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Nintendo to meet UK retailers after unofficial Wii U price cuts fail

Jachaos

Member
10 GC games would be like 60% of Nintendo's 1st party library on that.

There were over 6 Nintendo published titles a year on average looking at a GC games list.

Mario Golf/Tennis/Strikers/Party 4-5-6-7/Sunshine/Paper/Kart, TLoZ WW, Fire Emblem PoR, SSBM, Pikmin 1/2, Kirby Air Ride, DK Jungle Beats, 1080 and Wave Race sequels, F-Zero GX, Star Fox Adventures and Assault, Pacman Vs., Metroid Prime 1 and 2 : Echoes, Luigi's Mansion, Wario World/Ware Inc., Pokemon Colosseum/XD/Channel, Chibi Robo, Eternal Darkness, Geist, Odama and more. I'd be ecstatic to see this kind of output this gen.
 

watershed

Banned
Ahaha.

Every last one of my gamer friends picked up Lego this week and we text the hell out of each talking about how fun it is.

You cray.

I was watching some extended gameplay from Lego City yesterday and it looks pretty fun. But was there anything in your experience with the game that made you feel like it was a "next-gen" or even fresh experience? Something that hasn't been done before or can't be done on other consoles?

Nothing about the Wii U outside of Miiverse has impressed me in that respect yet. I'm waiting for some game to jump out at me as a really fun and fresh experience but I'm not seeing it.
 

Jachaos

Member
I was watching some extended gameplay from Lego City yesterday and it looks pretty fun. But was there anything in your experience with the game that made you feel like it was a "next-gen" or even fresh experience? Something that hasn't been done before or can't be done on other consoles?

Nothing about the Wii U outside of Miiverse has impressed me in that respect yet. I'm waiting for some game to jump out at me as a really fun and fresh experience but I'm not seeing it.

I'll add to the conversation and say I've only played a few minutes in Lego this morning so can't comment about that, but playing Asassin's Creed online in bed before going to sleep felt next-gen. Zombi U feels like a fresh experience and most importantly Nintendoland felt next-gen. And I think it's about time we start referring to gens as not just ''next-gen as the one single next generation''. If we're talking time-based, ok sure we can still do that. But Nintendo's going to follow its own ''gen'' as defined by gamers just like mobile games are following their own and PS4 will follow its own path as well. I'll be enjoying all three of these as someone who likes games should.

There can be completely different ''generations'' in painting, in cinema, in music, overlapping one another. If there is a blockbuster competitive action game coming out doesn't mean it should detract from the fun I'll get from another game like Pikmin 3 or Metroid Prime which have more single-player atmospheres and focus more on gameplay, or from a philosophical experience like Journey. It seems only in games can a single ''gen'' or ''current'' exist and if you're not following the medium/art/industry-wide trend, you're an afterthought.
 

hokahey

Member
I was watching some extended gameplay from Lego City yesterday and it looks pretty fun. But was there anything in your experience with the game that made you feel like it was a "next-gen" or even fresh experience? Something that hasn't been done before or can't be done on other consoles?

Nothing about the Wii U outside of Miiverse has impressed me in that respect yet. I'm waiting for some game to jump out at me as a really fun and fresh experience but I'm not seeing it.

Oh hell yeah. The game pad features are a lot of fun. In fact, I kept remarking just how cool they were while playing. Scanning for crooks, answering calls, etc. Very neat and an experience found nowhere else.
 

evanmisha

Member
Anybody who is happy with their Wii U purchase should be applauded.

image.php
 
Do some of you guys seriously think they'll price cut?!?!?! A cut is permanent but game droughts aren't.

They need to appease retailers of course, but they need to do that by showing them the games that are coming soon and how the platform intends to unfold and more importantly, be marketted.

Nintendo just must, MUST, M U S T be holding off until FYE or some sort of date to kick things into gear because it's so damned hard to fathom why they have done what they've done.
Why is it so hard to fathom that Nintendo aren't infallible?
 
Do some of you guys seriously think they'll price cut?!?!?! A cut is permanent but game droughts aren't.

They need to appease retailers of course, but they need to do that by showing them the games that are coming soon and how the platform intends to unfold and more importantly, be marketted.

Nintendo just must, MUST, M U S T be holding off until FYE or some sort of date to kick things into gear because it's so damned hard to fathom why they have done what they've done.

This is Nintendo's first console where HD assets and a HD production pipeline are actually being used.

The very first time. From ~1999 until ~2010, when they started developing Wii U games, Nintendo could just allocate a Gamecube-sized budget to work on a project with Gamecube assets. The GameCube, the Wii, and the 3DS were all built on this notion. Naturally, the work flow for a Nintendo-developed 3DS game is much, much smoother than a Wii U game. NSMB:U and Nintendo Land stumbled out of the gate as representatives of "Nintendo in the next gen." Their graphics were definitively underwhelming. Why? Well...

Lots of Nintendo staff (many of whom have been working at the company for decades), have probably never had experience working with HD development. As you can imagine, this creates a good deal of development problems. Nintendo needs a bunch of new staff. Now they need a new building. Now they need to develop synergy with the old workers. Now the teams get bloated and everything starts to go a bit awry. Now Nintendo can't find enough staff to work on their projects. Now Nintendo combines studios and teams to push out a Wii U title with a much larger budget than they're used to. Now Nintendo struggles to develop more games because they still have a 3DS to support. Now the Wii U struggles because there isn't enough games. Now Nintendo starts losing money.

It's just a world of headaches in the land of Nintendo. Disappointing quarters / FYs can only deepen them.

Really, Nintendo is just ill-equipped to handle the HD gen. They would have been better off with portables...at least with portables you can develop Gamecube-level assets in perpetuity.

MAYBE...Nintendo doesn't have anything. I wouldn't put it past them to be SO unprepared for the current gen that their E3 dramatically underwhelms.
 

onipex

Member
Wouldn't this just make them rush their games?
This should hopefully make Nintendo partner up and start developing more games.

I think if they were going to rush games pikmin would have a release date already. I hope they get their act together as far as launches go. They did the same thing with the DS and 3DS launches so they are not learning.
 

watershed

Banned
I'll add to the conversation and say I've only played a few minutes in Lego this morning so can't comment about that, but playing Asassin's Creed online in bed before going to sleep felt next-gen. Zombi U feels like a fresh experience and most importantly Nintendoland felt next-gen. And I think it's about time we start referring to gens as not just ''next-gen as the one single next generation''. If we're talking time-based, ok sure we can still do that. But Nintendo's going to follow its own ''gen'' as defined by gamers just like mobile games are following their own and PS4 will follow its own path as well. I'll be enjoying all three of these as someone who likes games should.

There can be completely different ''generations'' in painting, in cinema, in music, overlapping one another. If there is a blockbuster competitive action game coming out doesn't mean it should detract from the fun I'll get from another game like Pikmin 3 or Metroid Prime which have more single-player atmospheres and focus more on gameplay, or from a philosophical experience like Journey. It seems only in games can a single ''gen'' or ''current'' exist and if you're not following the medium/art/industry-wide trend, you're an afterthought.
I'm not concerned much by how we define "next-gen" or "generations". I'm only interested in whether the hardware or software provide fresh experiences. Before I buy a handheld or console I want something about the games or features it has to feel new and fun, like I've never played a game like this before. Even though I own and 3ds I feel like it has largely failed in this respect and I haven't been sold on the Wii U in this respect yet either. Miiverse looks to be the biggest innovation or just new experience that the Wii U provides. Zombi U looks fun and I like what I've seen from Lego City but neither have sold me on the hardware yet.
 

AzaK

Member
My guess about what this new UK strategy is a new bundle with a game + some kind of voucher for their online network shop. This is along with the $50 cut. So the premium with Nintendoland and Mario, and the basic with Mario or something.

If that's their strategy they're fucked. What they need to do is show retailers that they have shittonnes of games coming and show them their upcoming advertisements.
 
I'd like to know why Nintendo took such a left turn with the Wii U. They made their bed and bank with motion controls on the Wii.. it was an innovative way to play.. why not keep going in that direction with the Wii 2... Nintendo's an innovator, I'm sure they could have come up with something new and innovative. Something to call a worthy successor to the Wiimote and nunchuck controls.

Instead they went with a tablet... I assume thinking that the dual screen nature would entice people and developers like the DS had before it. I just think its short of the mark. I don't think it's innovative enough. I don't think it's going to add much to gameplay... it's basically a 300/350 dollar HD triplet with no games and once the new Xbox and Ps4 come out third party support will completely dry up.. it's just not powerful enough for downports..

The Wii U is between a rock and a hard place.. perhaps it will pick up with some first party games but it's going to need something big to happen to shake it out of this funk. They need to find a groundbreaking way of using the gampad for something...

Good luck Nintendo.
 

watershed

Banned
I'd like to know why Nintendo took such a left turn with the Wii U. They made their bed and bank with motion controls on the Wii.. it was an innovative way to play.. why not keep going in that direction with the Wii 2... Nintendo's an innovator, I'm sure they could have come up with something new and innovative. Something to call a worthy successor to the Wiimote and nunchuck controls.

Instead they went with a tablet... I assume thinking that the dual screen nature would entice people and developers like the DS had before it. I just think its short of the mark. I don't think it's innovative enough. I don't think it's going to add much to gameplay... it's basically a 300/350 dollar HD triplet with no games and once the new Xbox and Ps4 come out third party support will completely dry up.. it's just not powerful enough for downports..

The Wii U is between a rock and a hard place.. perhaps it will pick up with some first party games but it's going to need something big to happen to shake it out of this funk. They need to find a groundbreaking way of using the gampad for something...

Good luck Nintendo.

Well I think it has to do with how far in advance they had the Wii U planned. IIRC, they started fooling around with the tablet controller soon after the Wii launched and the ds had already started seeing major success. At the time I'm sure it was a brilliant idea that generated a lot of excitement inside Nintendo. But fast forward all these years later and it doesn't seem all that exciting anymore thanks to tablets, and the ds and 3ds both having 2nd screens already. I think it started out as an exciting idea and released as rather boring hardware.
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
I'd like to know why Nintendo took such a left turn with the Wii U. They made their bed and bank with motion controls on the Wii.. it was an innovative way to play.. why not keep going in that direction with the Wii 2... Nintendo's an innovator, I'm sure they could have come up with something new and innovative. Something to call a worthy successor to the Wiimote and nunchuck controls.

Instead they went with a tablet... I assume thinking that the dual screen nature would entice people and developers like the DS had before it. I just think its short of the mark. I don't think it's innovative enough. I don't think it's going to add much to gameplay... it's basically a 300/350 dollar HD triplet with no games and once the new Xbox and Ps4 come out third party support will completely dry up.. it's just not powerful enough for downports..

The Wii U is between a rock and a hard place.. perhaps it will pick up with some first party games but it's going to need something big to happen to shake it out of this funk. They need to find a groundbreaking way of using the gampad for something...

Good luck Nintendo.
Both of their current generation gimmicks (3D/tablet) haven't worked.

At this point they should have just went with a traditional console. I mean, it's not like they've made anything outside of NintendoLand which shows off the benefits of the tablet. Why does it exist in its current form?
 

Sandfox

Member
Both of their current generation gimmicks (3D/tablet) haven't worked.

At this point they should have just went with a traditional console. I mean, it's not like they've made anything outside of NintendoLand which shows off the benefits of the tablet. Why does it exist in its current form?

We know that they are working on games that take advantage of the controller.
 
Both of their current generation gimmicks (3D/tablet) haven't worked.

At this point they should have just went with a traditional console. I mean, it's not like they've made anything outside of NintendoLand which shows off the benefits of the tablet. Why does it exist in its current form?

The thing is...the GameCube, outside of some quirks, was a traditional console. And it flopped miserably in the market compared to the PS2 behemoth.
If Nintendo can't make a successful gimmick console anymore, or a successful traditional home console....where else can they go in the home console industry but out?
 

Uhyve

Member
Do some of you guys seriously think they'll price cut?!?!?! A cut is permanent but game droughts aren't.

They need to appease retailers of course, but they need to do that by showing them the games that are coming soon and how the platform intends to unfold and more importantly, be marketted.

Nintendo just must, MUST, M U S T be holding off until FYE or some sort of date to kick things into gear because it's so damned hard to fathom why they have done what they've done.
I think it's a very real possibility, Nintendo needs to have established a solid foothold before Sony and Microsoft release their next gen offerings, or Nintendo will be in some serious trouble. An official, well advertised price cut could help enormously.

/DOOOOM

It's time for Nintendo to use their ultimate trump card, a full blown Pokemon RPG for the WiiU. Only thing that they can save the system.
This would work for me...
 

zoukka

Member
At this point they just need to make the platform desireable. Be it a killer-app game, new OS features, revamped online service or whatever. The price is not the issue at all.
 

watershed

Banned
Both of their current generation gimmicks (3D/tablet) haven't worked.

At this point they should have just went with a traditional console. I mean, it's not like they've made anything outside of NintendoLand which shows off the benefits of the tablet. Why does it exist in its current form?

I agree that both of their newest gimmicks have failed but it has been for different reasons. 3D I think was genuinely exciting as a proposition but it just failed so poorly in execution. The autostereoscopic tech just isn't there yet. The issues with crosstalk, limited viewing angle, etc really held the 3ds back and caused a lot of negative first impressions. Had the tech been more solid I think consumers would have responded better even with the initially inflated price of the 3ds.

The Wii U tablet on the other hand is just an old hat at this point and Nintendo hasn't made any software to really sell the feature as new and innovative.
 

Uhyve

Member
At this point they just need to make the platform desireable. Be it a killer-app game, new OS features, revamped online service or whatever. The price is not the issue at all.
Unfortunately, that isn't the sort of thing that they can just pull out of the hat without months and months of work. They can make announcements but the average consumer doesn't hear/care about that sort of thing.

While I don't think that price is an issue, a low price can be a selling point, especially if the other next gen offerings are released at a much higher price. It's also the sort of thing that they don't have to spend countless man hours on, and with proper advertising, it's the sort of thing that consumers care about.
 

madmackem

Member
Just being on the highstreet, talking to people, watching the media response, and just the overall feeling i dont know how they comeback from this. Wiiu feels doa and i just cant see it coming back in peoples minds, i really think they are looking at gamecube levels here even with a strong price cut and some good software, the cube was hella cheap and had some really good games but it went nowhere.
 

Alebrije

Member
Just being on the highstreet, talking to people, watching the media response, and just the overall feeling i dont know how they comeback from this. Wiiu feels doa and i just cant see it coming back in peoples minds, i really think they are looking at gamecube levels here even with a strong price cut and some good software, the cube was hella cheap and had some really good games but it went nowhere.

So much premature to think WiiU will have the same fate that Cube had. Is true the sales are poor but Nintendo has this year to "fix" it. To boost sales they need to relaese key games this year. If Nintendo sucks at E3 and do not offer something soon I guess waht you say could be a real scenario
 

ikioi

Banned
Can everyone please stop calling the Wii U the next Gamecube!

It's insulting to the Gamecube to be associated with the Wi U!

I'd take the Gamecube any day over this piece of shit. Anyone want to buy my Wii U?
 
Can everyone please stop calling the Wii U the next Gamecube!

It's insulting to the Gamecube to be associated with the Wi U!

I'd take the Gamecube any day over this piece of shit. Anyone want to buy my Wii U?

FY 2013 Wii U 1st-party titles in North America (from November launch until March 31st):

Wii U Nintendo Land 11/18/12 North America
Wii U SiNG Party 11/18/12 North America
Wii U New Super Mario Bros. U 11/18/12 North America
Wii U LEGO City Undercover 03/18/13 North America

FY 2002 GameCube 1st-party titles in North America (from November launch until March 31st):

GameCube Luigi's Mansion 11/17/01 North America
GameCube Wave Race: Blue Storm 11/17/01 North America
GameCube Pikmin 12/02/01 North America
GameCube Super Smash Bros. Melee 12/02/01 North America
GameCube NBA Courtside 2002 01/13/02 North America

One launch window lineup is distinctly more robust than the other.
 

AzaK

Member
Nintendo has simply made the same launch mistakes it's made with the 3DS.

And they were promising us and investors that they wouldn't make the mistakes with the Wii U. They were full of it and pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.
 
Just being on the highstreet, talking to people, watching the media response, and just the overall feeling i dont know how they comeback from this. Wiiu feels doa and i just cant see it coming back in peoples minds, i really think they are looking at gamecube levels here even with a strong price cut and some good software, the cube was hella cheap and had some really good games but it went nowhere.

It's still early days, too early to say it will have the same fate as the gamecube.

New mario kart
New smash bros
New Zelda
New pokemon
bayonetta 2

The hype is dead now but I think a revival is possible, it just depends on the games and the way they are marketed.
 

TheNatural

My Member!
FY 2013 Wii U 1st-party titles in North America (from November launch until March 31st):

Wii U Nintendo Land 11/18/12 North America
Wii U SiNG Party 11/18/12 North America
Wii U New Super Mario Bros. U 11/18/12 North America
Wii U LEGO City Undercover 03/18/13 North America

FY 2002 GameCube 1st-party titles in North America (from November launch until March 31st):

GameCube Luigi's Mansion 11/17/01 North America
GameCube Wave Race: Blue Storm 11/17/01 North America
GameCube Pikmin 12/02/01 North America
GameCube Super Smash Bros. Melee 12/02/01 North America
GameCube NBA Courtside 2002 01/13/02 North America

One launch window lineup is distinctly more robust than the other.

This is Nintendo's first console where HD assets and a HD production pipeline are actually being used.

The very first time. From ~1999 until ~2010, when they started developing Wii U games, Nintendo could just allocate a Gamecube-sized budget to work on a project with Gamecube assets. The GameCube, the Wii, and the 3DS were all built on this notion. Naturally, the work flow for a Nintendo-developed 3DS game is much, much smoother than a Wii U game. NSMB:U and Nintendo Land stumbled out of the gate as representatives of "Nintendo in the next gen." Their graphics were definitively underwhelming. Why? Well...

Lots of Nintendo staff (many of whom have been working at the company for decades), have probably never had experience working with HD development. As you can imagine, this creates a good deal of development problems. Nintendo needs a bunch of new staff. Now they need a new building. Now they need to develop synergy with the old workers. Now the teams get bloated and everything starts to go a bit awry. Now Nintendo can't find enough staff to work on their projects. Now Nintendo combines studios and teams to push out a Wii U title with a much larger budget than they're used to. Now Nintendo struggles to develop more games because they still have a 3DS to support. Now the Wii U struggles because there isn't enough games. Now Nintendo starts losing money.

It's just a world of headaches in the land of Nintendo. Disappointing quarters / FYs can only deepen them.

Really, Nintendo is just ill-equipped to handle the HD gen. They would have been better off with portables...at least with portables you can develop Gamecube-level assets in perpetuity.

MAYBE...Nintendo doesn't have anything. I wouldn't put it past them to be SO unprepared for the current gen that their E3 dramatically underwhelms.

Good posts. I thought Gamecube had a great launch, even though sales wise it was poor, and it just goes to show that *just* a core Nintendo lineup with no casuals or hardcore can't sustain itself as a market leader.

Everyone knew from day one that Wii was a phenom they hit the right notes on that would go above and beyond just a Nintendo audience. And here we are four months later with Wii U, with things only getting worse, the writing is on the wall that it's going to be very similar to Gamecube.
 

troushers

Member
Advertising what? Pikmin 3, Game & Wario? Maybe they have truly wild expectations for Wii Fit U to somehow recapture the same exact market with the same thing again but now you can see your fat arse's kilo weight numbers displayed in HD?

You really think that's going to be the major upgrade to Wii Fit? You have a separate screen, a microphone, an upcoming community update - I have to assume they're going all in with partnerships with weightwatchers groups / group weight and fitness tracking with friends, and will advertise the shit out of it.
 

madmackem

Member
So much premature to think WiiU will have the same fate that Cube had. Is true the sales are poor but Nintendo has this year to "fix" it. To boost sales they need to relaese key games this year. If Nintendo sucks at E3 and do not offer something soon I guess waht you say could be a real scenario

Its the overall feeling having been in and around it all, its really in trouble here. No one seems to want it, they had a period of time to push it but now we are months away from at least one other console plus nintendo as a brand has been really struggling here this isnt just wii u faults its the whole nintendo brand thats taken a battering and just dont know if they can right that even with price cuts and software.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
And people said the Wii U should have been stronger. I'm sure that extra power would have helped Nintendo with the development times. Pikmin 3 would probably be out by 2016.

Higher performance does not mean you have to push for the most complex and novel rendering techniques known to man and wreak havoc to your existing content pipeline.

Having tons of easily accessible processing power, lots of fast memory, etc... helps you, it does not harm you. It means you have to spend less time experimenting with the HW and optimize your code and assets just to get acceptable performance and start prototyping your concept. Some developer start with a PC reference engine for that very reason.
 
So much premature to think WiiU will have the same fate that Cube had. Is true the sales are poor but Nintendo has this year to "fix" it. To boost sales they need to relaese key games this year. If Nintendo sucks at E3 and do not offer something soon I guess waht you say could be a real scenario

The narrative that the WiiU is going to be saved from gamecube levels by all the same games that released on the gamecube is an interesting one.
 

AZ Greg

Member
The narrative that the WiiU is going to be saved from gamecube levels by all the same games that released on the gamecube is an interesting one.

Yup, that is the most baffling thing I continue to read in these threads. It is up there with "DS/3DS started slow too!"
 
Lot of defensive people acting like they are offended by someones observation. Acting like they are being victimised because someone on GAF points out that there may be some qualities and traits to the Nintendo faithful. I think you've just got to grow up and deal with it instead of trying to expect the board to be some extension of your personality. GAF I'd a multi platform board. Every time nintendo makes a mistake the goal posts get shifted, things are explained not excused anf I don't really know what my point was other than I wish everyone could take themselves out of the argument and try to see things more objectively, less of an attack all round. Right now there seems to be a lot of tit for tat.
 

javac

Member
Yup, that is the most baffling thing I continue to read in these threads. It is up there with "DS/3DS started slow too!"

So if it's inevitable that the Wii U is gonna sell like crap why even argue? Just sit back and relax and watch fate play out instead of getting your panties in a twist. Or do you get a kick out of correcting people with your all seeing eye?
 
The narrative that the WiiU is going to be saved from gamecube levels by all the same games that released on the gamecube is an interesting one.
I'm still willing to believe there's a degree of merit in the idea that there's been some broadening of appeal due to the success of the Wii. But I think it's definitely overstated by some (in itself, it may not be enough to spur a purchase from a broader audience and may simply continue to sell to the Nintendo faithful already buying the system), and the extent to which Nintendo let that appeal evaporate due to inactivity is unknown.

A new generation of children were presumably introduced to Mario Kart on the Wii. (Although, I guess it's also worth noting it's been ~5 years since Mario Kart Wii, a 10 year old in 2008 will be 15 this year; their interests may have shifted towards games like COD.)
 

HunkyDory

Neo Member
As others have already pointed out, lowering the price isn't going to have much of an impact unless there's software to grab people's interest.

Games like Pikmin and Wonderful 101 may not be ready yet, but I think that Nintendo could improve the situation by at least telling us when they'll be released. Games like Lego and Monster Hunter may not be enough to move systems on their own, but if people are interested in these games then they may be more likely to buy the system now if they know that the next big Nintendo release is only two months away. Rayman would have obviously helped a lot too.

Nintendo's continued silence with regard to their release schedule doesn't exactly inspire confidence in people who are interested in getting a Wii U. The fact that they didn't manage to get Pikmin out of the door on time - and it doesn't look as though it's coming any time soon - makes me wonder about the games that they had planned to release later in the year. If they can't deliver Pikmin on time, why should we think that they can have a new Mario or Mario Kart in time for Christmas?
 
Lot of defensive people acting like they are offended by someones observation. Acting like they are being victimised because someone on GAF points out that there may be some qualities and traits to the Nintendo faithful. I think you've just got to grow up and deal with it instead of trying to expect the board to be some extension of your personality. GAF I'd a multi platform board. Every time nintendo makes a mistake the goal posts get shifted, things are explained not excused anf I don't really know what my point was other than I wish everyone could take themselves out of the argument and try to see things more objectively, less of an attack all round. Right now there seems to be a lot of tit for tat.

You avatar mean Wii U is like Dreamcast? No way, Dreamcast had games, a lot of good games and something like internet connection who set the Sega last console apart from the competition.
 

Mael

Member
Yup, that is the most baffling thing I continue to read in these threads. It is up there with "DS/3DS started slow too!"
Funny 1 year or so ago some were correcting people saying "DS started slow too".
Funny how that played out...
 

Celine

Member
I'm still willing to believe there's a degree of merit in the idea that there's been some broadening of appeal due to the success of the Wii. But I think it's definitely overstated by some (in itself, it may not be enough to spur a purchase from a broader audience and may simply continue to sell to the Nintendo faithful already buying the system), and the extent to which Nintendo let that appeal evaporate due to inactivity is unknown.

A new generation of children were presumably introduced to Mario Kart on the Wii. (Although, I guess it's also worth noting it's been ~5 years since Mario Kart Wii, a 10 year old in 2008 will be 15 this year; their interests may have shifted towards games like COD.)
I agree.
Although the main difference with the GC is the timing.
WiiU wasn't released when a competitor got already the ball running and proceeded to steamrolling the rivals.
 

HunkyDory

Neo Member
I'm still willing to believe there's a degree of merit in the idea that there's been some broadening of appeal due to the success of the Wii. But I think it's definitely overstated by some (in itself, it may not be enough to spur a purchase from a broader audience and may simply continue to sell to the Nintendo faithful already buying the system), and the extent to which Nintendo let that appeal evaporate due to inactivity is unknown.

A new generation of children were presumably introduced to Mario Kart on the Wii. (Although, I guess it's also worth noting it's been ~5 years since Mario Kart Wii, a 10 year old in 2008 will be 15 this year; their interests may have shifted towards games like COD.)

Exactly - this is why I think that games like Mario Kart will do more for the Wii U than they did for the Gamecube.
 
You could see this coming a million miles away. This was never going to be the Wii again. Everything about it, even the market confusion about what the Wii U even was was nothing short of a disaster.

Yea this is pretty sad.

I'm a HUGE Nintendo fan but just can't justify the price right now with the lack of software and the hiccups with the OS. Was burned with the 3DS when it came out, even though I didn't mind it because I loved my ambassador games haha.

Hopefully by E3 Nintendo gets their shit together and they get some momentum.

I'll definitely be getting one when they announce price cut on the Deluxe set.
 
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