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

[DanneSandin]

DaRev said:

DanneSandin said:

DaRev said:

 

1) Sales are bad maybe, but that's because Nintendo has not realease a game for the thing since its launch to drive the sales sofar  in 2013. When Nintendo releases its next game for the Wii U sales will jump drastically. And remeber the race is not for the swift, so Nintendo does have a plan to release games for the rest of 2013 not just the first part thereof.

2) Similar to the above, Nintedo specifically said they will not release any games Jan and Feb 2013, hence the low sales in 2013 so far. Tough, but that is what they chose to do, and I hope it means that in March to Dec 2013 they will have lots to show which will also drive sales of the console. They already annouced some hits to come out in 2013, so let just wait and see how 2013 sales turn out later on in the year.

3) Nintendo already expanded the market to now include casual players, so while those same gamers might not picke up the WiiU as fast as they did the Wii, they will eventually, which means that WiiU will sell slower but stay longer on the market than the Wii. So being a phenomenon is not really what Nintendo is after, and I don't understand why people keep judging the WiiU only against the Wii - why not measure it against 360 or PS3 also?

1 & 2) So would you call not releasing games a GOOD strategy? Because, evidently, it's not. The Wii U is selling so bad it hurts me - and that cannot be considered a good strategy on any level, unless the goal is to go terrible. Then ok. So, no games=bad. And the question remains HOW MUCH the Wii U will jump in sales once it gets Mario and Zelda. Keep in mind those games will be up against two new consoles competing for attention and the consumers money. I doubt it'll do more than 10m this upcoming December. I think sales will be more closer to xbox360 in December 2006; 6m. Having a game drought is simply terrible for a game console. Just look at 3DS.

3) Nintendo expended the market alright, but are they still there? So far 3DS is selling on par with the original DS, but I doubt that will be the case at the end of 2013. 3DS will do fine, just not as good as the DS did in its 3rd year. And why is that? Is it because a lot of the expended consumer base has moved on? I think they have, and it'll take something special to bring them back. And why don't we compare PS360 with Wii like you want us to do (and indirectly also to the Wii U). PS630 has had a much longer life than Wii did, why? Because of better specs. That might not be the WHOLE answer, but it's definitely part of the reason why Wii totally died in 2012 and PS360 sold a helluvalot better. The same thing will PROBABLY happen to Wii U. Wii U will not be able to compete with PS720 specs wise, and therefore will be outdated long before PS720 is - which means that PS720 will have a much longer life than Wii U. And keep in mind Nintendo stops supporting their own consoles after about 3 years, cutting EVERY consoles life short.

1) Agreed – so I’m not going to argue just for arguments sake. It might be a terrible plan like their E3 2012 plan, but it’s still a plan, and one which might look a bit better once they start rolling out the games again.

2) 3DS consumer base neither the Wii casual players have not gone anywhere IMO. They simply need a reason to buy the 3DS or the WiiU, and I’m sure Nintendo with its upcoming games for 2013 will give them plenty of reasons to do so (and hardcore gamers to).

As for PS360 comparison, again I have to go back to saying that Nintendo does have a plan, and I’m sure part of that plan was that the Wii would not last in the market as long as its competitors. In fact, it was clear that even before the launch of the Wii, that Wii was not going to compete directly with PS360 on many fronts like technology or audience, and IMO, not on lifespan of the console. While it might have been the plan for PS3, for example, to have a 10 year life span, that was not the plan for the Wii. So the Wii falling off, I believe was more by design rather that because of some poor planning on Nintendo’s part. Plus I think Wii died because Nintendo strategically killed it to make way for WiiU (sadly they couldn’t kill PS360 as well in December 2012).

Similarly with the WiiU will not compete on many fronts against the PS720 neither is expected to have the same lifespan, but rather I assume the WiiU is looking to carve out its own lucrative niche in both the casual and hardcore gaming market. So the fact that WiiU will be outdate or underpowered will affect it somewhat, but it certainly wouldn’t be a nail in the coffin, ultimately because Nintendo has a PLAN – not the best plan, but a plan

Yes, it's true that casuals just simply don't "disappear"; they're always THERE - they simply don't buy anything. And I think that will be the case this gen as well - at least for Wii U. The casuals were around for the NES days and the SNES, but they might not have bought the system. And there is no reason for the casuals to buy a Wii U.

In the long run Wii U won't be able to hold its own against PS720, and they ARE in fact in direct competition - Nintendo themselves have said as much. They said that they want the hardcore BACK, but they won't be bringing back the hardcore with shitty specs and shitty 3rd party support. If I were you, I'd buckle up for a similar situation as the GC era - I know I am. I have given up hope that I will be able to play AAA games on Wii U in 2015; but that's why I have a PC. Nintendo dropped the ball. It's just that simple I'm afraid. =(