We've all talked and talked about why we think Wii U had a slow start. Some believe is lack of power while others believe the Gamepad provides nothing and then there are those that state its high price and lack of specific games.
However, while all the things most people point are various levels of negative factors on Wii U's value proposition to potential consumers, none of them are the root cause and the primary reason Wii U has staggered so much in the market since its November launch.
New Experiences
That's it. That's the golden nugget that is missing from Wii U. There is nothing NEW that clearly defines Wii U as a new product, a new console. This is why many consumers still think Wii U was simply an add-on to Wii.
Let's review the launch games.
EA - only provided months to years old ports. Nothing new. Nothing "next-gen" or even latest current gen. On top of that only one of their 5 games was a quality port; other 4 were actually missing features or cannibalized by a clearly better offer on PS360.
Activision - Late COD game and Skylanders/wipeout 3, two clearly current-gen games. Again nothing new. Nothing "next-gen".
Ubisoft - Late AC3 game, ESPN sports / your shape / rabbids land / Just Dance 4... all clearly current-gen games, and ZombiU.
Warner Bros - year Late BatmanAC, game party and scribblenauts unlimited (new game but what's new as compared to even DS game?)
THQ - A very late port of a lackluster game Darksiders II.
Disney - Epic Mickey 2 (new game but what's different as compared to part one?)
2K - NBA 2K (late port) and Transformers Prime (current gen crap)
SEGA - Sonic racer (new game but nothing new again)
NAMCO - Tank game that is freeware and a late Tekken game with nothing new
Nintendo - NintendoLand (seems like a Wii Play / Party type of game that shows nothing new that wasn't achievable on Wii)
- NSMBU (viewed as NSMBWii from outside. again no wow factor)
- Ninga Gaiden 3 (very late port of another meh game)
- Sing Party (yep... clearly a current gen game, even older really)
See the pattern here? NOTHING NEW.
Every game was either a literal old game with various levels of quality put into porting the game OR it was a rehash of a current gen game with markedly no visual improvements. Nothing screamed "WOW this is new".
The only game remotely showing the console off as a new experience was ZombiU. A game that did have great attachment rates (14%) but was not a gameplay type that pushed mass market. It has those who love it (me) or hate it (rol). But it clearly wasn't a game that pushed "next-gen" feel. Anyone looking at it woudl have concluded its a current-gen game and frankly might of had enough of the zombie genre in the first place. Though had WiiU sold 5m+ as planned, it would have sold over a million easily by now.
NES had SMB a light gun and quite a few other games at or near launch that demanded people take a look.
SNES had SMW that clearly defined it as a new console.
N64 had M64 that again clearly defined a new generation.
Wii had motion controls and Wii Sports. It didn't need the power/visuals to prove it. Wii had a clearly definable feature that was next-gen. So much so it forced its competitors to create similar controls.
Gamecube, while powerful, had nothing up front. Mario Sunshine and Luigi Mansion didn't seem that much different than N64's best. Metroid isn't a big enough franchise.
Wii U has nothing. Gamepad isn't defined as unique or new in any manner. None of the games do what Wii Sports did. None of the games are new in any fashion visually or anything else that is quickly noticeable in a commercial.
Fact is, Nintendo did not plan its games well for launch or really this first year at all.
They needed that one title that proved its a new console, a new experience.
They should have put Retro on a new westernized IP that pushed graphics hard. Not some barely upgraded DK game. (same reason why NSMBU isn't pushing shit) They had years... all wasted on a game that could just be on Wii.
They should have put focus on that true HD Zelda surpassing even their E3 demo.
Pikmin3 and SMU won't push hardware either. Both will be great games, but they don't scream "new".
Really, the only thing coming up that says "new" is Ubisoft's Watch_Dogs... a multiplatform game that is even coming to current gen. Granted WiiU's version is same as PS4/XB1, but will anyone really notice?
In the end, Nintendo will dramatically improve its base this holiday, but with the games its putting out, I think it will only sell to "its" Nintendo base. Not the extended base that bought Wii. Those will stick to no console (waiting on cheaper options) or buy PS4/XB1 (only place new experiences are obvious).
