Zomba13
Member
The Wii U name absolutely caused confusion and people thought it was a controller type deal for the Wii.
Bet enough people still think it's the case.
I think you have to be completely blind or deaf or literally just live on big gaming forums to not see that stuff. Like, family members wondering where to just get the new controller without buying another Wii, people wondering why a Wii U game doesn't work in their old Wii.
People saw this from the start when they showed off the Wii U and the pad. It was a combination of the name and all the media being on the pad itself that lead most people to believe it was an expansion, a revision, a new way to play with the stuff they have.
Like, places like GAF or other gaming communities know the difference. People on places like this argue other pixels and frame rates that normal people don't even know what they are. Obviously, the name isn't the only thing that lead to shit sales but it was (is?) something that caused confusion.
The stuff about localising certain niche products I understand. Something like Captain Rainbow, while cool to try, is weird and crazy and so "Japanese" that you can understand not putting in the effort to localise it. But something like Xenoblade, this big huge high budget RPG, it seems kind of a shame and weird to want to keep it to Japan. Then again, at this point, I find it weird that there are Japan exclusive games at all (out side of anime idol moe sims and those kind of things). Like, the Japanese market is shrinking and shrinking, everyone is moving to portables and mobile. I'm no businessman but having another huge big budget game just for that small island seems like a waste of money.