5 things Sony and Microsoft can learn from the Wii U

It hasn’t been a smooth ride for Nintendo’s Wii U. It’s premature to call the system a flop, but it’s undoubtedly been a disappointment thus far.

Sony and (presumably) Microsoft are gearing up to launch their own next-generation systems this year, and there's a lot they can learn from Nintendo's mistakes. Here are five of the most important.

[stuna1]

How not to blow their load at launch!

Some don't want to hear it, but Nintendo should have had exclusive games hot off the press at launch.

If they would have done that from the get go, they would have been a lot further along than they are now.

[Scenarist]

pretty much what I was thinking aside from the more obvious.. dont gimp the systems next gen

edit: matterfact lack of launch titles did gimp the system

[ShinMaster]

I guess they can learn what NOT to do.

[Buff1044]

There are bigger issues at play than anything Nintendo did or didn't do. I think Sony and Microsoft will storm out of the gates better than the big N, but once the hype subsides, all three publishers are going to be in trouble.

[Hicken]

What are you basing that on?

[dedicatedtogamers]

If anyone needs to learn anything from anyone, everyone (including Nintendo) needs to go back and re-evaluate what made the DS and Wii successful in the first place. No one seems to understand why those systems were successful (because they're not trying to duplicate it).

[Nathaniel_Drake]

Why would sony do that when they are targeting different audiences?

[DA_SHREDDER]

I think the big N will be alright, you haters will be eating your words one day.

[stuna1]

I'm not actually hating on nintendo, I'm just pointing out an obvious issue that needs to be addressed.

[mcstorm]

The way I look at it Sony don't need to look at Nintendo they need to look at them self's and see where it went wrong with the PS3 and not make the same mistakes again.

Microsoft Need to cerate the hype again of the 360 and give everyone a lot of killer games they gave everyone at the beginning of this gen but also have a good mix of core and none core games.

Nintendo now need to have a plan of what they are going to do to make the WiiU stand out against the other two.

I do think all 3 will have a successful gen and I don't think there will be a big gap between the best selling and lest selling console come the end of the new gen.

[stuna1]

I agree with everything you said.

[LOL_WUT]

Agreed. Sony or Microsoft shouldn't even look up to Nintendo, as they have made nothing but bad business decisions. Instead they have themselves to look at to reflect on what they plan to improve as a whole and to move the company forward.

Which I might add may be a little too late for Nintendo to do at this point unless they drop the price ;)

[Mustang300C2012]

No the issues Nintendo have go beyond having exclusives for the console and having a exclusives don't guarantee any success now. Their online is just as sh*tty as the previous system. Gamers like their online and the 360 and PS3 provide it the way gamers want and the new systems will feed off what the current ones are doing. The Wii U is trying to ride off the tablet which doesn't provide the same response the wands did for the Wii. The Wii U is looked as a small upgrade and that is Nintendos big issue is recoginition. I remember people arguing consistently about this leading up to the launch and pretty much the issues we argued are the issues they are dealing with. Third Party Support. Crappy online. Tablet not a draw as people hyped it to be.

[deafdani]

The Wii U's online isn't crappy at all, dude, and it's not comparable to the Wii's at all. Zero.

That "crappy online" statement of yours only shows that you haven't played online with a Wii U. Hell, chances are, you don't even own one.

Your other points have more validity to them, but the online one is just a lie.

[Dj7FairyTail]

Nintendo IP are still strong.

Sony on the other hand are killing their IPs.
Studio closing and other stuff. That is why Sony
creates new ones to recover the old and dead ones.

[Ace_Pheonix]

#1: Don't make shitty hardware
#2: Don't alienate 3rd party developers
#3: Don't cater to kids
#4: Don't cater to casuals
#5: Really, don't make shitty hardware

[Dj7FairyTail]

#1: Don't focus on Specs
#2: Don't alienate japanese 3rd party developers but do to the Western
#3: Do cater to kids
#4: Do cater to casuals
#5: Really, don't make spec base hardware

[dungeonboss]

#1 Games
#2 Games
#3 Games
#4 ?????
#5 Profit!!!

That's exactly what Wii U hasn't had for the past 4 months. Oh, and explain to consumers what the hell the thing is. The only people that know what a Wii U actually can do are the people that own one. The Wii U is the most misunderstood, worst-marketed Nintendo console to date. Nintendo needs to fix that.

For example, many people still think the Gamepad is a "tablet"... haha

[_QQ_]

One thing they can learn from nintendo is how to make a console that will actually last, ps3 has an average 3 year lifespan while xbox360 had a 60% RROD chance for at least 3 years after the console's release,the wii had no major issues like that. Thats pretty pathetic on both MS and Sony's part.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

WiiU is gonna have an uphill battle for awhile. Similar to 3DS but 3DS is doing MUCH Better now. Its more similar to PSvita which is also struggling at the moment but gaining gorund in japan little by little.

[IcicleTrepan]

And I thought the articles on n4g couldn't get any worse.

[Jek_Porkins]

The main thing is having compelling hardware at launch, and have the features you showed off available. No two gamepads allowed to play on the same console was a bit of a downer, but the launch wasn't awful by any means. They probably overestimated how much people would want NSMBU. I think people have already had their fill of that game on the DS, 3DS and Wii.

As long as Sony and Microsoft have games, a decent price and something for everyone, they will do fine.

[BosSSyndrome]

They stated that they will have two gamepads later on. But for now no games support that plus you can't buy gamepads separately.

[Trago1337]

Save Data transfer and Backwards compatibility, We all know how Sony's dealing with that, now let's see MS.

[lovegames718]

lopez_josue.......resp....

Your comment has to be one of the most ignorant and asinine. First of all Sony ps3 failure rate is very low and secondly my launch fat last me 5 plus years of hours upon hours of daily use. How the $uck do you compare a simple machine like the wii to a ps3. Ps3 systems last and failure rate is low. Wiis may outlive ps3s only because their games and hardware are simple while ps3 is more complex and games are way more taxing on hardware. Those lil 2d scrollers dont tax anythng. Furthermore everyone knws wiis recieved few months of play, then for many became a paper weight lol putting one hour or two in a system for 6 months isnt going to kill anythng lol try 12 plus gaming hours a day on ps3 for years and it still lasts 5 plus years.
Sony needs to learn nothing in tht respect from Sony, sorry try again. Next time use common sense. By the way i knw many thngs nintendo can learn from Sony, but i wont even get into tht lol