| DanneSandin said: The Wii and DS offered something new that hadn't been done before, and both systems sold like crazy to "casuals"; to people that never had gamed before. Wii U isn't doing that. And taking a quick look at 3DS tells us that it's only Japan that is saving the system, it's actually not selling that well in the West (which the DS did). And most of those 3rd parties you mention will ensure Nintendo to swoop up Japan, it leaves a lot to be desired for in the West, with only Ubisift being the Western publisher putting some effort behind the system. Hadn't the iPad been released Wii U could have taken off like the Wii did, but this isn't a business of "If", "when", or "could and should", it's a business of "have and haven't". Right now what Wii U haven't got is games, and the question is if it'll get them later on. |
First of all, it's still doing a number of things that haven't been done before. And the whole "casuals" argument is purely a red herring - many amongst the "hardcore" like to disparage the "casualz", suggesting that they're fickle, that they're less valuable or less consistent than other gamers, or something like that. Many like to suggest that someone Microsoft "stole" the "casualz" from Nintendo with Kinect. None of these make any sense. "Casuals", by the way, are not the same as "new gamers", who are people that never had gamed before.
And sure, the Wii U isn't currently selling massively to the mainstream. That's no big surprise - it's not a phenomenon the way that the Wii was. But the mainstream is just like the typical gamer, in that they'll "upgrade" when given sufficient reason to do so. That means more than one or two games, given the current price of the system. It takes time.
Also, Ubisoft isn't the only Western publisher putting some effort behind the system. Warner Bros and Disney are both supporting the system quite strongly. Also noteworthy is Codemasters (mostly due to them bringing Dirt to the system - I know Codemasters isn't a particularly well-regarded publisher, but they still count).
And as even EA themselves said in the same call that the quote this thread is based on came from, you should never count Nintendo out.
