gmcmen said:
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NES was almost EXACTLY like the Wii, they just happen to exist in different times.. Same exact philosophies with largely the same types of games; arcadey action games, sports titles, and overall games that were easy to pick up and play, yet often times hard to master; games that anyone could play without feeling overwhelmed. NES may seem "traditional" in the modern context, but back in the early 80s, it was considered anything but, just like the Wii.
First, let's look at the controllers:
Self explanatory.. Controllers aimed at the mass market, unintimiating, intuitive, and made it easy for the common person to pick up and play, without confusion.
The gaming philosophies, the landscape, and competition:
The NES was launched after the Atari crash, and the complex home computers such as the Commodore 64 and Amiga were considered the "hardcore" standard for gaming and seen as the prestigious gaming machines. The NES was viewed as a dumbed down, crappy console for "casual gamers" whereas the home computers had superior hardware, more complex games with more complex control schemes, and appealed to the "hardcore." Most people predicted its failure, as it could not survive in a decimated industry, and would get crushed by the more powerful home computers.
The Wii launched in 2006 when the industry was in decline, competing with the more complex Xbox 360 and PS3, which were considered the "hardcore" standard for gaming and seen as the prestigious gaming machines. The Wii was viewed as a dumbed down, crappy console for "casual" gamers" whereas the PS3 and 360 had superior hardware, more complex games with more complex control schemes, and appealed to the "hardcore." Most people predicted its failure, as it could not survive in an industry in decline and increased competition, and would get crushed by the more powerful machines by Sony and MS.
The Games:
The NES launched with what would become its flagship franchise, Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt, simplistic sports games like Golf, Tennis, and Baseball, simple racing games like Excitebike, and got some old arcade ports like Donkey Kong, Pac Man, and Tetris . Over the years it would expand on this with even more arcade/action type games, some with greater complexity, like Mario 3, Metroid, Zelda, Contra, Castlevania, Double Dragon, Mega Man, etc..
The Wii launched with one of its flagship franchises, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, simplistic sports games like Wii Sports (which had *ahem*... Golf, Tennis, and Baseball), simple racing games like Excitetruck, and old ports like Call of Duty 3 (as well as a ton of retro ports with the virtual console). Over the years it would expand on this with even more arcade/action type games, some with greater complexity, like Mario Kart, Smash Brothers, Wii Play, Metroid Prime 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns, etc..
The Wii is the NES reincarnated.
The Wii U on the other hand is esentially a Gamecube reincarnated, disguised as a Wii (hence the Gamecube-like sales)
Funny how history repeats itself, isn't it? Basically, the audience and their tastes did not change, it was NINTENDO that changed. This is why I say they must return to their roots, because then they will return to this massive audience that awaits them. But until they do change, they will be doomed to mediocre, if not disasterous sales. Yet if they go back to their roots again, like they did with the Wii, the sky is the limit...
