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Nintendo PMs Wii owners to buy WiiU; "Not just an upgrade".
- Thread starter Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
- Start date
Starfish Hero
Member
"Too little, too late", to me, is a silly statement to make about a something expected to be on the market for 6+ years.
Can't play gamecube games. That's a downgrade in my books.
Ninja Scooter
Member
People think it's pathetic because it's such a simple thing they could have done a year ago (or at least a few months leading up to launch) instead of waiting until the Wii U is selling about as well as a Backstreet Boys reunion CD.
Quadraphonic
Member
Alternate reality:
In October 2012, Nintendo sends out a message to all Wii owners:
1) Done in a timely manner
2) Communicates it is a new device
3) Sounds less sad. (No listing off differences that people would not even think of)
sakipon
Member
Exactly. It's getting really boring that people blame Nintendo for everything: when there's no ads, when there is ads, ads to different audiences and tastes, it's all gone wrong.
The real valid critique just drowns in the pointless noise.
The thing is: the message they're sending now would've been the perfect thing to send out the week Wii U launched.
Hey you know whats funny? saying the Wii U has no games, lets repeat it and quote said posts saying how brutal that joke is eh? I'm sure all the Sony fans get a kick out of it.
iamvin22
Industry Verified
DeviousAngel
Member
Sounds like an internet forum... Oh wait.
I'm not sure even Nintendo has this expectation at this point.
Then again, there's nothing wrong with the system itself. A killer app could turn things around.
Stripper13
Member
I can only imagine how small of an audience Nintendo is targeting that:
Still play their Wii
Still have the Wii connected to the Internet
Are active/care enough to check their Inbox
Don't know what the Wii U is already
Have a family or would be otherwise persuaded for a call to action - based on that Message
I don't necessarily think it's pathetic - given that it was near enough to free to do it, it's respectable marketing. I do however think it highlights that they severely stumbled with the name and marketing of the Wii U.
Still play their Wii
Still have the Wii connected to the Internet
Are active/care enough to check their Inbox
Don't know what the Wii U is already
Have a family or would be otherwise persuaded for a call to action - based on that Message
I don't necessarily think it's pathetic - given that it was near enough to free to do it, it's respectable marketing. I do however think it highlights that they severely stumbled with the name and marketing of the Wii U.
You paint the picture as though Nintendo goes from not doing anything to doing something great, but gets panned either way. That's not what's happening.
Not doing something (or doing it wrong) and doing it, but doing a shitty job of it aren't that dissimilar. The latter deserves no more praise than the former.
Lets take the advertising: They went from no message (the X-Factor ad) to a loud, lazy message (the recent family ads), typing "UPGRADE" in all caps in bold yellow text like their target audience is retarded. That wasn't worth commending nor was it satisfactory and neither is this.
Not sure the point of it. Everybody that plays games fairly regularly have heard about the WiiU. They might not know much about it but they know it's around. People that game as often as they go to an art gallery or a fancy restaurant probably don't even know that games aren't being made for the Wii anymore, nevermind a new console.
No, it's not. This is exactly what they need to be doing. They need to tell these a wii owners about the Wii U and that it's a brand new system, along with what makes it different. While a lot of these people won't go out and upgrade tomorrow, they'll certainly remember this message when they do go to the store and they'll at least check it out. Or remember the message when they are ready to upgrade. Damn good idea if you ask me.
These shots at this company are gettin real old guys. You can't seem to give them a break and everything they've done is wrong to all of you. I'm no fanboy but this is getting ridiculous. Give them this year to fix the mess they're in. If they're in this same spot come January then knock yourselves out. At least wait till E3 has come and gone, good grief,
Poimandres
Member
Thus far I feel the machine has bought too little to a party it was late to. I'm talking power, image, appeal, games... pretty much across the board.
I can't see it lasting 6+ years, even if Nintendo does turn the machine into a success.
Not sure I get your argument since you contradicted yourself there.
Families who use their Wii for Netflix. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't the Wii (at one point) one of Netflix's biggest ways people streamed?
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
Will I get one if I boot up my Wii U in Wii mode?
Starfish Hero
Member
If Nintendo turns it into a success, you can bet your ass it will last at least six years. Even if they can't "save" the Wii U, they will not torpedo consumer confidence by pulling the plug on it too early. That's why they sat idle while the GameCube was getting humiliated by the PS2, instead of releasing something more competitive (ie: with DVD playback and no handle).
Stripper13
Member
Oh wow, I copied Nirolak's post almost entirely.
Serves me right for not reading the thread properly.
Yes, they're terrible.
Quadraphonic
Member
PS3, actually.
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
Advertising to Nintendo owners again I see. Just like E3.
Poimandres
Member
SNES > N64 > Gamecube > Wii launches were all 5 years apart basically. Support for the machines had well and truly dried up by the time the successors launched. Why would the Wii U, which is thus far less successful than these machines, last for 6+ years?
http://www.destructoid.com/wii-is-the-most-popular-console-for-netflix-streaming-207510.phtml
Granted, this is in 2011, but the software drought was already in effect by then, so... Yeah....
At one point wii was indeed the most used... Which was his question.
Seriously, why did they name it the Wii U? Why not Wii 2, or whatever? It was blatantly obvious that the "Wii U" name wasn't going to get the point that it's a new console across.
The name, the lack of software, the lack of VC titles, the lack of general support -- did Nintendo, the company that has been in the gaming business for the longest really make these mistakes? Would it be a stretch to consider that they are sabotaging it for some reason?
The name, the lack of software, the lack of VC titles, the lack of general support -- did Nintendo, the company that has been in the gaming business for the longest really make these mistakes? Would it be a stretch to consider that they are sabotaging it for some reason?
Slower adoption, possibly. - might lead to a milking of games.
Last I checked, I was using Wiimotes in Nintendo Land and will be using them in Pikmin 3, so.... I guess the answer to your question is that they didn't?
-Plasma Reus-
Service guarantees member status
Whoever went ahead with calling it the Wii U should never be forgiven.
I always say this but the machine would have been better off if they called it the 'Nu Wii' or something similar. Nintendo should have realised they were dealing with a mass casual market that does not understand the esoteric and completely different names Nintendo uses for its machines through the generations.
Sony is in the best position when it comes to console names. Whoever suggested the leap from Playstation to Playstation 2 single handedly extended the potential of the playstation brand beyond competitors' brands.
I have no doubt Microsoft would have followed the Playstation strategy were it not for the fact that the first Xbox did not sell nearly well enough. I do think that name of the next xbox machine will be a difficult thing for Microsoft to decide.
I always say this but the machine would have been better off if they called it the 'Nu Wii' or something similar. Nintendo should have realised they were dealing with a mass casual market that does not understand the esoteric and completely different names Nintendo uses for its machines through the generations.
Sony is in the best position when it comes to console names. Whoever suggested the leap from Playstation to Playstation 2 single handedly extended the potential of the playstation brand beyond competitors' brands.
I have no doubt Microsoft would have followed the Playstation strategy were it not for the fact that the first Xbox did not sell nearly well enough. I do think that name of the next xbox machine will be a difficult thing for Microsoft to decide.
Chie Satonaka
Member
They didn't abandon it. It's still a perfectly viable control scheme for WiiU software if a developer wants to implement it, or for multiplayer games that don't require gamepads ala Nintendoland or NSMBU.
I think that a subset of "core" gamers bitching and moaning about motion controls being cancer might have had at least something to do with the direction of the gamepad. People were upset about the lack of a traditional controller.
I agree with this. The Playstation brandname is very strong. After looking back at the entire mess with advertising and brand confusion, I'm going to agree with the idea that naming the console "WiiU" probably wasn't the best idea.
Why wasn't the Xbox 360 called Xbox 2 ?
Some people (even if subconsciously ) think the number reflects power or generation e.g Xbox 2 would sound inferior to Playstation 3 so perhaps Nintendo thought wii 2 would sound inferior compared to ps4 .
On top of what everyone else said, it's even in their marketing.
D
Deleted member 74300
Unconfirmed Member
-Plasma Reus-
Service guarantees member status
By that logic the PS3 is also subconsciously more powerful than the Wii.
The truth is that the majority of the people who purchased the Wii are not the same tyoe of people that would purchase a PS3.
Nintendo clearly built this machine not to directly compete with the PS4/nextbox. Nintendo realised they had an audience that the other two did not have. But they fumbled it by not going all the way through with it and coming up with a name that would communicate better with this audience.
By comparison, Wii U is very ambiguous . Xbox 360 implied a new system, maybe thanks to its marketing or whatever, but it did it. Wii U is a very "passive" name, and it does not sound like the name of a new system.
I think the name "Wii" itself is kind of bad, though.
But wii had no number in its name at all...
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
This made me laugh way too much.
Dr_Boris_Goltz
Banned
It's the name.
Wii U is a terrible god damn name.
Wii U is a terrible god damn name.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
We are the E3 BEARS. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.
-Plasma Reus-
Service guarantees member status
True. But if you really think about it the target segments are not the same. Calling it the Wii 2 would not have affected anything due to the fact that the majority of the Wii audience views the machines as two things that aren't really comparable at all.
But with the Wii U, it's like, what is it? An upgrade? I remember a lot of us hardcore people thought the exact same thing during the reveal. And when people like us get confused even for a relative short period, something went wrong, and casual audience's confusion will increase exponentially.
I agree. I think in concept it's a great idea. But who it'll reach? I don't know. It might have been more useful 9 months previous.
The Wii also had a bunch of accessories and games that started with "Wii"
Wii nunchuck, Wii remote, Wii Zapper, Wii Balance Board, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, etc.
Not hard to look at something called Wii U and come to that conclusion
Wii nunchuck, Wii remote, Wii Zapper, Wii Balance Board, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, etc.
Not hard to look at something called Wii U and come to that conclusion