Surely the best part of E3? Oh, right, the games...
It is getting difficult to ignore now. Nintendo are beginning to struggle. A games line-up which is emptier than David Beckham's head, sales about to dip below 100k, and with no confirmed release date for any of their big games, and with the ominous shadow of Cafe looming over the Wii, just what can Nintendo do to become the market leader again?
Well, here, I'm going to list 5 things Nintendo can do at and around E3 to become the market leader again:
1. GET SOME DAMN GAMES OUT!!!
First things first- ALL of Nintendo's consoles needs some games. The Wii and 3DS have Zelda in the pipeline, 3DS has StarFox, Professor Layton, Resident Evil and more from Nintendo in the pipeline. The Wii has...well...Wii Play 2, Kirby Wii, Xenoblade and maybe Dragon Quest X, but none of these (bar the first) have confirmed release dates. And, for two years left in the Wii, that's not good enough.
The Wii needs more games, and we know they'll come. We want more DK, more Mario, Pikmin, StarFox, F-Zero, Metroid, and something new, NOT Wii___ though (but I will come back to that later...)
2. LOCALISE JAPAN-ONLY GAMES! ¬.¬
Nintendo are sitting on a potential treasure trove of great games. Xenoblade, The Last Story, Earth Seeker, Tales Of Graces, Pandora's Tower...the list goes on. So, why not localiise some of them Nintendo? At this year's E3, I hope to see AT LEAST Dragon Quest X and The Last Story get confirmed release dates in the West. The Wii has no real pure JRPG's over here, yet it has plenty in Japan. Why don't we get the love? We like Japanese games too!!!
By doing this, Nintendo could release games with relatively low cost but with great return, keep the fans happy for some time, and have plenty of man-power for producing more games. It's a win-win situation overall.
3. ADVERTISE THE MARIO KART BUNDLE!!!
A new bundled game? A game which has sold nearly 25,000,000 units un-bundled, and is still regularly in the Top 40 games every week? A world-wide price cut? What could possibly go wrong?
Well, I think I can answer that. Lack of advertising. Have any of you seen any hints of a price-cut or a new bundle in any of your game stores, despite the fact it's only days away? I know I haven't. Nintendo need to go out, spread the word about the Wii, all the great games it has (both hardcore and casual) and really hammer home to the consumer that THIS is the console you NEED to buy. Not later, NOW. And I don't think they'll do that.
But, E3 would be the perfect time to set out a new advertising policy. We saw Sony and Microsoft do it last year at E3, why can't Nintendo do it? A $199 console will fly off the shelves. That is, if people know it exsists...
4. GET A NEW SYSTEM-SELLER!!!
You may not like them, but there's no denying that Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Party and Wii Fit have really shifted some units. As well as Mario Kart and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. But what does Nintendo have now? I don't see Wii Play 2 shifting millions of units, personally. Nintendo need to do something new for the casual crowd. So, at E3, why not finally announce the Vitality Sensor for the holiday (November 11th? Yeah...) and also a new system seller. Why not Wii Relax? That seems to be almost confirmed. By double-teaming with either NSMBWii2 or Wii Music 2 (PLEASE the first one...) Nintendo should be able to own the holiday again.
5. SURPRISE US!!!
Ah Nintendo, always there to surprise us. Motion controls, Epic Yarn, Goldeneye, 3DS...you name it, Nintendo have likely surprised us with it. So, just because the 3DS and Cafe are coming out, it doesn't mean the Wii should be neglected. Infact, Cafe is AT LEADT 15 months away. If anything, just like with the PS2, now is the time to surprise us, release some great game for the Wii in its twilight years. Who here fancies some F-Zero? Starfox? Pikmin 3? Metroid Dread? Something completely new? I know I do.
So, at E3, how about you show us what we all want? Give us the Marios, the Zeldas, and we'll be happy. But give us something new, surprising, shocking, and do everything else I've said, and we'll love you forever. Promise!
So, what do you guys reckon? What can Nintendo do? What WILL Nintendo do? Am I too optimistic? Will Nintendo disappoint us, again? Probably. But we can hope, right?
Can Nintendo save the Wii? Will they bother? Answer below...