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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Biggest mistake Nintendo made with the WiiU

Mandalore76 on 25 June 2013
disolitude said:

The biggest mistake Nintendo made with WiiU is tying it to the the Wii in terms of branding. I've talked to many people who bought the Wii and dont even realize WiiU is a different console. They just think its a tablet addon for their Wii. 

As the motion gaming and "waggle" associated with it became a cliche over the last few years, Nintendo should have realized that they can't milk the blue ocean anymore with the exact same shtick and that the majority of their Wii owners aren't going to run out and upgrade on day 1. Considering that majority of Wiis have been collecting dust for the last 2 years due to lack of quality software, it would have been wise for Nintendo to leave the Wii image and branding in the past and move on.

WiiU should have been a brand new console in terms of design, with a new name, new image, new marketing message... WiiU is actually a decent console with lots of potential but the mass market has moved on from what made the Wii such a success, and they can't differentiate much between the two.

I have heard this many times here, but I still disagree with it.  I was out at dinner with an old friend from high school not long ago, and his 8 year old son was asking him to buy a Wii U.  His 8 year old son knew that it was a new console.  Another time recently, I was shopping in Target and I overheard another child, had to be younger than 8 in my estimation, telling his parents that he wanted a Wii U.  I don't see how all of these children are conscious of the fact that Nintendo has a brand new console on the market, but the average consumer cannot fathom that a $349 piece of hardware is not just an accessory to the existing $129 Wii.  How many accessories do you know of that come out 6 years into a console's life and cost 3x the current price of said console, also more expensive than console itself was when launched?  Nintendo has never labeled their hardware numerically in their 30 years in the video game industry, and it's never been a problem.  NES --> Super NES, Gameboy/Gameboy Color --> Gameboy Advance, DS --> 3DS (also criticized last year, but 30+ million sales later, I think that's been proven as nonsense).  Could they have chosen a whole new brand name entirely?  Sure, they could have.  Is it the definitive reason for why Wii U is not selling well right now?  I question that.



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NoirSon on 25 June 2013
oniyide said:
RolStoppable said:
Slimebeast said:
RolStoppable said:
Nintendo's biggest mistake with the Wii U is that it isn't an evolution of the Wii, instead it's Nintendo's braindead solution to a point of view that saw the Wii as a problem.

U fink they should have kept motion controls lol?

Improved Wiimote/Nunchuk, yes.

It's a pretty useless console as it is. I don't use the Gamepad for NSMBU and NSLU, I won't use it for Pikmin 3, DKC:TF and SM3DW. So the main benefit of the Wii U is better graphics which is as underwhelming as it can get. All those games might as well have been on the Wii, that way I wouldn't need to own a rubbish console that can't download and install things at the same time.

doesnt it use the wiimote+ which was improved? Should they have made an even newer one?

Its interesting that you bought the console anyway, despite how rubbish it is.


They really should have made a newer one, the Wiimote + that the Wii U comes with is several years old. Granted it could be they don't have much room to change it due to patents, but from the looks of it, everything about the Wii U besides the game pad was made with the idea of economics involved, which Nintendo got away with in creating the original Wii but developers and gamers seem to not buying it this time especially given in releasing info first their competitors true to their normal fashion have copied everything that made your system unique and tried to improve it with more expensive technology making the question, why should a fan that doesn't jones for one of Nintendo's IPs bother with the Wii U at this point?



Alby_da_Wolf on 25 June 2013
disolitude said:

The biggest mistake Nintendo made with WiiU is tying it to the the Wii in terms of branding. I've talked to many people who bought the Wii and dont even realize WiiU is a different console. They just think its a tablet addon for their Wii. 

As the motion gaming and "waggle" associated with it became a cliche over the last few years, Nintendo should have realized that they can't milk the blue ocean anymore with the exact same shtick and that the majority of their Wii owners aren't going to run out and upgrade on day 1. Considering that majority of Wiis have been collecting dust for the last 2 years due to lack of quality software, it would have been wise for Nintendo to leave the Wii image and branding in the past and move on.

WiiU should have been a brand new console in terms of design, with a new name, new image, new marketing message... WiiU is actually a decent console with lots of potential but the mass market has moved on from what made the Wii such a success, and they can't differentiate much between the two.


I can't know for sure whether Wii's blue ocean could be milked anymore or not by a successor console, but if it were, then keeping the brand name would be a good idea, BUT: in this case they should have done everything in their power to keep Wii healthy until Wii U launch. Instead they announced Wii U far to early, then they let Wii starve and die in a slow and painful way, tarnishing the very brand they were so eager to reuse. This is totally nuts! I still can't believe they were so clumsy and masochist after having started the gen with a success so overwhelming and unstoppable (so unstoppable that the only way to stop it was to shoot themselves in the foot).



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V-r0cK on 25 June 2013

I agree but because it still uses some of the original Wii accessories it still feels tied in.

However, if Nintendo just simply named it Wii 2, then that would've been enough for consumers to understand that it's completely different and is the new Nintendo console. No consumer ever mistaken the different Playstations from the numbers.



sethnintendo on 25 June 2013
superchunk said:
Calling it "Wii ..." wasn't a bad idea. Calling it "Wii U" was as it didn't create any sense of, "oh this is a new console with all kids of different capabilities."

I still think if they wanted to keep "Wii" in the branding, then it should have been "Wii 2".

Nintendo probably would never want to copy Sony on their unimaginative way of naming consoles.  If anything it should have been called the Super Wii.



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Bong Lover on 25 June 2013
ktay95 said:
my experience. family comes over and asks about the gamepad, i say its my WiiU. so it works with the Wii they ask. no its a brand new console. oh thats cool but i already have Mario, Wii Sports, Just Dance etc. so i dont need one then... good luck selling your console to those who are happy with the Wii. tbh i could've sold more WiiUs if it simply was a new controller. the casual Wii market just dont have a reason to move on from this gen

Herein lies the problem. So far Nintendo has not been able to communicate why you need to upgrade. The benefits added by the gamepad are not easily understood when just looking at the system. So far, you have to have the pad in your hands and play Mario chase or something like that to realize the potential. Without that experience, the value proposition is just not that appealing. As others have pointed out it looks a lot to the consumer like a $300 investment to get the Wii with HD.



oniyide on 25 June 2013
Aielyn said:
oniyide said:
Dont know what Haze and NMH have to do with anything. Wouldnt those games prove the opposite of what you are saying, since neither of them came close to JD numbers? NMHs sold like that on PS3 because 1 it was a late port on a system with a much smaller install base of a game that IMHO wasnt that good to begin with and 2 there are MUCH better options for that type of game on PS3 anyway.

The comparison is intended to say that, if people chose games based on quality, NMH would have easily outsold Haze (even after factoring in the late port factor). But Haze sold about 7 times as many copies as NMH. It wasn't intended to suggest that either game should have sold particularly well, or anything like that, but that relative sales show that so-called "hardcore gamers" are rather poor judges of games, when it comes down to it, on average.

Its still a poor comparison, you're not taking into account that Haze came out WAY before NMH hit PS3 stateside, we are talking a difference in years. You're not taking into account that they are different genres, where FPS just happens to be more popular than whatever genre NMHs is, and you are not taking into account pure subjectivity of it all, who is to say what game is better than what. IMHO they both suck, but i would play Haze in a heartbeat, because at least its not boring like NMHs, thats just me. WHo is a good judge of games? YOu?



Nem on 25 June 2013

The mistake was they didnt plan the software releases properly.



oniyide on 25 June 2013
TheLastStarFighter said:
oniyide said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
oniyide said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
disolitude said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
Most of the people who bought the Wii are very knowledgeable about their console. They also enjoyed it and bought a lot of games.

Nothing wrong with expanding on the Wii brand. As was said by VO, however, they should have called it Wii 2. People love sequels, and associate higher numbers with something better. This would have been the same idea as Apple's iPhone 1, 2, 3.. and so on. People would love to buy the new, better version of Wii called Wii 2.

Regardless, the biggest problems with Wii U are a lack of must-have software, poor marketing, and strong value in the PS360. A lot of people were still buying PS360 and they still have great games coming out, and are cheaper.

Wii U needs a new marketing campaign that promotes it as a high-tech innovative new product and some great new games. The fall lineup should help, as should the killing off of PS360 with the arrival of the more expensive successors.

You really think that the majoity of Wii purchases were made by knowledgable gamers? I'm not saying that there aren't some, but if Wii didn't appeal to the casuals, party folks and people who saw Wii Sports and Wii Fit as games of choice...I see Wii selling a lot less than PS3 and 360 today. They'd lose half of the Wii sales easily without the blue ocean...

Your perception is shared by many hardcore gamers but isn't reality.  The vast majority of Wii buyers weren't grandparents or stay-at-home moms playing Wii bowling or weighing themselves.  The single largest chunk of Wii buyers were the mainstream.  They were families, adults, children, people who like new things.  The people that made it a massive seller are people who saw the motion controls, like Nintendo franchises, wanted something new and the price was right.  These are people that in the past probably bought mainstream hits like GTA, probably bought Guitar Hero, obviously bought Wii Sports and many probably love COD right now.  They are not tech heads, but they know what a Wii is.  They're not idiots.  And they did buy upwards of 10 games per console, not the Wii Sports and Fit and that's it that detractors like to say.

The problem is that Nintendo hasn't given this mainstream a reason to buy Wii U.  Some may not be fully aware that Wii U is actually Wii 2.  But moreso is the problem that they don't care.  Nothing about Wii U has been exciting enough to make them want it yet.  The advertising was bad and the "coolest" exclusive was Zombie U.  They may also have bought a PS360 when the price came down and they picked up an HDTV, relegating the Wii brand to second place in the home.  Wii U needs games and promotion that tell the mass market it's worth their time.


i think software sales says otherwise

Which software sales?

the WIi series was the most popular series bar none on that system. Who do you think that appeals to the most? Mario Kart Wii did real well, but IMHO a part of its massive success because it was easier to get into than the prior ones. ANd just about every other Ninty franchise sold the usualy (Zelda, 3d Mario)

3rd party games, which were the best selling ones? your dance and your music games, agan who does that appeal to the most?

All im saying is look at what sells on HDs in contrast to what sells on WIi, there is a big difference.

Not really.  Wii SPorts was popular and it appealed to everyone, including me and every other core gamer I know when it debuted.  After that, Mariokart and NSMBU were the biggest titles, and they are mainstream gamer titles.  They sold 30 million.  30.  The biggest chunk of gamers on the system are gamers.  Games like Galaxy, Twilight Princess and Brawl did massive numbers too.  Far better than the Uncharteds or Metal Gears of the world.

No, your perception is flawed.  The big titles of the gen are WiiSPorts, WiiFit, NSMB, MK, COD and GTA.  These are the mass market titles.  After that the large "Core" titles like MarioG, Zelda, Halo, SSB and GT did very well.  But the core titles did as well or better on Wii as on other systems.  Beyond these titles you get into FIFA or Just Dance as big sellers, but I would hardly call FIFA a core title.

well for one those games released on a system that had a much higher install base, your perception doesnt take into account the numerous games that did WORST on WIi, COD, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, Rayman, both Star Wars FU games etc. How do you explain those, shouldnt they have done better on Wii? If what you say is true about core gamers making up most of WII audience, why did alot of core games do worst on that system?



oniyide on 25 June 2013
NoirSon said:
oniyide said:
RolStoppable said:
Slimebeast said:
RolStoppable said:
Nintendo's biggest mistake with the Wii U is that it isn't an evolution of the Wii, instead it's Nintendo's braindead solution to a point of view that saw the Wii as a problem.

U fink they should have kept motion controls lol?

Improved Wiimote/Nunchuk, yes.

It's a pretty useless console as it is. I don't use the Gamepad for NSMBU and NSLU, I won't use it for Pikmin 3, DKC:TF and SM3DW. So the main benefit of the Wii U is better graphics which is as underwhelming as it can get. All those games might as well have been on the Wii, that way I wouldn't need to own a rubbish console that can't download and install things at the same time.

doesnt it use the wiimote+ which was improved? Should they have made an even newer one?

Its interesting that you bought the console anyway, despite how rubbish it is.


They really should have made a newer one, the Wiimote + that the Wii U comes with is several years old. Granted it could be they don't have much room to change it due to patents, but from the looks of it, everything about the Wii U besides the game pad was made with the idea of economics involved, which Nintendo got away with in creating the original Wii but developers and gamers seem to not buying it this time especially given in releasing info first their competitors true to their normal fashion have copied everything that made your system unique and tried to improve it with more expensive technology making the question, why should a fan that doesn't jones for one of Nintendo's IPs bother with the Wii U at this point?

But how would they have done it? Could they really make it more accurate than it already is? If not? why waste time and money repacking it? I mean they could fool some people, but that would be a gamble. as for the bolded? they shouldnt and they arent and the sales reflect that. Now i dont know what they could do to change that.