Jon Hamlin: I’ve noticed something lately; or rather the lack of something. Nintendo announced a release date for the Wii U on September 13 of this year, and ever since then barely a whisper has been uttered by the game journalism corps about the potential success or failure of Nintendo’s new console. You’d expect a lot of talk, a lot of rumor, and all the buzz that normally surrounds the release of a new console. But, every time someone does talk about it, be it on a podcast or YouTube commentary, it seems to be within the context of “I don’t know.” The lack of solid information has done nothing but drive the game journalism corps crazy. People placed their preorders for the Wii U and have been more than happy to continue on in their discussions about Halo 4, Hitman: Absolution, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal. It concerns me that upcoming releases for current-gen consoles are getting more airtime than Nintendo’s next-gen console that releases in just a few weeks.
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first year is for die hard Nin fans, after that the 720/PS4 will come, if they don't present a big leap then the WiiU will be a master stroke, but if they can run games on another level then Iwata will be in trouble
Iwata did pretty good with the Wii.
Maybe not entirely in the business sense but Nintendo triumphed financially.
Just because PS4/720 can do more it doesn't mean developers are willing to invest immensely in producing their games. WiiU could actually be their jackpot. WiiU will be fine.
Remember how many developers went out of business due to high budget projects.
Braces for disagrees*
Here's hoping for a fantastic launch.
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I check n4g, IGN, GameSpot, 1up, and all the other sites, and there's almost no mention of the fact that a new system is coming out in 12 days! The first new console in nearly 6 years, and the coverage is barely there.
I'm personally really excited for the Wii U. I'll have it and 6 games on day one. It just seems that, despite the fact we're only 12 days away, nobody seems to know it, or care enough to cover it, count down to it, preview whatever there is to preview whereas for other system launches you can't visit any gaming site without being bombarded with news, info, previews, conversation or whatever.
Strange times right now, indeed.
Again, 12 days from launch of the first new console in over a half decade, and the coverage is minimal at best. At least that's the way it appears to me.
Oh well. Lots of coverage or not, I'm really excited.
Let's see...
1. Hardware specs underwhelming.
2. More proprietary hardware. (It's 2012, let's follow some standards please)
3. Same old, same old games + "U" (Super Mario U looks the same as Super Mario Wii)
4. Market Saturation with Wii prevents same from ever occurring for Nintendo in at least 2 gens. (When there are over 100 million Wii's sold... do you really think all of them will upgrade to "U"?)
5. The price of entry ($300 or $350 depending on config), and that paired with the saturation... really doesn't make a strong point to upgrade.
Those are IMHO the top 5 reasons the Wii-U is going to be very difficult to sell, and I can almost guarantee that it will never see success on the scale of the Wii.
It supports nearly any memory solution, and otherwise I don't see what else has to be open. The PS3 and Xbox are far more proprietary, and recent actions taken by both companies imply they will only become MORE so.
The other points are based on pure guess work, and since this is all speculation I won't agree or disagree with them at this point(in this post) But that one specifically through me for a loop.
Umm, that didn't stop Sony from selling a shed load of ps2s after the ps1 did it? Did your amazing theory hold true there?
Wouldn't there be a new little 10yr jimmy? As far as I know, children get born every day and become the age you were when you were 10. There's more 10 year olds today than there were when little 10yr old Jimmy was actually 10 years old.
So what are we talking about again?
The technology driving the WiiU should not be understated; it is revolutionary in every way.
Think about this. The best games are coming out for a 360 and Ps3, this is in part because the designers are comfortable with the hardware, they know how to program and get the most out of what’s there. This will be (more or less) the WiiU entry point.
What better way to usher in new and old games if the designers are already comfortable with the specs?
Nintendo has provided an abundance of options not only to the gamer but to the designers as to what venue to choose when playing. Use the pad, the pro controller, move controls, it’s all there.
We haven’t even begun to discuss their online strategies, connectivity with the 3DS and their connected MiiVerse that stands poised to be the gamers hub, if luck and gamer adaptability are on their side.
I mean I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to post my latest scores on Facebook, for the world (and potential jobs) to see. We already have stigmas attached to our hobby.
The WiiU doesn’t need excessive amounts of hype. Those that know already pre-ordered and are anxiously awaiting their prize.
It could be 100,000, 10,000, 1,000,000. No one knows unless there's some number that's been released that I haven't seen yet.
This happens at every launch. The console makers intentionally limit the number of consoles released so they can increase the hype surrounding the launch. People think, "dang, it's sold out already. It must be pretty good". That's exactly how your statement sounded, too.
The most important topics never get covered. A few only do months or years later. The rest never do. So it's quite easy that something like the Wii U doesn't get covered very much. There's plenty of info out there. They've even done a basic breakdown of the system, detailed the games coming out, have kiosks up. It's just journalists are morons and want their story written for them. Hey Nintendo, write my story for me.
It's also still early. While it's a guess, I'm thinking the Nintendo is keeping their powder dry advertising wise until after all the games coming out now, come through, and the networks start offering their commercial spots for cheaper...hint...after the election.
I personally think they'll start hyping it right before launch, because after CoD launches, the next gaming news is the Wii U. Let everyone else have their day in the sun, let prices on commercial spots go down, and then start the blitz. Don't try to compete with say the Halo 4 launch. There's also been recent iphone and ipad launches. So why compete against those launch days?
I might be completely wrong, but with sold out consoles, there is no need to push advertising this early. What is it going to gain them if they're already sold out? When the consoles are being shipped to customers or in their hands, then expand the advertising. I'd say December is really when they should start building the buzz.
People say, is it a bad sign no media is talking about Wii U? Why? It's a GREAT sign. Because no one is talking about it and it still sold out really fast.
The author of the article talks about 'catching up', and says it like it's a bad thing. No, they are adding the features (we still have to see if they work well) that are good in consoles. HD graphics, online multiplayer. Focusing on 'catching up' isn't exactly a good way to approach it. They're adding these useful features where they weren't before, what are MS and Sony going to add to differentiate themselves from the 360 and PS3?
None of these consoles are going to be revolutionary in terms of specs, but they don't need to be. It would be nice, but for that the tech doesn't exist and we'd need to wait a few years. They want a console now, so if now or the next year or two, then this level is good enough.
So people thinking it's going to be like Move or kinect games are missing the point. Kinect and Move were niche's, they weren't in EVERY console sold. So if everyone has one, the time and expense coding for it, won't be wasted. Plus since it's a screen, it's not like how many people who even had kinect or move didn't want to motion gesture in their games sometimes. They played some kinect games, and for their regular games kept using the controller. This is different. Are people going to stop using the controller because they don't like having a map? Or calling killstreaks easier, etc?
But if you sold the most consoles and are only NOW catching up and surpassing, and adding the game controller, then that is a much bigger jump then the 720/ps4 will give for their base to jump to their next console.
The Wii U doesn't need journalists to be successful, but once they finally get the hint, they'll jump on it like the last time, because none of them can pass on talking about iphone, twitter, farcebook, etc....anything that hits on a 'fad' they'll talk about. Oh it's hot...gotta talk about it. Lots of time left. Lots of moron journalists needing to wake up.