GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - Will the Wii U suffer t...

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GoNintendo 'End of Day' thought - Will the Wii U suffer the same fate as Wii?
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Exciting thing coming up. Think I can talk about it next week. MOST exciting thing I've ever done. Can't wait to share! See you in a few, short hours, my friends.


The Wii was a runaway success for Nintendo. It was even a bigger success than Nintendo predicted it would be. I don't know that we'll ever see a Nintendo console success again like the Wii was. I sure hope the Wii U turns out the same way, but it's far too early to judge that.

Of course, the future of the Wii U is going to depend on the software support that comes its way. The Wii sold itself on being a new way to play, and that idea sold to both newcomers and long-time gamers. Unfortunately, those long-time gamers became quite fed up with the Wii, due to its lack of quality third party releases. Things only got worse as the system got long in the tooth.

In comes the Wii U, which Nintendo says fixes all the problems devs had with the Wii. It has a more robust online shop, it offers HD graphics and has a controller that features buttons to support the most robust control schemes out there. From Reggie to Iwata, all of Nintendo seems to think that there's no way third parties can turn the Wii U down.

If you were with us earlier today, you may have noticed an article that detailed just how many of early 2013's big 3rd-party titles are heading to Wii U. Out of a double digit list, there were only 2 confirmed Wii U outings. That's not to say there won't be other Wii U third party games, but this list of heavy-hitters didn't offer much hope for Wii U owners looking to get the same content that hits 360/PS3.

Is this once again an indication of third party support? Will the Wii U suffer early on for what happened with the Wii later in the game? Are the ideas of the Wii extending to Wii U only going to hurt it? Is it too early for devs to shuffle over their projects? What do you see as the fate of the Wii U?

[Roth]

How I see it, yes, but probably not as hard as how the Wii got it. For example even now, Resident Evil: Revelations, originally a 3DS game, is now being ported to X360 and PS3, but not Wii U.. Now why is that?
Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Dark Souls II, Tomb Raider, Metro Last Light, The Phantom Pain, Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect Trilogy.. Too Human 2 & 3, and Eternal Darkness 2 have been cancelled.
Ni No Kuni making its shift to the PS3 now w/ a North America release.. It's only a matter of time before Monster Hunter 4 jumps the port wagon.

Oh well, at least there's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101 to look forward to.. some multiplats like Aliens Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, and maybe Mass Effect 4.. with a fair amount of indie games, and course the great first-party exclusives. I'd love to play these games on Wii U, but if this "no Wii U" trend continues, I think I'd continue playing my games on the PC more.

[Emily Rogers]

Developers and publishers need to come to grips with the fact that they'll be starting off next gen with higher development costs combined with smaller install bases. Year one of next gen, you start from scratch with install bases. Smaller install bases is what makes the higher costs of next gen hurt so bad. Higher costs than current gen yet you're selling your game to less console owners (during first 3 years of next gen)? How is that a wise business plan?

It took 6 to 7 years for Xbox 360 and PS3 to each gain 70 million units. That is 140 million units combined.

And yet we have big budget games that struggle to break 2 million units at full price ($60) when they have 70 million PS3 owners to market their game to. From a business perspective, the entire industry is kind of screwed up.

People keep bringing up how Wii U won't sell as well as Wii. But who says it is guaranteed that 360 will sell as well as 720, or PS4 will sell as well as PS3?

There's no guarantee next gen that consumer spending, the cost of living, and unemployment rates will be similar to this current gen. This can all impact how much people spend on any consoles, period. This can all hurt console sales in the next 6 years. Also, 6 years is a lot of time passing by. Some of the 18 year olds who had a 360 in 2005 might be fathers raising a family in 2013, and don't have time to play games like they use to. The rise of mobile devices and tablets don't help either.

Developers can chase the next gen dream, but they better have enough resources going in because any of these big publishers like Square Enix or Konami could run into major financial problems like THQ or Sega.

The Wii U will get its big first party games.
The Wii U will get Japanese third party exclusives like Dragon Quest X, Monster Hunter Tri HD, and Bayonetta 2.
The Wii U will get plenty of indie developer love on the eshop.
The only issue I see is with the western AAA market. And guess what? AAA development is shrinking. Publishers are struggling to manage multiple AAA projects at one time because they require too many resources and talent to make one big AAA game.

[younghavok]

I think Nintendo will be just fine. I mean the Wii had some amazing titles and shifted plenty of software. Eurocom did amazing on the Wii... when it shifted its focus to the HD realm? They lost big and died. Nintendo will be where the smaller devs end up, while fewer and fewer big budget titles release for the coming consoles. With that said, Nintendo has a pretty decent line up of titles coming, many of which are exclusive. DQX, Bayonetta 2, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101. Rayman. Thats just between now and March, and not to forget Monster Hunter Ultimate. Does that look bad software wise? Plus theres rumors of RE6 coming as well as Revelations.

[kingc8]

Wii U is a weird console. It's Nintendo back to it's usual tricks.

Nintendo themselves ditched the Wii in it's forth year, sadly. While third parties have never been interested in making software that appeals to the broad audience the Wii captured. Barring Carnival Games,Just Dance and Lego games it's been a third party dead zone (and I'm not talking about games YOU like, like Xenoblade or some such JRPG or non-mainstream title).

Wii U is a Nintendo wanting to go back to the type of games they were making before the Wii.

Now, some people liked those games a *lot*. But they saddled Nintendo in third place.

Frankly, it baffles me that Nintendo would throw the Wii in the trash out back, but not before stripping the brand off it to make a gamecube 2.

Wii U is greatly more expensive, and the gamepad -in cost terms is a real albatross around their neck if Pac-man VS. clones dry up. Zeus only knows how they are going to sell TWO of them for games that eventually use that functionality, because it's going to cost a fortune.

I think it will take 2 or 3 months to see how the Wii U will perform. But when you see that Nintendo *wants* the Wii U to be another gamecube-style machine, I don't feel mega up-beat about it.

Nintendo will have to show me software they haven't revealed yet for me to get a better idea of what they want to do with it.

I don't think Nintendo wants to drop this machine in 4 years like the Wii, but this time, perhaps unfortunately like the gamecube, the market may once again, force it's hand.

[midorigreen]

It's still too early to tell just how successful the WiiU will be. I mean look at the 3DS, after just a month or two released on the market the media had already written it off as doomed to be crushed under the weight of the PSVita and smartphone gaming. Now the 3DS isn't selling the same numbers as the DS once did, but it's still far from a failure.

[link2metroid]

This is the first time I fear for the future of Nintendo and I've been around since the NES. They've made so many mistakes. I've bought the Wii U but Nintendo need a kick up the arse. They promised more 3rd party support, that they'll look after the core gamer. I don't see it and I've grown resentful of their lies.

[mbh911]

I really hope the Wii U gets more support as the months roll by and even though the Wii U just came out a month ago the lineup for Wii U games in 2013 isn't very exciting.

For example check out this picture by clicking the link below (image wont fit here)
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/187umepb7vqvnjpg/original.jpg

I sent it to rmc and I think it spooked him a little bit because it certainly did for me. I freaking love my Wii U at the moment and I have been using it everyday since launch but I hope Wii U owners don't have to wait too long for more Wii U games to come out.

Again the Wii U is still new so we may have to wait a bit longer just like the regular nintendo DS

[LegendofSantiago]

No, 3rd parties haven't jumped on the band wagon yet, but I imagine they will eventually.

[mbh911]

This is the first time I fear for the future of Nintendo and I've been around since the NES. They've made so many mistakes. I've bought the Wii U but Nintendo need a kick up the arse. They promised more 3rd party support, that they'll look after the core gamer. I don't see it and I've grown resentful of their lies.

Couldn't have said it any better mate. Nintendo has a history of promising more 3rd party support and they really need to step it up with the Wii U. Hell, there are still a ton of people out there that hasn't heard of the Wii U and some that have heard about it still thinks it's more of an add on device than an entirely new console. Here's hoping the Wii U will pull off some surprises during 2013 because I really hope we don't have to wait until 2014 or something for MORE games.

Games releases of 2013
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/187umepb7vqvnjpg/original.jpg

[NF]

I'm not really into the current crop of big 3rd-party games, so I really don't mind. However, it's still disturbing to see the same level of ignorance they hold towards the Nintendo demographic.

I think the Wii U's strength will be the eShop. It has to be. Part of me is hoping this thing explodes into a huge development platform for (fantastic/affordable) games which I so desire. I'm one of the many who tire of these expensive, huge budget 3rd party games that get all the press and glory. Hopefully, the smaller games that I can pick up and play becomes more of the norm. Of course, I need my Nintendo AAA games and some others from 3rd parties, but the way things stand right now, I would prefer a new direction. Some stuff on XBLA and PSN are pretty cool... bring that over and expand upon it. I love the controller and miiverse and I really think it'll catch on. One thing they really need to do, however is to promote e-shop online gameplay!. I'd love to play Nano Assault Neo online with some folks!

Anyhow, I think the Wii U will suffer the same fate as the Wii/GC especially because of the whole 'power' thing that folks seem to be too focused on. I really hope Nintendo doesn't pay any more 3rd parties to port games over and invest that cash somewhere else worthwhile. The whole purchasing Sega rumour sounds like a good start.

[ridleysaria]

I believe Wii U will get the same level of support as Wii, if not worse. This is why I'm treating Wii U as my "supplemental" console. I only own it because I love Nintendo's games and have to play them. I've stated many times before that Nintendo's lack of support for achievements has ensured that I will not purchase multiplatform games on Wii U, so another generation of mediocre third party support really doesn't affect me anymore.

Can things change? Of course, but it will require a great deal of effort on Nintendo's part. Given their lack for concern for feature parity, such as the achievements system I mentioned before, I don't believe Nintendo will make the necessary effort. They will not win over developers or gamers with their current attitude.

[t27duck]

3rd parties jumping ship already.
Game breaking glitches in so many launch games.
Slow load times for internal apps.
Little to no advertising.
Expensive price tag.
Online structure has improved, but is still laughable compared to the robustness of XBL and PSN.
We can't even transfer accounts between systems.
YouTube blocking the browser makes the browser more worthless than the actual YouTube app.
Updates deleting game saves.
Updates causing more bugs.
If the console freezes, you have to shut it down by UNPLUGGING IT (what is this, the 90s?)
A little over a MONTH after launch and we're just NOW getting demos.
Wii backwards compatibility mode is a joke.
Battery life on the tablet is crap.

Yeah... I'd say Nintendo have made themselves a Dreamcast.

[LegendofSantiago]

@t27duck seems like you are overreacting quite a bit
@mbh911isn't tengami coming to the wiiu? Also, MH3g isn't on the list either

[GolfDude]

nintendo needs to drop the bomb on the 3rd parties.. tell them, if you expect us to take time from our e3 conference and other events to talk about your games, you better have the game for our system on par or better as all our systems you plan to release on, no cop outs, no cuttign stuff out. .we gave you what you wanted, now you make your side of the deal and release the games on the wiiU.... you want to use us for free advertising on games you decide after the fact you suddenly dont want to make for us? then dont expect us to buy the " only ninty games sell excuse", that falls all on you for failing the gaming community by failing to release games you said you would for our platform at a high quality

[sigrah0x7ba]

Yes, it will absolutely suffer the same fate because Sony and MS are still throwing money at developers.

Until they either stop doing that (not going to happen) or leave the industry (will probably happen after this generation unless Sony has a major hit on their hands with the PS4 or Microsoft's attempts to push the XBox brand outside of gaming don't live up to their expectations) then not much is going to change in regards to Nintendo hardware and 3rd parties.

And there's little Nintendo can do about it short of going bankrupt.

They could never support the business models that Sony and MS operate under and the sooner people get that through their heads the better.

[nicetoknovvyou]

I buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games. And maybe I'm one of the few people out there, but I've only owned nintendo consoles post N64. I did have a playstation one and now have a playstation vita, but do not have any of the current gen (or previous gen) home consoles. I stick with Nintendo because their first party games really speak to me. I'd much rather bounce around as Mario any day than play a Halo or Call of Duty. Perhaps ignorance is also bliss. I'm sure I've missed out on some great games, but I really don't have the cash to be buying an extra console or two.

That said, would more third party games on wii u be good? Of course. In fact, I was thrilled to hear I could play Batman on my wii U. Will I be angry if third party support drops or doesn't pick up? Not really. In the end, I bought a wii U because I love Nintendo and their brands. I want to play Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Pikmin, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and whatever else they throw at me. If I miss out on Spike TV's Video Game of the Year because of it, I don't really care. I play video games because I enjoy it and I know that I'll always enjoy playing Nintendo's games no matter what.

[Mahe]

Wii U should be happy to "suffer" like Wii did. Wii was a great console, Wii U isn't showing signs of that so far. It's possible that Wii U's game library won't even touch Wii's extensive game selection.

[Freeload]

I actually think this is a very clear indicator of what's to come.

The Wii U might have kinda addressed a few of the main issues with Wii but it's just introduced many of it's own and there's still even a few annoying things from Wii that it hasn't even fixed.

I see the same trend with most third party developers not releasing their bit titles on the system just like they didn't release them on Wii.

I think it's a pretty cool system with a lot of potential, just like Wii was, but just like Wii I see it suffering from a lot of issues and never quite realizing that potential.

[coffeewithchess]

"Unfortunately, those long-time gamers became quite fed up with the Wii, due to its lack of quality third party releases. Things only got worse as the system got long in the tooth."

I blame Nintendo. Where was Disaster: Day of Crisis? How about The Last Story? What about Pandora's Tower? I do not blame third parties for not supporting a console/company, when that company doesn't support its own console.

Microsoft has made major progress since the Xbox, and that is a two front story really. Xbox Live really paved the way (okay, Sega's online did it first, I'll admit, with the Dreamcast, but didn't last) for online console gaming, which is absolutely HUGE now. Second way Microsoft made progress? BUILT third party RELATIONSHIPS. Meaning, PAID FOR GAMES. And they are apparently still doing it. Where was Nintendo? Other than Capcom, I can't really think of many third parties that Nintendo worked with on the Wii, trying to deliver "core" content. Ubisoft started off the Wii with Red Steel, which I did enjoy a great deal; but after that they didn't get over the Assassin's Creed games, Ghost Recon, or anything really big after that for the Wii; just the Rabbids and Just Dance games from what I remember.

If the Wii U doesn't have/get third party support, Nintendo is to blame for it, not the third parties. Again, I'm still waiting on Pandora's Tower for my Wii, but NoA is apparently so lazy they were busy bringing over NSMB2 for the 3DS with misspelled/double words on the packaging and in the game, instead of also supporting the Wii with games that are/were 100% developed for it.

So, will the Wii U suffer the fate of the Wii? If Nintendo doesn't pay developers and/or get teams to the studios to get the games to the system at this point; yes it will. I was trying to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt on The Walking Dead games from Telltale, but apparently they can't even get the GOTY on the Wii U...which is really pathetic. That being said, I think the Wii U will do just fine, and I actually think the console is really good and the GamePad is a genius move on Nintendo's part. I'm really enjoying it.

[quicklynow]

It will be like Wii, but much worse. We all know that third party developers would rather get cancer than develop on a Nintendo console, and this time Nintendo games will take a lot longer and cost a lot more to make. They'll try less risky projects like Pandora's Tower and instead focus on getting the Mario factory to pump out tons and tons of titles in that franchise. Someone like me will probably have to get used to 12-18 month gaps between worthwhile game releases.

[donzaloog]

I buy Nintendo consoles to play Nintendo games. And maybe I'm one of the few people out there, but I've only owned nintendo consoles post N64. I did have a playstation one and now have a playstation vita, but do not have any of the current gen (or previous gen) home consoles. I stick with Nintendo because their first party games really speak to me. I'd much rather bounce around as Mario any day than play a Halo or Call of Duty. Perhaps ignorance is also bliss. I'm sure I've missed out on some great games, but I really don't have the cash to be buying an extra console or two.

That said, would more third party games on wii u be good? Of course. In fact, I was thrilled to hear I could play Batman on my wii U. Will I be angry if third party support drops or doesn't pick up? Not really. In the end, I bought a wii U because I love Nintendo and their brands. I want to play Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Pikmin, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and whatever else they throw at me. If I miss out on Spike TV's Video Game of the Year because of it, I don't really care. I play video games because I enjoy it and I know that I'll always enjoy playing Nintendo's games no matter what.

I couldn't have said that better myself.

[lynnvin]

Geez - the friggin machine hasn't even been out a month and all you girls got your panties in a bunch.....Is everyone done playing with the launch games, or, did you just play for a few hours then jump on the internet and start looking for when the next big game will be released. Do you get more enjoyment from reading about the new games coming out than actually playing the games??? Did you ever stop and think that maybe those game have been in development for months/years before the Wii U release?? and, if they did a rush port job, all of your girls would be bitching about that....and, how the 3rd party devs are still treating Nintendo like shovel. Did you see the article on IGN where 20 devs went out of business in 2012. It is just too damn expensive to develop these days - devs cannot take a financial risk on a NEW machine with a small install base at this time. Relax, once the install base grows - things will change.

[cdreams]

3rd parties jumping ship already.
Game breaking glitches in so many launch games.
Slow load times for internal apps.
Little to no advertising.
Expensive price tag.
Online structure has improved, but is still laughable compared to the robustness of XBL and PSN.
We can't even transfer accounts between systems.
YouTube blocking the browser makes the browser more worthless than the actual YouTube app.
Updates deleting game saves.
Updates causing more bugs.
If the console freezes, you have to shut it down by UNPLUGGING IT (what is this, the 90s?)
A little over a MONTH after launch and we're just NOW getting demos.
Wii backwards compatibility mode is a joke.
Battery life on the tablet is crap.

Yeah... I'd say Nintendo have made themselves a Dreamcast.

Well the Dreamcast was my favorite console ever, so if you're right, I'd be quite happy.

Listen, I think its quite simple, everyone's falling into the trap of reading or listening to doom and gloom articles all over the place and starting to believe them. The Wii U will do absolutely fine, I base this purely on my own experience so far and how I personally see the industry going in the next couple of years.

I was talking about this to a friend who asked if I thought the Wii U would fare well when the next Microsoft and Sony machines release, the following is roughly what I told him.

"I'll be surprised if Sony or Microsoft do that well with their next consoles due to the rapid pace of tablet computers. By the time they do launch, your going to have tablet pc's looking incredible graphic wise and people are going to struggle to justify spending £300-£400 on them, possibly more if they are the technical powerhouses everyone's expecting them to be.

Nintendo has actually been very smart with the Wii U, people just can't see it because their too busy reading willy waving articles. What Nintendo's given everyone, the gamers and developers, is a machine that's marginally better than the current consoles, more than enough to have fantastic looking games that will keep people happy for several years. They've brought some incredible tech like the GamePad and they've improved most, not all, of the issues with the Wii. Miiverse alone is enough to justify the console in my eyes, the way it brings people together and keeps you in that environment, like asking for specific game advice or just to chat about a game in general, it's so convenient. It's also a much more pleasant environment to what I found Xbox Live to be.

Nothings perfect and I agree they definitely need to tweak some areas like loading times and more demos, but the reality is, it's there now and it's great fun to use.

They have done all this a year before anyone else will, avoiding the tablet issue I mentioned above to some extent. By the time the tablet pc's can seriously challenge console gaming, the Wii U will be looking at it's first birthday and will be enjoying a blossoming games library.

I think developers really can't afford any increase in costs, (like Emily said above), so they're going to look for ways to make games the most efficient way they can, this is where the Wii U is in a perfect scenario in my opinion. They will start to push the machines capabilities after getting to know it's tech for the last year, making games that look noticeably better than the PS3 and Xbox360 and that won't bankrupt them in the process. There's also going to be several million Wii U owners by then, maybe 7.5-10 million, so it's going to make more sense financially than working on another 2 new consoles by having the Wii U as the lead platform.

There's a very good chance that developers will be developing for Wii U as the primary console and porting up to the other machines with bells and whistles. If that happens then it's a win-win for Nintendo, they'll have the 3rd party support along with their own fantastic games.

Even if Wii U isn't the lead platform, the situation is league completely different from the Wii scenario. They now have HD, online and normal controller support, there's no reason not to make a game for the Wii U, unless your games already well into development or you're a moron. I think this is what we're seeing now, games that are well into development where there aren't resources to make a Wii U version right now, however when the games out they could if there's enough Wii U's out in consumers hands to justify the extra cost of porting. All the big games that are known about, due out around March next year, are probably too far in development to port right now, but might get ported after they launch the current versions. Probably the biggest one, GTA V, will get a port announced closer to Feb/Mar if they're going to do it at all."

Basically I was trying to say I'm pretty confident about the Wii U, I'll wait until after New Year and see what announcements are made. Right now people complaining about launch games need to relax, there's plenty of games there to play including some great indie games on the eShop. I'm personally enjoying ZombiU and Nintendoland along with using my Wii U for browsing the internet and scribbling nonsense pictures on Miiverse and getting excited when they get yeah'd lol.

[cdreams]

By the way, ignore my spelling and grammar, I was trying to type fast using the Wii U controler

Yeah that's right, I'm using the Wii U web browser to browse and type this post, better still, I'm lying in bed whilst I do it.