RolStoppable said:
Sure, but like I said in my initial post, Nintendo had identified the dual analog controller as a cause for their failure. You also have to take into account that the GameCube controller was already meant to fix the overwhelming look of the Nintendo 64 controller, hence the big A button and different shapes for all face buttons to make them easier to distinguish. But that wasn't enough to overcome the psychological barrier of why people didn't play video games, or more specifically, didn't buy Nintendo hardware. That is the starting point for why the Wii Remote was created in the first place. Nintendo followed a very conscious thought process and they didn't succeed with the Wii by accident or luck. In this specific instance, correlation is equal to causation. It's not the only reason for the Wii U's failure, but it's the biggest one because the controller is the most obvious part of a video game system and the average person understands what it means. That thing is what they are going to control games with. |
Just because Nintendo also made that falacious assumption of causation does not make it correct.
I would strongly disagree with your final paragraph. The controller is one of the smallest reasons for the Wii U's failure. I can say that with a fair degree of certainty, because one of the biggest - if not THE biggest - factors in success or failure in a competative market is image. The Wii U and the GameCube had absolutely atrocious management of their marketing and image. And the Wii U is the worse of the two. Compare the Wii's launch ad campaign to the Wii U's. Compare the Wii's first year ad campaigns to the Wii U's. While the Wii had a campaign that made the device cool and appealing, the Wii U's made it confusing and embarrassing. The Wii U could have been the greatest console ever made, the marketing still would have hamstrung it. Because those who don't market, don't succeed. I can also say the controller is a small issue because the majority of the market that is still interested in consoles use dual analogue controls all the time, so it's not like that's a major issue. And before you say that Nintendo is targeting a different audience, let me just say that their launch ads targeted a frankly non-existent audience; the Pitch commercial with the kids appeals to neither adults nor kids and the launch campaign itself was an incredibly generic and confusing mess.
Also, you bring up Just Dance but that's the problem right there. THAT is the image of motion controls: supplemental party games. That and shovel ware. A console built around motion controls is going to be tainted by that image. The Wii benefited greatly from the "cool new tech" effect. Much like the Kinect did afterward. And much like VR seems to be doing now. But motion controls are everywhere now, they're old news. The cool new tech efffect is gone, now it's all down to what people think of motion controls. And what people think is party games and shovelware. And you can't sell a console to the current market (the people interested in dedicated hardware) with that image attached to it.
And as a final note, you are not looking at the big picture for the GameCube or Wii U. I already touched on this a bit, but it warrants restating. The GameCube and Wii U from the very start were doomed to at best a weak start and at worst a complete failure. A weak launch lineup, marketing funded by the change under the couch cushions (and directed by an intern apparently), unappealing design visually, lack of third party support (for different reasons), the list goes on and on. The controller is the very least of Nintendo's problems. They have a host of other issues holding them back and until they fix that, it doesn't really matter what they do with their hardware.
