nintendo failed, somehow, to realize that trends like this implode in on themselves and made the error of going "all out" with casual gaming. They didn't think about the fact that by doing so, they were going to lose the core which are the ones who will ALWAYS be around. So basically, the casual left the party when the party wasn't "cool" anymore, and the core were offended and moved on to Sony and Microsoft. Now, who's left? Basically, just Nintendo die hard which were the ones buying and supporting the Gamecube and there aren't even close to enough of them to make a difference next gen. So I predict a gloomy, dead last for them.

What is this "Nintendo core" that you're talking about that has "gone over to Microsoft and Sony"? You need to explain that statement further, because it is a strange one to make. If anything, it is the opposite is true; the Wii is the first Nintendo home console since the SNES that mostly all Nintendo fans bought. I know I am getting a Wii U, and I would say there is no indication that most others won't either since it doesn't have the problems of the N64 or the GameCube; and the Wii and DS both proved extra horsepower is not that big of a sales factor anymore. Also, the biggest selling games in the industry are all Nintendo games except for Call of Duty - only Nintendo consoles get Nintendo games.

I never said "Nintendo core". I said the "core" gamer which are gamers who aren't rooted into a brand but rather core gaming in general. Nintendo fans, people who bought the Gamecube, they are always going to be there for the big N. But that's not enough to win a generation. The Gamecube only sold 20 some odd million units and finished last. There simply aren't enough of them to have an impact needed to win out.

In order for Nintendo to do what it did this gen, it's going to have to get all the core gamers on their side and my argument is, they threw them away by basically ignoring them for the last 6 years. Take a look at their e3 shows. Remember that Wii Sports Resort debacle? Or how about Wii Music? They basically ignored the Halo,Killzone,GOW,COD,Ico and Uncharted demograph...IE "core". They did this because soccor mom's and the like were all buying into their products and they foolishly threw all their resources that way. When that whole trend died, and the casual went away, what happened? They tanked because there was nothing left.

If the core gamer left, and the soccor moms moved onto the next fad (ipad/iphone), what's left? Nintendo fans. And Nintendo fans aren't nearly enough.