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Soundwave on 06 July 2014
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RolStoppable said:
Soundwave said:

The Wiimote + nunchaku actually has quite a few buttons on it too so does the DS (which is far more successful than the Wii) ... but really, even if you strip the Wii U tablet of both analog sticks and ZL/ZR buttons, is it really going to sell any better? No. 

If a lack of buttons is everything than Kinect should be the controller of choice for most people. 

In actuality I think iPad's multi-touch interface trumps everything (even the Wiimote). I've seen 2-3 year old kids be able to start using it without parental help, my goddaughter for example, while I still have to guide her with the Wii to get into Netflix Kids (she doesn't understand that she has to point the Wiimote at the sensor bar, not the TV), but on her mom's iPhone she was able to almost purchase certain games on her own and can launch into all the games by herself.

Against that ... Nintendo really can't compete. They're a game company they can't develop an OS interface competitevely with the likes of Apple and they can't offer the $1/free game ecosystem either as it runs contrary to their traditional business model. Apple just presents to many headaches for Nintendo, at least with Sony and MS they by and large play by Nintendo's rules. 

The iPad definitely took a giant sh*t on Nintendo's hopes with the Wii U too ... if there was no iPad I have no doubt it would be much better recieved. 

Ease of use is what matters. The Gamepad is simply not a good idea, because it means that people have to change focus between two screens (which is not the same as on the DS where the screens are closely aligned with each other). Its big amount of control inputs only makes matters worse, but scaling down on sticks and buttons still wouldn't solve all problems. As for Kinect, removing buttons entirely makes it a device that is harder to use; using gestures or voice commands even for the simplest things makes it more convoluted than it should be.

So you believe the Gamepad would have been a hit, if there was no iPad? Based on which games?


If there was no iPad/iPhone in general I think Nintendo would be in a much, much better place, they had a lot of their thunder stolen. 

I don't know if the Gamepad would be some blockbuster hit idea, but it's not like the Wii U divorces the Wiimote either ... it's bundled with like 3 major first party releases (lol) and comes bundled with the Wii U in Japan too (and that hasn't helped sales) and is now in the Mario Kart 8 bundle here too. You basically need a Wiimote to play Nintendo Land, and it works with NSMBU, DKC, Pikmin 3, Wii Party U, Wii Fit U, Mario & Sonic, Mario Kart 8, all work fine with a Wiimote. 

The GamePad isn't *that* terrible, I think the Youtube sharing idea for example is actually a really cool and funny feature. I had a group of casuals over at my house and between Nintendo Land (Mario Chase in particular) and sharing Youtube videos on the TV, they had an absolute riot with the machine, everyone was laughing and having a good time. 

But no one wants to spend $300+ on that, not when they all have iPads sitting at home. It's more of a "hey, that's neat and fun" response, not a "holy sh*t, I need this in my life right now" type response. 

I think making a controller that actually can function as a TV remote was a pretty shrewd idea too (the Wiimote should've had this functionality). It's a clever way to get people using the controller all the time. Again though it's no big deal today, any smartphone/tablet can do this, but in 2010 when Nintendo was designing the thing it probably seemed like a pretty cool way to get people to constantly use the controller.