Internally, no, not much has changed. But the gaming scene has sort of twisted around them a bit over the last decade. The DS and Wii's success led some of their franchises to assume unprecedented levels of exposure. Mario Kart and Smash are a lot bigger than they used to be, though probably not as big as they need to be.

And yeah, it definitely isn't working. They have some work to do if they want to make the console work.

You're overestimating consumer interest in understanding products. There are plenty of people who confuse the Wii U for a Wii accessory. In fact, there is a good chance that is the immediate assumption upon hearing about it. The U in Wii U does not differentiate it as a new console but fits in the line of an accessory name, like Wii Balance Board, Wii Mote, Wii Racing Wheel, Wii Microphone, etc. etc. etc. I know people who thought it was an accessory, even a month after I told them otherwise they still were confused. Even Jimmy Fallon made the statement asking if the tablet works with the Wii on his show when he had a segment for it. The idea has been popping up from numoruos people all over the place, this kind of things isn't just made up. Do you think that no one confuses it as an accessory yet we hear about it over and over again? It doesn't help Nintendo showcased the controller front and center and ignored the actual console, it's initial reveal didn't even show off the conole, just a quick glimpse in a video and it looks almost exactly like a Wii at some angles.

People could like the idea of a touchscreen, but if they think it is an accessory, an optional device they might not make the effort to buy one. If they knew that it was a new console and that their current one was old and not Nintendo's next thing they might consider getting it as the perceived value would increase. The issue isn't that people don't want a touchscreen, it is that they don't realize it is a new console and therfore don't see it as a needed item. The Gamepad as a Wii accessory isn't important, but a new console that uses the gamepad as a controller is. The problem is very few people know due to poor marketing from Nintendo. They need to spend less time showing people using the gamepad and more time showing people getting the new Wii.

People don't understand generic family playing with Miis and Mario on a touchscreen is a new console. But if a commerical had a kid, a friend, or a family entering their living room with a Wii U box and saying "Hey, I just bought the new Wii. Let's play" *skip the box opening and cut to them turning on the power button and then picking up the gamepad* "The new controller, is a touch screen. Check this out" *continues showing off interesting things they can do with it, then they get a notification that someone is video calling them* (Wii U does that right?) *They take the call and chat a little bit. The screen goes to showing the Wii U and an announcer says "Nintendo Wii U. The new Wii from Nintendo. Bundles starting at $299:*

Do marketing like that and they will have better results attracting people to the idea that they could buy the next console from Nintendo.

PS attack force is strong in this one :P
I must say Nintendo had no other choice but to follow Wiis auccess CONCIOUSLY knowing they couldnt replicate the success of it, who in their right mind would dismiss such a big brand as the Wii brand
Next generation Nintendo console released in holiday 2017 will be groundbreaking and it will catch PS4 and Xbox out of guard.

The problem is you can't rely on the fickle mass market to purchase your console gen after gen. MS and Sony have showed they have a large core consumer base. Nintendo have yet to show this. Why woulda casual want wii fit HD when they have Wii fit already and especially when graphics aren't a priority to them? Wii Sports U? Wii Play u?

Nintendo needs to start makeing some inroads in funding new, exciting first party exclusives, because their relying on their existing franchises since I played Snes is not going to expand their core consumer base.

Entirely possible. Like I said, It's possible I just lack perspective here. I suppose it could be that Nintendo is trying to market the system in a traditional way, without accounting for how the system is named. I own neither system, so it's mostly speculation for me.

It seems to me, though, that it isn't the name that's the problem, it's the concept. Even if the name misleads consumers, the concept of a touchscreen controller, either for the Wii or the Wii U, doesn't seem to have caught the public interest. It could be that the Wii is too dead for anyone to care about a new accessory, which is kind of shocking for a system with a 100 million install base, but it's certainly possible

Yeah pretty much this, the casual/mass market is fickle as hell.

That's the name main problem.

Nintendo could call it Wii 2, Super Wii, Super Duper Wii, whatever, I don't think it'd make that big of a difference.

Wii = "Yesterday's news" in the minds of a lot of people.

Personally I think they should've just made a "New Nintendo Entertainment System" (or "New Nintendo Famicom" for Japan). Dumped the stupid 33 watt power consumption target, upspeced the chip to be easily more powerful than the 360, and sold it for $349/$400 at launch with a tablet controller. Then dropped the price to $299/$349 as the 720/PS4 launched.

The whole idea of making a system barely more powerful than the 7 year old 360 and selling it at $300+ was a stupid, stupid (read: stupid) idea destined to fail from the start.

PS attack force? :P

VGKing said:



Mythmaker1 said:




VGKing said:




sethnintendo said:
Problem is they haven't released the next Smash and Mario Kart for it yet.



Because those titles worked wonders for the Gamecube......
While its true that Wii U needs games, it needs new IP. Another Mario or another Smash Bros isn't going to be the killer app people are hoping for. The Gamecube is proof of that. It also needs a price cut but that didn't work that well for Gamecube either. But considering the year headstart Nintendo has, it could make a difference.





In fairness, the Gamecube came out more than 11 years ago.  A lot can, and has, changed since then. 




Not much has changed within Nintendo though.They got lucky with the Wii and now they're trying to replicate that but it isn't working.




zippy

I hate it when people say Nintendo got lucky with the Wii, Nintendo thought outside the box and it paid off quite nicely.It was smart planning and innovation that bought the Wii success, not luck. On topic, games will help sell Wii U, you can argue as much as you want about it not helping Gamecube sales way back when. The market has since changed and Mario and company have been exposed to a much wider audience thanks to Wii. A sequel to 2 of the most critically acclaimed games (Galaxy 1&2) is going to push hardware units on its own.

The Wii wasn't luck, but it was definitely the definition of catching lightning in a bottle.

It's simply too hard (if not impossible) to do it twice in a row.

Well the name is just part of the confusion. Their marketing of the controller first, and argueably only, is the biggest problem in perception. Even if people hear Wii U and don't get it, Nintendo's marketing doesn't tell them otherwise, so people walk away with the wrong idea. The name is what it is and it is staying, they just need to market it better and the actual console while they are at it.

That 100 million install base isn't comprised of a large percentage of core consumers. There are two strong competitors for core gamers and the majority of core gamers are going to want a system with modern hardware to match where the industry is going. The Wii had mass market appeal. Motion controls become a fad and Nintendo reapped more beneifts than any one from that. But now the honeymoon period is over and they aren't becoming core consumers, and if they did they probably moved to PS3 or 360 and recent sales trends could support that theory. The Wii U probably came out a year too late to take advantage of the Wii's popularity. The Wii hasn't sold very well these last two years. The casual gamer is interested in smartphones and tablets and there is a lot of competition in those. You could even argue Kinect took a lot of those consumers from Nintendo. These consumers are loyal to purchasing one thing or another and if they don't know what the Wii U is they won't be buying.

As a core gamer myself, my biggest gripe with the Wii U is hardware related. Not every core gamer cares, but quite a few do. So it is a mix of lack of successful mareketing to casual consumers and lack of business direction with core consumers. The Wii U is probably selling to all markets....but only reaching a small amount of each.