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Forums - Gaming - What If Nintendo Sold Wii U For $250 w/o the Tablet?

Soundwave on 23 July 2013
t3mporary_126 said:
Soundwave said:
t3mporary_126 said:

If Nintendo has no plans to make something truly innovative for the Wii U tablet other than making it a second screen map, touchscreen buttons that can be brought up with a start button menu, or performing off-screen play, then they should make two types of Wii U: one without the Wii U tablet and one with it, and have a Nintendo land or a better game bundled with a Wii U tablet in a Wii Fit style bundle.

This way they can see if the tablet will actually sell the console or is better of as an accessory like the zapper, wheel, balance beam, or motion plus.


Yeah that's pretty much what I'm proposing. I do like the tablet controller myself, but then again I have no problem spending $300+ on a Nintendo console. I get the feeling this isn't true of the mass market.

The other kicker is I can really only think of three current Wii U games that absolutely require the tablet to play -- Nintendo Land, Game & Wario, and Zombi U.

And looking at what's coming next year, it looks like only a few more games absolutely need it. Wii Party U. I was going to list Wonderful 101, but I believe the game can also be played without the tablet controller (second analog stick).


Oh, then I agree. But only if Nintendo doesn't plan anything innovative with it next year. If we have to wait two years then this I honestly believe Nintendo thought the controller enough would sell the console because it has touch screen and can use off-screen gameplay. And honestly, they should have something innovative this holiday when the One and PS4 is out. But they did say they are keeping games secret in fear competition copy and this may include Wii Fit U and Wii Party U. Or just an excuse for not having anything interesting to show at E3. I don't know /end rant.

And it seems like you're proposing only one model for Wii U or models without the tablet sold with the hardware. I think it's important to have one model with the tablet just to see if the tablet is not worth being bundled and makes the Wii U seem overpriced.


To be honest these are the games that are already out that absolutely use the controller -- Zombi U, Nintendo Land, Game & Wario.

Of the third party games forthcoming, I don't think there's one that requires the pad. I could be wrong on that. From Nintendo's own development pipeline:

Mario Kart 8 - not required

Mario 3D World - not required

Pikmin 3 -not required

Wonderful 101 - works with a Pro Controller

X - Unknown

Smash Bros. U - Almost definitely not required

Bayonetta 2 - not required

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - not required

Wii Party U - Required

Wii Fit U - Unknown, but I'm guessing no.

Mario & Sonic Winter Olympics - not required

Yoshi's Yarn and Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem are unknowns.



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BossPuma on 23 July 2013
Soundwave said:


"Enchanced" in the same way the N64 Rumble Pak "enhanced" certain games without being absolutely neccessary, sure.

No, not really. The tablet controller is essensial to what makes the Wii U. The Rumble Pak was just an accessory.

Take away the controller and you have a console not worth having. Nintendo might as well start copying Sony...



Soundwave on 23 July 2013
BossPuma said:
Soundwave said:


"Enchanced" in the same way the N64 Rumble Pak "enhanced" certain games without being absolutely neccessary, sure.

No, not really. The tablet controller is essensial to what makes the Wii U. The Rumble Pak was just an accessory.

Take away the controller and you have a console not worth having. Nintendo might as well start copying Sony...


Technically though the games are what make any console worth owning. 

Did you not buy a SNES because it was only moderately different from the Genesis?



Soundwave on 23 July 2013
RolStoppable said:
bananaking21 said:

then why include the tablet at all? why did they make it if its hurting the console more than helping it?

Because they are complete morons.

Anyway, the Wii U can already be navigated without the Gamepad. I know this, because the only time I take the Gamepad out of its stand is when I play Nintendo Land.

Still though, the Gamepad can't be removed from the Wii U just like the stereoscopic 3D can't be removed from the 3DS. Those are the selling points of those systems (or more accurately, the supposed selling points), so doing a complete 180° on them just isn't good business. It would equal an admission that those features are trash.

Yeah though I think removing the 3D from the 3DS would've been a bigger marketing issue, because of the name "3DS" kinda implies "3D" lol. They would have had to change the name/branding which is pretty much a no go.

"Wii U" doesn't really imply anything from the name itself.



jonathanalis on 23 July 2013

Would be cheaper than ps360, would sell like water if we count with the new games, many great games not require the gamepad, make all sense comercialy...

BUT

the gamepad is the excence of wii U.



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BossPuma on 23 July 2013
Soundwave said:
BossPuma said:
Soundwave said:


"Enchanced" in the same way the N64 Rumble Pak "enhanced" certain games without being absolutely neccessary, sure.

No, not really. The tablet controller is essensial to what makes the Wii U. The Rumble Pak was just an accessory.

Take away the controller and you have a console not worth having. Nintendo might as well start copying Sony...


Technically though the games are what make any console worth owning. 

Did you not buy a SNES because it was only moderately different from the Genesis?


That was almost 20 years ago, gaming has evolved much since then... the Wii U gamepad might not be essential for every single game, but it does defeat the purpose of owning one if devs cant impliment features for it because not everyone has the tablet controller.

Plus, off tv play is a fantastic feature i really wouldnt want to do without, and i think many others wouldnt either.



Soundwave on 23 July 2013
BossPuma said:
Soundwave said:
BossPuma said:
Soundwave said:


"Enchanced" in the same way the N64 Rumble Pak "enhanced" certain games without being absolutely neccessary, sure.

No, not really. The tablet controller is essensial to what makes the Wii U. The Rumble Pak was just an accessory.

Take away the controller and you have a console not worth having. Nintendo might as well start copying Sony...


Technically though the games are what make any console worth owning. 

Did you not buy a SNES because it was only moderately different from the Genesis?


That was almost 20 years ago, gaming has evolved much since then... the Wii U gamepad might not be essential for every single game, but it does defeat the purpose of owning one if devs cant impliment features for it because not everyone has the tablet controller.

Plus, off tv play is a fantastic feature i really wouldnt want to do without, and i think many others wouldnt either.


Kinda confused as to why off TV play would go away if Nintendo offered a cheaper SKU as an option to some consumers.



BossPuma on 23 July 2013
Soundwave said:
BossPuma said:

That was almost 20 years ago, gaming has evolved much since then... the Wii U gamepad might not be essential for every single game, but it does defeat the purpose of owning one if devs cant impliment features for it because not everyone has the tablet controller.

Plus, off tv play is a fantastic feature i really wouldnt want to do without, and i think many others wouldnt either.


Kinda confused as to why off TV play would go away if Nintendo offered a cheaper SKU as an option to some consumers.

I thought you were saying that Nintendo should scrap the controller altogether. Still, the controller makes the console. Without it, we would have 3 generic next gen consoles with little differences.



bananaking21 on 23 July 2013
RolStoppable said:
bananaking21 said:

then why include the tablet at all? why did they make it if its hurting the console more than helping it?

Because they are complete morons.

Anyway, the Wii U can already be navigated without the Gamepad. I know this, because the only time I take the Gamepad out of its stand is when I play Nintendo Land.

Still though, the Gamepad can't be removed from the Wii U just like the stereoscopic 3D can't be removed from the 3DS. Those are the selling points of those systems (or more accurately, the supposed selling points), so doing a complete 180° on them just isn't good business. It would equate an admission that those features are trash.

i fully agree with that. 

an interesting point would be that the 3ds starting selling good after they stoped focusing their marketing on the 3D and more on the games (ofcourse the price cut was the main reason) but a shift in marketing did happen, and i believe it had a good effect. do you think nintendo should do the same? just ignore the gamepad in marketing and focus on other stuff?



ListerOfSmeg on 23 July 2013

The thing you really need to look at is how much it cost to get the same functionality from another device that you get from Wii U. If I want off monitor play I will be spending around 299.99 just for the game pad like device, Nintendo has a much cheaper option. Same thing with PS4. If you want to use it like Wii U you need a Vita. Sure the specs may be a bit behind but when looking at price vs function WIi U really does offer a lot for the price