Today, some huge announcements were made by Nintendo. Announcements of new games were the center of attention as this is exactly what Wii U owners have been waiting for… or is it? The Wii U has done fair in sales for sure but has left players on the unhappy side in terms of games. Gamers want to love the Wii U but there is something keeping them from that feeling. When new announcements were made by Nintendo earlier today most players were alert and ready to hear exactly what they were going to say. There was an excitement in the air as we awaited big announcements from the company.
That excitement soon faded once the announcements were actually made. Nintendo deemed this year “The Year of Luigi” and announced several 3DS titles. One of the only things that focused attention on their new Wii U hardware was the Mario Bros U DLC. This DLC focuses on Luigi… cool… sort of. Other than that most games were for the 3Ds like Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Mario Golf: World Tour, Donkey Kong Country and multiple eShop downloadable titles. While players are awaiting news on what more they can do with their Wii U Nintendo is failing to fulfill those needs by making announcements that are all well and good but lack in significance.
The first issue we notice that Nintendo is facing is in the mind set of “The Year of Luigi”. Luigi has always been a sidekick, staring in few games himself, but that’s something players have never really had a complaint about. Instead of trying something new and different with Mario & Friends focusing on game play they have made the choice to pretty much stick with the same sort of game play they have been giving but swap the main character. It’s like they are string players along more and more with each announcement. Gamers want to have faith in Nintendo just as they did in the past but we want something that feels new not just something with a new face. Nobody has a problem with Mario it’s what they are doing with Mario like the average 2D, running from one side of the screen to the next, role playing game that people are getting sick of. Taking Mario out of that role, sort of but not really, and replacing it with one or many Luigi’s isn’t going to feel like a new experience. Drop “The Year of Luigi” and come up with something new.
The next issue arose quickly. There were a lot of great sounding games announced today but none of them are to make an appearance on the Wii U. People who bought a Wii U would have loved to see games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Mario Golf: World Tour but sadly these games might stand tall on the Wii U console but are not being given that opportunity. The 3DS handheld system is a great thing but that’s not where gamer’s attention is currently focused. We are waiting for something like this to release on the Wii U but that wish is not being granted.
Nintendo needs to get their act together. Players are only going to be strung along for so long until they retaliate. They should realize what the actual problem is and take steps to fix that in order to gain back the respect they have lost. We don’t need a replacement Mario we need a new Mario experience, we don’t need more games for our 3DS (although it is nice) we need games for our Wii U. It is problems like these that will make Nintendo as a whole lose fans.
