IGN - Nintendo's Wii U "Trouble" - Yeah, It Happens

IGN - Nintendo seems to be dominating the news these days, and often for all the worst reasons. Struggling sales, price drops, dipping stocks and awkward peripherals are stacking up, creating a grim scenario for a company that has been on top of the world for the past several years. The big guy in the yard is a big target, and given Nintendo's unconventional approach to the games industry, criticism is all the easier.

[DarkCharizard_]

"No doubt some developers aren't getting updates as quickly as they'd like. No doubt devkits are constantly evolving and iterating. That's sort of the point, isn't it?"

Very true.

"The day a hardware company doesn't have to balance price and quality considerations is the day Mario performs a fatality."

Lol! I am almost certain that things will take a positive turn for Nintendo.

[TruthbeTold]

Yeah, but balancing price and quality for Nintendo always seems to boil down to: 'Offer as little as we can get away with for the maximum price we can get away with.' It's starting to bite them in the ass. Every company wants to maximize profits, but Nintendo constantly attempts to do so by purposely shortchanging and skimping in areas that are important to customers. Marketing isn't anywhere near as effective when people have caught on to the game, and feel bamboozled.

Sony: 'How much should we pack into this piece of tech so that people see it as can't miss?'

Microsoft: 'What else is important to gamers? Let's get that in there if possible.'

Nintendo: 'Since we refuse to do any better than this, and it is comparatively lacking, how do we trick people into thinking that they are receiving a great value?'

The gig is up. People are pissed, frustrated, disappointed, and even saddened. Nintendo has to stop going cheap all of the time and take more risks or many people are going to abandon ship. I'm among the biggest of Nintendo fans. But I've been gaming long enough to where it won't kill me to lay off of their products for a while if they are going to keep insulting me.

[Szarky]

you speak the truth, Truth.. amen brother

[mike1up]

Thats a lil harsh dont ya think?

Its only rumors. Rumors about development kits at that. When the WiiU launches we'll be getting the finished product, not the kit, so who cares? If tech always came out perfectly, you wouldnt really need development kits (kinda).

You say that you want Nintendo to take more risk... how? The Wii was a huge risk for Nintendo. They gambled on a completely unknown target audience at the time. Now the WiiU does appear more traditional, but i would argue that it is just as risky (the controller is a tablet).

Sony and Microsoft did a good job this gen, i am not denying that. But Microsoft charges for online, unlike both of their competitors. Last time i checked "paying extra money for the same service" wasnt important to gamers.

Look i am a big Nintendo fan too, and i know where you're coming from (and why you're pissed). No Xenoblade and Last Story... really no good Wii games this year (Kirby and Zelda being the obvious exceptions). But its been years since the last decent 3rd party game (imo). And the 3DS needs games... badly. Starfox and Zelda are a nice start, but theyre remakes.

So... who knows? I think you should wait for the facts on this one though. I have a good feeling about the WiiU.

[ChickeyCantor]

"Microsoft: 'What else is important to gamers? Let's get that in there if possible.' "

And then, there was Kinect.( o and overpriced HDDs, no upgrade to bluray etc. Point being not all have been kosher, let's keep that clear).

It's understandable that they keep their prices low as it attracts the crowd better.
Let's not forget Nintendo has always brought great hardware up until the Wii( competitive wise). If they went the PS360 route we all know it could be a big miss for them.

Let's just hope Wii U does help more games come to the console which are more stable and better than before.

Nintendo does piss me off sometimes when they do not simply build something like a solid online system. Yes mario-kart had a good system but why isn't there one general system like Live( not talking about the feee)? I don't even play online that often but my points is that these services can add a lot to certain games. Gaming with friends on a coach is the best way. But we can't always do that. I know they can do better, a lot better. If ubi praises the online infrastructure(Wiiu) so much I think Nintendo is finally getting it.
What really pissed me off is that I have to wait for F-zero maybe up untill 2014?

[dark-hollow]

"but balancing price and quality for Nintendo always seems to boil down to: 'Offer as little as we can get away with for the maximum price"

Always??? You mean the gamecube wasn't powerful for it times?
The n64 wasn't powerful for it times?? The NES? The SNES?

Not every console from nintendo is weak.
Not every console from Microsoft is unreliable.
Not every console from Sony is the most powerful.

People form their opinions based on this gen and they think that was the truth before and will happen next gen and after.

How people talk about the WII U hardware while they know ZERO about the gpu, CPU etc.
It looks like they already believed the wii u is weak based on NOTHING?

[TruthbeTold]

With the 64, they stubbornly stuck with cartridges. Some great games didn't/couldn't come to the system because of that. The GameCube had poor 3rd party support largely because of the disc format as well. Nintendo insisted on doing something so different in order to save money that it alienated developers, and in return gamers. With the Wii, they initially charged $250 for a console that is basically 2 and 1/4 game Cubes, with part of that ability going toward the controller.

Some great games and experiences on it for sure. But Wii owners who like 3rd party games and a reasonable online setup, had to buy a second console. The point of all of this is that being a fan of Nintendo games tends to mean that you have to do without key mainstream features and games. Meanwhile, Nintendo rakes in so much profit, it's hard not to be irritated and think of how easily things could have been different.

[mike1up]

@TruthbeTold (2nd comment)

I think that Nintendo sticking to the N64 cartridges and Gamecube optical disc had more to do with a fear of piracy than being cheap. I am not 100% sure, but i think that cartridges are significantly more expensive to develop for. And optical disc are about the same as a dvd.

But yea, i missed out too dude. And yes, it sucks. And yes, i too have had enough. If the WiiU doesnt deliver (it will) then i am done.

[josephayal]

Zelda, Mario, donkey Kong, Kirby coming to PS4 and Xbox 720??? Hmmm who knows?

[VampiricDragon]

"Struggling sales, price drops, dipping stocks and awkward peripherals are stacking up, "

1) sales that are outpacing the ds, number 1 in japan (before the ds even was),and a fiscal target thats higher than any nintendo system ever for its first year ( more than the ds by 2 million)

2) A stock price that rebounded the very next week.

3) a dumb peripheral.

Not so bad.

[BladedTech]

You don't shrug off a hardware failure.