Wii U to pull a 3DS?

[super_etecoon]

I think it's too early to call the PS4 a success. Early adoption rates are always high, especially for "hardcore" consoles. Beyond that, to appeal to the masses, every system needs a title or series of titles that take it beyond the nerdcore/brocore audience.

The WiiU has definitely been a failure thus far, as they've failed to capitalize on the success of the Wii. Everyone is quick to lay this Nintendo malaise on the system itself, but something that I don't think gets discussed here nearly enough is the market environment differences between '06-'08 and '13-'14. Did everyone forget we had a major worldwide economic collapse in the last 5 years? While smartphones certainly are cutting into everyone's pie, the fact that discretionary income has taken a humongous hit needs to at least be factored into this equation.

Simply, you can't just say [Nintendo + Bad Name + No 3rd Party + WiiPad + kiddyconsole] = [failure].

There are so many variables, including the zeitgeist of the market where they've been thrown so many new gadgets and toys in the past 20-30 years that they've just stopped being impressed with much of anything.

Now I do believe Nintendo can turn this ship around, but it's going to take a perfect storm of favorable situations for this reality to play out. Just appealing to the Nintendo fanbase isn't enough. As much as I think they've themselves jumped the shark, video game journalists would have to get on board with Nintendo's system. Gamers read gaming blogs, there's no denying this. And since the announcement of the WiiU, the reaction by journalists has been brutal. They obviously really enjoy their PC setups, and I think they favor whatever market attempts to align itself with that platform. Getting them back on board with Nintendo seems next to impossible, but a few hardcore titles might sway some of the fence sitters within that industry.

Mainstream journalism would also have to get behind the Mario House once again. That's going to be really tough. The WiiU simply doesn't have a WiiSports title or WiiFit title to get people engaged. Maybe if the WiiU taught babies how to be geniuses or helped families balance their budgets they could get some airplay. A new Mario, Metroid, Kirby, whatever throwback game simply will not motivate the masses. Creating that title is a crap shoot. How many of the readers would have dismissed WiiSports as a tech demo and written of Nintendo in an instant (How many here did?!?!)?

Obviously a price reduction will help, but Nintendo needs to create value within their system. A price cut actually devalues a system so it in itself would actually be a hindrance to more sales, not a boon. Again, that value is based on perception, which is tied intrinsically to the media and to a lesser degree, to gamers. Having a great library of titles that cater to gamers will certainly help tilt that perception, hopefully enough to get many of them to admit to the strengths of Nintendo's console without bemoaning its limitations.

In a nutshell, the WiiU needs some kick ass games announced and released in short order. They need revolutionary titles that can't be ignored.

Yeah..it's possible, but not likely. So I say, "maybe."