Does Wii U have ANY system sellers this holiday?!

[UncleScrooge]

Aquietguy said:

UncleScrooge said:

I see three system sellers here:

- Super Mario 3D World
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Wii Fit U

Each of those games could easily sell 5m or more. I get why people are upset about 3D World (not a "real" 3D Mario game, lack of ambition) and Donkey Kong (it's no Metroid) but both games will sell really well and have a certain mass market appeal. 3D World is certainly not weaker as a system seller than any of the Galaxy games was.

What I'm worried about is another problem entirely: I see the Wii U gamepad as adding an actual barrier between the customer and the games. People want the games but they *do not* want to buy a Gamepad: It's too complex, awfully big, has a bad design and looks cheap. It also adds to the price of the system. Where the Wii remote attracted people and made them more likely to buy the games the Gamepad actually stops them from buying into the product. To this day Nintendo can't find a damn use for the gamepad. When they announced Art Academy I thought "for the first time you actually *need* the gamepad to play a game! Wow!" So the question is: How strong is that barrier? Will it stop people from buying Mario and Donkey Kong and Wii Fit? I'm afraid it actually will.

The game pad is a bad design?? It looks cheap?? Too complex?? No one wants it??????? That's the whole reason of the U is the pad. It's anything but cheap looking and in a lot of way simplify things. It is big but far more comfortible than the duel shock. The fact is the pad brings things to gaming that regular controller can't. 

Yes, yes, yes and yes. I have the Wii U since day one and multiple people (including myself) noted the gamepad looks cheap. It also looks too complex because they redesigned it to look more like a "real" controller. I much prefer the look they showed early on but I guess the hardcore gamers and devs complained so they changed it. 

You're right, the gamepad is the whole reason the Wii U exists in its current form - which is why it is so problematic. But I disagree on the simplifying part: What things does the gamepad actually make simpler? It's more complex than a traditional game controller (which was Nintendo's basic insight with the Wii: Game controllers are too complex and intimidating), it is quite heavy and the touchscreen isn't perfect either due to it being pressure sensitive and non-multitouch. The internal speakers are bad (as in *really* bad) and the shoulder buttons are awkwardly placed. And I simply don't see a lot of games where the gamepad actually *adds* something to the experience. 2D Mario? Nope. 3D Mario? Not really. Zelda? Hell no, the Wiimote would've been a better choice (controlling the wind, moving the sword). Miyamoto publicly stated the Wiimote is his favorite way of playing Pikmin 3. Wii Sports is actually impossible to play with the gamepad (biggest Nintendo IP last generation). Wii Fit doesn't use a controller at all, just the balance board. Donkey Kong can be played with any controller. Same for Mario Kart. Virtual console games don't need the gamepad either and the games in Wii U Party that use the gamepad look extremely forced and not very fun to play. Due to the console only using 1 pad at a time this even forces some games to use assymetric multiplayer (or remove the tablet completely). 

The gamepad is really good for off-screen play when the TV is occupied. But this is not an actual problem consumers want to be solved. That's what handheld consoles or phones are there for. It doesn't justify the whole console revolving around the gamepad and replacing the highly popular Wii remote as the primary controller. Sales speak for themselves. Consumers don't like this.