Destructoid Blog: "Is Wii U's Touch Screen Controller a Red Herring Hiding a Deeper Strategy?"

[Asriel]

I don't doubt it was Nintendo's intent, but it's not a strategy that will work. It didn't work with Wii--a system that exploded out the gates--so why would it work with Wii U, a system that is struggling out the door?

What's more, the Western publisher most supportive of Wii U, Ubisoft, just went and delayed the finished Rayman Legends. While some people would argue it makes business sense, Ubisoft have undone all the goodwill they'd previously generated on Wii U by delaying a badly needed finished title. Is it really risky to launch a high quality game in a barren release schedule to a couple of million consumers who need new games for their system? Is it risky at all, when you consider the engine and assets for the game were made for Origins, helping to minimise the costs of development?

What's more, Ubisoft's chosen release month will see one of the biggest multi-format titles of the year (GTA V) come out. If the most positive Western third party partner Nintendo have is willing to treat Nintendo's consumers like second-class citizens, depriving them of a finished timed exclusive, only to have their game go up against a huge release like GTA V, what does that tell you about Nintendo's strategy?

It's a poor one. Third parties will treat Nintendo with far more skepticism than they will ever apply to Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo needed to remember the expanded audience that made DS and Wii such huge hits, and to remember that the major Western publishers never committed to those systems on a consistent basis. Nintendo needed to remember that the second 3DS looked shaky, developers cancelled and delayed projects for the system. Nintendo needed to remember that launching without a consistent schedule of first party content in line for 3DS badly hampered the system. Nintendo have not learnt the lessons of recent years, and Wii U is struggling as a result. The system won't ruin Nintendo, but it is pushing them back to the brink of irrelevancy Wii helped Nintendo recover from. If that happens, Nintendo will need another revolution, and that's far easier said than done.