The Wii U is dying - 8 ways Nintendo can fix its console

GamesRadar - 2013 is going to be an important year for gaming. Pundits and professionals have been spewing doomsday prophecies claiming the end of consoles is nigh (something Microsoft and Sony obviously don't believe), and last year's launch of Nintendo’s Wii U isn’t giving many gamers faith in this generation. Launched a little over four months ago to low fanfare, the system has stalled out at the starting line. Sales are low, releases are few and far between, and many are claiming that Nintendo's follow-up to the Wii us dead on arrival. The Wii U, right now, is broken.

[TheLyonKing]

Its not dying they just need two things:

Better games and Better adversting cause the majority of their user base from the wii will probably have no idea what the diffrence is.

[rezzah]

My older brother got the WiiU, and my little sister (considered to be less than a casual gamer) thought it was some new addition to the Wii.

Never witnessed it personally, but it funny to see people think that the WiiU is something that it is not.

She was very surprised when I told her it was Nintendo's next console.

[Ritsujun]

Wii duUum.

[TruthbeTold]

Here's the thing though. Surely Nintendo made things confusing by naming it Wii U, and not something more differentiating. Even Wii HD, which they despised and was NEVER going to happen, would have been more effective.

But, how many of the 100 million or so casual gamers who bought Wii, or 360, or PS3, even know/realize that there are cycles to these consoles?> That new ones always eventually arise, and replace the old? Yes, tech tends to be that way, but with gaming consoles, there isn't a need, so much as a desire for serious gamers to have something new, and companies to have a new product to make money with. Just like anything else that consumers are trained to believe that they want/need every few years, these relatively new gamers will need to learn the ways of the console market.

Now, will it matter to them? Will they want new consoles? Have many of them already moved on to tablets, and phones, and will just go back to Wii sports, or Move, or Kinect when they feel like playing on the TV? That is the big question. Unfortunately, I think that it is likely. And the more expensive these consoles, then the more that Nintendo, Sony, and MS are going to be fighting over the same 100 million or so customers, which will suck for all three of them.

[darthv72]

Im sure they were trying for the same transitional success they had with the NES to the SNES. Many asked the same questions about those two. What makes one better than the other. Well the SNES is a "super" nes and people were able to understand from that simple moniker that it was an NES....but better.

[Psn800]

Dying no !
Once the consoles start releasing games that appeal to a bigger wider audience then hey Bingo the console will sell like hot cakes there you go the Wii u is a good console and it's ver early yet .

[Neonridr]

Far from dead, why don't we wait to see what E3 brings before we all start writing on the tombstone.

[kneon]

Well it's not dead yet but I think they may have missed their window of opportunity.

Many of the casuals don't know or don't care about the Wii U, they are busy playing angry birds on their phones and tablets. And most of the hardcore audience that haven't bought a Wii U yet will likely wait for the PS4 and/or Xbox.next before they decide what to buy.

[Neonridr]

Partially true, however you think there are going to be consoles available from either Sony or Microsoft this Christmas? Unless you are one of the lucky ones to get a preorder in, there is going to be NO hardware available to the masses. That leaves Nintendo in a very great position because it means with a cheaper price and some great AAA games available this holiday, they could sway many gamers who were previously on the fence..

[kneon]

I wouldn't count on the consoles being too scarce unless it's part of the marketing plan to help generate hype. Sony needs to increase revenue so if they see the demand then I'm sure they will be pumping them out as fast as the need to.

Microsoft though could try to use scarcity as a marketing tool since they are in a much better financial position.

[sherimae2413]

i remember the vita is like this when it came out same for the 3ds, almost everyday of the week you see articles like this and even the PS3 at 2006....

but look at these systems theyre still here ^_^
just like what others says all it needs is games and better marketing

what it really boggles me is why nintendo release the wii u without top notch first party titles to back it up
and the issues with hardware itself (OS is Slow)

[SnakeCQC]

ive been a long time nintendo fan but havent bought any of their stuff in a long time(gba was the last) they need GOOD pokemon games with good online and good visuals and a variety of different games. I think what kinda ruined nintendo for me was their massive focus on the motion controls.

[Neonridr]

without their focus on motion controls, the Move or Kinect wouldn't be here in their current form.

Just like the gamepad is pushing these manufacturers to come up with new ways to interact with games.

The 3DS is a great system and with it you get the entire DS library available at your fingertips. I can't believe someone who says they are such a pokemon fan has missed out on all the great DS pokemon games out there.

This handheld didn't sell 150 million units for no reason.

[XXXL]

It's on life support. Where's the damn VC with gamepad compatibility?

[RFornillos4]

you haven't download the recent NES VC games have you? they're all gamepad compatible.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

*Press A! Press A! Press A! Press A! Press A! Press A! Press A! Press A!!!*
Not a knock-out.

Just waiting on some games.

[wheresmymonkey]

Getting mighty bored of these articles.

Most consoles take about a year to get going. The ps3 had very few good games in its first two years of life. now look at it.

[o-Sunny-o]

Problem 1: Everyone thinks this is an add-on to the Wii.
Problem 2: Where's some games?
Problem 3: Advertising!
Nintendo never fell hard, not today!

[SilentNegotiator]

Problem 4: Not an attraction to most casuals nor most hardcore players. It has a deficient target audience.

[AKR]

Dying? No, more like - Hasn't woken up yet. It's in hibernation mode - like EVERY console when it's first released. History is one Wii U's side here ~ All consoles start off slow, and as time passes, they start to pick-up steam.

The Wii U is missing a lot of new releases, because it's a brand-new system that was launched smack in the middle of the brightest days of the 360 and PS3. Devs were making projects on the latter two for years, so they're only now trying to get their bearings with the Wii U.

But as time goes on, more games will see annoucement on the U, don't worry.

Honestly - these doom and gloom articles are starting to pop up more than they need to.

[AWBrawler]

All i gotta say is pay attention to the Japan sales. April us going to be the beginning of the wii u's rise.

[Bumpmapping]

Nintendo has to come out strong at E3 they need to advertise main reason why it's selling as bad as it is.Also the lack of 3RD party developers ain't doing it any good,Nintendo needs to swallow there pride work things out with with EA other developers before Sony releases the PS4 or it's going to be a repeat of the N64/Gamecube days.

[kirbyu]

Finally, someone agrees with me. Achievements are useless unless they come with some reward.

[Theyellowflash30]

...... release some games.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate rose Wii U sales by 125% in the UK.