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midrange on 22 October 2015
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zorg1000 said:
midrange said:

"So what did they do? They created a low power console that kept hardware price and software development costs low, they created a controller that was simple, easy to understand and could be used by anyone, they created games that could appeal to multiple age groups and demographics and also created games in entirely new genres with brand new concepts."

It's funny how that exact process can be applied to the wii u, and yet the wii was a success and the wii u was a failure. What's the difference, Nintendo got lucky with the gimmick they implemented with the wii and not the wii u. The fact that they did the exact same thing for the wii u as the wii and ended up with drastically different results shows how the wii was a lucky console.


Nope not really, Wii U is low power but not low cost, it was a full $100 more expensive than Wii at launch. The controller is just a standard dual-analog with a screen in the middle, the same dual analog setup that Nintendo just got away from for being too complex for newcomers and former gamers. Wii was about new and unique concepts, Wii U was about sequels to Wii games and ports of PS360 games. Wii had a steady stream of new games for the first few years while Wii U has suffered drought after drought. Wii had great marketing, Wii U marketing was so bad that people didn't even know it was a new console.

The only good argument there is the marketing, but that alone wouldn't account for the 80 million sales difference.

the wii u launched with 2 price points, $300 and $350. The fact that the $350 deluxe version has been the one that consistently outsold the other version, we see that cheaper is not always better.

the gamepad controller is without a doubt not traditional, it was an attempt to make something unique with both touchscreen and asymmetrical gameplay in mind (I.e. It was a gimmick). Likewise, assuming the gamepad was to "complex," most games supported and even encouraged the wii remote seeing as how it was needed for multiplayer.

the Wii u had just as much new IP at launch than the Wii. The wii had wii titles and xenoblade, wii u got nintendoland, zombiu, splatoon, and lego city undercover (part of the lego series, but not a direct sequel to any game).

Given how the Wii u launched with sales similar to the Xbox one, I also wouldn't blame the launch for the Wii u's downfall.

people bought the Wii for the gimmick. People saw motion control gaming, and instantly saw it as fun. No one thought "man this is where the future of gaming is." Especially not with the Wii's specs. No one thought "hey, this will play all of the best Nintendo classics."

what happened was that Nintendo got lucky with motion control as a gimmick, and the fact that they failed miserably when trying to do the same thing next gen is proof.