NES, Super Nintendo, N64, Gamecube, and Wii were successful consoles and practically had the most successful launch until a year ago. The Wii U has proven to be Nintendo's failure ever since the launch and throughout the months, sales has not improve. In a way, this was Nintendo's fault for letting this happen and having low sales on a next gen console that supposed to be revolutionary. In retrospect, Wii U could been successful. It could have high sales. The only problem is Nintendo didn't see it nor oblivious to the fact that Wii U is really a better console after all. Nintendo has many advantages in the console wars against the 360 and PS3 from exclusives down to functionality.
The obvious advantage Nintendo has over the two giants were first party games. Nintendo is notorious of exclusive games while Xbox had small exclusive games and Playstation 3 had only a few like Uncharted to name the least. If you want play Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Pokémon, Yoshi Island, or even the cute pink ball, Kirby, you have to have a Nintendo console. It's either that or not play Mario at all. That was the major advantage Nintendo had but didn't utilize it. When Wii U launched, the launch games were games that anybody can get with a 360 or PS3 with just $60 dollars or less. Like I written in the last blog, why spend $350 dollars on a console and $60 dollar game while I can save $400 dollars by buying the same games on a console I already own. How did the Wii made money? It had good launch games. First Party games make launch consoles successful, not the other way around as Nintendo did for the Wii U. Pikmin was supposed to be one of the first party launch, but it was delayed for some odd reason, Nintendo decided to launch it anyway without Pikmin. If Nintendo had a huge Mario title on launch day, people would buy this console for themselves, not just for their kids.
Another meaningful advantage Nintendo has was the exclusive games itself. Have you noticed all Nintendo first party games are for everyone and the highest rating is T. Because Nintendo was known for child friendly. But, the child friendly culture that was 10 or 15 years ago have grown up and playing grown up games on Xbox and PS. Plus, the culture is different in America. Average gamers age are 22 to 35. 15 years ago, I remember eating a bowl of cereal and watch Saturday morning cartoons. Now, these kids are eating a bowl cereal and watching MTV. But all Nintendo did were releasing E rated games and ignoring the people who made them money before. Some of their exclusives can be M rated. I can see that. I can see Metroid to be M rated. Hell, Metroid can be M rated anyway. I can see Star Fox M rated. No joke, Star Fox can be M rated. I can see players play as Fox McCloud while he piloting the Arwings shooting down bogies and on the ground, Fox would shoot with all different type of arsenals like Call of Duty or Battlefield. But Nintendo didn't think outside the box. Always for the children, I think.
Nintendo always has revolutionary technology. The Wii Gamepad was extraordinary. Players can use them tv screens to view the game while using the screen on the pad for different use like getting items, looking at maps, or different functions. But this is also a major downfall because many third party games doesn't understand the technology. They just getting started on the Wii Remote until Wii U was announced. Also, while Nintendo wanted to be unique, they forgot the fact that media player on the console is really what keeps players operating on the Wii U.
With many advantages, Nintendo tend to not to see this or turn a blind eye. Nintendo had months to improve the sales. But they never did anything. Nintendo never bother going through the press conference at E3 this year to show what they can offer. But, reviewers praise them for standing out in E3 by not having a press conference. I say no! At E3, companies have to tell consumers why they should buy the product, what they can offer, and the products (i.e. games) associate with them. And now, the month of the next gen consoles is here and Nintendo is optimistic about their success or failure. They said they were glad Xbox One and Playstation 4 are releasing that Nintendo think they can bounce back. There is a fine line between optimism and stupidity and they are operating on stupidity. When these consoles release, Wii U will lose its relevance. If you're playing Xbox One and a game for Wii U arrive at stores, would you buy a Wii U? No. You will keeping playing the new console while Wii U suffers. I feel bad for Nintendo but I don't feel sorry them. These decision that they made were foolish and now, it's biting them in the ass. The only thing Nintendo has is the DS. They should stop making Wii U's and focus more on handheld. Nintendo has lost the console war and now, there is no reset button. Just jumping off the screen with a "Game Over" caption in the middle of the screen.
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