Is Nintendo even able or willing to surprise anymore?

[Mazty]

Viper1 said:

Mazty said:

Viper1 said:
Nintendo plugs in innovative gameplay ideas into established IPs.

They work backwards from most developers. Instead of starting with a fresh IP and then contemplating what gameplay mechanics they can come up, Nintendo comes up with gameplay mechanics first and then decides which of their IPs that gameplay mechanic would work best with.

For some, this strategy may seem like Nintendo rarely surprises with anything new.
For others, this strategy is all about new surprises with familiar friends.

And of course they bring in new IP's every now and then as well.

The question is when does familiar become boring? And does this idea limit them? E.g. if Nintendo wanted to make a mech game (ideal for the pads) do they really have a franchise suitable for such an idea? If they wanted to make a game with a serious storyline, again do they have a suitable series to tag this onto? (Imaging Heavy Rain with Mario actually is pretty damn awesome/hilarious in equal measure). 

The first problem is that you presented a "mech game" first rather than a gameplay mechanic first.  You just started your situation as most developers would do.  Start with a game type first and then consider gameplay mechanics.

Now if you mean by gameplay mechanics that are similar to those found in common mech based games, then at current they do not have an IP that would work perfectly for that style.  In this case, they'd create a new IP or work with a 3rd/2nd party developer.

Think of how Pikmin came about.   They didn't say let's make and RTS and then come up with the gameplay, they started with gameplay concepts first which is why it plays different from most RTS games.  And it's an example of them creating a new IP to fit a new gameplay mechanic where an established IP didn't exist for it.

Well "mechs" is pretty open ended e.g. ZoE, Hawken etc, but either way, that's the issue - Nintendo are limiting their audience by tying in game mechanics to IP's rather than create a concept and see where it goes. Their vision is limited by this and I think the Wii U will highlight this problem.