Is Nintendo's Wii U Dragging Down The Entire Industry?

Who thinks about buying a new console at a time like this? Seriously, who? The Playstation 4 was just announced, rumors about Microsoft's next Xbox are constantly swirling, and if you wanted a Wii U, you either got it at launch or you're waiting until a game you want gets released. It's just a stagnant time, and the recently released NPD sales numbers are proving it.

[TheLyonKing]

Everyone seems to be thinking there the ET of gaming right now and will cause a Video Game Crash. The system really just needs the support of the nintendo first party to get it going and then the third party people will follow.

I don't play my wii U much but I am waiting for the big titles which I know will grace the platform.

[Dylila]

nintendo wii u is dragging down the industry. its already too late for most third party to care about nintendo because most games need 2+ years in development. most third party devs are working on pc, xbox 720 and ps4 at the moment and it would be silly for them to drastically scale back a lot of game assets to make it run on wii u. three platforms that can easily support a lot of multiplatform game ports between them ps4, pc and 720 leaving the wii u at the wayside.

most wii u fans love to talk about how they dont care about third party games but their apathy only applies when games arent available. theyll tout bayonetta 2, xenoblade, rayman and other third party exclusives for the time they are exclusives or available for the console but if they become multiformat titles or are cancelled then most nintendo fans supposedly never cared.

wii u sales are bad now and will only get worse because as most nintendo fans say " nintendo fans only care about exclusive nintendo titles". every month that goes by i see the sales dwindling or flat lining until around november but the problem is that xbox 720 and ps4 will be out then straining wii u support and sales. by this time the sales of wii u and software sales could be half what they are monthly now or have a 25% drop off meaning less devs will care about supporting it.

we all know why the wii u is failing. despite what nintendo fans said the launch of the wii u wasnt better than xbox and ps3. the wii u was launched in basically all territory in about the span of 2 weeks whereas the xbox 360 and ps3 didnt. xbox and ps3 didnt launch in eur. and aus. till 5months after it launch in the usa. the wii u is doing terrible because of the hardcore fans that asked for exactly what they wanted. they didnt want games , power, or a lot of support so im glad for them.

[chadboban]

I honestly thought you would've picked another video game character for your avatar like you did with the whole "Hatsune Miku" and "Akuma" accounts. I was thinking something like "Lara Croft" or maybe even "Ellie" from The Last of Us. You old accounts used to make your comments seem more, I don't know, interesting? But Dylila and some picture of a random redhead is honestly just kind of boring, honestly expected more creativity from you man.

On Topic now:
Where do you get your info man? The Xbox 360 launched in Japan, America and Europe between November 20th to December 2nd 2005, and well you're sort of right with the PS3 as it launched on 11th November 2006 and 17th November 2006 in Japan and America respectively. It did have a pretty late Europe launch though in March 2007.

And what do you mean every month until November you see sales flat lining. That sounds more like wishful thinking instead of a sound analysis. We have no clue what Nintendo's plans for game releases are until November. The only way I can see Nintendo being in HUGE trouble is if they let the completely open window they have between now and November go to waste. Once they manage to get more games out by then, I think they'll be okay.

I support Sony and Nintendo and have pretty much all of their consoles with the exception of the Vita and the Wii U which I plan to own by the end of the year. I see no problem with wanting them both to do well. As for Microsoft, I've never really been a huge supporter of Xbox but I have nothing against them, as a matter of fact, I have a buddy who loans me his Xbox whenever I want to play any new exclusives like Gears or Halo. So it is very much possible to enjoy all systems without even the need for owning them all.

BTW, Xenoblade isn't a third party exclusive. Look it up. Monolith is 100% owned by Nintendo, so Xenoblade is as much a Nintendo game as Mario is.

Geez I went WAY overboard with this reply, I have no idea how you do it. Although I'm guessing the lack of any kind of punctuation has something to do with it.

[animegamingnerd]

people seriously agree with this comment on how wrong this person

[WiiUsauce]

Xenoblade 2 is not a third party exclusive, it's FIRST PARTY. Nintendo owns Monolith Soft just like they own Retro Studios, AND THE GAME WILL BE FUCKING GLORIOUS. Seriously it's my most anticipated ANYTHING of all time.

I love Metroid,Super Smash Bros, 3D Mario platformers, Zelda, and Oblivion, Skyrim, Halo, MGS, Half Life,Call of Duty, Final Fantasy ect., ect., but compared to how good this Xeno-sequel is shaping up to be, I don't give a SHIT about anything else. It will be the most amazing game I will ever play probably in my whole lifetime lol.

You only have to play Xenoblade Chronicles to realize how immensely talented the people over at Monolith Soft who worked on Xenoblade Chronicles are and what a masterpiece of a game they managed to crank out on such underpowered and weak hardware as the Wii. Considering Wii U is leaps and bounds more powerful than the original Wii, I CANNOT WAIT to see what they do on Wii U.

You should really stop being a fanboy/girl whatever the hell you are and try to do whatever you can to play Xenoblade Chronicles or you'll miss out on one of the greatest games of all time. If you don't own a Wii or don't wanna pay 100 dollars for your copy (because that's how much the game costs), then emulate the game on your PC if you can (plus it will look better). Then you will see why people like myself are so hyped for the sequel.

[stragomccloud]

Hey! Our favorite troll is back! You wear many profiles good sir/madame.

[classic200]

Nintendo is dragging themselves down with a future with not wiiu third party and having spread out wiiu exclusives. Wiiu is a n64 or gamecube system again but its not dragging the industry down at all.

If sony and microsoft does something stupid then bam the industry is being drag down, everyone accepted the original wii as unimportant for their company and it is the same thing for wiiu because nintendo is just not giving publishers what they want.

[Whymii]

The big difference between when ET came out and today is that the industry was very much a monopoly controlled by Atari. Today we have three main competitors servicing the industry (excluding iOS and Android platforms) so there is little chance if any that there will be another crash.

So the simple answer is, No. No it isn't. Don't be daft and stop writing articles designed to fan the fanboys' fire just for hits. Next you'll be blaming the wii-u for causing WWII, the Roswell Conspiracy, being behind the grassy knoll, high petroleum prices, the sub-prime crash, missing socks and the Pope standing down. Sigh.

[Amigaengine]

Western developers over saturation is what will cause a video game crash.

[jc48573]

I wouldn't mind if that was the case. I want developers to be more creative, which I'm just starting to see this late in the generation. Pushing the limits of hardware and overcoming the barriers, but still managing to deliver a game that looks like a lot of effort was put in it. Yup, technology is just a tool. This is the reason why launch titles are just 'ok,' but the best stuff is usually shown near towards the end. Don't even get me started with EA because they're wrong. We haven't seen the last of PS360 and definitely not the last of WiiU. In the end, games matter most.

[zerocrossing]

"Is Nintendo's Wii U Dragging Down The Entire Industry?"

Wow! That's one of the dumbest questions we've had posed here on N4G, how about "is the milking of popular AAA franchises stunting creativity and causing damage to the industry?"

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Fanboy hyperbole and hate. All based on sales reports that only cover 60% of the US market.

People have stopped being gamers and started being corporate spin doctors and PR drones.

[Jadedz]

They need to ''wake the $#$% up!'' What the %*&$ are they really doing? I'm on the brink of returning my console, though I won't because I know good software is coming up soon, but no Saints Row 4 ( and probably GTA 5 for that matter)?

3rd parties are ignoring them AGAIN!

[lilbroRx]

And? There are third parties that ignore Sony and Microsoft as well. The things is "which" and "why" and what do they make.

Nintendo doesn't need all of the third parties to support them, only the good ones. Right now it has the support of Platinum games(good), Shin'en(good), Ubisoft(hit and miss), Capcom(iffy), TT Games(good), Atlus(good), Square-Enix(decent) and a ton of Indie devs.

I do not care about the label that resides on the game I play. All I care is that the game is good.

If Nintendo had the support of only 3 third parties, so long as the third parties provided exceptional games, I would be perfectly fine with it. That is why all these missed multi-plats are a non issue for me. I have a PC for those.

[Jadedz]

I'm just upset over the fact that 3rd party developers are overlooking the Wii U. I bought this system ''hoping'' that there wouldn't be a Wii type scenario with the Wii U, though I've been proven wrong.

And voicing your opinion in a negative way can be helpful at times (Project Rainfall anyone?).

[Grimhammer00]

I'm not going to rehash what's being said everywhere online about sales.

Reality though is that Ninny are lost. They've ignored trends and dance to their own drum. If the measure of success is making coin. Yeah! They win!

But sustainability - relevance to gamers (vs casuals) is something they've squandered. Online gaming, third party devs, iPhones & iPads ...

Their not going anywhere. But that statements going to cut both ways this next gen.

[lilbroRx]

They still have the number 1 selling piece of hardware on the planet as well as the worlds biggest selling gaming franchises and they are lost?

[MNGamer-N]

Then buy a PS4, and plug it into your TV and play the games that aren't available on WiiU. Last time I checked, I had 3 HDMI ports on my tv. I just can't seem to grasp the whining about "It's not coming to my Nintendo system" mindset. There are alot of games from Nintendo that are not on PS3/4/Xbox, and alot of PS3/4/Xbox games that are not on Nintendo. Ugggh I've almost had enough of this.

[lilbroRx]

I would have to say the opposite. Nintendo is the main thing keeping the industry alive. They breath new life into the industry with every game release and every piece of hardware.

They show that you can be create, do things differently, and still succeed. They set trends and others follow.

The cross shaped Dpad design that every controller uses? Created by Nintendo.
Shoulder buttons? Nintendo.
Analog as a standard feature? Nintendo.
Rumble as a standard feature? Nintenod.
Handheld-to-console connectivity? Nintendo.
Motion controls as a standard feature? Nintendo.
Touch screen as a standard feature? Nintendo.
Dual screen gaming? Nintendo.
Now, we have controllers with a screen in them. Nintendo.
Lets see how long it takes for others to start incorporating NFC as a standard feature.

If Nintendo stops making hardware, with the loss of Sega, SNK and NEC already, the industry will truly be dead to me. At least for consoles.

[_QQ_]

so true, microscoft and sony will never take big risks like nintendo, and if they do it just flops. like what does sony think they are accomplishing with that touch pad.

[LOL_WUT]

I don't think Nintendo's Wii U is dragging the industry down nor are they keeping the industry alive, for that matter. The only thing that the Wii U is dragging down is Nintendo itself, down a path that I don't foresee them ever getting out of. ;)

[miyamoto]

ROFL!

http://fc04.deviantart.net/...

[truechainz]

idk about nintendo, but gaming journalism sure is

[Bumpmapping]

The only thing there dragging down is them selfs.

1.Barley any 3RD party support.Nintendo being arrogant assumed every one would of purchased a Wii U based on a gimmicky controller like the Wii....News check Nintendo it's not working.
Now you gotta convince 3rd party developers,price cut advertise the crap out it do something.

2.Crap online and UI.Sorry to say it but it's pathetic.... Online gaming is essential as usual Nintendo trying to go there own path something I admire but at least try keep up with the god damn competition!

3.Unimpressive specs.Nintendos brilliant plan was to compete with PS3/360 with little extra memory little more power have superior ports and use there controller as a selling point.Well obviously its not working,arrogance,being to proud and doing your own thing are putting you back to the N64/Gamecube days.

I have much respect for Nintendo they have contributed alot to gaming industry.I don't see them lasting very long in the console market especially when they have two huge competitors there completely oblivious to.

[PopRocks359]

"I have much respect for Nintendo they have contributed alot to gaming industry.I don't see them lasting very long in the console market especially when they have two huge competitors there completely oblivious to."

A single console failure would not put them out of the hardware business, and that's assuming the Wii U over the course of the next five years becomes one. You would need a string of hardware bombings that lose Nintendo a lot of money.

"2.Crap online and UI." Aside from the lack of voice chat and invite system, what are you talking about? Online in Black Ops 2 and ACIII worked fine whenever there is no server maintenance. Unless you've played those games yourself I highly doubt you're basing this off of any personal experience.

[Tito08]

Well, they had two console failures 2 generations in a row, so they pretty much had higher chances of failing with the Wii as it was still based on last gen hardware, but it turned out to be the opposite, thanks in part to the wiimote and their focus to the casual market, the Wii U isn't doing well at the moment but likely by E3 they'll drop the price and increase their sales.

About the games, I know the fanboys will always ask about the same 1st party games, but isn't it time for them just a bit further and create new IPs? They better stop pretending as if they're the Disneys of gaming. On the 3rd party front, if they wanna have more third party support, they could support anyone with the exception of Activision & EA, since they're the kings of copy & paste. But seriously Nintendo has to be more approachable, and more encouraging, more likely on the handheld business, but console is where they`re pretty much the leftovers.

[xursz]

Its a hard question but in my opinion, no. If its the power that's an issue then third parties have proven its not a big issue to ignore Wiiu. If it was a popular choice for developers/gamers and they somehow ignored other platforms because of it then maybe there would be something to be said but at the moment; absolutely not.

[desertpunk86]

more like the industry is dragging the wii u down.

[Grimhammer00]

You think you want innovation. You think you want your fave console makers to take risks.

You don't.

A fake tablet controller is not innovation it's a bullet point in a meeting about current trends. A trend that is going to stay yes. But, innovating? No.

Show of hands for gaming over 3hrs in one sitting. Ok....so why did ninny say they are bringing hardcore gamers back to a controller that will need charging every 3hrs? Why is it only single touch control? Why such low res? Because its not a tablet. Ok. So why talk about all this tablet functionality?

Why make a console....being that your the family goto gaming corp. and make it only work with one gamepad? Who gets to use the "big draw" controller in a family with more than one kid?!?!

And most important - and what gamers should really consider....why are Ninny squandering the window it created by releasing 1st? Truth? Can you handle it? Even they knew they weren't competing with the other two giants! Reggie in interviews said as much when he said that Ninny weren't going to try to go head to head concerning online. He said their 7-8yr lead in that area made the proposition of competing in that area foolish.

Now how many of us think online gaming is only a minor gaming interest?

But...hey. It's only fitting that Ninny fanbois are just as lost and clueless as their overlord.

[danitanzo]

You sound like a fanboy...

[PopRocks359]

"But...hey. It's only fitting that Ninny fanbois are just as lost and clueless as their overlord."

Discredit people you disagree with simply insulting them and their intelligence. Your debating skills are not to be trifled with. You must be so proud.

The controller has a five hour charge.

Wii U supports two gamepads, four Wii remotes or four Pro controllers.

Since the Wii released, when has Nintendo attempted direct competition?

You know, for someone who wanted to OWN THE FANBOYS, you sure know how to get your facts wrong.

[Theyellowflash30]

This is a stupid article, Nintendo makes a console, you buy it or don't. Sony and MS decided to release their consoles later, is that Nintendo's fault?

WTF? What a stupid, troll bating article.

[americanman1]

actually it's sony and Microsoft that are dragging our industry down, Nintendo has done better in it's first release, than what the ps3 and 360 have done in their releases, the video game media and industry, and all the Nintendo haters are just too stupid to realize it, plain and simple. all sony and Microsoft do is release the same old same old, Nintendo does innovate, like wii sports, the wonderful 101, pikmin, and they keep changing the 3d Mario and Zelda series, like Mario galaxy and Zelda wind waker. just because the whole video game industry, like the jack ass who wrote this crap, is too stupid to realize it, that's his fault, not Nintendo's, they will last, sorry haters, you don't get the last say so, Nintendo has lasted more that 100 years, they are not going anywhere, because you say so? aren't there any smart gamers out there, who don't keep believing all these stupid doom and gloom stories?? hello? are you out there?

[ZeekQuattro]

One minute the Wii U & Nintendo are irrelevant now they both somehow are dragging down the industry. Lol People need to make up their minds. It can't possibly be because of a global recession in many parts of the world. Nope its Nintendo alone and nothing else. No other gaming company is at fault. DMC flopped? Nintendo did it. Crysis 3 tanked? Blame the fat plumber. THQ KO'd. Blame Pikachu. Never trust a rat I say. This must be a slow news cycle.

[MasterCornholio]

Great now people are blaming the next video game crash on Nintendo.

Look even if Wii U is a massive failure for Nintendo theres still the PS4 and the 720 so i doubt that we will have another video game crash anytime soon.

However i will admit that the casual market is gone for these systems due to the craze over mobile devices. Which is why the 3 console manufacturers have to focus on the core instead of the casuals which i consider a lost market.

@americanmann1

"all sony and Microsoft do is release the same old same old,"

Actually with the last generation of consoles Sony has created more new ips and supported more indie developers with new ips than Nintendo. If you want to blame anyone for releasing the same ips over and over again then Nintendo is the biggest culprit of this.

P.S Nintendo games are great for those who enjoy them but Nintendo isnt exactly an innovative company when it comes to ips and gameplay mechanics.

[NYC_Gamer]

Wii-U isn't dragging the industry down...Nintendo would be the only ones taking loses if the console fails to meet their expectations sales/profit wise..