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What, so far, do you think is the main reason that the Wii U went to shit?

D

dmr87

Member
Awful name, causing confusion among the uninformed masses? No games/no 'killer' launch game? Bad pricing? Bad launch timing?
Probably a combination of them all, no serious big title ready for launch, launched too late/hardware already outdated. The list goes on, I'm sure you people can add more.

And I just can't get over the name, so fucking dumb. Just call it the Wii 2, or the Super Wii as a nod to the past.

I also had a friend over a few days ago, he had no idea what the Wii U was or when it came out, and before I showed him the console he thought that the tablet controller was the console. He at least plays titles like Skyrim, Battlefield and Fallout 3.

I know, another Wii U is shit thread, lock it down if necessary.

edit - Also, I should add that the same friend has even pre-ordered a PS4.
 
S

slick7rick

Member
horrible name that says nothing about the system. no games. lack of third party support (compared to 360/PS3). subpar gamepad screen. wii fad dying. casuals moving on. no marketing. etc.
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
Price vs. Power. I love Nintendo consoles but I don't think that current-gen power & the GamePad warranted a $300-350 price point. Ill probably bite at $250 with a few big games like Mario 3D World, DKC Tropical Freeze, and Smash.
 
D

DICKS AHOY

Banned
Terrible marketing first and foremost. While there's a lot of other factors into the system's failure thus-far, I've met a ton of people who had a Wii and were completely unaware the Wii U existed, and quite a few I'd consider more than just casual gamers. After that there were a few who assumed it was just an accessory for the Wii, though that tended to just be a few friend's parents.

The name and logo is confusing as ever, but for most scenarios it seemed like it never even got far enough for potential customers to even get that far. The system needs a major rebranding and relaunch if it continues to hover around the 4/5 million sales mark after Mario Kart 8.

While still not a success, I think the console would at least be selling around how the GCN was at this point if it had more effective/existent marketing and a clearer name.
 
C

Ceebs

Member
Lack of games, price, no wow factor for people on the fence, and terrible word of mouth among hardcore with the firmware updates and poor performance of ports.
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
No games. It sold 3 million at launch with a relatively solid lineup, not counting all the late overpriced ports.

What incentive do people have to buy a system if it has no games worth playing?
 
Duxxy3

Duxxy3

Member
There is no main reason, it's a collection of reasons.

Price
Low specs
No games
Bad name
Bad marketing
Way too late

It's the perfect storm of shit.
 
W

weekend_warrior

Banned
  • Too expensive because of a tablet controller that nobody has figured out how to make worthy of the extra cost.
  • Took weak to be considered "next-gen", so it's not getting most of those multi-platform games, and too unknown and small a userbase for devs to port most current gen games over either. Ergo- no games.
 
1

1.21Gigawatts

Banned
Higher price than Ps360. Not more powerful than Ps360. No/redundant 3rd party support.
Minimal 1st party support. WiiU Pad is a bad concept. Confusing name. Bad marketing.
 
T

TheBlueBomber

Member
It's not that it's "shit" (i have one and i actually like it and am excited for games coming out) it just got off to an awful start because of the whole no games business
 
A

A Sentient Keyboard

Member
I think the Wii U's weak performance is mostly a consequence of a 'death of a thousand cuts' scenario, with the poor marketing, the relatively high price, and the confusing name all playing a role. The biggest factor though is the lack of system sellers at launch - a drought that has continued through it's first year. There are a lot of Wii U games worth picking up should you own a Wii U already, but there are little to no games that can justify actually buying a Wii U for them.

It also seems like Nintendo has overestimated the leverage that the 'Wii' brand has, and may have been relying on it to help carry sales during the Wii U's first year. The Wii was a worldwide phenomenon even under non-gamers, but a good part of it's userbase burned out on the system after a few years and has not come back to pick up the Wii U.

Well, that's my amateur analysis anyway.
 
D

Dragonborn

Member
The name and price. Had they dropped the gamepad and just released an HD Wii 2 with full BC (like the wii u has) at $250/maybe $299 I think it would have done much better

They could have used some Wii would like to play, two ads or something
 
B

bluehat9

Member
Name and system design that looks almost identical to the old wii and basically no advertising stating that it was a new system. So many people thought it was just an add-on it wasn't funny.

Price really didn't do them any favors either.
 
L

Lasdrub

Member
One hundred dollars too much. Nintendo thinks the tablet is worth those hundred dollars, but nobody else does. Something the power of the PS3 should cost around the same. That, and a lack of games.
 
S

sk3

Banned
Never gave consumers a reason to buy it. No advancements over competing systems (PS3/360) and no "killer apps" that use the unique tech.

Nintendo released a console and keeps making the same exact games they made for the Wii. That's not gonna cut it.
 
T

The Grim Heaper

Member
Going to echo everyone else.

The very obvious lack of games, confusing name to consumers, underpowered compared to tech launching in another year or so(back when the WiiU launched), and just overall seems like the first "gimmick" they could come up with they put out. They tried to release the gamepad to stick out from the competition but it doesn't seem to be helping them. They need to either rethink it entirely, or get many more publishers and developers on-board.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
No mega games in the launch window is a huge problem...

...but I can't help but think about the name. The casual gamers are totally over the Wii, and the core games never had a great relationship to it. That means its the kind of name that goes in one ear and out the other.

All things being the same, if this thing had a totally new brand name, you would at least have the effect of people saying "what is that?" Which is better than the eyes glazing over effect that you'd get from yet another add-on to 2006's hottest fad.

The irony is that Nintendo thought they were cashing in by reusing the Wii name.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
A tablet has no novelty in 2012. Especially one that looks like it was made by Fisher Price, has no app ecosystem, and is tethered to a console. Nintendo banked on the wrong gimmick.

Yes the marketing was shit and the name was a dumb idea, but I honestly don't think it would have mattered. Even when people find out what the Wii U is, they still don't give a shit.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
Nintendo.

They just didn't know what to do with it and waited too long to release it. They didn't know how to advertise it so people still think it's a Wii accessory. They don't know how to handle modern (and by modern I mean shit that started in 2005/2006) online and OS features. They don't know how to stop relying on the same IPs and even games now, like most people probably couldn't tell the difference between NSMB Wii and NSMBU. They don't know how to make 3rd parties, the driving force of the industry, happy. They completely screwed up the virtual console with this slow drip of releases even though they're already all on Wii.

They really let themselves fall into a hell of a mess.
 
H

hwy_61

Banned
It should've come out this year. Now how in the hell is it suppose to gain any sort of relevance whatsoever??
 
JordanN

JordanN

Banned
The idea.

3 years ago, this is how Nintendo revealed the console (or lack of).
zW8G6jy.jpg


What was the goal of the console? Was it meant for core/casual? What was going to happen to the third party situation? How about Nintendo's first party on the machine? It was all a mystery for so long.
 
S

Sir Ilpalazzo

Member
It doesn't appeal to anyone. The gimmick isn't enough to grab non-gamers (plus it may have been too expensive, and it doesn't have the power to directly compete with the PS4 and Xbox One, so it can't grab the regular gaming market either.
 
B

bomblord

Banned
The reason the wiiU did bad is because it didn't compete spec wise with the PS4 and xbox one while also keeping a $200 price tag whilst also having a marketing budget that would rival companies 3x their size.

If they only would have spent all their money on marketing and sold the console at a $200 loss per console Nintendo would be doing fine right now.

Also, they should have ditched the tablet controller because the less they have to differentiate themselves from their identical competition, whose businesses marketing departments and ability to take a loss on consoles is obviously the exact same, the better.

Don't even get me started on how much money they should have payed third party developers to get timed exclusives.

Nintendo needs to really get their crap together otherwise they'll never be hemorrhaging money as well as Sony and Microsoft.
 
T

tipoo

Banned
Games, price, power, in that order. Well, one of price or power could be knocked off that list if it was proportional, but the thing is 50 dollars less than the PS4 for fricks sake.
 
G

Ghost_Protocol

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
A tablet has no novelty in 2012. Especially one that looks like it was made by Fisher Price, has no app ecosystem, and is tethered to a console. Nintendo banked on the wrong gimmick.

Yes the marketing was shit and the name was a dumb idea, but I honestly don't think it would have mattered. Even when people find out what the Wii U is, they still don't give a shit.
Click to expand...


So much this. I still cannot believe how cheap that thing looks and feels.
 
C

colt45joe

Banned
my first impressions: graphics are not going to be that much of an upgrade. so im not interested. and so many other annoying things that nintendo does.

so, im only interested in it as much as i was interested in n64, gamecube and wii..
for the few good games that it will have.
 
J

jgmo870

Banned
The core concept isn't nearly as gripping as motion gaming was when the Wii released and the price is too high.
 
G

Guevara

Member
Undesirable hardware and overpriced. Initially (the first year) people buy consoles based on potential. Look at the demand for the PS4; is that really all driven by launch titles? I'd say no.
 
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