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JWeinCom on 09 September 2013
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Cobretti2 said:
JWeinCom said:


Except that many of those teens are going to switch sides at any rate due to Nintendo's first party software.  Sony and Microsoft will have more "mature" games, because that's what they make.  Nintendo does not make games like Halo, Uncharted, Gears of War, Infamous, etc, and making those games to attract "hardcore" gamers (including those teens who want to play call of duty cause you can shoot stuff) would necessitate detracting from the games Nintendo does do well.

If Nitnendo wanted to boost its spect to the levels third parties would want, their options are eating a huge loss in money, raising the price of the console, or losing the tablet.  Raising the price wouldn't work well.  Its $300 price point (it was 300 before price cut as well in basic form) with a game is going to be a big factor in attracting less avid gamers who naturally don't play games as much. 

As for eating the loss, that would also be a poor idea.  The Wii U is already being sold at around cost (the price drop changes things, but on the flip side, the Yen is much weaker), and beefing up specs would probably mean 50-100 extra dollars per unit.  6GB of RAM alone is not going to come cheap.  Considering that the average console owner buys around 9 games (not all at full price and including pack ins) making back that money is going to be hard to do.  In the end, the console game is not just about getting hardware out there but making money.  That's not even mentioning the costs of online infrastructure if they were to change from a console focusing on local multiplayer to one focussed on online multiplayer.

So then, Nintendo can ditch the tablet, which I expect is what many people think they should do.  However, I think the tablet is an important factor to the Wii U, and I believe it will be key to the Wii U's success.  There is a lot of potential use here, both big and small, and with Wii Fit and Wii Party, we're going to see how the Gamepad will streamline social networking, and differentiate the Wii U's multiplayer experience. Nintendo can of course prove me wrong by not releasing more titles that take advantage of the Gamepad, but the thing has a lot of potential.

Of course, the ideal situation is to make a console that does have the specs of the PS4 and XBox One, and the Gamepad, but from a dollar and cents perspective it doesn't make sense.  It is FAR more important for Nintendo to differentiate itself from its competitors than to secure third party support.

I'm not talking about the people that moved to play the halos and uncharted. Those are lost causes as they think FPS are the only real games.

I am talking about those people who can only afford one console. So their choice is simply Nintendo games or 3rd party games (i.e. EA Sports games, GTA, FINAL FANTASY aka NONE FPSers lol). If they want 3rd party games more than they want Nintendo games due to them being adult oriented and can only afford oen system they will go. However If they cna get their adult fix (NOT ALL BUT ENOUGH) then they get the best of both worlds, Nintendo games and 3rd party mature games.

And as I said, they need to focus on RETAINING there users first rather then wanting to get a huge flow of Sony and Micrososft users to their console. This is why 3rd party support is critical. It also woud help if they created more new IPs or resurected some of the other franchises like FZero and Starfox.

Hell they should have bought the rights to the RARE games when they had the chance in the GCN days. Those games alone are iconic enough for people to stick with Nintendo. Imagine if Wii U launched with Killer Instinct, Banjo, then followed it up a year later with say conker and perfect dark and even ressurect battle toads. 

 

The people who like GTA are far more likely to be fans of Sony and Microsoft IPs than Nintendo, because those games are more similar to GTA.  The big third party franchises are all like that.  Assassin's Creed, Red Dead, Borderlands, etc.  Final Fantasy really isn't a megaton franchise anymore.  FF and Kingdom Hearts would be nice, but they're not essential.

Madden/Fifa are the biggest IPs that are missing that would be in line with Nintendo fans, but the reason for their absense is not hardware.  Even if we assume the Wii U cannot run PS4/XBox One games, EA is going to be making Madden games for the next five years or so on PS360, so there is no reason those couldn't be ported to the Wii U.  It's crystal clear that EA's problem with Nintendo has more to do with a personal spat than the hardware on the Wii U.  As for the other big third party franchises, COD is there.  Assassin's Creed is there.  Batman Arkham Origins is there.  Aside from EA the bigger franchises are present. We'll see if this contiues as the PS4 and One roll out.

As for Rare titles... lol @ the idea that these games are still relevant.  Take your nostalgia glasses off.  Conker and Battletoads are going to make some sort of difference?  I love Banjo as much as the next guy, but the days where he makes a difference are long behind.  Instead, Nintendo has been investing in other things.  Buying Monolith Soft for example which made Xenoblade, bringing Sonic Lost World as an exclusive, Shin Megami X Fire Emblem, and Bayonetta 2.

And still, the dollars and cents of making a more powerful console don't make sense for Nintendo.