Global HW & SW Up! 19th January

[Marucha]

Train wreck said:

The Wii U is not a desirable machine, sorry Nintendo fans, its just that plain and simple. No amount of Nintendo directs is going to change that since its audience is too narrow.

Nintendo, like many of the fans it has, became way too arrogant (and somewhat greedy). I believe Nintendo tried to leverage their popular Wii brand while at the same time try to exploit Sony's weakness in NA and Japan by releasing a console first with the capabilities to run the third party games sony needs on it system to stay relevant and its currently falling on its face.

In that short span of time the Wii went from being affordable, accessible and inclusive to the Wii U being expensive, restrictive and exclusive. No wii game cost more that 49.99 (outside special editions and games with included controllers), people got value when they bought a game like wii play (in the form of another controller to have more people join in). I cant image soccer moms and grandma sitting down with the gamepad on their lap gearing up to play the new X, it just isn't happening.

Iwata seems hell bent on continuing the gamecubeification of the Wii brand, which in itself is odd. I can easily see a massive incoming loss from the Wii U once the price cut kicks in.

Interesting perspective. A little bit arrogant in some areas. But Interesting nonetheless.

Personally I don't see how any company wouldn't pass the opportunity to try to "leverage" what is successful, repeat or build on their prior successes. Sony technically tried to leverage themselves, hence charging a lot more for the PS3 than other gens and thinking they could get away with expensive and proprietary memory on the Vita, etc.

Nintendo can probably afford to the take the risks now because they are exclusively games so they can go full out with their console. It more or less defines their image too... they are completely a gaming company for gamers (all kinds). I don't like that third party support kinda quit on the Wii... that's what I think they kinda tried to address this gen, which is good. For me personally, if there is more third party support and still the same great games, then I will be sold. Nintendo has a few genres that they attract and cater to better than the other two which is what makes them a good pick for me anyway...

I have a wait and see attitude right now.