Why WiiU is the only viable strategy for Nintendo

[JWeinCom]

I'm not going to disagree with your points, I guess it's just a matter of what we consider 'success' for WiiU to be. "Unless some game comes out with Wii Sports type appeal - which I don't think we've seen yet, I'm not seeing WiiU doing better than N64. Which means absolutely I think sales will improve but not close to Wii levels. Is that success (it's still profitable) or failure (lots most of their market)? Nintendo games do have broad appeal. Yes some casuals got Galaxy and Brawl and others but the lift they got compared to Mario Party 8 or Mario Kart Wii was small. WiiU will be fine and I don't think Nintendo has any other choice but to execute on this now. It just won't be a huge hit with the casuals (or core) like Wii was. I'm still waiting for Nintendo to sell me on the system and that should've been easy pickings."

Compared to Mario Party 8 or Mario Kart, yes the boost for Galaxy was smaller, but it was still a boost of several million which is very significant in my opinion. The galaxy and smash franchises definitely have a fair amount of casual clout.

The difference between the Wii U situation and the situation with the Wii is that with the Wii, Nintendo had to sell the public on their system from scratch. Nintendo had a core fanbase of 20 million or so from the Gamecube days, but that was all.

The situation is different now. Nintendo doesn't have to come from "You've never played video games before, but they're really fun. Trust us!" Now Nintendo can say "Hey remember how much fun you had playing Mario Kart? Well, we have a new one now! And a new Wii Fit! And a new Mario Galaxy!" Logically, it should be easier to sell a console to people who have a prior positive association with the brand. I think that most people who had a Wii did enjoy it enough to buy a new one, when confronted with the software they enjoyed.

If Nintendo makes smart moves with publishing as they did with Bayonetta 2 and Lego City, and could create a few must have casual IPs, I think the potential to have Wii like success is there, especially if Microsoft and Sony **** up. If things keep going on the path that it looks like, I still think the Wii will be successful to the tune of about 70millionish lifetime.