Nintendo: Wii U Has Failed as a Worthy Successor to Wii

[compl3x]

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted in a briefing for investors and analysts this week that the Wii U has - so far - failed as a worthy successor to the Wii. The Wii is currently outselling the Wii U, which has only managed to sell 3.9 million units to-date worldwide. Speaking during a briefing about its second quarter financial results, Iwata noted that the Wii U has only done one thing right - backwards compatibility with the Wii.

"Except for its backward compatibility with existing Wii software and accessories, we have so far failed to make propositions worthy of Wii U's position as a successor to the Wii system," Iwata said.

Iwata also said that Wii Sports Club for Wii U and Wii Fit U are now available in Japan, which should help spur sales of the console in Japan and abroad, but cautioned that "success won't come overnight."

"I remarked a while ago that it is difficult to change our prospects with just one title. Our objective for Wii U for the upcoming year-end sales season will be to dramatically change the environment surrounding Wii U with multiple key titles that can appeal to a wide range of consumers," he said.

Finally, Iwata said that key Wii U titles for the holiday this season are Super Mario 3D World (releasing November 22) Wii Party U, and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Nintendo will also release Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in February. High profile titles like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. arrive in 2014.

Source: GameSpot

 

http://gamepolitics.com/2013/10/31/nintendo-wii-u-has-failed-worthy-successor-wii#.UnLZJfmnpOY

 

[Eric Veteran]

Mario Kart, Zelda and a new Mario Bros 3D should have been available at launch. I gotta agree that they dropped the ball through the floor straight to the Earth's core so far.

[Boo Berry]

Smash Bros. has to be released before I even consider getting a Wii U.

[astropheed Veteran]

Just cut the loses and make a new system. I'm aware there are politics involved in this and yadda yadda, just make it happen.

 

Ditch motion/tablet/confusing controls, offer a decent online experience and spam 1st party titles at launch. Don't make it backwards compatible it will only impede progression. Don't do any stupid DRM fiasco's, don't do 'social media' integration, just make a simple system that turns on, plays games and can play games with friends at 1080P@60FPS. Don't add touch controls at all, don't add mandatory peripherals. Keep the UI simple, clean, fast and accessible.

 

Done. Instant Success.

 

Edit: Keep online free, even if it's not 'as good' (subjective) as the ms, sony online 'experience'.

[acido00]

I suggest to stop doing Wii U and get something like Wii Us, so it has better specs and the most important backwards compatibility. Also make the control lighter and screen bigger with better resolution.

[notuptome2004]

Just cut the loses and make a new system. I'm aware there are politics involved in this and yadda yadda, just make it happen.

 

Ditch motion/tablet/confusing controls, offer a decent online experience and spam 1st party titles at launch. Don't make it backwards compatible it will only impede progression. Don't do any stupid DRM fiasco's, don't do 'social media' integration, just make a simple system that turns on, plays games and can play games with friends at 1080P@60FPS. Don't add touch controls at all, don't add mandatory peripherals. Keep the UI simple, clean, fast and accessible.

 

Done. Instant Success.

 

Edit: Keep online free, even if it's not 'as good' (subjective) as the ms, sony online 'experience'.

 

 

 

 

So  you want  Nintendo do make an Xbox 360 system something that already exsist  on the market   and not set them selves   apart from the rest of the pack .    if they  did what you wanted them to do they  not have a system worth buying because  there be no differances between it or the other systems  and users would not buy it.  i bought  the  Wii U for  the gamepad and what it offers  as well as the whole user experiance   it is apernt from your comment you dont have   or Wii U or own one  or well have played with oen for any  good amount of time.  

 

 

And for the billionth time   Nintendo could   have  50+  Console failures and still be able to Bank roll another 50+ consoles   so this  is  not the end    and what not    

[spenser.d]

So  you want  Nintendo do make an Xbox 360 system something that already exsist  on the market   and not set them selves   apart from the rest of the pack .    if they  did what you wanted them to do they  not have a system worth buying because  there be no differances between it or the other systems  and users would not buy it.  i bought  the  Wii U for  the gamepad and what it offers  as well as the whole user experiance   it is apernt from your comment you dont have   or Wii U or own one  or well have played with oen for any  good amount of time.  

 

 

And for the billionth time   Nintendo could   have  50+  Console failures and still be able to Bank roll another 50+ consoles   so this  is  not the end    and what not    

 

First of all, what?  Calm down and make complete sentences.  Second, not that I advocate them falling in line with Sony and MS, but your argument falls flat because they aren't selling any of their current consoles.  They have to do something different than what they're doing.

 

Anyone with half a brain would've seen this coming years off.  People bought Wiis, played them for a while, then let them largely collect dust.  Nobody was clamoring for a slightly upgraded Wii.

[Veiva]

They can't release a new console so soon. Does no one remember SEGA? The best they can do is offer the best experience they can via first party titles and push for more third parties.

 

The GamePad is pretty nice, in my opinion, as well, especially for multiplayer games, so I don't see why they should drop that. They shouldn't force it though--I like the off-TV play a lot. It'll be really nice around Christmas when the TV is going to be occupied...

[notuptome2004]

First of all, what?  Calm down and make complete sentences.  Second, not that I advocate them falling in line with Sony and MS, but your argument falls flat because they aren't selling any of their current consoles.  They have to do something different than what they're doing.

 

Anyone with half a brain would've seen this coming years off.  People bought Wiis, played them for a while, then let them largely collect dust.  Nobody was clamoring for a slightly upgraded Wii.

 

 

 

i dont all the Wii U a slightly upgraded  Wii   if it was it be  a faster single core with HD output that is it  but the thing is a Tri-core  with a DX10+ GPU    and 2gb of ram  so yea not  just a slight upgrade    the Wii ran single core 700mhz    with  3mb GPU  and 88mb of ram

[Nashy]

It wasn't much of an upgrade really.  Grab the Wii, beef it up a little, and we mean a little, and add a screen.  Woo.

[+LightEco Subscriber²]

Why not just go 3rd party for console titles? I'd happily pay to have Zelda, Mario, and others on my Xbox One or PS4. They can keep doing the DS since that is working out quite well for them, but just make software and peripherals for the other consoles. Everyone Wins and Nintendo would probably end up making more money in the long run.

[FiB3R]

I feel kinda sorry for them, but man, they had it coming.

They should wait 2 years, release a hardware monster, sell it cheap and take a loss on said hardware. Sell a ###### ton, and get back in the game.

[+virtorio MVC]

The Wii was a special mix that had mass casual-market appeal. The WiiU doesn't have that so much (does it even come with Wii-motes?), so their market is back to Nintendo fans and parents who buy consoles for their kids and think it's more kid-friendly than an Xbox or Playstation.

[Rudy]

Personally I'm extremely satisfied with my WiiU, great games from Nintendo and hopefully one day we'll see more RPGs for the platform too

[LimeMaster]

The Wii was a special mix that had mass casual-market appeal. The WiiU doesn't have that so much (does it even come with Wii-motes?), so they're market is back to Nintendo fans and parents who buy consoles for their kids and think it's more kid-friendly than an Xbox or Playstation.

You're saying that, but think of all the kids these days playing COD on XBOX 360 and PS3.

[spenser.d]

Why not just go 3rd party for console titles? I'd happily pay to have Zelda, Mario, and others on my Xbox One or PS4. They can keep doing the DS since that is working out quite well for them, but just make software and peripherals for the other consoles. Everyone Wins and Nintendo would probably end up making more money in the long run.

 

Ugh, been waiting for this for years.  They will have my money again when the do this.

[+virtorio MVC]

You're saying that, but think of all the kids these days playing COD on XBOX 360 and PS3.

Yes, I was referring directly to (the shrinking number of) parents who still associate Nintendo with kid friendly games, and factor that into their purchase.

[Davo]

LightEco, on 31 Oct 2013 - 19:28, said:

Why not just go 3rd party for console titles? I'd happily pay to have Zelda, Mario, and others on my Xbox One or PS4. They can keep doing the DS since that is working out quite well for them, but just make software and peripherals for the other consoles. Everyone Wins and Nintendo would probably end up making more money in the long run.

 

Because then they wouldn't be as high quality. The way it is now, Nintendo has full input and final say on their first party projects. I'd never play a 3rd party Mario game because I've played too many unbelievably awful 3rd party Sonic games.

 

I'm woefully uninformed when it comes to the WiiU. I also have no real desire to learn about it though. It used to be that if a game went multi-platform, it would still work more or less the same way. That changed with the Wii but the experience itself was also drastically different so it didn't matter. Now with the WiiU, there haven't been enough compelling reasons to want something that expensive.

[Rudy]

Ugh, been waiting for this for years.  They will have my money again when the do this.

Because it worked so well for Sega :/

[compl3x]

Seems like the Wii U has been botched from day one. Some of you might scoff, but I think the stupid name plays more of a role in all of this than you might first think. I remember reading article after article about how often Reggie had to explain that this was a "new Nintendo system" and how it was different from the Wii. It's hard ot get the word out about your cool new system if people honestly don't realise it is new.

 

I still don't know why they didn't call it Super Wii. Wii is already a dumb name, Super Wii would have been more amusing and it actually sounds like a successor.

 

I'll get a Wii U after the first HW revision &/or a price drop. The latter seems a little more likely after Sony and MS start kicking into each other over the next few months.

[macrosslover]

I feel kinda sorry for them, but man, they had it coming.

They should wait 2 years, release a hardware monster, sell it cheap and take a loss on said hardware. Sell a **** ton, and get back in the game.

If they release a new system that compares equally in specs to the XBO and the PS4 sure.  If they just cut the price of the Wii U it won't help them at all.  They tried that with the Gamecube when they cut the price to $99 and it still bombed compared to the Xbox and PS2.  Nintendo's problems were predicted when they released the Wii.  People said (myself included) that if you abandon the "hardcore gamer" and only cater to the casual you will get burned by them.

 

No matter what your feelings on "hardcore gamers" they are the ones that will keep you alive as a video game company and continue to buy your products.  Casual gamers are just that casual, they will move to the next fad.  The writing was written on the wall during the Wii years.  Everybody told Nintendo that all the people who bought the Wii were just playing Wii sports and not buying anything else (except Mario Kart).  Most Wii's were actually gathering dust but they did not listen.  People told Nintendo that there was nothing in the Wii U that would make casual gamers want to upgrade but they did not listen.

 

The Wii U system itself would have done better if it came out in 2010 when people said it would come out but yet Nintendo was stubborn and took too long to let it come out and well basically they've been Dreamcasted.  The Wii U itself had the potential to be the ultimate Nintendo system but again Nintendo themselves dropped the ball.  It's beyond silly that you can't play whether through physical means or digital means every Nintendo game that has come out including Gamecube games.  Nintendo has to rely on it's main strength and that it's historical software library.  They aren't even using that for the Wii U.  The amount of releases they do have for the e-shop are embarrassing.  Nintendo also needs to learn to make their next system with developers and ask them what they want in the system as opposed to saying we build this and forcing them to use something they never wanted.  Until they change these things their home consoles will continue to be second-tier in the eyes of most consumers.

 

As a side note I went into one of my 50 local Wal-Marts to pre-order the Gold Zelda 3DS XL, which happens to be coming out the same days as the Xbox One.  The clerk automatically thought I was trying to order a PS4 or Xbox One and quickly told me they were all preordered out.  I told her no I wanted a Nintendo system.  She told me oh we don't do preorders for Nintendo systems "never had a reason too".  Yes this is unscientific and one store out of thousands but it makes me wonder has consumer interest in Nintendo products gotten to the points where people aren't beating down the doors to get your product and the consumers and stores are like meh.

[Blackhearted]

This is kind of interesting... The past couple days there's been several negative nintendo stories posted, yet no one flinches one bit. But... if this same scenario were to happen in say, the microsoft section here, there'd be about a 95% chance of a massive shitstorm hitting whoever posted.

 

Seems like the Wii U has been botched from day one. Some of you might scoff, but I think the stupid name plays more of a role in all of this than you might first think. I remember reading article after article about how often Reggie had to explain that this was a "new Nintendo system" and how it was different from the Wii. It's hard ot get the word out about your cool new system if people honestly don't realise it is new.

 

I still don't know why they didn't call it Super Wii. Wii is already a dumb name, Super Wii would have been more amusing and it actually sounds like a successor.

 

I'll get a Wii U after the first HW revision &/or a price drop. The latter seems a little more likely after Sony and MS start kicking into each other over the next few months.

 

I don't see why people complain about the wii u's name, but not the name of a certain other console. Surely the Xbox One is a dumber and more confusing name for a console than the wii u. Especially when it's the third one and people often refer to the first prodcut in a line as "name one/1".

[macrosslover]

This is kind of interesting... The past couple days there's been several negative nintendo stories posted, yet no one flinches one bit. But... if this same scenario were to happen in say, the microsoft section here, there'd be about a 95% chance of a massive ****storm hitting whoever posted.

 

 

I don't see why people complain about the wii u's name, but not the name of a certain other console. Surely the Xbox One is a dumber and more confusing name for a console than the wii u. Especially when it's the third one and people often refer to the first prodcut in a line as "name one/1".

I can only speak for me but I liked Xbox Infinity better.

[Lord Method Man]

Love my Wii U. :)

[compl3x]

This is kind of interesting... The past couple days there's been several negative nintendo stories posted, yet no one flinches one bit. But... if this same scenario were to happen in say, the microsoft section here, there'd be about a 95% chance of a massive ****storm hitting whoever posted.

 

 

There is no conspiracy to defame Nintendo. If I didn't post Ninty news, no one would. Lately, there hasn't been a whole lot of positive stuff to post. If I find positive stories, I'll post 'em. Considering this is a Microsoft themed forum it isn't entirely surprising negative stories about a MS product almost always leads to fighting.

 

 

I don't see why people complain about the wii u's name, but not the name of a certain other console. Surely the Xbox One is a dumber and more confusing name for a console than the wii u. Especially when it's the third one and people often refer to the first prodcut in a line as "name one/1".

 

I remember people saying it was a boring name, but that isn't the point I was making. MS hasn't had any trouble conveying the fact the X1 is a new system, nor has Sony because they have stuck to a simple naming convention. Nintendo has had trouble conveying that the Wii U is a new system. Iwata himself said this:

 

?We have not been able to solidly communicate the product value of Wii U to our consumers yet, which has been a grand challenge for us.Some have the misunderstanding that Wii U is just Wii with a pad for games, and others even consider Wii U GamePad as a peripheral device connectable to Wii. We feel deeply responsible for not having tried hard enough to have consumers understand the product.?

 

 

Maybe I am wrong and it isn't the name itself, maybe it was just a ######-up of marketing. Anecdotally, I can say people I know, none of whom would be considered tech illiterate, have questioned me about the Wii U.