So, there are lots of things wrong with the Wii U. Marketing has been confusing, the games have come slowly, third party support is gone, the asking price is too high and the tech is too old. Nintendo doesn't have a problem that people need to insightfully boil things down to; they have a large, unlabeled umbrella full of issues collected like so many undesirable Pokemon.
That's the lens the rest of this article and the points I make needs to be viewed though. No one thing being fixed will do all the work.
So, now that that's out of the way, I wanna talk about "wow" factor and how Nintendo doesn't have any of it.
The way I see it there are 3 kinds of positive reactions to seeing a new game.
Reaction #1: High Excitement - or, the Halo effect.
Everyone who saw Mario 64 for the first time thought the same thing, "I want this. Now." We didn't weigh how much we REALLY wanted an N64, how expensive it might be, or how many other things we could buy instead. We needed Mario 64. Plain and simple.
Amazing exclusives can do that. They can make it so you don't care that you already have two other (expensive and current) game consoles. You need to play Halo and it will be worth it. So you save and do without and you get your new system, even if only to play this one perfect game.
This is the best excitement you can have in the whole hobby; the kind that promises you'll remember why you started playing in the first place.
Reaction #2: Medium Excitement - or, the games that end up on my best of list for the year.
If games like Super Mario Bros. and Grand Theft Auto III are the reasons you play in the first place than these games are the reasons you don't stop in between. These are great games and for some people they may even encourage the same level of excitement that the very best do.
Mostly though, you might agonize over it from time to time, you'll be a little envious of your friends who play them, but you won't buy a new system to do it yourself. Maybe one day, when the price goes down on the machine, then you'll get them. But until then you'll play something else.
Reaction #3: Low Excitement - or, I hear it's good but...ehhh.
This is the ugly one. These games are from a series you generally like or from a development studio that usually comes through. These games may even get good review scores but you can't help but feel tired just looking at them. You might even swear you played them already. You know that you'll probably pick them up. Someday, sure, but definitely not at full price and definitely not while you have so many responsibilities and other games you're excited to play.
And that brings me to Nintendo. All of the games they have made for the Wii U, fall into the second and third categories. Games that people will play if they have already picked up a Wii U or may play someday when it costs 100 bucks to get one.
This is what the general populace thinks when they are shown why they need to get a Wii U:
- New Super Mario Bros: U "Didn't I just play that?...and did I just spend 400 bucks to play a DS game on my big screen HD TV?
- Wind Waker HD: "Isn't it a game I played years ago?."
- Mario 3D World: "May be great but, at first glance, it's every Mario I've already played since Mario 64 . And the Cat suit? Nice try Nintendo but I'm pretty sure he had that already..."
- Donkey Kong: "It's an HD version of a game that could be done on the 3DS."
- Mario Kart 8: "My friend with the Wii U says it's awesome but I definitely played 7 like, a year ago."
- Pikmin 3: "What's that? It's a gardening strategy game? Oh ok. Yeah, I'm probably good actually."
Nintendo needs to ask themselves, not what great games can they make, that they will pretty much always do, but what angle (even gimmick) can they use to entice people to them. Pokemon X/Y were really good games but they had a great excitement generator in being 3D. It was a "wow" factor moment for the series and the system. So people bought it and if they needed a 3DS they bought that too.
Fixing one thing won't fix everything but showing off games that make people really excited for a system they don't have will do wonders.
PlayStation tweets: "Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans."
Now, will gamers take all this fervor and aim it at the likes of EA, Ubisoft, Take2, and others who have way more invasive and problem-causing apps for Steam games?
Sony is like a whipping boy for the industry and it's just lame at this point. This is like my Activision account I use for Call of Duty. I'm not a 'fan'' of Activision but it's free and it comes in handy. The PSN account would come handy if they decide to do cross saves and I'm sure some other stuff too. I have an account for practically everything, including this site. I need a Microsoft account to play some PS5 games. No one has been able to explain what the big problem with a PSN account was.
Christopher with all I do respect, your bias is showing heavily, be positive, congratulate people and ask for them to do more, no need for this passive aggressive bitterness
I’d argue there’s a better softer approach they could do, just make it optional with bonus for people who did it like some free cosmetics and make it required only for cross-play and cross-save purposes. That way the people who can do it have bonus incentives and people in countries without psn can still play without problems.
Sony is also extremely bad i think alot i mean alot of people are in the clouds thinking its 2010's.
I agree with the whole other publishers should also remove there link unless for crossplay of course but sony its the worse right now.
As of 2023 sony requires your real information dob/address/phone number even phone text's for login but the way worse part is the need for personal government id.
The way sony account creation is no one can make a account until they are a legal adult in there country then you got all that data on a server with the same security as donal trump's bathroom file cabinet.
Oh also sony's terms of service says if you use a vpn its a auto ban remember sony uses bots to monitor everyone.
With Microsoft every person that has windows 11 installed there is a very high chance you already have a account microsft account is xbox account there creation page is still basic but no doubt will get just as bad a sony soon.
https://youtu.be/h4TqFYyQ_U...
Thank goodness they went back on this decision because if it stayed then even users that could make a account might not have been able do too the lack of a govt id.
Here come the disagrees even though i left proof.
But this is n4g alot of you would give sony anything they want your fortune first born child anything so your sin/govt card is nothing for those kind.
The government id is only in certain countries and it's not Sony's decision. It's laws your governmwnt like mine here in UK made that means they require that.
The difference is EA, Ubisoft, Take2, etc didn't release their games and then down the line implement forced account linkage under the guise of "security". Gamers know from when they buy EA and Ubisoft games that you'll need an account with those companies. Also when was the last time a company delisted an extremely popular game from over 100 countries?
It was listed on the game as a requirement and it was a decision by arrowhead so that people could get into the game. In future companies won't be able to make such decisions and you will simply be left unable to play the game.
Thank you! I have a PS account, but bought this on PC. I just hate having to do stupid stuff like this just to get into the game I bought.
You should try getting a resident evil MP working not as bad as making a sony account but its right up there i tried with a fake dump email holy spam batman. I never finished the account creation
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 remakes are likely off the table forever, as new claims from anonymous Activision devs bury your hopes for good.
"Tony Hawk himself purported that plans were in place until Vicarious Visions’ obligations to Activision’s mammoth FPS game franchise, Call of Duty, got in the way"
Same what happened to Raven Softworks sadly
We'll never get Singularity 2
This is kinda pathetic on Activision. Hire someone else to do a remake if you have to. Not every dev needs to be working on cod
In a poignant announcement, Dutch indie developer Paladin Studios bid farewell after an impressive run spanning “almost 19 years.”
Nintendo produces games of the highest quality. They have nostalgic factor. The system IS low priced now. The games are gorgeous and honestly myself and many others play it more than the next gen systems because right now there aren't many exclusive games that aren't cross gen. With bayonetta 2, SSB, and xenoblade coming and the games of E3 that have yet to be announced by Nintendo, it is without a doubt the system to have for exclusives. Gaming system opinions are subjective. Its all in how you see it and what it means to you. For me, Nintendo brings me back to the simpler fun times of gaming in the 90's and also guarantees superb quality and detail. Mario 3d world and MK8 have proven that. Plus, one of my favorite games Wind Waker was redone in 1080p/60fps. It was free and well worth playing again. While Pikmin 3 isn't the blockbuster that sells the system, its a good game and it was FREE thanks to the MK8 purchase. Wonderful 101 is amazing and was 18 dollars when i bought it. Zombi U is a hardcore survival game. It cost me 13 dollars. I took advantage of these prices while the Wii U struggles. I think the company will rebound this year. Not a significantly large rebound, but enough to ensure a long enough life for the Wii U and a solid user base. I'm not saying to not buy a Xbox one or PS4 but the Wii U is definitely a bargain right now and the games are cheap.
Nintendo is a corporation let them handle their own console or get moving like Sega.
"Pikmin 3: "What's that? It's a gardening strategy game? Oh ok. Yeah, I'm probably good actually."
You obviously never played Pikmin 3.....
A dead console
Can we stop using that picture for these type of articles? Find out how to get Kirby to do it.