Analysis: Does Nintendo still have the power?

Wii proved that graphical excellence is not essential. Randy Lamberson wonders whether Nintendo can pull off the trick again with the Wii U.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Is it "gettin' kinda Hectic?"

[Rainstorm81]

"Now your playing with Power"

They should bring the slogan back

[wiiulee]

first of all this guy is a clown..the wiiu is a very powerful system and the next generation of console powers will not be too much different so the wiiu is in the lead to stay and with third parties on board and innovation on hand....there is a possibility that the wiiu will be nintendo's most successful system ever...time will tell..but haters will hate along the way

[LOL_WUT]

Im starting to think that the Wii U might be Nintendo's last console and i'm ok with that, if they do end up going the software route only. I just don't think it's going to do anywhere as good as the Wii.

[Instigator]

I don't get why people keep saying this. No, the Wii U will most likely not be as huge as the Wii, but neither is PS3 or the 360 and no one is calling them failures. Nintendo have had one annual loss ever and suddenly they should quit making consoles, but Sony and MS who sees red numbers almost every year are better off than ever before. It's a crazy world we live in.

If Nintendo survived the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube they are not going anywhere the next generation or the one after that.

[Hisiru]

@LOL_WUT
Unfortunately for you, Nintendo can lose money for years and years, and stay in the console market:
http://www.nintendolife.com...

I was going to say more about it but Instigator already said everything.

Iwata also said that the day Nintendo stop making hardware will be the day they stop making software.

It's also sad to see people saying it's ok if Nintendo stops making hardware because you have triggers, d-pad, rumble, analog, motion controls and now the WiiU's Gamepad thanks to Nintendo. Even the x360/PS3 controller has a lot of features that Nintendo brought to this industry, so they are always giving something new to the industry, maybe it's not what you want (high end graphics) but at least they are trying to bring something unique.

[philpee2]

MS never saw "red numbers almost every year." They're only non-profitable quarter was last quarter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/b...

[Instigator]

@philpee2
I'm talking about their gaming divisions, not the company as a whole. While MS is better off than Sony it doesn't change the fact that their gaming division isn't doing nearly as hot as the rest of the company.

Nintendo is gaming only so for them it's do or die, which up until last fiscal year was pretty much stuck on 'do'. SCE and Microsoft Studios are small parts of the entire company, and if their mother company decides that it's bad for business to keep these divisions running the chances of them dissolving those divisions are much bigger than Nintendo doing that to themselves.

With that said I can't imagine any of the big three dropping out anytime soon. My only point was that ever since Nintendo reported their first loss earlier this year people have gone on about how it's time to stop doing consoles and go multiplat. Despite Sony and MS taking much heavier losses you never hear that being said about them. My only guess for why that's the case is that people want to play Nintendo titles on their PS3 and Xbox because they refuse to buy a Nintendo console.

[linkratos]

Really? Because it won't do as 'good' as the Wii, Nintendo will be done with consoles?

Why are Sony and MS even bothering with next gen consoles then? They didn't sell nearly as well as the Wii this gen either.

[ChickeyCantor]

Considering the fact Sony and MS made major losses. The fact they are still standing regardless of that fact. And YET people think Nintendo will fall if it sells a few million Wii-Us less than its predecessor wii.

People like LOL_WUT don't like Nintendo and for some strange reason really want them gone. Hence the "I'm ok with that". Which to me makes no sense. The people who do like Nintendo don't want them gone. So why the arrogance?

[mamotte]

OK, let's take out the "I dont like the wii because is a gimmick and I'm a moustache macho and bla bla bla" from the equation. Even if the self-called "gaming journalism professionals" dont like the Wii, or Nintendo products, the truth is that Nintendo is a company, and a company is made to get money, not to make professionals happy. Same as Sony and Ms. even if you cant believe it. So, as a company, the "hated" wii sold, and still sells like hotcakes, same as the "doomed gimic" 3DS (and the XL version had a strong start), and the "hated" franchises from Nintendo still have high scores everytime they launch a new game. Wich is great for the Nintendo company.

So, maybe Nintendo did lost the touch. With you. But, luckily for Nintendo, you're not the only customer they have. Accept it.

[WeskerChildReborned]

Possibly, from what i've seen, i'm already pleased enough.

[tiffac008]

All I can say is, never underestimate the Big N.

[YoungPlex]

All they need are their killer first-party titles and some key third-party titles and they'll do just fine. Maybe not as good as Wii or maybe better, but to count them out is a ridiculous observation. That's like Michael Patcher saying that the 3DS was going to fail and be out done by smartphones and tables. One year and some change later and the 3DS already has an instal base of approximately 20 million people.

I've come to the conclusion that most people doubting Nintendo are, analytical fanboy's and opposing investors. If we look at the current demographics of gamers, we can clearly see that things have changed from ten years ago, and that more and more people are embracing gaming as a standard hobby, especially women. Nintendo is here and isn't going anywhere anytime soon; sales from the Wii and DS have made sure of that.

If they want to keep the lead on home console (like they are in the handheld market), they really need to take the lessons learned from the 3DS launch, and implement them on the Wii U. The main lesson is the pricing of the actual console. If they could nail a sweet price right at the beginning, similarly to the Wii, and avoid overpricing the way they did with the 3DS, they will definitely sell well. The next thing would be to keep the momentum going with some triple A titles, from both Nintendo and third-party developers, at a nominal pace throughout the months. If people think that it's impossible to do then they obviously haven't seen this years 3DS line-up.

They started early with RE:Revelations, moved on to KI Uprising, recently launched Heroes of Ruin, just released KH: 3D Dream Drop, and are launching a new system the XL with the brand new NSMB2. If that isn't enought they're closing out with Luigi's Mansion 2, Paper Mario, Code of the Princess, and Castlevania: LOS- Mirrors of Fate; and are starting next year off with Fire Emblem. That's not even mentioning games that we may get from Japan coming this year, which include MH4, Bravely Default, and Project X Zone.

That's what I call a good year of momentum and obviously Nintendo knows that. They just better learn from the 3DS.