The Wii U is in the drivers seat of the disappointment bus, I say this is solely Nintendo’s own damn fault.
In my eyes, the difference between Microsoft and Nintendo, two seemingly very different companies, is slim. Still, only one of them is actually making money.
Microsoft is very, well, big business; they have a goal and do whatever it takes to get there. I was going to say American, but that would be redundant…
Microsoft may be by throwing around piles of cash, using customers as stepping stones only to leave them behind or making their product hold hands with advertising and commercialization, but they accomplish what they set out to do. The people that like Microsoft don’t mind this. As for people who aren’t Microsoft fans, this is one of the reasons why.
Both Microsoft and Nintendo are similar in that they both have goals and both use their customers to achieve it. That’s fine; it’s kind of Business 101 right? Let us step outside the view of the company and ask what if the goal isn’t entirely what their customers want? Well, when you’ve sold less than 4 million consoles in a year and your current pace for sales is down to less than 700,000 units a per year, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Microsoft is also no stranger to making mistake. Yes, we’ve heard all of the hoopla regarding Microsoft and the Xbox One, so I won’t delve into detail about what the gaming community disliked about it, but one example I will use is the always online controversy. The console was originally ‘always online’ and Microsoft was about to impose their ideas on the customers, regardless of their feelings on it, but in the end they backed down. Nintendo has historically followed through with these sort of ‘progressive’ ideas.
Horrendously failed peripherals go hand in hand with Nintendo just as strongly as their legendary first-party titles. Nintendo is the whacky, HSN novelty hoarding, Japanese brother of the gaming industry. From the N64 DD to R.O.B., they’ve got a history of trashed science experiments better left in the backyard’s shed. Maybe that’s why they’re so endearing. Sure, success was found with things such as the original DS and the Wii, but this only happened after they were shoved down your throat.
Preceding the Wii, we had the famous NES Zapper, Super Scope 6, Power Glove, and many others. The garage that holds this plethora of gimmicks and crap motion controls that the R&D department once tinkered with must make Q’s laboratory look like a child’s toy chest. At least his gadgets worked.
Other examples of trial and error forced upon the populace include Wii Fit (Power Pad), 3DS (Virtual Boy), Wii Speak (LaserScope), Wii U tablet (GameCube’s GBA connector), Wii-mote fake sports equipment attachments (Speedboard) and the list goes on.
Editor’s note: The 3DS started selling like hotcakes when the games were emphasized over the 3D. I doubt that’s a coincidence.
My point is that Nintendo customers have been guinea pigs for the experiments of Nintendo time and time again.
The Wii being the ultimate example of this rehashing, many cried foul when they were first forced to hold a Wii-mote in their hands, half-intrigued and half-terrified about the future of Nintendo and gaming itself. Nintendo’s thought to make a console that relied on motion controls was a decent one and worked much better than their other ideas, but the lack of longevity and practicality for “legit” gaming ultimately has spelled the Wii’s doom.
Some may point at and argue that the Kinect and Move are a stolen product of Nintendo’s idea. Some may argue that Microsoft and Sony are cultivating the motion control idea properly as neither base an entire system around the gimmick and use it tastefully (sometimes) and when necessary (sometimes). In any case I don’t mind because they’re on a direct path towards holodecks and therefore just dandy in my book.
Now that we’ve found that forcing failed products upon consumers repeatedly works just as well as cooking a chicken by throwing it at a brick wall I would like to humbly offer some advice.
Of my two cents the more realistic approach would be to scrap the Wii U’s tablet entirely. No one uses it and only one can be played at a time per console. Lame. It’s also ridiculously expensive to produce, so why not chuck it in favor of something people do use to play games.
Substituting the Wii U tablet with two Pro Controllers would not only save Nintendo much needed mulah but it would also provide their customers with something a teensy bit more useful than a knockoff LeapPad. This in itself would allow the cost of the Wii U package to be lowered and hopefully increase sales of the console while increasing profit. Voila!
The second of my two cents suggests an ideal world where Nintendo would realize their defeat and walk back to the drawing board as the Charlie Brown version of “Christmas Time is Here” is being played.
The swift financial ass kicking they’ve been receiving should motivate them to pump out a fail-safe product, basically meaning non-jurassic era console specs and legitimate controllers. Sales of a genuine gaming console with the Nintendo badge slapped on the front would steer the boat in the right direction. The add-ons and gimmicks can be added later, but the proper foundation would be there. Keep the Wii-motes when necessary for the casual audience –okay you can keep your Wii fit pad too– but focus on the ‘gaming’ part of your ‘gaming’ console. The last step would be to not give it another horrific name and make sure people realize that it’s a new console. Then, and only then, would everyone will be happy and the world will be filled with rainbows and gummy bears.
While Nintendo is fiddling around with a new, proper console, it would behoove them to make nice with all of the developers that no longer support them –we know there are a lot of those. Bringing popularity back on your side is a simple as coming out from the shadows of 1985 and seeing what the big boys are doing today then emulating it.
Most gamers I know that have a Wii or Wii U solely purchased it for the 1st party games, which is fine (albeit they’re the same games repeatedly, but more on that later) except for the fact that the pace of customers buying two new games a year will even kill giants. Nintendo is not above death. Getting developers to once again create exclusive content for your console would do wonders. Give people a reason to buy, play and devote themselves wholly to the Nintendo brand again.
The endless rehashes of Mario partying, karting, tennis-ing, world-ing, scuba diving, rock banding, and whatever other random thing they have him doing now will not cut it down the line; it’s hardly working now. This goes for all of their other world class characters. If the words of the customer were heard we would have a mature Link in a revitalized, beautiful world that has grown up with it’s players and the sales would tell Nintendo that it was a great idea.
New IPs, new variations of Mario, Link, and other titles, as well as the support of third party developers on a legitimate console will no doubt help this failing company who has sadly lost its step. If things don’t change Nintendo will find themselves being a software company where people play their titles on a Sony or Microsoft console.
This is not Nintendo bashing, this is tough love for a company I deeply respect. Our relationship has gone from flustering school sweethearts to decent weekly movie dates, back up to a rekindled love and now we’re flailing to the point where I’m about to walk away completely because you’re a different person from the Nintendo I once knew and, quite frankly, you’re boring me.
Oh, one more thing: for the love of Talos, stop being stubborn and release an MMO Pokemon game for the consoles. Nintendo, I know you want to keep Pokemon a pure mobile game to isolate your handheld sales, but here’s some free money: use the home console to both play the game and act as the “PC” for your Pokemon library (just like in the game!) but upon leaving you sync your game with your 3DS copy and carry only your party on you. BOOM!
*Drops mic and walks out.*
