//ARCANUM
Member
True, there's a lot of untapped potential there. WarioWare and Nintendo Land were and are great times.
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I didn't realize how truly awful the Wii U reveal trailer was...
- Thread starter //ARCANUM
- Start date
True, there's a lot of untapped potential there. WarioWare and Nintendo Land were and are great times.
Trigonometrize.
Member
I just like to imagine the "Heeey, it's time to watch some baseball" is some passive-aggressive command to get off the fucking couch. Thank god for the New Controller that let's you Switch™ screens.
I like to add ZombiU has a game that shown us the potential of the Wii U as well. Going to the ports, it felt inferior to play.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
Even NSMBU, my wife is not a gamer but she could join me and help me in the levels. It was a social experience for people IMHO.
I mean, even after that, their efforts to try to market it as the successor to the Wii was terrible. Let's not forget this stupid ad:
They called it an upgrade, they once again didn't differentiate itself from its predecessor and made it seem like it was an upgrade like the iPhone 4s is to the iPhone 4. When you do that, you're saying that the Wii is "good enough" and it doesn't need replacing.
That ad was worth it because it gave the internet this one.
FloweryMarston
Member
God, rewatching it again brings back memories lol. The whole reggie speech about we and you jesus christ.
I really wonder how they managed to do that. How can the production of the Gamepad be so expensive? The streaming code I get, it was flawless. But that can't be the whole story here.
I 'member thinking back then, and even more so now, that this only made it more confusing to the casual crowd who didn't have any idea of what Miiverse or Nintendo TVii are nor were they given a reason to care if their Wii lacked them.
KratosEnergyDrink
Member
WiiU has the best console browser ever, and you surely missed many WiiU games.
TheMagician
Member
This is the funniest part...Yes, the trailer made it look like just a new controller for the Wii but they also -
- Made the Wii U console look 95% the same as the original Wii
- Called it the Wii U
- The playable demos all used Wii level graphics
Frightening.
- Made the Wii U console look 95% the same as the original Wii
- Called it the Wii U
- The playable demos all used Wii level graphics
Frightening.
Not that much of a contributor. I'd say the 3DS taking off while being sold at a considerable loss was worse.
I have to imagine it was the R&D costs really. Even so, the cost for a replacement gamepad is still too high. I really am curious as to why that is. You would think that the tech inside would have dropped in price by now.
Wow, that's worse than I remember. A lot of stuff in that trailer that never really came to anything too. I still don't understand how anyone thought it was a controller for the Wii though, in the very first bit you can see the Wii U under the tv and it's obviously not a Wii because it has curved edges. Maybe that's only obvious to the trained eye of a Nintendo fan though 
Wow, that's worse than I remember. A lot of stuff in that trailer that never really came to anything too. I still don't understand how anyone thought it was a controller for the Wii though, in the very first bit you can see the Wii U under the tv and it's obviously not a Wii because it has curved edges. Maybe that's only obvious to the trained eye of a Nintendo fan though
I mean, I'm a Nintendo fan, and I couldn't tell right away. It was only in the background and from afar it looked like a Wii.
FloweryMarston
Member
Ah yes, i forgot about that. I think the fame of DS and Wii really made them blind to their success, this happened to sony and MS too.
TheMoon
Member
OP, if you were a Joe Schmoe consumer, you would not have watched an E3 2011 reveal video (that only ever was used during the E3 stage show) for a console only released November 2012.
The reveal video was perfectly suited for illustrating to an E3 audience what this thing was. People just loved to play dumb.
The reveal video was perfectly suited for illustrating to an E3 audience what this thing was. People just loved to play dumb.
Trigonometrize.
Member
Wow, that's worse than I remember. A lot of stuff in that trailer that never really came to anything too. I still don't understand how anyone thought it was a controller for the Wii though, in the very first bit you can see the Wii U under the tv and it's obviously not a Wii because it has curved edges. Maybe that's only obvious to the trained eye of a Nintendo fan though
I remember thinking it must be just a new controller and that's probably a re-design of the Wii sitting under the TV. I mean, it's not like I was confused for more than 24 hours with the thing not coming out for another year and a half, but they could not have made it more unclear based off that trailer.
Yeah.
Hell, the 3DS, in the 8 months following the price cut sold over 12 million units at that loss. That was also the first fiscal year Nintendo ever posted a loss.
Pureauthor
Member
The reveal was so bafflingly awful that people who frequented video game message boards and knew Nintendo was going to reveal a new system was confused if Nintendo had actually revealed a new system or not.
How did no one at Nintendo realize this was stupid?
How did no one at Nintendo realize this was stupid?
FloweryMarston
Member
It's interesting how miyamoto said that zelda up until that point (2011) had up to 200 developers that worked on it through 25 years. Breath of the wild in contrast has 300 people working on it alone
I read GAF everyday. I have a podcast devoted to Nintendo. I followed all the news. But even I, after watching that reveal was not 100% sure it was a new console. I mean I figured it out pretty soon (from GAF) but as I was watching that I remember thinking "Is this it? Or is this something else and the new console will be revealed right after this trailer?"
I can't even imagine how regular people reacted to it (if they saw it at all).
Anecdotes of course but the game store near my house had to post a sign that it was a new system because they were tired of answering the same question.
People had to post stories like this because people were so confused:
That said it was only one of the problems of that totally botched launch period. Because people eventually learned what it was, they just didn't want it.
I wanted a year to jump in, and I had previously bought every Nintendo system at or near launch.
Still love the system and it's games though.
Kikorin
Member
Yes, I remember that at this trailer me and my brother thought it only was "a new controller" for the Wii.
I only didn't understand how the tech demo of Zelda worked on Wii with that graphics.
I also remember that shops put warnings that Wii U games didn't work on Wii. That was really confused for sure.
Good news for me was that, at the end, I enjoyed my Wii U a lot.
I only didn't understand how the tech demo of Zelda worked on Wii with that graphics.
I also remember that shops put warnings that Wii U games didn't work on Wii. That was really confused for sure.
Good news for me was that, at the end, I enjoyed my Wii U a lot.
show me your skeleton
Member
is that crazy ex girlfriend's darryl?!That ad was worth it because it gave the internet this one.
TheMoon
Member
All of them are available in some form or another.
as shown in the video:
New Super Mario Bros Mii -> New Super Mario Bros U
Draw on controller -> Miiverse/Art Academy Sketch Pad/Art Academy Atelier(aka Home Studio)
Go gameplay on tablet -> gameplay like that resurfaced in tabletop foosball in Wii Party U
Wii Sports Basbeall with GamePad -> Wii Sports Club Baseball
Wii Sports Golf with GamePad -> Wii Sports Club Golf
Wii Fit weigh-in using just the GamePad -> Wii Fit U
Spy game -> Game & Wario mini-game (forgot what it was called)
Shuriken throwing -> Takamaru's Ninja Castle in Nintendo Land
Video chat -> Wii U Chat
Browse Internet -> Wii U Browser, best console browser to this day
Share from GamePad to TV -> Wii U Browser curtain feature
the only thing that did not materialize was a zapper peripheral. everything else is a real thing you can buy and play.
Yeah, it was after that Zelda footage that I went "Oh, this must be the new console", but even so I was still uncertain because I also assumed that was just a CGI scripted cut scene for the purpose of demonstration.
Dawnbuster
Member
That ad was worth it because it gave the internet this one.
Well, the dad in the spot is now the gay lawyer from Crazy Ex Girlfriend. He's moved up.
silver.tongue
Member
Yeah it was awful, but if you think that was the biggest problem wiiu had, that'd be wrong.
Blimey. Not watched that in years. I remember thinking "how can anyone be confused about what it is?" But then I'm a game enthusiast who visits websites and forums. That video shows nothing that a Wii couldn't do in terms of games, constantly says 'new controller' and then shows wii accessories being used with it.
With hindsight, it's just plain awful communication and definitely attributed to the Wii Us failure.
With hindsight, it's just plain awful communication and definitely attributed to the Wii Us failure.
The biggest problem Wii U had was everything.
- Games
- Price
- Marketing
- Look
It was a gigantic mess from Top to Bottom.
Yeah, this one is one a lot of people don't bring up. Even the design of the console looked terrible. The console itself looks like a Wii console except rounded off edges and the control looks and feels like a fisher-price toy. It was not aesthetically pleasing for a device in 2012.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Yeah, I commented on this the other day in a topic comparing the Switch vs. Wii U reveal trailers:
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=229575754
Me said:
http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=229575754
Chittagong
Gold Member
Wii U really was a ghetto Switch. They couldn't fit the brains inside the controller, so they had to put it into the "dock", which meant you had always to be in the proximity of the dock to play. Switch is the concept executed properly.
PdotMichael
Banned
I still believe that the WiiU was once planned as Wii HD revision which got later branded as new console because of several delays and problems.
FlaygletheBagel
Banned
Preposterously bad. I remember watching the reveal live and being so confused by the messaging. The fact that they named it "Wii U" was the part that baffled me most. Such an awful name for something that was supposed to be the follow-up to the Wii.
The Switch has been leaps and bounds ahead of the Wii U in terms of public perception, word of mouth, proof of concept, first party support at launch, marketing, and branding.
The Switch has been leaps and bounds ahead of the Wii U in terms of public perception, word of mouth, proof of concept, first party support at launch, marketing, and branding.
Their 2012 E3 Presentation wasn't much better at all (Reggie even announced two Gamepad compatibility will be a thing in the near future) and the only Nintendo titles were Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros U. Wii Fit U and Nintendo Land.
Two of them weren't release until 2013. Compare this to Switch it's a difference between light and day.
Two of them weren't release until 2013. Compare this to Switch it's a difference between light and day.
ClayKavalier
Banned
Why the hell is that guy petting his dog over video chat?
And did the Wii U actually have that feature? Insane I owned the system for several years and didn't know.
And did the Wii U actually have that feature? Insane I owned the system for several years and didn't know.
i think the prospect of remote play being limited to "local" is what ultimately killed it. neat idea but not $300 neat
Wii U Chat, although you are forgiven that you haven't noticed it. I think most people forgot it existed like NintendoTVii
The Joycons also really add to the concept the way they become one with the screen.
Englebert3rd
Unconfirmed Member
The dog looks depressed too!