LOOL read the OP this isnt a doom thread but yeah im somewhat surprised no flaim wars or anything started. i guess people are just super afraid of me because im strong and sexy

Hey, Khan. You may just have one more reason to have a grudge against EA (and one more trouble for Wii U), they are ceasing any publishing for the platform (at least in Europe) :D

I'm intrigued as to how much of the software Nintendo have scheduled for Wii-U in 2013 actually makes it out. Given that they seem to be struggling to get Pikmin 3 finished, it seems a little absurd that they can announce all these new titles as well and get them out before the end of the year (on top of the 3DS games they're releasing).

Priority should be given to Mario Kart & 3D Mario I suppose, and I suspect we'll see a few of the lesser titles fall by the wayside. I've said this before, but I wouldn't actually be surprised if Pikmin 3 was shelved for the foreseeable future to move resources onto projects likely to yield better results for the console. Just speculation, of course.

If, however, they managed to get all the summer releases out in time AND have the packed holiday schedule they've promised, then I will actually be impressed, and they'll deserve every success which comes from that.

Link??

First off I don't think this is a doom thread or a redundant thread. I also don't think that the Wii U is really that bad off, just had a weak couple months. I also think Nintendo has a solid plan to get things going. That said, I think Nintendo needs to do the following to right the ship:

1. Exclusive core titles. At least two, preferably 4 major, impressive, 1st party titles. An epic 3D Mario that can wow onlookers. X needs to be deep and impressive. MarioKart is an obvious draw. A mature title, preferably a 1st or 3rd person shooter/adventure by Retro. Most or all of these need to be visually stunning. The system needs these to give core buyers a reason to buy the system. They need these within the next 12 months.

2. The Gamepad and casual titles. Contrary to what a lot of people say, I think the Gamepad is indeed a great casual draw. It just hasn’t been used as such yet. I’ve seen it in action with casuals and they think it’s awesome. It’s a tablet that can also control the livingroom TV, Music and so on, and non-gamers and occasional gamers think it’s neat like an ipad. Just as Wii Remotes mimicked TV remotes for simplicity, Gamepads mimic the very popular tablets and smartphones. What Wii U needs is games and apps that offer the tablet experience only better. NintendoLand was poorly named and poorly thought out. The one minigame on there that does what it needs to do is the Ninja star game. That looks cool to observers, flinging starts from the pad onto the TV. It also has nice polished visuals. NintendoLand should have been called “WiiApps” or something of the sort and featured a bunch of those. The system needs more of those, as well as a whole bunch of iOS type apps that are cheap and easy downloads. They need to have a bunch of these games and apps to lure casuals in. Porting tablet apps is great too, and I think Nintendo is working to do that.

3. Marketing. The marketing has been abysmal for this system. Wii U needs a totally new approach. They should just hire or copy Apple’s agency, in particular the excellent iPad ads. They should show the gamepad doing magical things (throwing ninja stars from the pad screen to the TV, for example). They need to imply that Wii U can do things you’ve never been able to do before and that it can do things an iPad can do for cheaper. The ads need to present the system as something very accessible but also sophisticated.

4. Price. Needs to come down, but only once other next get competitors launch. At this stage it won’t do anything. When they launch – if they launch at $400+ - a $299 deluxe could look very attractive.

5. More links to 3DS. 3DS is very popular. The ability to swap game info between systems as in MH3 is pretty cool. More of this could turn 3DS into a gateway to WiiU sales.

6. Wait. As it stands the WiiU is in a tough battle with the cheaper and well-supported PS360. Things will become easier when there are more expensive alternatives on the market and PS360 is less supported. They need to do the above things, but it needs to wait to time just before those consoles are available.

What they can do is market it like they did with the gamecube, and even wii. Once they announce something after E3 (hopefully) and generate some hype, this is their best chance to market the wii u to potential eager buyers by bundling the system with some games while they await for the release of their upcoming games. Sell their wii us with a free game (like in the past with gamecube). Also in the mean time they can drop the price for a limited time only on stand alone SKUs and that should help somewhat til the new software releases.

No link, it's inside info of no specific importance though as I didn't sign any NDAs.

;)

change the name to "Wii Ultimate" so more people can know that it's the successor to Wii

Revolution! I used to love that name. Didn't know why they canned it and put Wii instead.