RolStoppable said:
You know that someone is in trouble with his argument when it relies on the color and shape of a console. But let's start at the top. The Wii's main task was to reverse the trend of declining home console sales for Nintendo. Nintendo realized that their controllers got increasingly more complicated with each passing generation, effectively cutting off the pipeline of new gamers, thus leaving them only with fans who stayed on board as well as kids (they are more willing to learn than adults, because they have plenty of time on their hands). This means that the Wii Remote was not created as a gimmick controller, but as a means to an end. The console had to convey the message that video games don't require sitting down for an hour to learn the controls before you can have fun. However, the controller was only one piece of the puzzle; after all, any video game hardware is useless without games coming along with it; and those games preferably have to be new IPs because that way they have a clean slate and don't face any prejudice. Wii Sports was the perfect game to launch with the Wii because it kept the message consistent; the system could be understood within seconds. The success proved Nintendo's line of thinking right. Then comes the Wii U which contradicts the Wii. The Gamepad is not only the problem that led to declining home console sales for Nintendo, it emphasizes them even more. On top of that, Nintendo couldn't be bothered to make games that give the Gamepad value, or rather they didn't because it isn't really possible. The Gamepad is a gimmick controller, unlike the Wii Remote which never left any room for doubt that it serves a purpose. This means that your premise that the Wii U is a continuation of the Wii is dead wrong. In reality it's the polar opposite. Why? Because it's like Miyamoto said, doing what is good for business is boring to him; and as the man in charge of software, he also greatly influences Nintendo's hardware. That's just how it is inside of Nintendo: The hardware is shaped according to the software developers' wishes. The reason why I don't want to talk about Apple is because they are irrelevant in the big picture. The 3DS and Wii U would have never come close to the sales of their predecessors even if there was no Apple. I am sure of that because Nintendo went down the road of irrelevance already long before Apple was a thing. Nevermind that free browser games on the PC were a thing before and during the DS/Wii era. Those simple, accessible and free games weren't detrimental to Nintendo because they couldn't replicate what the DS and Wii did. You want to argue that the Wii Sports audience moved to smartphones and tablets because they can get their fix there, yet there have never been any news about popular sports games on those devices. The truth of the matter is that Nintendo showed that audience the middle finger with the Wii U, so that's why Nintendo lost their grip on that audience. Nevermind that 2010 marked the last year of Nintendo putting out some solid games (Wii Party and Donkey Kong Country Returns), so by the time the Wii U launched, Nintendo was cold coffee without anything to show that could change their fortunes. And now comes the moment to apply my reasoning across the entirety of Nintendo's history. My premise is that an accessible controller coupled with the right software (i.e. new IPs; and by "new" I mean new, not spinoffs) leads to growth for Nintendo while going the route of hardcore gaming or whatever you want to call it leads to decline. I'll save myself the time to write a breakdown because people should be able to think for themselves. It should go without saying that my reasoning doesn't need a scapegoat like the color of a console in order to be sound and consistent. As my final point, I'd like to remind people that I saw the failure of the Wii U coming, based on the above reasoning. You, on the other hand, were caught off guard because you thought success is all about gimmicks. |
No I guessed the Wii U would fail because the whole "lets make another console that's a generation behind the other two and try to sell it based on the controller" was a formula that was eventually going to bite Nintendo in the ass. So I wasn't shocked.
I think you are 1000000% wrong on Apple being irrelevant. You want them to be irrelevant, but they're not, they took casual gaming honestly further than Nintendo ever could. Nintendo does not have the vision or marketing or balls to attempt making their phone, even though really they could have had they gone for it in 2007/8.
They're just too conservative of a company, someone else like Apple was always going to come by and steal their candy away from them.
Can you carry a PC in your pocket? Do you still have to use a keyboard/mouse? Are PC games backed by the largest marketing machine known to man? Families share the PC too, a phone you can play whenever you want, where ever you want, for however long you want to your heart's content.
How the hell is soccer mom supposed to know where to even go to play "accessible" PC games? There's no centralized marketing structure for casuals to understand where to go, Apple gives them an easy to understand centralized iOS shop for all their apps, movies, music, games. It's easy for casuals to use and understand. The PC games are not really even that casual. Super Meat Boy is a casual game? Any type of remotely fast paced game using even a mouse is harder to play than a touchscreen game. People understand touch, it's the first thing babies do instinctively, we're hard wired for it.
But you know what? I don't even care if Nintendo made a full console just exclusively for casuals. I actually would like to see them try as a *side* project. Go ahead, do it Nintendo. You will get your ass kicked by Apple today. I actually thought that's what Quality of Life was going to be, but I guess not. They are running scared, they know they don't dare confront Apple directly because they know they will get schooled.
They didn't give the "middle finger" to casuals, they very clearly thought a touchscreen controller would appeal to casuals (it's not like buttons scared away casuals from the DS, which is more successful than the Wii ever was) and almost half their first year line up was casual-fare. Casuals just moved on.
