Hey look, it's the point that he was making. Funny, that.

Hey look, Tenchu shipped with that solution just fine, but they added fog to Silent Hill to make the game more atmospheric, but i guess it's you that doesn't comprehend that.

Or should i spell it out for you - Early versions of the game had a working solution that didn't require fog, and still had plenty of horsepower left over - but developers felt a thick fog closing in around the player was more atmospheric than rolling darkness.

1) Agreed – so I’m not going to argue just for arguments sake. It might be a terrible plan like their E3 2012 plan, but it’s still a plan, and one which might look a bit better once they start rolling out the games again.

2) 3DS consumer base neither the Wii casual players have not gone anywhere IMO. They simply need a reason to buy the 3DS or the WiiU, and I’m sure Nintendo with its upcoming games for 2013 will give them plenty of reasons to do so (and hardcore gamers to).

As for PS360 comparison, again I have to go back to saying that Nintendo does have a plan, and I’m sure part of that plan was that the Wii would not last in the market as long as its competitors. In fact, it was clear that even before the launch of the Wii, that Wii was not going to compete directly with PS360 on many fronts like technology or audience, and IMO, not on lifespan of the console. While it might have been the plan for PS3, for example, to have a 10 year life span, that was not the plan for the Wii. So the Wii falling off, I believe was more by design rather that because of some poor planning on Nintendo’s part. Plus I think Wii died because Nintendo strategically killed it to make way for WiiU (sadly they couldn’t kill PS360 as well in December 2012).

Similarly with the WiiU will not compete on many fronts against the PS720 neither is expected to have the same lifespan, but rather I assume the WiiU is looking to carve out its own lucrative niche in both the casual and hardcore gaming market. So the fact that WiiU will be outdate or underpowered will affect it somewhat, but it certainly wouldn’t be a nail in the coffin, ultimately because Nintendo has a PLAN – not the best plan, but a plan

Yes, it's true that casuals just simply don't "disappear"; they're always THERE - they simply don't buy anything. And I think that will be the case this gen as well - at least for Wii U. The casuals were around for the NES days and the SNES, but they might not have bought the system. And there is no reason for the casuals to buy a Wii U.

In the long run Wii U won't be able to hold its own against PS720, and they ARE in fact in direct competition - Nintendo themselves have said as much. They said that they want the hardcore BACK, but they won't be bringing back the hardcore with shitty specs and shitty 3rd party support. If I were you, I'd buckle up for a similar situation as the GC era - I know I am. I have given up hope that I will be able to play AAA games on Wii U in 2015; but that's why I have a PC. Nintendo dropped the ball. It's just that simple I'm afraid. =(

Man, I swear you were much more optimistic just a few weeks ago :(

But the problem..expectations, if you get a Nintendo console because of Nintendo games and nothing else (maybe a handful of 3rd party titles as well) then chances are you won´t be disappointed as long as the drought between releases don´t bother you too much...but I´d wager it does bother most gamers who like Nintendo games, which is why they definitely need to expand their teams, try more acquisitions, etc...whatever they have to do to expand, since they can´t count on 3rd parties to fill the void.

1) I can say this, because Nintendo has fallen short of their own expectations. They thought what they had was sufficient, but it clearly wasn't. They had to revise their forecasts down substantially. On a sidenote, "embrassing" is a nice combination of the words "embracing" and "embarrassing", especially in this context.  I don’t know much about financial stability of a company and all that, but I assume that if a company like Nintendo forecast figures that they eventually don’t make, it doesn’t mean the end of the world or that the company or the product is doomed.

2) Forecasts revised down from 5.5m to 4m. There's no way you can claim that the system isn't underperforming. The system isn’t underperforming, as I look at it as a result of Nintendo’s own forecast being too high. So move on, and make more forecasts, and if they fail, adjust it and make even more forecasts, it’s what companies do.

3) The Wii wasn't focused on casual gaming. It was focused on fixing what is wrong with video games. That's why the response from the market was so strong. Like I said, had the Wii been a wrong analysis of the market, then Nintendo could have dropped the price of the system with no problems; the Wii was selling at a healthy profit margin. The same doesn't apply the Wii U. If Nintendo analysed the market wrongly (and by now it's clear that they did), then there is no room for a price cut without hurting the company's bottom line greatly. I believe Nintendo can cut the price of the WiiU today if they need to, that’s why they got two SKUs on the market, so that they can have some movement in the price point. However, Nintendo (like Sony and Vita) has already made the decision not to cut the price of the WiiU regardless of how it performs early on, as they’ve said they would release the console at a price where they wouldn’t need to drop the price for some time to come. That leads me to believe that while they can drop the price they have taken the hard decision not to.

In other words, a safe strategy gives a company room to maneuver, in case things don't go as well as planned. On the other hand, a gamble poses a threat to a company's future. Turning the Wii U around will force Nintendo to operate their business at a loss yet again. This isn't something that a company like Nintendo can afford all the time. I agree with you to a certain extent, but I don’t think the WiiU needs to be ‘turned around’, as if it is heading in the wrong direction. What Nintendo needs to do is make games, mainly its 1^st party hits and some 3^rd party ones as well, not change its strategy for WiiU. With the successful 2012 launch numbers of the WiiU it is clear that people are interested in the console, Nintendo simply has to keep would be purchasers interested by making games, unique Gamepad ones, that will show off the console, and not change its strategy for WiiU.

tagging

I WAS more optimistic before =( and it was good and glorious times when I thought Wii U could rule this gen and that they would get good 3rd party support - but then reality hit me hard in the face =(

I totally agree that Nintendo needs to expand so that they can pump out more games - and not just more Mario, but new IP's and whatnot. They need to team up with more devs and publish their games more, like they are doing with Bayo2 and W101, because Nintendo cannot rely on 3rd parties to carry their consoles in the same way that Sony and MS does.

Yes, it's true that casuals just simply don't "disappear"; they're always THERE - they simply don't buy anything. And I think that will be the case this gen as well - at least for Wii U. The casuals were around for the NES days and the SNES, but they might not have bought the system. And there is no reason for the casuals to buy a Wii U. Well, if casuals don’t buy WiiU they sure as hell not buying PS720 - so MS and Sony are wasting time with Move and Kinect integration – right? Or are the rules pertaining to casuals different when it comes to MS and Sony?

In the long run Wii U won't be able to hold its own against PS720, and they ARE in fact in direct competition - Nintendo themselves have said as much. They said that they want the hardcore BACK, but they won't be bringing back the hardcore with shitty specs and shitty 3rd party support. If I were you, I'd buckle up for a similar situation as the GC era - I know I am. I have given up hope that I will be able to play AAA games on Wii U in 2015; but that's why I have a PC. Nintendo dropped the ball. It's just that simple I'm afraid. =( I buy all consoles, so my gaming journey is always very confortable regardless of how any specific console is performing. Nintendo has dropped man balls my friend, and if they are still around today, I am 100% that it would be the WiiU that puts out of business or any worse position than they have been in the past.

I don't think either of MS or Sony will have that great of a casual following - nothing like Wii anyways. Kinect will have to be something really special for it to catch on like Wii did.

I'm also very very certain that we'll see Nintendo next gen with a new console; I think they're essential to gaming, as is their hardware. Their combined innovation over the years is mind buggling! Easily beats both of the PS and xbox brands combined!