Nintendo Didn’t Try As Hard With The Wii U As They Want Us To Think

I was very excited for the Wii U weeks before it’s launch. I was watching videos about it, stocked up on games, and knowledge about the Wii U. The night before launch I can honestly tell you that I could not sleep! The day came, I got the Wii U, and I loved it very much and I still do. But the more I thought about the Wii U, I realized that Nintendo didn’t try as hard with the Wii U as they want us to think.

[dedicatedtogamers]

With the Wii, Nintendo made the hardware and the software for a very specific reason, and they talked about that reason all the time.

"It's time to level the playing field again. It's time for hardcore gamers and newbie gamers to play a game and be even".

And it worked. My mother can kick my butt at Wii Bowling. My wife can kick my butt at Wii Resort Swordfighting. They're not gamers.

With the WiiU, Nintendo doesn't really have any clue what they're doing. It's pretty much

"Hey, we made the WiiU...because. Because...tablets are cool... and we think an extra screen would be neat".

There isn't the same passion as there was with the Wii. There isn't that same desire to expand gaming and truly create a new gaming experience. It's just "here's a tablet that can act as a menu. Cool, huh? Buy it because we're Nintendo".

And it's pretty obvious that Nintendo didn't make the WiiU with hardcore gamers in mind. Now that we're seeing the hardware limitations, that much is obvious.

[n4f]

you dont have a wiiu
you cannot understand

[MNGamer-N]

I think the reason they don't know exactly what they are doing with it yet is because it is still a brand new, unexplored way to play games. In a few years you should start to see games that use the gamepad in innovative ways, after devs have a chance to sit down and brainstorm different ways to use the device in their games.

Hopefully things turn out bomb and awesome gaming experiences come of the gamepad. I'm sure that Nintendo will offer games that use it as intended. 3rd Parties are key to the Wii U success, they can't be lazy and just slap a wii u tablet "patch" on their ports and call it a day.

I love my Wii U so far, my only gripe so far is the battery life of the gamepad. But I just turned the brightness down, it lasts an extra hour and I don't even notice the difference.

[Grimhammer00]

Problem is...new consoles are inbound and will certainly leverage anything ninny can do with a simple app for devices we all already own.

I'm certain that most gamers also own a smart phone and likely a tablet (probably iPad).

Ninny didn't do anything but rely on their ips and reputation. I think that's going to erode as soon as consumers see that third party ports on new-gen games won't work on wiiu in an equalness.

8gb of fast ram is rumored for 720. That's more than enough to destroy ninny. And ps4 is likely to equal that. (I've read that MS confirmed 720 as 8gb DDR with $299.99. I'm skeptical....but it's very possible)

[IPrino]

SO THE WII U WON'T WIN "CORE" GAMERS DUE TO NO ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE PRO CONTROLLER DOES NOT HAVE A HEADPHONE JACK? THAT IS KINDA DUMB. THE PS3 DIDN'T HAVE AN ACHIEVEMENT SYSTEM FOR SOME TIME, BUT IT WAS STILL CONSIDERED CORE. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DOWNLOAD AN UPDATE WHEN YOU FIRST HOOK UP THE CONSOLE TO GET ALL OF THE FUNCTIONALITY IS A PROBLEM? I HAVE DOWNLOADED TWO UPDATES IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS FOR THE 360 AND ONE FOR THE PS3, BUT THEY ARE CONSIDERED CORE. THE ONLY LIMITATION I SEE WITH HARDWARE IS THAT DEVS ARE PORTING GAMES MADE FOR OTHER HARDWARE WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT IT WILL WORK THE EXACT SAME WITH LITTLE TO NO EFFORT. I CAN GO ON AND ON.

[DualPixels]

I never once said in my article that it wouldn't win core gamers
First off I want to say thank you to FanOfGaming for posting my article on N4G. Second I never said in my article that the Wii U won't win core gamers due to no achievements and the missing headphone jack. Trust me I am not surprised my the whole update thing because it is a brand new console, and hey, every time I turn on my XBOX there is a new freaking update for something. I prefer Nintendo over PS3 and XBOX and that is probably why I don't own an XBOX 360 and just use my brothers and got a Wii U INSTEAD of a PS3. To me the specs mean nothing to me, it's about the experience and so far my Wii U experience has outdone both PS3 and XBOX, but that's my opinion. I never once said in my article that it wouldn't win core gamers, but thanks for adding to the conversation. This comment is not on behalf of Dual Pixels but on behalf of the author of the article.

~Alex

[EDI]

Where did the author say that the Wii U wouldn't win core gamers...?

[FanOfGaming]

Yeah your comment didn't really make any sense...

[Grimhammer00]

Ok. Then I'll say it.
WiiU will ultimately disappoint most hardcore gamers.

PS3 getting achievements a year after release is waaay different. They are established as an expected feature.

Controller issue is pretty massive. It's a huge wtf.
If you can't see that....I can't take you seriously.

[ylwzx3]

This article is trash.....

[Triggytrolls]

I would class myself as a hardcore gamer and I would love a wiiU, my 360 is a snore fest.