Nintendo Shoots Itself In the Right Foot To Save The Left Foot

[Guest]

I'm no fan of the WiiU (stupid name, stupid controller design, uninteresting games/specs) but you lost me when you said the Wii/Wiimote was a great idea.

The Wiimote was only good for wagging your controller around like an idiot. Not revolutionary, not fun. No more exciting or clever than the U-Force, Sega Activator or Power Glove. Just a new version of it.

I don't think the Wii U will outright fail...but I fail to see its importance other than being a stopgap between PS3/360 and PS4/720.

 

[angelraiter]

[citation][nom]cknobman[/nom]Actually I thought you were quite nice in the way you chose your words.Personally I feel the Wii U is a POS. With no online ecosystem to back up their console there is very little they can do to win too many PS3 or Xbox 360 users anyways. [/citation]
150% this ^^

Nintendo can't even dream of competing with MS and Sony without serious online play support and a pro library of games on top. Nintendo has built this aura of being a child's toy and I can't really see how they will realistically move away from that, specially in this cut throat market. More over, the real hardcore gamers out there are PC gamers, and yes, that's not where the really big bucks are, but it is the very top of the food chain as far as gamer culture goes.

The only thing I don't agree with in this article is that Nintendo shot itself on the foot many years ago and this is just another one of many stupid mistakes it has made while trying to undo that initial big one called Wii.

Maybe they should just go back to making card games.. lol

 

[dragonsqrrl]

"You need two hands to hold it."
You need two hands to hold the current Wii controller in pretty much every playable configuration.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

"Quite frankly, this early announcement of the Wii U and the revelation that Nintendo will abandon the Wii controller model and move to higher-resolution games has left Wii sales as well as Wii game sales in limbo."
The Wii U is compatible with all Wii peripherals, including the Wiimote, and the Wii U controller still supports all the input functionality that the Wiimote did with the addition of a tough screen (although you obviously won't be swinging it around, that's what the backwards compatibility is for).

 

[Guest]

"...no one right in there mind..." - THEIR THEIR THEIR THEIR. FFS.

 

[tommysch]

The Wii U is supposed to be around 50% faster than a PS3 and do 1080p. So they wont be ahead of the power curve by any means since the PS3 is a date slow PoS. Being 50% faster mean that you end up with a slightly faster PoS. Nintendo knows that the PS4 (?) and the Xbox 720 (?) will beat them by a significant margin (which would be about fucking time since our PCs are running idle on those shitty ports). They obviously have a plan to ride by themselves like they did with the Wii. Not mentioning the tablet thingy. They will not get PC, ps3, xbox ports, not that they are any good but still.

BTW. Why do you fear a bad reaction, its Nintendo, nobody gives a sh*t really.

 

[Yuka]

Since the Wii U is said to have backwards compatibility with the controllers and (some) games, makes your whole rant about the new one invalid and superfluous. And what controller doesn't need 2 hands to be held? (remember the Wii mote has the nunchuck as complement) ~_____________________~

Anyway, I too have the impression that Nintendo might be doing something wrong here. But it's not the controller, it's not the design of the console itself, but on the online "software" side of things. I've seen no "UI" screens nor an online store that can compete with the XBLA model. That's what they should aim at now. Consoles are not just for games anymore.

Cheers!

 

[negadeath]

As usual they can do no right. It was a mistake to go after the casual market, it's a mistake to go after the normal market, and so on. A few points need to be made:

-The Wii remote has not been abandoned, they work with the new system. As mentioned in the article the system will not support four of the new controllers, right now it looks like 2 at best. What are players 3 and 4 going to use? Wii remotes.

-Only one game has been shown and it's early as hell. The writer acknowledges he has no hands-on experience. The hardware is still being finalized. Isn't it a bit early for the doom and gloom? There's going to be another E3 before this thing launches, by then we'll have all the details and see actual software.

-This isn't a tablet. Tablets are portable and don't have many buttons, if any. Tablets generate their content with internal hardware. This is a controller with a screen that streams video from the console. It has analog inputs and buttons in a classic layout to go along with the touchscreen. It does not have the hardware to work independently. Right now they estimate it won't even work outside the room the console is in. Yes it's a fatty but hands-on reports also indicate it's more comfy and lighter than it looks. Also it has time for further comfort tweaking.

-Early reports indicate it will have a good deal more ram and a gpu a couple generations more advanced than the 360/PS3. That means that if a 3rd party game is ported (and if they don't butcher it) the system should have the definitive console version (actual non-upscaled 1080p, more AA, less slowdown, etc). It also should be a lot closer power-wise to the 720/PS4 when they launch than the Wii was to 360/PS3..in theory. Again way too early to tell.

-It takes imagination to think up new gameplay concepts to go with new inputs. Someone who only plays Duty Calls:Current Day Skirmish 12 may lack that, for which I sympathize. An early mockup of a Ghost Recon game had an interactive map on the controllers screen that the player can use to plan out strategies along with voice chat. So imagine that while your main screen is still up on the TV you can plot out squad waypoints and enemy positions on the touchscreen with your finger, all of which would appear on your squad mates map. Not all that useful when compared to a mouse and keyboard setup but it would be when compared to a controller. For in-house party games it allows for asymmetrical multiplayer. An ubisoft game has an example of one player playing like it's an RTS with the touchscreen and the other playing like it's an FPS. The RTS player sets up enemies and ambushes and the FPS player has to fight through them (sorta like the Commander mode in BF2/2142).

-In the same sentence the writer both admonishes it for dropping the retirement home players and goes on to mention they aren't buying games. So what should they do then? You do realize the Wii was their first casual console right?

-Kinect is less clumsy than a tablet. Bwah? Have you even used the kinect? The whole argument against motion gaming was that it is LESS accurate than a controller. The "table" has buttons. Did you ever use a tablet and bemoan the fact that you couldn't wave your hands in the air to make it work?

This could turn out to be a complete disaster. It could also turn out the other way. It's FAR too early to write them off.

 

[kinggraves]

Alright, I made sure to read all of your article.

So, you don't seem to have gotten any personal usage of the device and are basing your opinion off the information pulled from "colleagues" combined with your own initial assumptions. You then go into how the controller will be uncomfortable, even though the people who actually tried it out said it's actually not clumsy at all for such a large device. You also state how it will alienate people using the current WiiMote, even though the WiiMote will likely be compatible with this device. You then follow by disproving the worth of your own opinion saying how it's a great idea to toss the Wii crowd and move in another direction. Afterwards you question the gaming market knowledge of one of the oldest console hardware developers still operating, who just got done with an incredibly successful system that created an entirely new demographic. Next you claim that developers aren't sure what to do with it because they have no idea what's inside, then point out that not a single developer thinks it can succeed, despite the fact that they aren't even sure yet what they can make with it and wouldn't have a clue yet whether or not it will succeed. Your conclusion is the most intelligent part of this piece, as it states the obvious fact that no one would buy a Wii at the moment when they could wait for the next generation.

You're right, first impressions are really spot on, this is exactly what we've all come to expect from your pieces before even reading it. Most readers likely assumed you had written it just by reading the title.

I think the controller looks gimmicky, but I thought the same about DS and Wii, and they made their investments back on those. I think that only Nintendo will fully utilize it, but that's more a fault of unimaginative developers who just want to make one game and port it to as many things as possible. Companies like EA and Activision do not LIKE having to deal with extra factors, they want everyone with the same controller with the same buttons so they can program and bug test less. It isn't as if Nintendo can't release a classic controller for this system as well though.

BTW for those still complaining about Nintendo's limited networks, read some other articles and realize that by next year, people may not be so eager to put their credit cards and info onto accounts just to game.

 

[Guest]

It easy to be down on Nintendo, but here is the current generation of sales as listed on wikipedia:

Wii – 86.01 million as of 31 March 2011[9]
Xbox 360 – 55 million as of 4 June 2011[31]
PlayStation 3 – 50 million as of 31 March 2011[32]

Xbox and PlayStation also developed systems that had higher production cost than sale price for the first few years. Nintendo benchmarks there product specs on what is currently cost effective. So Nintendo hardware is profitable from day one. Us hardcore gamers may have had HD televisions for the last few years but the majority of people are just now making the transition. Nintendo developed a profitable system that sold. They may have lost some developers and gamers, but Nintendo clearly won the last generation of console wars by creating and capturing a new gaming segment.

There strategy now is to recapture core gamers and produce a system that can support higher powered online games while maintaining they're there hold on the newer segment of casual gamers.

The writer states "Of course, there is a reason why Nintendo would alienate its customers. There are plenty of Wii customers that turned out to be an accident for Nintendo." This statement is all wrong. Nintendo didn't accedently target them. The whole strategy behind the Wii was to gain this new customer base. And they're not abandoning them. The name reflects the strategy. Wii U, because its for everyone and its for the hardcore gamers.

The writer states "the Wii U and the revelation that Nintendo will abandon the Wii controller model and move to higher-resolution games has left Wii sales as well as Wii game sales in limbo" This statement is all wrong. This writers editorial is baseed much on this inaccuracy. Nintendo is keeping the Wii mote. Only one tablet per Wii. You will still have Nintendo games like smash bros played with Wii motes and classic controllers, but you will also have third party games in high Def using the classic and Wii motes and some will be played on the tablet.

So the writer is wrong about Nintendo abandoning casual gamers and the Wii remote. The writer also claimed 3rd party developers would back away, but Nintendo has already signed up EA and many others who walked away from the Wii to come back for the Wii U. Game developers will be free to set up online play without the restrictive friend code system from the Wii.

So why the new controller! It where the industry is heading. Look at Apple and Google. They are trying to create a similar interface with there own tv boxes and tablets. The tablet (one only per system as I understand it) will add a changeable interface for the system. It will be used for gaming as well as other media applications, like menus, drawing, and video calling. Nintendo is making a tablet interface standard on there home entertainment system before the iPad takes that roll. Smart if you ask me.

 

[thaile4ever]

The way I see it the new control is Nintendo way of getting back the hardcore gamer crowd that use to using a regular controller.

The Wii U still supports all the wii controls so the casual players are still supported.

I can see the screen being used in a couple of different ways. For example Zelda that had all the menus and info on the Screen and the TV Clear of info.

Other way would be games like borderlands where the game play does not stop when you are in a menu. Now developers can leave the TV screen free and players can still move and interact, while using the touchscreen to move through the menu at the same time.

 

[Guest]

This is nonsense, the wii u is a great system as it expands on the things that made the wii a success, and adds some new innovation into the system as well. It keeps to the tradition of having motion controls while adding an innovative touch screen into the mix, which opens up a lot of possibilities for gaming, and you obviously need both hands to hold a controller as there is a left side and right side of buttons on the controller to use for gaming. Nintendo did a good job at their e3 presentation in appealing to all gamers, and having two screens to look at for gaming, thanks to the wii u controller, is really handy, and another Nintendo DS system for that is not necessary. So overall, don't get your facts wrong, Wolfgang Gruener.

 

[stoo6747]

I've done some other reading about the Wii U and I've have to say I was a little disappointed too. I was really hoping to hear more about online play and cool new ways Nintendo can use their creativity to exploit the future of online gaming. Having said that, Im sure that these things will come with Nintendo doing some cool online/wifi things with the 3DS.

As for your article, you seem pretty misinformed. 1)They are not abandoning the Wii controls, so they will still be used. 2)The new console will attracted 3rd party developers b/c its architecture will be similar to the other systems. 3)The new controller is not simply a tablet. See the video demos. One particular game changer the controller provides developers besides the obvious is to hold the controller up and move it around and you can get a 360 degree view of the world around you. That seems very cool. Also the ability to play a game in the same room as others without other people seeing your info seems cool too. I can imagine a lot of fun new ways to take advantage of that idea. Even the idea that you can play the entire game on the control is cool. 4) also they are planning on heavily supporting the party style games and cheap online downloadable games that helped make the Wii so popular, so I think they are not abandoning their current fan base.

Like I said I was hoping for more with this system that some supped up graphic and a new controller, but remember when the Wii was first demo'd, many 3rd party developers were scared to jump on board b/c they thought this was a gimmic. Turns out that they were dead wrong and the Wii's sales went through the roof and they had to jump on later in the game.

 

[Guest]

It needs some tweaks. Make that tablet controller capable of controlling all the devices a person might have in their audio/video setup / home theater and it'll be a better value. Even if I bought the system (which i wont) id be affraid of someone breaking or cracking the screen on it.

 

[gto127]

Sometrhing positive may come out of all the negative press about the new controller. Nintendo may decide to release a budget version with the regular will controller & still sell a bundle of consoles since it would be less expensive & support HD graphics.

 

[maunch372]

If it's resistive, I will cry.

 

[tburns1]

You got to take this from a Japanese point of view. They are somewhat different than westerners in terms of what they want in games. They think super high-end graphics are nice but not necessary. They don't care for wide open spaces, and gaming that let's you do anything you want. They like to be ridden on rails. They want more of the same ole, same ole. They think western gaming is crap. Nintendo, I believe, naturally caters to the Japanese people, because they are Japanese and naturally think as they do. They will sell like gang busters in Japan, and less than target in the west. Same as the 3DS.

 

[tburns1]

[citation][nom]kiuro[/nom]Nintendo is fucking piece of shit. I child's toy for a developmentally arrested degenerate loser. The sooner Nintendo fucks off and dies the better for the game industry.[/citation]
Damn boy! Just let us know how you feel, why don't you! I guess someone pee'd in your coffee today.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]tburns1[/nom]Damn boy! Just let us know how you feel, why don't you! I guess someone pee'd in your coffee today.[/citation]
He's an obvious troll, just ignore.

 

[FloKid]

Maybe make the Wii U compatible with old controllers, or some new version of them and make the tablet optional? That way no one is forced to use a tablet.. Easy on the pocket and still they will hold the old gamer base, plus the new one. I doubt everyone will love the 'new' controller.