Biggest mistake Nintendo made with the WiiU

[Scoobes]

disolitude said:

Mythmaker1 said:
I've gone on at length as to why I don't necessarily agree, So I don't really feel the need to reiterate it all here.

To me, the biggest problems with the Wii U are:

-Nintendo was not prepared to launch the console. The games, both first-party and third, simply were not there, and they still aren't.

-The Gamepad is a solution looking for a problem, and hasn't demonstrated a strong enough justification to buy.

-Nintendo's expectations were severely over-optimistic. And still are, if they really expect to sell 9 million units this year (I expect to see that revised at the end of the quarter).

I do agree with you and those are all mistakes for sure... But they are all mistakes in attracting the "core" gamer. Nintendo for a while didn't need core gamers at all. They were riding high on selling Wii Fit and Wii Sports, and every party, executive launge and stay at home mom wanted a Wii.

They couldn't attract that crowd with the premise WiiU was bringing to the table since its way too complicated, and core gamers weren't really dazzled by the Wii post 2011.

I honestly think Nintendo would have been better off if they made WiiU all black with metal spikes and called it "Nintendo Game time bitch". They are going for the core gamers with an image that is associated with casuals...on top of no standout games and all that stuff you've outlined. 

I don't think the bolded is solely a mistake in attracting the "core" gamer. The gamepad should have been the the device the bridged the mainstream with the core gamers... afterall, smartphones and tablets are the devices mainstream consumers use now to the point where publishers are devoting a significant chunk of resources to these devices.

The mistake Nintendo made was not demonstrating the innovation the tablet controller can bring to games and consumers. They still haven't and nothing I saw at E3 really demonstrated anything particularly original either. Consumers not realising WiiU is a seperate console is a symptom of Nintendo's inability to market and showcase the innovations behind the device.