| vivster said: A million times yes. A powerful console with all 3rd party games and Nintendo exclusives is everything gamers want. Or in other words... |
Some people seem to be so certain that most of Nintendo's problems in the console industry would be completely fixed if they made a system with similar technical capabilities to the competition. The last time that was successful was the SNES, when Nintendo's only real competitior was Sega who had their own problems. The N64 had the problem with cartridges and GC had the problem with limited storage space, but it's not as if the other systems never had their own problems.
I think the problem runs deeper than hardware. The GC actually had more third-party support than people seem to remember but few games sold very well, outside of third-party exclusives and games with exclusive content. The GC was stereotyped as the "kiddy console", not only beause of its design but because of the biggest franchises on it. That perception still remains despite all the efforts that were made on the system to branch out with more mature games and new IPs. Despite its good performance, the Wii exacerbated the problem with the image that NIntendo only cares about casual games and gimmicks.
While a traditional console would likely perform better, it would still likely be significantly behind its competitors in terms of commercail success. It would likely become something like the Dreamcast, the Xbox, the PSV, or the N64 - powerful systems that didn't perform all too well. Something that is ripped on unfairly but has become such a sensitive topic that you can't say anything slightly negative about it without been made out to look like you have bad taste. Hardcore gamers would make it out to be a "great console" regardless of how much money it actually makes.
While the Wii U is a somewhat poorly-conceived console, it's understandable why Nintendo took the route that they did originally. It would take quite a while to fix their perception among the core gamers that a traditional console would have targeted, force them to radically change their business structure with much higher spending and not much of a safety net, and might mot even be succesful in the long run due to the rapidly changing console market and their history. Whether you or I or anyone else would like such a console doesn't affect how well it will do.
