Wii U and Why a New Product Requires New Experiences

[Gamerace]

Yes I agree with this.

And while the gamepad does add some things (like off-tv play) Nintendo has been very ineffective on getting that message out and it also cost them by increasing the cost of the system and losing the accessibility and 'swing' functionality of the wiimote needed for games like Wii Sports and Just Dance (yes you can still use a wiimote but that's not the selling feature here, it's sidelined).

However, I'll think PS4 to a lesser but still very significant degree will also suffer from this. PS4 games will be prettier no doubt - to the observant eye - but scarcely little else. Once the initial excitement wears off, it too will struggle without 'new' experiences that weren't possible before. It's one saving grace may ironically be PS3's cell architecture. XBO, PS4, 360, WiiU and PCs will all share similar architecture for programming. It will be easy and cost effective to port from one to another (with WiiU with it's gamepad being the least effective) however once games start being designed around the next gen consoles and PS3 user base fades (and it'll be quickest to move to next gen) having to have a seperate team to reprogram for the PS3's unique and not-very-programmer friendly cell processors will quickly become less and less desirable. So I can see 360 getting 'downports' long after PS3 downports have stopped, which only boosts PS4 adoption rates.

XBO can also fall into this but they are looking at doing things like Quantum Break and every system has Kinect now which opens up new possibilities. So for now it's a wild card. Could go either way.